In September of 1939, the French waited for the expected blow to come. While the German army was fully occupied in crushing Poland, the French launched a minor offensive into the Saarland, but the French did not advance beyond the range of the guns in their Maginot Line forts. After Poland was defeated, the troops returned to the safety of the forts, and both sides settled into what became known as the Phoney War. By May of 1940, the Allies looked to be as strong as the Germans, both in manpower and equipment. The total Anglo-French force amounted to 2,500,000 men, which was slightly more than the German army fielded. The allies also outnumbered the Germans in armor: while the French and British possessed 3500 tanks, the German Army could only muster 2570. In the air, however, the Germans outnumbered the Allies by nearly 1000 aircraft, and this superiority was to be critical during the forthcoming camp

aign. It was in doctrine, organization and faith in themselves that the French were defective. Their methods were outmoded and their gunnery inferior: inequalities, which placed their tanks at a severe disadvantage to the Germans in almost any confrontation. While the French Army continued to rely on doctrine, weapons, and tactics more suited to World War I, the German Army was now confident in its new weapons, doctrine and training. The German military strategy of using of fast-moving tanks, with motorized infantry and artillery supported by dive-bombers and concentrating on one part of the enemy sector became known as Blitzkrieg.

On 14 May, the Allies mounted desperate air attacks to destroy the bridges at Sedan. The bridges were defended by anti-aircraft guns and 200 Luftwaffe aircraft, which decimated the Allied aircraft. The planned French counterattacks on 14 May dissolved into uncoordinated piecemeal attacks so Guderian took the bold decision to pivot his corps westwards to make the breakout the next day. With only two-thirds of his force across the river, and French troops massing south of the bridgehead near Stonne; pushing forward without regard to his flanks was a very big gamble on Guderian’s part. Although there was fierce fighting on the southern shoulder of the German break-in around the village of Stonne on 15 May, the panzers broke out to the west and Guderian realized that he had cut through the main French defenses. By 16 May, Reinhardt had broken out at Montherme and Hoth’s panzer corps was fully across the Meuse at Dinant, spearheaded by Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division, which was earning the name ‘The Ghost Division’ as his men constantly appeared far in advance of where the French expected. That day Guderian’s troops linked up with Reinhardt’s at Moncornet, tearing a 60 mile gap in the French line from Sedan to Dinant, and with the panzer divisions out into the open countryside, there was virtually nothing the French could do to stop them. The French were not the only ones surprised by the success of the panzer divisions. Hitler was concerned about the vulnerability of the flanks and on 17 May he ordered a halt. Guderian was furious about the halt, but was allowed to carry out reconnaissance in force. This allowed him to continue his advance across France that night.

The German plan of attack in the west was similar to the famous Schlieffen plan of World War I. The point of main effort was to be on the right wing, but swinging a little wider than in 1914 and including Holland. Army Group B was to invade Holland and Belgium with three panzer divisions and all available airborne troops. The advance of Army Group B would be accompanied by the dropping of parachute troops at key points in Belgium and Holland. There was little doubt that the French would regard this advance as the main attack and move rapidly across the Franco-Belgian frontier in order to cover Brussels and Antwerp. The main thrust was to be delivered by Twelfth Army. This comprised Reinhardt’s Panzer Corps, Guderian’s Panzer Corps, and Wietersheim’s Motorized Corps. They were to cross the difficult terrain of the Ardennes, which was very unsuitable tank country and inadequately guarded. They would force the crossing of the Meuse at Sedan and sweep rapidly west in order to push far behind the flank and rear of the enemy’s forces in Belgium. By advancing to the Channel coast, the Germans aimed to encircle and destroy the northern Allied armies. This plan was extremely risky because if the Allies detected the advance through the Ardennes, Allied bombers could destroy the long panzer columns. Nevertheless, the German High Command on the advice and inspiration of Manstein adopted this plan.

As the German break out gather

Some topics in this essay:
Holland Belgium, German Army, Resistance Germans, Sedan French, French British, Panzer Corps, French Germans, British Matilda, Sedan Dinant, Rifle Regiment, panzer divisions, german army, panzer division, panzer corps, 7th panzer division, advance ardennes, maginot line, world war, armored division, meuse dinant, french resistance, rommel’s 7th panzer, motorized infantry artillery, guderian’s panzer corps, paris 14 june,