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The Germans surrounded the remnants of the main force of the Allied Army Group Center led by Petain in the city of Metz, because Petain's command error made nine elite armored divisions equipped with medium weapons completely useless. The www.biquge.info M28A3 main battle tank was used as a battery and a deer to block the streets, and the W30 wheeled infantry tank became a field rest tent for the Entente.

The Allied soldiers were ready to play street fighting with the Germans with weapons such as Z29 anti-tank fighting vehicles, anti-tank rocket launchers and anti-tank sniper rifles, but the Germans suffered enough losses in the brutal street battles of the defense of Moscow.

Pétain breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he had made the right decision, which was to withdraw most of his elite troops into the city and preserve his strength.

However, when Petain urgently appealed to the British and French high command for help, he was shocked by the news.

"There are no reinforcements within two hundred kilometers around!"

It turned out that after the Germans defeated the Entente Army Group Center, the German armored forces were not interested in attacking Metz at all, but quickly advanced to the deep hinterland of France, and its strategic purpose was to quickly break through to the rear of the Flank before the British and French Entente ** reacted, and carry out a big detour tactical outflanking.

The three Panzer Divisions and eight Motorized Rifle Divisions of the Germans hidden in the Ardennes quickly attacked, planning to pass through the Ardennes Mountains as quickly as possible into the heart of France, and then quickly advance to the southwest, interspersed with the flanks and rear flanks of the Entente Army Group North, and flank the Northern Attack Group under the command of Army General Charles Pohl in front and rear.

Hitler's troops in the Ardennes had been secretly hidden for up to a month. They will cross the 110-kilometre-long gorge of the Ardennes to penetrate deep into France, where there are not many French troops left to defend them. ╔╗

On the afternoon of the 21st, Guderian's three armored divisions had reached the north bank of the Maas River and captured the famous French fortress city of Sedan. That night, they began to make intense preparations for crossing the river.

The forced crossing of the Maas River is considered the key to the French battle. This was well known to both the Central and Entente powers. But the problem was that the Germans made the first move, and unexpectedly disrupted the Entente's plan for a major counteroffensive. For this, the Germans made a desperate bet. Guderian threw all 3 of his panzer divisions into it.

At 11 o'clock on the morning of the 22nd, the Germans dispatched nearly 600 bombers in batches to bombard the French positions and artillery groups on the south bank of the Maas River for five hours. And the French army's will to resist was paralyzed.

At 4 p.m., the Germans began to force their way across the Maas River in hundreds of rubber boats. Due to the fierce artillery fire of the German army, the lack of troops of the Entente, and the haste to respond to the battle, it was not an opponent of the German army at all. After an hour and a half, the Germans finally gained a foothold on the south bank of the Maas River, and the German sappers immediately began to erect pontoon bridges. It was eight o'clock in the evening. Goodry's 1st Panzer Division had penetrated the French positions and penetrated into the depths of the French army. The 2nd and 10th Panzer Divisions also crossed the Maas River at midnight.

On the same day, Hort's 7th Panzer Division of the 15th Panzer Corps also crossed the Maas River near Nantes, 40 miles to the west.

As soon as the Maas line was lost, the road to Paris and the English Channel was opened, the British and French troops fighting in Belgium were in danger of being outflanked, and the French army on the Maginot Line would also be flanked by the enemy, but Pétain's Army Group Center was routed by the Germans at this time, and the remnants were surrounded by the Germans in Metz. Britain and France suddenly felt the gravity of the situation. Britain quickly deployed 10 additional fighter wings to strike back with the British and French air forces in France.

On the afternoon of the 23rd, the fiercest air battle on the Western Front broke out over the Maas River since the start of the war, with 700 British Breham bombers (the British name of the H6N3 strategic bomber of the Chinese Empire) and 1,330 French Breguet bombers (the French version of the Chinese Imperial N5N2 tactical bomber) under the cover of 2,950 fighters, and about 4,000 fighters from about 22 German wings rose into the air to intercept them. ╔╗From noon to dark. The sound of gunfire on the landing ground was incessant, and the fighters of the two sides flew up and down, chasing each other, and from time to time planes were hit by bullets and caught fire, dragging black smoke down, and bombs dropped by British and French planes indiscriminately exploded one column of water after another on the surface of the river. Not to be outdone, the German anti-aircraft guns continued to shoot British and French planes that infiltrated at low altitudes with heavy fire. The dense network of ground-to-air firepower turned the British and French planes into moths to the fire, breaking in batches and devouring them in batches. The scuffle continued until nightfall, when the British and French planes, which had suffered heavy losses, were defeated, and the German pontoon bridges crossing the river were mostly intact.

In this battle, the Germans shot down more than 2,200 British and French planes, of which 112 were handled by the German Second Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment alone. The planes sent by the British lost 60%. It wasn't until many years later that the RAF History stated: "There is nothing more painful than the toll of such suicidal fighting." "This day is called by the Germans "Fighter Day". After that, the British and French air forces only dared to take to the air at night, and the air supremacy in the theater was firmly controlled by the Germans.

The Germans quickly established a strong defensive line on the Maas River, and used it as a base to quickly penetrate deep into the French hinterland, and in the four years since the outbreak of World War II, the Anglo-French Allies suddenly failed to defend the defense line at great expense, and the German army drove straight in.

Most of Pétain's Army Group Center was annihilated, although the elite of the armored forces remained, but it was surrounded by the Germans in Metz, and there were no Entente troops within a radius of 200 kilometers.

In the Netherlands and Belgium, Army Group North was mainly British troops, followed by the French army, as well as the Dutch army, the Belgian army and the Norwegian army, which was a large motley army. ╔╗

When the German army suddenly succeeded in counterattacking Pétain's Army Group Center, Charles and other generals were afraid. Soon, when the German army quickly passed through the Ardennes Mountains, bypassed the Maginot Line into the heart of France, and captured the Maas River, and quickly interspersed with detours in the direction of Amiens, Charles and other generals did not dare to attack the German army in Belgium again. Instead, they quickly returned to the base camp of Amiens, but it was already too late.

On February 23, just after dawn, a horde of German Stuka bombers suddenly bombed the airfields, railway junctions, heavy troop concentration areas and cities in France and Belgium controlled by the Anglo-French Entente**. 5:30 a.m. On a front of more than 330 kilometers from the English Channel to the Maginot Line, German ground forces launched a large-scale attack on the Anglo-French Entente** on the opposite side from the Dutch, Belgian, Brussels, and Luxembourg fronts, opening the operational prelude to a full-scale counteroffensive.

Served as the assist and attraction of the main forces of the British and French armies of the German Army Group B. First of all, airborne troops attacked important bridges and fortress facilities in France in the direction of Amiens and Paris. This sudden blow immediately caused panic among the Entente** team, who had just attacked the Netherlands and Belgium. Immediately afterwards, the armored units of Army Group B took advantage of the chaos to launch a fierce attack.

As a result of a surprise attack by the German Airborne Forces. Soon all the main roads in the rear of Army Group North commanded by Charles had been occupied, making the major counteroffensive of German Army Group B proceeding very smoothly.

The fierce attack of the German Army Group B on the border of the Netherlands and Belgium entente** made it impossible for the main forces of Britain, France, the Netherlands, and other countries to withdraw from the line of fire and were bitten by the Germans.

German armored forces and mechanized infantry divisions, which broke through from the direction of the Maas River, quickly advanced in the direction of Amiens. Since the main forces of Charles's Army Group North were pinned down by the German Army Group B on the border between the Netherlands and Belgium, Charles knew very well that once his main forces quickly withdrew, then the German Army Group B would pounce on him and chase him in the ass. ╔╗ In that case, the entire Army Group North would be in an extremely dangerous situation, so Charles could only telegraph the defenders of Amiens to wait for reinforcements, while he hurriedly built a defensive position on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands, so that the main force of Army Group North could withdraw to help Amiens.

However, the Entente defenders of Amiens had less than one division, while the Germans pounced on them with two well-equipped armored divisions and eight motorized infantry divisions, and the defenders of Amiens were no match for the Germans in terms of strength, equipment and combat effectiveness.

Early morning of the 24th. The defenders of Amiens lasted less than four hours before being crushed by the Germans, who swarmed into Amiens to bloodied the remnants of the Entente and frantically strafed the civilians of Amiens, causing a bloody White Terror.

Amiens was the old nest of Charles's Army Group North, which was lost. It was equivalent to cutting off Army Group North's retreat to Paris, France, and the German army, interspersed with detours, would soon form an encirclement of Army Group Charles.

Charles was frightened, immediately adjusted his deployment, prepared to retreat in the direction of Dunkirk, and asked the British government to quickly organize a fleet to bring the British expeditionary force back to England, because Charles had expected the Entente to lose the French battlefield.

While German Army Group B was attracting the main force of Charles's Army Group North, Loeb's Army Group C also quickly opened up a position towards the Entente Army Group South, which was attacking the direction of German Alsace from the Maginot Line. Their purpose was not to crush Coster's army, but to contain him and prevent him from retreating in the direction of Maginot. Waiting for Guderian's Army Group, which had broken into the heart of France, to occupy the Maginot direction from behind, and then completely annihilated the Coster Army Group in front and rear.

Loeb's feint on the opposite side of Coster was very successful, making it impossible for Coster to withdraw his troops from Alsace, and in the face of the British and French base camp's repeated orders urging him to withdraw the Maginot Line as soon as possible, Coster was unwilling to highlight the fat in his mouth - Alsace, because this place placed the spiritual shackles of the French for more than half a century, which caused Scott's department to hesitate to withdraw the Maginot Line from Alsace. ╔╗

In the early morning of 25 February, the German Army's Army Group A, which was the main offensive on the western route, carried out the main assault on the Charles Army Group in Belgium. Within six hours of the attack, Charles's four corps were routed, leaving one corps and another brigade to surrender without a fight.

The German armored clusters drove straight in, and their power and speed were unheard of in the history of warfare. France was in a panic.

In the early morning of February 27, French Prime Minister Renaud called British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in frustration and said: "I am afraid that we will lose this battle." ”

Churchill was stunned: "I simply don't understand that an attack with a large number of rapid armored units would cause such a drastic change." It was clear that we were carrying out a major counteroffensive on all fronts, but now it turned into a major counteroffensive on all fronts by the Germans. It's incredible! ”

In order to further find out the truth of the war situation and to cheer up the French leaders, who were already desperate, Churchill flew from London to Paris on March 1. As soon as he saw French Chancellor Renaud and the commander-in-chief of the Anglo-French forces, he immediately realized that the situation was much worse than he had imagined. Because each of them had a gray face.

Churchill asked Ganmalin: "Where are the strategic reserves?" ”

Ganmalin shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, and said, "There are no strategic reserves!" ”

Churchill was dumbfounded. He finally knew the seriousness of the problem.

"Please invite the Chinese Empire to enter the war!" Renault said with a bitter face: "I think this is the only way!" ”

Churchill waved his hand and said, "No! Asking them at this time will only prompt them to fall into the trap against us. ”

Gan Malin said, "In my opinion. The strategy of the Chinese Empire would not have been like that. They should understand that it is better to help us than to help the Germans, and if we are wolves, then the Germans are tigers. ”

Churchill sighed and said, "Even if you ask the Chinese Empire for help, it can't be now." We must at least stabilize the situation first, so that we can have the capital to negotiate with the Chinese Empire, otherwise we will be defeated, and unless the Chinese Empire has a brain in water, it will join the defeated country to start a war against the victorious country. ”

Renault understood what Churchill meant. So he said: "We plan to move the capital, Paris will definitely not be able to hold it, we will move to Bordeaux, there are still two-thirds of the French territory, and the Maginot Line, we will not be defeated." ”

Churchill returned to London and immediately ordered the Foreign Office to negotiate quickly with the Chinese Empire, and he instructed: "Talk well with the Chinese Empire." If necessary, we can join the Greater China Co-Prosperity Sphere, or even sacrifice more. ”

Churchill was no longer optimistic about France, because he knew very well that France's elite Army Group Center was gone, and as Army Group North prepared to withdraw from Dunkirk to Britain, the Entente forces in France did not exceed 700,000 men. And there is no elite to speak of, and it will not be able to stop the frantic attack of millions of German troops.

The pace of Guderian's 19th Panzer Corps' advance not only caught the Entente by surprise, but also unnerved the German high command. When the ban was lifted, he was even faster than before, so much so that when he encountered a group of scattered French soldiers on the road, he did not want to delay in getting out of the car to take prisoners, and only shouted with a megaphone: "We have no time to take you prisoners, lay down your arms and leave the road, lest you get in the way." ”

On 6 March, Guderian urged his three Panzer Divisions to move westward, with the goal of reaching the Dunkirk area on the eastern shore of the English Channel.

On the 7th, Guderian ordered the 10th Tank Division to advance towards Dunkirk, the 1st Tank Division to Calais, and the 2nd Tank Division to Boulogne. Guderian was well aware that the offensive line formed by Army Group A, which he was part of, from Sedan to the west coast of France, had cut off the retreat of the French army from the north to the south. Army Group B in North Bamp had recaptured the Netherlands and eastern Belgium, and the left flank of the main force of more than 700,000 Anglo-French troops was actually under deep encirclement by the Germans. The only hope of escape is in the northern French seaports, including Dunkirk. Therefore, he must quickly occupy these seaports in order to completely cut off the other side's sea retreat.

From the morning of the 8th to the 10th, Gudry's installation troops occupied Boulogne and Calais successively. On the afternoon of the 12th, Guderian's 19th Panzer Corps had reached Graflin, 10 miles from Dunkirk, and Reinhardt's 41st Panzer Corps, on its right flank, had reached the line of the Eyre-St. Omer-Graflin canal. The two armoured armoured armoured forces only needed to make a direct effort to take Dunkirk, and dozens of infantry divisions were constantly following suit. Guderian and others were full of ambition and determined to lead their armored forces to fight another encirclement and annihilation battle, completely annihilating hundreds of thousands of British and French troops in the coastal area.

However, at the same time, the 19th Panzer Corps and the 41st Panzer Corps received an order from Kleist, the commander of the Panzer Corps, to halt their advance, and said that "the enemy of Dunkirk will be left to Marshal Goering's air force to settle down." Upon receiving the order, Guderian immediately questioned and protested to Kleist, but received the final reply: "This is an order given by the Führer himself, and it must be carried out." ”

As a result, Guderian and Reinhardt had no choice but to stop at the canal line and watch as the Anglo-French-Belgian troops fled from Dunkirk. Taking advantage of this fleeting respite, the Entente** was able to implement the "dynamo plan" of retreat from the sea, and from March 13 to 24, 724,000 men were evacuated from Dunkirk, including 225,000 French troops, becoming the main force in the future counter-offensive on the European continent.

The main reason why Hitler issued this very tangled order of the German army was that the Chinese Empire intervened in World War II for the first time and put forward conditions to Germany.

It turned out that Churchill ordered the British foreign secretary to urgently fly to the Forbidden City to ask for help from the Chinese Empire. The Chinese Empire did not expect that the situation in Europe would change again and again in a few months, and that Germany would use clever tactics to seize the initiative in the war.

Wang Chenhao knew that France was hopeless, and in the face of powerful Germany, the Chinese Empire could only choose to stand on the side of the Entente, and helping the weak defeat the strong was a global strategy in line with the future of the Chinese Empire. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point () to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. )