Three days ago, General Guderian's tanks opened a large hole in the border between Belgium and France. German troops flooded through the Ardennes Forest, outflanked the French troops and isolated the Maginot Line. The 44 German divisions following Guderian's tanks passed directly through the large forest using only civilian roads. The Belgians did not implement the resistance plan at all, setting up roadblocks, digging traps, and destroying roads as Pétain predicted. Facing the rapidly advancing invaders, about 40 French divisions were imprisoned within the Maginot Line. They were "defended but defenseless", as if their existence was to defend the line of defense itself. The other 30 or so divisions were scattered along the defense line from Montmedy, the end of the Maginot Line, to the English Channel.
The Germans were equipped with modern tanks, fighter jets, Stuka dive bombers, and rapid-fire cannons, especially the fearsome high-velocity Type 88 gun, one of the most effective weapons of World War II. The French had almost no anti-aircraft weapons, only a very small number of aircraft to protect the top dignitaries, and outdated tanks on the ground. The French army was attacked quickly, suppressed by superior firepower, and outflanked. The French ground forces collapsed and were humiliated for all eternity.
French military planners had speculated that machine-gun bunkers along the coast would be protected from heavy artillery, which would breach river banks and cause flooding. However, they did not take the Type 88 flat-fire gun into consideration. The power of this kind of gun is small and will not cause harm to the river embankment, but it can blow the bunker to pieces. The fearsome Type 88 guns, Stuka dive bombers, and ground troops equipped with hand-held explosive packs worked together, sometimes taking down a fortification on the shore in a matter of seconds.
In addition, German artillery also invented simple but deadly tactics to deal with machine guns and observation posts in small fortifications. They used the Type 88 gun to repeatedly bombard the same spot on the target. The shells dug holes in the spot like a pickaxe, eventually penetrating the 12-inch-thick solid steel plate. Eight shots will usually do the trick.
This westernmost underground fortification of the Maginot Line was located just a few miles outside the city of Sedan. During the attack, a shell happened to be shot through the observation hole into an observation post, and three soldiers inside were killed. Under the cover of smoke bombs, the infantry rushed forward and stuffed grenades, smoke bombs and explosive packets into the hole. 24 hours later, the 106 soldiers who survived the first attack in the large fortifications of Lafite suffocated to death wearing gas masks that had lost their effectiveness. At that time, the smoke and poisonous gas generated by the explosion at the entrance of the cave filled the fortification tunnel.
Each armored division in the attack had a motorized infantry brigade; the armored division was followed closely by the motorized infantry division, occupying the positions created by the tanks. This dense team of steel and fire cannot be stopped by the panicked defenders. On either side of Dienant on the Meuse River, the French were defeated by General Hermann Hoth's XV Panzer Corps. Among the two tank divisions of this army, one was commanded by a bold young brigadier general named Erwin Rommel. To the south of the river, two tank divisions composed of the 41st Armored Corps also adopted the same tactics.
The French army suffered the heaviest blow in the suburbs of Sedan. This was really tragic for them.
Now, General Guderian has conquered the important town east of the Maas River, which is also the famous fortress city of Sedan. This is the first time since 1870 that the Germans have set foot on the land of Sedan Fortress again, but now Guderian and a large number of generals of the Armored Corps cannot relax for the time being. Their goal this time is to completely destroy France, not just to defeat it like last time. Therefore, conquering Sedan Fortress does not mean anything.
The smoke in Sedan has not cleared away, and the west bank of the Meuse River is still firmly guarded by the French army. While Guderian was discussing issues with generals such as Paul Hausser, the sound of gunfire outside could often be heard.
"General Paul Hausser, I think we should forcefully cross the Meuse River immediately and then advance quickly. Only in this way can we defeat France in one fell swoop and achieve a decisive victory!" Guderian said after a long silence.
The reason why Guderian roped in Paul Hausser was because the current First SS Armored Corps is the most powerful force in the armored group, although Guderian does not believe that combat effectiveness is due to the accumulation of new equipment. Yes, but I don’t deny that the performance of the SS armored forces so far is quite remarkable.
Of the ten armored divisions serving as vanguards, the SS only accounted for two, but as Hitt? Le's focus on training troops, and the fact that the national leader is the heir of the Krupp family, allowed the SS to field new tanks much faster than other troops. Furthermore, unlike the large establishment of the Wehrmacht, the SS troops at the same level far exceeded the enemy's expectations, and sometimes had unexpected effects.
Although these factors made Guderian envious, Guderian believed that the 19th Armored Corps under his command would not lose to the armed SS armed with these equipment. These factors were not what Guderian wanted to compete with. The basis of the interaction between Paul and Hausser. The reason why Guderian now seeks support from General Paul and Hausser is because Guderian is now in trouble. This trouble is inside rather than outside. That is the total number of people in the armored group now. Commanded General Kleist and asked Guderian to stop the advance. Prior to this, Guderian had already had a big quarrel with General Kleist.
Paul & Hausser know Guderian's difficulties now, because the SS as Hitt? The troops that Le was focusing on training, so Guderian must have believed that as long as he roped in the SS, he could achieve his intentions. If Paul Hausser had followed his own thoughts, he would not have made such a hasty decision. However, before Lin Wei left, he specifically told Paul Hausser that in the command of armored warfare, he should listen more to ancient times. Derrian's opinion. The course of the war also proved that Guderian was indeed very talented in armored warfare, which Paul & Hausser were also convinced of. But this is like asking Paul Hausser to side with Guderian, which is too early. So Paul Hausser asked, "General Guderian, we moved too fast! You have to understand that capturing Sedan is already a great achievement. Do you know where our reserve troops are? I Let me tell you, they are still on the Rhine River in the country, we should stop and wait for the support of the reserve troops! Otherwise we are likely to be annihilated by the French with heavy troops!"
"No, General Paul Hausser!" Guderian objected, "Don't tell me that you can't see the confused expression on the Frenchman's neck as we walk along the way. Can't you really see it? As long as we show our respect to If you take one step forward, you can open the Meuse River! On the French plains, the French army will be in danger. As for the backup issue you mentioned, General Paul Hausser, it is impossible for the armored troops to lose to the infantry on the plains. !”
General Paul Hausser thought for a while and agreed, "Okay, General Guderian, I am willing to stand with you, but can you guarantee that the commander of the group army and the generals of the headquarters agree with you?" "
"Leave this matter to me!" Guderian promised.
Guderian immediately requested a forcible crossing of the Maas River in the names of himself and Paul Hausser, and requested the commander of the Twelfth Army, General List, hoping to get the support of the army commander. The French army has occupied pre-prepared defensive positions, and the German army has not carried out careful reconnaissance in advance. The marching troops are temporarily unable to mobilize and prepare them, and there is no strong artillery support at the moment. This army made Lister It will be difficult to determine the determination to forcibly cross the Maas River. But the army commander, who was rich in combat experience, wasted no time. He requested aircraft to make up for the artillery support.
After receiving the support of General Lister. As soon as the air strikes of the first flying group were launched, General List ordered the avant-garde assault group to take rubber boats and motorboats to try to cross the river to attack. After ascertaining the strength and weakness of the French defense, a large number of German troops carried out a forced crossing. The two tank divisions of General Heinz Guderian's 19th Panzer Corps surged across the pontoon bridge that had been hastily erected over the Maas that night and advanced westward.
Although the French army and British bombers desperately tried to blow up the bridge, 71 Royal Air Force bombers shot down 40 in a single attack, most of which were shot down by anti-aircraft artillery; 70 French tanks were destroyed , the result was that the bridge was not blown up. By evening, the German bridgehead at Sedan had expanded to 30 miles wide and 15 miles deep, and the French troops defending the Allied central line of defense had been defeated. The troops that were not surrounded or captured retreated in Cangzhou. In the evening, the shore fortifications of the Maginot Line were broken through by the Twelfth Army, and the Germans established two small landing sites on both sides of Sedan. During the night, General List increased his troops to the landing site and continued to expand it. The British and French coalition forces in the north and the 22 Belgian divisions were already in an extremely dangerous situation with their retreat route cut off.
However, when Guderian led a large-scale armored force on a rampage, they were ordered to stop. This time it was an order from the Supreme Command. At this time, Guderian's 19th Armored Corps had reached the San Quentin-Pironne line. The reason for such an order was the appearance of about three divisions of French troops on the southern front of the armored forces.
The pause was not too long, because soon the German authorities received reports proving that the enemy who appeared to the south of the gap only wanted to form a side line of defense and had no intention of counterattack. Rundstedt believed that safety was no longer a problem, so he ordered Kleist to continue advancing and advance to the Cambrai-Sainte-Quentin line. There was nothing blocking their progress.