First Parachute Army had three corps stationed along the river; 2nd Parachute Corps to the north, 86th Corps in the centre, and 63rd Corps in the south. Of these formations, 2nd Parachute Corps and 86th Corps had a shared boundary that ran through the proposed landing zones for the Allied airborne divisions, meaning that the leading formation of each corps - these being 7th Parachute Division and 84th Infantry Division would face the airborne assault.
After their retreat to the Rhine both divisions were under-strength and did not number more than 4,000 men each, with 84th Infantry Division supported by only 50 or so medium artillery pieces.
The mobile reserves that the Germans did possess consisted of some 150 armoured fighting vehicles under the command of 1st Parachute Army, the majority of which belonged to XLVII Panzer Corps. Allied intelligence believed that of the two divisions that formed XLVII Panzer Corps, 116th Panzer Division had up to 70 tanks and 15th Panzergrenadier Division 15 tanks and between 20-30 assault guns. Intelligence also pointed to the possibility of a heavy anti-tank battalion being stationed in the area. However, the Germans did possess a great number of antiaircraft weapons; on 17 March Allied intelligence estimated that the Germans had 103 heavy and 153 light anti-aircraft guns, a number which was drastically revised a week later to 114 heavy and 712 light anti-aircraft guns.
