It takes extraordinary courage for a strong man to cut off his wrist. De Gaulle obviously possesses this kind of courage. When the Fourth Armored Division had exhausted all its strength and seemed to be just one step away from killing the Führer Regiment, De Gaulle keenly noticed that time was no longer in his hands. inside. Especially after Saint-Quentin's French Sixth Army fell into passivity. De Gaulle knew that the situation was over now and it was time to make a painful choice.
Although the Führer Regiment seemed to be dying, de Gaulle still decisively ordered, "Order, the troops currently in contact with the German army, slowly withdraw from the battlefield, the heavy artillery troops prepare for the last shelling, and then withdraw from the battle immediately!"
"Colonel?" The staff officer wanted to say something else, but was immediately stopped by de Gaulle. Of course, de Gaulle knew what his staff was talking about, and explained, "The battle situation in Saint-Quentin is very bad. You must understand that we cannot change the overall situation, so we must conserve our strength now and prepare for future battles! Do you understand? ?”
"I understand, Colonel," the staff officer assured, "I will get them out of the battle right away!"
The French army, which was fighting the Führer Regiment, immediately received an order from the headquarters to retreat. The soldiers couldn't believe this was true. In their view, although the German army they faced was fighting bravely and tenaciously, it was slowly becoming unstoppable due to their numerical advantage.
Therefore, the soldiers responded to their commanders one after another and asked them to explain to the division commander the current situation of the German army. However, under de Gaulle's strong pressure, all this was of no use. As a division commander, de Gaulle must now think about the problem from an overall perspective and cannot drag the entire unit into disaster just because of the soldiers' ideas. If the Sixth Army cannot hold on any longer, Guderian, who has come to his senses, is likely to kill de Gaulle easily.
"We have no time, we must retreat immediately!" De Gaulle's order showed his determination to his subordinates, because he had already sensed the danger.
De Gaulle's premonition was not wrong. When the French soldiers obeyed De Gaulle's order and began to retreat hesitantly, the National Gendarmerie Division Leadership Group finally repaired the broken bridge that had troubled them for a long time. This is definitely good news for Kepler, the leader of the Heads of State. This means that the heads of state finally no longer have to be beaten passively. With the cooperation of the national leadership group, Kepler is absolutely confident of having a head-on confrontation with de Gaulle.
"The National Leadership Group is calling the Air Force. We need the support of the Stuka formation here!" The electromechanical personnel in the army who specialize in liaison with the Air Force kept repeating simple and boring orders. I hope my brothers in the Air Force can come up and help them out.
At the same time, amidst the roar of the machines, tanks began to pass through the bridge under the guidance of personnel. The craters on the other side had been filled by the engineers of the Heads of State Regiment. Now the tank troops of the National Leadership Regiment only need to get to the location as soon as possible. . Solve the crisis of the Heads of State.
In accordance with de Gaulle's order, the French heavy artillery troops immediately carried out a large-scale artillery bombardment after the infantry withdrew. Renault's 105/155 mm howitzers continued to pour their fury on the German positions. At this time, the artillery troops finally I feel like I am no longer a passerby. Therefore, he was not stingy with ammunition and only wanted to blow up the German army's positions into a restricted area of life. Even Miss 75 came out to join in the fun, because they knew that compared to the German armored forces, their own tanks and armored vehicles were too bulky. It is very likely to be overtaken when retreating, once overtaken. Considering the powerful strength of the Gudri armored group, it is likely to be completely wiped out.
Therefore, the retreat this time must be done when the Germans are confused by the bombing and taking advantage of the chaos to escape.
The French conspiracy had obviously succeeded. Although the Führer Regiment wanted to pursue them and Kepler had given the order, they still had to stop and dodge due to the heavy artillery attack of the 4th Armored Division. The Fourth Armored Division took advantage of this time and immediately left the battlefield.
General Tacchin of the Sixth Army, after being informed by de Gaulle that the situation in the direction of Pilonny was irreversible, knew that he could not do anything. Moreover, if General Tacchin insisted on having his own way and insisted on fighting, even the French Sixth Army would Group armies are very dangerous.
"Hey!" General Taqian sighed. General Taqian still supports this plan, because this may be the last chance to save France. But it was impossible. The only choice before General Taqien was to retreat; "Order the troops in front who have been in contact with the German armored group to evacuate, and let the 3rd Armored Division cover them, and use the cannons to burn all the shells. Then throw it away!”
"Hopefully, it's not too late! Alas... Great France once fell to this point!" General Taqian sighed in his heart.
Under the order of General Tachion, the French Sixth Group began to retreat, but General Tachion's Sixth Army was, after all, a large army of hundreds of thousands of people and could not reach the speed of de Gaulle's Fourth Armored Division. It takes some time from the time an order is executed to the time it is heard by lower-level officers. No one can comprehensively command an army of more than 100,000 people, not even General Tachion.
In a short period of time, Guderian's 19th Armored Corps came over with another armored division, and a steady stream of tanks and armored vehicles continued to pass through the bridge.
"Boys, kill these French guys!" Guderian said energetically while standing on the armored vehicle. The clear water of the Somme River reflected Guderian's heroic expression. It seems that they want to remember that there once was a great commander who fought here.
"Old man, don't worry!" Both the armored soldiers who heard the order on the radio and the young guys passing by Guderian all replied with confidence.
The continuous increase in attack power made Guderian more confident, and he was ready to launch a beautiful defeat from here and open up the road to the English Channel. "The 1st Armored Division is on the left and the 10th Armored Division is on the right, each looking for loopholes in the French and breaking through weakly defended areas," Guderian ordered.
"General, in this way, you will have no strength around you. If the French counterattack, wouldn't you be in great danger?" the staff officer objected.
"The French don't dare to counterattack!" Guderian pointed at the armored troops crossing the bridge and said, "Besides, aren't there a steady stream of troops passing by me? Don't worry about my safety!"
Following Guderian's orders, the 1st and 10th Armored Divisions immediately tore apart the weak points of the French and prepared to divide and encircle the French Sixth Army. The French Sixth Army, which was attacked by the armored group, was not familiar with the German armored group at all. There was no way to defend the enemy's tactics, and they soon fell into chaos under the attack of armored warfare. This provided a more stable situation for Guderian's plan.
Although General Tachion wanted to stabilize the situation and joined the battle with the 3rd Armored Division, facing the German armored group that was superior to him in every aspect, the 3rd Armored Division was ultimately unable to turn the tide. After an hour of fierce fighting and almost all tanks and vehicles being sacrificed, they were defeated.
After the defeat of the 3rd Armored Division, the Sixth Army it covered was still unable to reach a safe location, but Guderian had changed his plan, because it would probably take a long time to annihilate this French force. Time, what Guderian lacks most now is time. It needs to annihilate the British and French military vehicles in the north before they reach a safe location. So after careful consideration, Guderian finally gave up his plan to annihilate the French Sixth Army, allowing General Tachion to temporarily keep his own army.
After the battle, both Guderian and Paul Hausser knew that whether they were going south to Paris or north to the English Channel, it would be smooth sailing for them. There is no more power to stop his own path. The greatest moment will appear, and the unparalleled feat is just before our eyes. Guderian couldn't help but said to the entire armored group, "Soon, we will become the heroes of all Germany! Go north to the English Channel and annihilate the British and French forces there. Allied forces! Then we will capture Paris and wash away the shame of the last war. German soldiers, let us enjoy the victory together!"
"Long live Germany, Hi Hitler!" Both the Wehrmacht and the SS were paying respect to Guderian, this outstanding commander, in their own way.
Charge to the sea! No words could be more apt than the actions of the present Panzer Group Offensive, a mighty wedge of ten armored divisions, advancing madly north of the Somme, past the famous battlefields of the First World War. At the same time, the German High Command has committed all available infantry into the battle to consolidate and expand the gaps for the armored forces to break through.
On May 19, the German army had reached the Northern Canal: the 7th Armored Division was at Markoun, and on its left were the 6th and 8th Armored Divisions, reaching places east of Inzi and Baumez respectively. The 2nd Armored Division reached east of Comblis, the 5th Armored Division protected the outer flank of the 7th Division, and the 10th Armored Division protected the outer flank of the 1st Division. The SS Gendarmerie Division and the Reich Division advanced crosswise, constantly taking turns to lead the charge, allowing each other to get adequate rest.
The various armored divisions guarded each other's advance. No matter where they came from, the troops who tried to stop their advance were mercilessly annihilated.