After the Germans occupied the forward positions of the French army, they began to organize their equipment and wait for reinforcements, and the French side also coincidentally temporarily stopped the attack.

Of course, the reason why they suspended the offensive was not because they wanted to let the Germans live, but because the French army was exhausted after the first few rounds of fierce attacks, and the only small part of them who could be called elite either fell on the offensive road or were tightly tied up by the Germans and thrown in front of the position, while the rest were either recruits or rookies who had only participated in a few battles, and it was impossible to organize them to attack without a little time.

However, the further the time dragged on, the more favorable it was for the Germans, the gunfire of the peripheral reinforcements was getting closer and closer, and the originally dense artillery fire on the side of the Wehrmacht armored battalion had almost completely subsided, and now the commanders of both sides were anxiously waiting for the outcome of the tank duel between the two sides.

Colonel Edward sat in the headquarters, holding the message in his left hand and perusing it - to be honest, he wasn't actually a left-hander, but a French 7.5mm bullet during the battle forced him to temporarily switch to his left hand to pick up things.

After silently reciting the last word, he let out a long breath, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but put a smile on the corner of his mouth, the message in his hand was very short and not a commendation order or a promotion order, it was just an ordinary battle situation report, but for Edward, who was unlucky enough to arrive home today, this short message really made him feel a lot better.

Because this message came from the 712th Tank Regiment of the Wehrmacht, which had been lost contact for a long time, the message read: "Our unit has routed the French armored forces besieging us, and is now penetrating the flank and rear of your encirclement!" ”

At the same time, the French commander was also briefed on the situation of his own troops, but compared to Edward, he could not laugh.

"Due to the exhaustion of ammunition, our anti-tank positions and armored units have all withdrawn from the battle, the enemy's armored units have jumped out of the encirclement, according to reliable information, they are interspersed with your rear and advance, I hope you will be more careful! - Staff of the 17th Army of the French Wehrmacht. Major General Yves held up the message in his hand and read it slowly, then sneered twice and said, "What a bunch of idiots!" An armored regiment and an anti-tank battalion ambushed an armored battalion, but they were beaten by others and fled! ”

"Division commander, didn't the telegram say that they withdrew from the battle because they ran out of ammunition?" A staff officer asked.

"Stupid! Do you believe what you said above on the surface? Major General Yves glanced at the staff officer.

"Commander, what should we do? Go on the offensive? An officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel asked, "The German army on the other side has been exhausted and will be finished soon, as long as my 311 Infantry Regiment is ready, at most one more rush we can annihilate them!" ”

"Our fully formed 309th Regiment and 310th Regiment also thought so, but after round after round of impact, the German defense line remained immovable, and it failed to eat the German regiment in the end! In the end, the only two full-fledged regiments we had in our hands were beaten to ......the brim," Major General Yves said, shaking his head, "and you're telling me now that the 311th Infantry Regiment, which is already short of guns and men, can take down the German positions on the opposite side with a single round of assault?" ”

"But the division commander is different, the 309th Regiment and the 310th Regiment are facing the German army in full state and with sufficient ammunition, and now this German regiment is already sleepy, short of food and ammunition! Teachers! Let's try again! "The commander of the 311th regiment obviously wants to get another chance.

"No need to try! The whole division is ready to retreat! Major General Yves said with a resolute expression.

"Divisional commander! Think again! If we retreat now, then the entire flank of the main position will be completely exposed to the Germans! The lieutenant colonel was in a hurry, "At that time, the 7th Panzer Division in front, with the cooperation of the German troops on the flank, will easily break through the defensive line set by General de Gaulle!" ”

"In this way, take 10,000 steps back and say, even if you eat the remnants of the German army in one round of attack, but what about the back, you should withdraw later?" Yves said and grabbed the lieutenant colonel's collar and gritted his teeth, "Don't forget, there is an armored battalion that is thrusting into our rear right now, and one of our infantry regiments that are resisting German reinforcements on the periphery will soon be unable to resist!" Then the tanks that are going to use meat to block the Germans?! ”

"But if we lose it here, the entire Weigang defense line will ......"

"Don't talk to me about the Wei Gang Line! The Maginot Line couldn't stop the Germans, let alone a hastily built Weygand Line? Yves looked disdainful, "I think General de Gaulle will soon order us to retreat, believe it or not?" ”

"Don't believe it! I believe that General de Gaulle will live and die with this line of defense! The lieutenant colonel said solemnly.

"Hehe, then you can watch." Yves sneered twice.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for a telegram written by Charles de Gaulle himself to be sent to the General Staff.

"The 20th, 30th, and 132nd Infantry Divisions are hereby ordered to withdraw from their current positions and withdraw to the rear with the remaining armored forces, while the 227th Infantry Division remains to continue to hold the main position! The ministries should be ready for the next defense of Paris! ”

"This ......" Looking at this message, the lieutenant colonel wiped the sweat from his forehead, "If this lets the high command know that we have abandoned our positions and retreated without authorization, I am afraid that General de Gaulle will be dismissed......"

"That's not something we can handle." Yves said, "There are a bunch of fools in the High Command, who are still dreaming of defeating the German mechanized cluster offensive head-on in the field!" Only we, the front-line commanders, know that for the Germans' mechanized corps, any defensive line built in the field will not be able to stop their onslaught, and the only thing that can really stop the Germans is the city! ”

Speaking of this, he paused, and then continued: "Forget it, we don't understand what those officials think, as soldiers, we just need to fight our own battles!" Prepare your regiments to retreat, try to avoid fighting the Germans, and we must prepare for the next defense of Paris! ”

After de Gaulle's order was issued, the 15th Army, with the exception of the 227th Infantry Division, soon began to retreat in an orderly manner according to de Gaulle's order.

In the process of retreating, they left most of the heavy equipment on the position, so as to ensure that the broken 227th Division could hold the position as much as possible, and secondly, to speed up the retreat as much as possible to avoid being caught up by the Germans, after all, the Germans behind were armored divisions and Panzergrenadier divisions, and these two divisions used wheels to carry soldiers, and they relied on two legs.

More than half an hour after the French retreated, German support units arrived at the battlefield in various vehicles.