The Ardennes offensive in 8731939 added eight oil tactics and the golden cicada to the shell

End of April 1939, Palais de Brennes, Avenue Saint-Dominic, Paris, France. This historic building, built in 1787, is the seat of the French Ministry of Defence. At the same time that hundreds of thousands of troops from China, Germany, Britain and France were setting up a battlefield in the north of the Ardennes Forest and south of the Maas River, the British and French forces were also holding emergency meetings in this luxurious and compact two-story building. The central topic of the meeting was very clear, that is, what to use to save the main force of the Anglo-French alliance that was gradually in crisis.

At this point, everyone has seen that the situation is very bad. The Sino-German coalition has now taken Bastony, opening the passage through which countless Chinese and German troops are pouring into France's backyard. At the same time, there is also a powerful Chinese armored force in the Ardennes Forest in the battle of the quilt, in just half a day, the French Chapter 867 regimental army lost its armor, and the entire armored corps was turned into an infantry division, and now it is retreating in the small Belgian city of Somme. Lez "stood by for help".

Although the commander of the French Chapter 867 Regiment Corps, who was in charge of commanding the Anglo-French forces in the Northern Theater of Operations, Joseph . Admiral George had put together 200,000 troops, 1,300 tanks, and 2,000 artillery pieces to fight this brave Chinese armored force, but everyone in this building, from the gatekeeper to Marshal Gan Molin, was not optimistic about this decisive battle. In fact, Joseph, who decided to start this decisive battle. Admiral George himself knew that there was no hope of victory.

"Gentlemen, the fate of the French Republic and the United Kingdom has reached the most critical moment!" The hoarse voice of the French marshal Gammerin came from the conference room on the second floor of the Brennes Palace. The commander-in-chief of the Anglo-French forces now had a tired and depressed look on his face, his eyes were bloodshot, and his face was pale without a trace of blood, as if he had not closed his eyes for many days.

However, after hearing the marshal's speech, all the people in the conference room still turned their expectant eyes on Gan Malin, who was sitting at the top of the conference table. Gammel glanced at the high-ranking generals of the British and French forces present at the meeting, and then forced a little spirit, and said unhurriedly:

"I believe you already know the outcome of the tank battle that took place in the Ardennes Forest this morning, it is very regrettable that our 1st Panzer Army was defeated by the Chinese in the engagement! And it took the Chinese less than half a day to inflict heavy losses on an armored corps that represented the strongest combat effectiveness of the French Army. After research, the General Headquarters of the Allied Forces believes that there can only be one reason for this situation, that is, the northern part of the Ardennes Forest is the main breakthrough direction of the Sino-German coalition forces, at least one of the main breakthrough directions! The armored forces of the Sino-German coalition deployed in the northern part of the Ardennes Forest have a very large number and strong combat effectiveness. ”

With that, the aged French marshal stood up with his hands on the table, then took up the baton that had been placed on the table and walked to a wall with a huge velvet curtain. Several staff officers who had been waiting there for a long time immediately opened the curtain, and in an instant, a huge map of the strategic situation in northern France and Belgium appeared in front of everyone.

"In addition, according to the French Chapter 867 Regimental Army and Chapter 867 Regimental Army, it is found that the army group also has at least 6 armored divisions and 4 panzergrenadier divisions, 16 motorized rifle divisions! This German Panzer Army and the Chinese Chapter 867 Regiment Army together have 32 or 33 elite divisions, if they use these troops to attack the flank of our army on the line from Namur to Yuyi," Gan Malin's eyebrows furrowed slightly, revealing a painful look, "Our nearly 2 million troops of Britain, France and Belgium will be in danger of being attacked on their backs!" Moreover, the Belgian plains on both sides of the Maas River are very conducive to the operation of Chinese and German armored forces, and once the enemy forces successfully cross the Maas River, we have little power to stop them from sweeping our rear and cutting off the retreat of our 2 million troops! ”

As soon as Gan Molin's conclusion came out, there was a buzz of discussion in the conference room. Although everyone knows that the situation is not good, it is clear that Gammelin's forecast is even more pessimistic than everyone imagined.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Quiet, please be quiet! Seeing the chaos in the hall, Marshal Gammelin's baton tapped on the map, and then raised his voice, "Our 2 million army is already on the brink of danger!" If we don't do a little bit about it, this war will be lost! ”

"Yes, Mr. Marshal is right!" Another giant of the Anglo-French forces, Admiral Ironside, Chief of the General Staff of the British Empire, stood up, took up the topic of Gammelin, and continued: "At the moment the coalition forces are indeed in danger. He also walked to the edge of the map, took the baton from Gammelin's hand, and clicked on the map. Lez Road:

"The Anglo-French and Sino-German forces will have a battle here, and we will commit 200,000 troops, 1,300 tanks and 2,000 artillery pieces. However, our opponents have a much stronger force, and it is estimated that they will have at least four Panzer Divisions, four Panzergrenadier Divisions and a Motorized Infantry Division, with a total strength of up to 300,000 troops, 2,000 tanks, assault artillery, and 2,500 cannons! Therefore, we expect that this battle will end in our defeat.

Although it was difficult to achieve a final victory in this battle, it was able to attract the attention of the German high command for a certain time. I believe that our German counterparts also have a professional enough eye to see the importance of this battle, and they will definitely use the main combat power of the Luftwaffe on the battlefield south of the Maas River. And we will use this opportunity to withdraw the main forces of the coalition forces from Belgium.

In addition, our RAF has redeployed all of its fighter squadrons to airfields in northern France. Starting tomorrow morning, the British Royal Air Force will compete with the Luftwaffe for air supremacy north of the Maas River at all costs, so as to ensure that the main forces of the coalition forces can withdraw from Belgium in the shortest possible time...... The specific retreat plan has been finalized and will be distributed to the representatives of the various army headquarters after the meeting. The armies have 12 hours to prepare, and from tomorrow morning they must retreat according to the plan, and within 24 hours our main forces will be withdrawn from Belgium, and the troops must not delay their operations for any reason! ”

"But, Mr. Admiral, who will cover our retreat? The German Army Group A will not watch us retreat. Someone in the conference room suddenly stood up and asked a question.

"This question...... Arrangements have already been made in our retreat plan. Marshal Gammelin glanced at the general who asked the question, and it turned out to be Maxim, who had just been appointed by the French government to serve as his deputy. Admiral Wei Gang. Gan Molin sighed softly and replied in a somewhat sad tone: "There will be a part of the army that will remain as the rear guard of the main force, and it will be arranged in the battle plan issued to the various army groups. Furthermore...... All Belgian troops were to stay behind to pin down the Germans. ”

"That means we abandoned Belgium and wanted to count on them to break the back." The corners of Admiral Wei Gang's mouth showed a hint of mockery.

Gan Molin glanced at the general, who might soon succeed him, and nodded with a wry smile, "Our retreat plan will be kept secret from the Belgians...... Although they will soon find out, they can always win more than ten hours, and if all goes well, we can still withdraw most of our troops from Belgium. ”

"Hmph, what if it doesn't go so well? How much of our 2 million army is left? 500,000 or 300,000? Admiral Wei Gang glanced at Gan Malin with contempt, then muttered in a low voice, and was about to make some suggestions that seemed practical to him, when the door to the conference room was suddenly pushed open.

I saw a staff officer running in in a panic: "Your Excellency Marshal, Chapter 867 The regimental army is in a hurry, and the enemy troops of about a Chinese division and a German division have surrounded Somme. The 1st Panzer Corps in Lez City is now storming there! And...... At least two Chinese armored divisions have bypassed the Somme. Lez has entered the Belgian plains! ”

Gan Molin and Wei Gang's faces changed drastically at the same time, Gan Molin glanced at Wei Gang, and then said loudly: "Gentlemen, we don't have time to discuss anymore, we must carry out the retreat plan!" Instantly! ”

……

The small Belgian city of Somme, where the French 1st Panzer Army was stationed. Around Lez, there is already a scene of hell in a sea of fire. This Panzer Corps, which once had 626 tanks, was supposed to be an assault force with high hopes from the French leadership, but in less than a day of fighting, it was as if they had experienced a nightmare, losing almost all their tanks, and now they were surrounded by two infantry divisions (one of which was the Panzergrenadier Division), bombarding them indiscriminately with heavy artillery.

Moreover, the original idea of the French Army's Chapter 867 regimental army to use their sacrifice to buy a little time to reorganize the front was completely frustrated. Looking north from the departure position of Germany's Chapter 867 junction, I saw countless flying ballistics flying from behind me to the woods and towns to the north, and after a moment, the high and low pillars of smoke accompanied by the light of fire were on the British front line at the same time straight into the sky, and the fragments of weapon parts could be vaguely found from this column of smoke, as well as the stumps and broken arms of the human body, all of which were lifted high into the air, and even a few unlucky Matilda 2 tanks were directly hit by large-caliber shells, and they immediately turned into a group of burning fireballs.

The response of the British army was also timely. Hidden behind the artillery group Chapter 867 junction area and above the artillery positions in the rear. However, it did not cause much damage, as long as it was not directly hit by shells, the armor of tanks and self-propelled guns was sufficient to withstand damage from shrapnel and shock waves.

The artillery battle between the two sides did not last long, and the huge tank cluster of the squadron began to roll forward with a roar, and more than 700 tanks of the two armored divisions were lined up in 27 rows, with 18 to 36 tanks in each piece. At the vanguard were more than 120 No. 4 tanks from two heavy tank battalions, whose 88mm guns were able to annihilate the slow-moving Matilda 2 tanks from outside the effective range of British tanks or anti-tank guns. For Admiral Xu Yunlong, who commanded the battle, there was no doubt that he would win the battle. And for Montgomery on the other side, this battle can only be described as helpless!

In his opinion, the entire Anglo-French deployment was now out of order. The powerful assault forces of four armored divisions and a light mechanized division could have been clenched into a fist and dealt a fatal blow to the Sino-German forces in the Ardennes Forest. But now these troops have been thrown into the battlefield in turn, turning into a typical refueling tactic! As a result, they were broken one by one by the Chinese armored forces, which had an advantage in strength and equipment. First the French 1st Armored Division, then the 3rd French Light Mechanized Division, then the British 1st and 3rd Divisions, and then the 3rd and 4th French Armored Divisions that are coming! In just two days, 25 percent of the armored forces of the British and French forces were inexplicably lost......

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