The commander of the 1st Army Group, General Bieraut, only stared at the situation in front of the French 1st Army, still insisting that 2/3 of the air force be used for the Netherlands and Belgium. The French Air Force, on its own initiative, used 50 aircraft to attack the Germans in the Ardennes direction, and 18 failed to return.

In the Sedan direction, during the night, Limmer took advantage of the hasty retreat of the cavalry units of the French Ninth Army and quickly crossed the Maas River, and the motorcycle battalion of the German 7th Panzer Division first crossed the river in the darkness of the night at Sedan and established a strong bridgehead before the defenders had time to react. Under the cover of this bridgehead, German tanks also crossed the river.

As a result, the left flank of the 5th Cavalry Division of the French Second Army in France was exposed to German attacks. Downstream of Sedan, on the front of the French cavalry defenses, Lieutenant Colonel Balk's 1st Infantry Regiment also crossed the river in a shallow section. Li Mo had been satisfactorily observing the river crossings and bridge building of the 7th and 5th Panzer Divisions all morning, and he personally encountered three Allied air raids.

The Allied Air Force, despite its losses, repeatedly attacked the German bridges over the Maas River (as mentioned earlier, 50 bombers lost 18 of them.) The French heavy artillery deployed in Sedan also accurately bombarded the German bridge-building work. In the air, Allied fighters showed what kind of results would be if used correctly. Five American-made Chlutis fighters attacked twelve unescorted Stuka dive bombers, shooting them all down, and then attacked another wave.

By the end of the morning, most of Limer's armored forces had crossed the Maas River and began to storm France. According to the road signs. Sedang is 18 km away. German armoured units had already passed through the "impassable" Ardennes Forest, and in the thin morning light it was already possible to see the heights on the Metz River. There, 70 years ago, the Prussian king and Bismarck commanded the 1st Franco-Prussian War.

By this time, the commander of the French Second Army, General Hunter Zieg, had already realized that the cavalry units had to retreat due to the flanks being outflanked. A battalion of the 55th Infantry Division, assigned to the cavalry units, was in disarray during the retreat: "The soldiers were scattered in the woods, panicked, unable to find routes and transports, and one battalion could only concentrate 300 men. completely lost its combat effectiveness", which almost foreshadowed the French reserve units of the same level behind Sedang under the onslaught of the German armored forces. What will happen.

The 2nd French Cavalry Division remained relatively calm in the morning, mainly because the German 5th Panzer Division opposite it also turned in the direction of Sedan, but due to the retreat of the 5th French Cavalry Division, the division was also ordered to retreat. The retreat proceeded in a relatively orderly manner. Many soldiers wept at abandoning the fortifications without firing a shot. But. General Hunter Ziger's plan to hold the border fell through within hours. The tanks of the German 1st Panzer Division bit the French 5th Cavalry Division to the death. Fierce pursuit.

By two o'clock in the afternoon, the 5th French Cavalry Division had to retreat again to Sedan. Four hours later, despite Ganmalin's order to defend Sedang. The 5th Cavalry Division, however, retreated across the Mes River and abandoned Sedan. By dusk, the main forces of the German 1st Panzer Division were already stationed in Sedan. The bridges over the river have all been blown up (after the defeat of France, many people made excuses, including Prime Minister Reynaud, accused someone of treason and deliberately did not blow up the bridge. Li Mo's only concern was that the 2nd Panzer Division had not yet caught up because of yesterday's traffic chaos......

The 6th Panzer Corps of the 7th German Army on Limer's right flank was making slow progress today. The 5th and 6th Panzer Divisions pointed to the confluence of the Mes and Maas rivers. Part of the reason for the slow progress is that yesterday it was mixed up with 2 armored divisions. Another reason was that the follow-up infantry divisions had caught up, making the traffic even more chaotic. (The 7th Panzer Corps is organized into the 5th, 6th, and 7th Panzer Divisions)

By noon, it was impossible to ascertain the location of units below the division level, even by radio. Fortunately, they were not subjected to any air raids, and there were no French covering troops on the east bank of the Metz River ahead. By evening, the 5th Panzer Division had crossed the Ardennes Forest and reached the banks of the River Metz (here, the River Metz and the Ardennes Forest are almost directly connected)

The 7th Panzer Corps was ahead of the cavalry units of the French 9th Army, which had retreated hastily without permission, which was why they reached the Metz River without resistance. The commander of the 9th French Army, General Clapp, immediately realized the seriousness of the problem and ordered the cavalry units to return to their original positions. However, the development of events no longer allows for this.

As already mentioned, as a result of their unauthorized retreat, the cavalry cover curtain of the 2nd Army was pushed across the Metz, and now if the cavalry of the 9th Army advances, their own flanks are also lost. By this time, General Clapp had received information that at least one German panzer division was rushing towards his defense. Considering that most of his infantry was still on the road, advancing towards the west bank of the Metz, and had not yet taken position, he ordered all cavalry units to withdraw from the battle, disengage and retreat to the west bank.

By now, the avant-garde operations of the French cavalry units had come to an end, and the French High Command, which had estimated that they could hold out for 5 days, believed that the 7th could only start crossing the river on the 9th day. As a result, the French cavalry units held out for only a day and a half, and the ensuing seventh strong crossing was much earlier, which would have serious consequences for the outcome of the campaign. It was from this that the pace of the Allies began to lag behind the seventh, and the gap will grow wider.

General Clapp's cavalry units did not have much trouble getting rid of the 7th Panzer Corps, but the cavalry units suffered great difficulties in disengagement. Li Mo commanded the troops to advance rapidly all the way, chasing and fighting fiercely." By noon, groups of unsaddled horses came running back, followed by many wounded horsemen.

There was a lot of blood on horses and on people. Many of the horses were already lame, and they had to be shot to end their suffering......" By 2 p.m., the armored vehicles of the Limer reconnaissance battalion had reached the east bank of the Mez River. The French units put up a brief resistance, temporarily blocking the reconnaissance battalion.

Flender's 6th Panzer Division was adapted from a light division, so there was only one tank regiment instead of the standard two. However, at noon on the 12th, the tank regiment of the backward 5th Panzer Division was also temporarily transferred to his command. By late afternoon, Flender's tank regiment was trying to seize the bridge in pursuit, and both sides showed superhuman valor.

When the German armored vehicles were closely following the retreating cavalry units and preparing to cross the bridge, a British lieutenant pressed the detonation button and did not react. He immediately rushed to the bridge and artificially detonated it. By this time, the 1st German tank No. 4 was almost on the bridge, and an anti-tank shell stopped it. Jumping from the car a German, armed with iron tongs, rushed to the fuse. He was immediately knocked out by the French. Immediately afterwards, the 2nd German tank No. 4 that was heading for the bridge was also destroyed, and the lieutenant had the opportunity to ignite the explosives, and the bridge was blown up. However, the lieutenant was immediately knocked down by the shell and died almost immediately. The Leopard did not keep up, which caused the situation where the fourth tank rushed to the front.

…… (To be continued......)