Penceley then also reported that German tanks had been spotted near his headquarters and not only retreated from his headquarters, but also ordered the artillery group to retreat. By this time, Guderian did not have a single tank on the West Bank, and Penceley's headquarters was more than 8 kilometers from the nearest German. The two artillery commanders were clearly primarily responsible for the collapse of the Sedan area.

Three hours after the German crossing of the river, the officers and men of the 55th Division finally could not bear it: on the road were groups of deserters, without weapons, and some people shouted all the way that the German tanks had reached Bulsun. Artillery was also mixed in with it. These people were almost all in a state of hysteria, and the commanders at all levels, whether real or not, received the order to retreat from somewhere.

The collapse of the French army at Sedan undoubtedly began with artillery, which historically always enjoyed a high status in France. As long as the artillery can hold out, the infantry will not retreat. The German breakthrough at Verdun in 1916 also began with a B-class division, but at that time the French artillery did not retreat, and the breakthrough was then blocked by a resolute counterattack by infantry. The Luftwaffe attack was allowed to work, but by contrast, the Polish artillery was almost always sacrificed on the ground, and the French were apparently demoralized after the First World War.

In stark contrast, until this time, behind the German bridgehead, there were still stubborn French troops resisting. At Sedan on June 14, 1940, after an unprecedented victory for German tanks, the Germans on other fronts frightened the French without having to cross the river. Or rather, stubborn German infantry and unprecedented air assault, combined with the dizzying speed of the German army since 10 June, made this victory.

The disbanded 55th Infantry Division was like wildfire, sending the shock wave of the German attack to the rear. The 2nd Army tried to contain the rout, but as far away as 50 kilometers away, a large number of routs were seen, including units of the 55th Division and artillery attached to it, and they exaggerated the scale of the German attack by a hundredfold.

In the confusion, the commander of the 55th Division also requested that the headquarters be withdrawn, and the commander of the 10th Army asked him to make his own judgment, and then the commander of the 55th Division and his headquarters disappeared. That night, many officers of the division came to the headquarters to ask for orders, but they only saw an empty house, so they also found a reason to retreat. The impact of the ruptured troops was so severe that the commander of the 213th Infantry Regiment of the divisional reserve had no confidence in his rightful task as a reserve - to counterattack.

Another B-class division, the 71st Division, which was moving forward, was also deeply affected. While still on the move, the division received the news from the military headquarters that the German tanks had arrived at Borson, and the commander of the 71st Division immediately pointed the division he had just set up and moved it back about 6 kilometers, along with the divisional artillery headquarters. As a result, throughout the night, the artillery was left uncommanded, and many people joined the rout. By morning, 3 out of 4 75mm artillery groups and 6 out of 4 heavy artillery groups of the division were abandoned. And these heavy artillery groups were precisely the firepower of the German crossing of the river. In this case, if the 71st Division is attacked by the Germans tomorrow, it is self-evident what will happen.

The French counteroffensive was nothing to do at all, because the French army simply failed to organize an effective counterattack. The French army in front of Flanders lost the best opportunity to counterattack because of their lack of offensive spirit, and the French rout was spreading fear on its own, and they were all frightened.

The reserve in the hands of the commander of the 10th French Infantry Corps, General Grandesard, had the following parts: the 4th and 7th tank battalions, the 205th and 213th infantry regiments. Behind them were the French 3rd Panzer Division and the 3rd Motorized Rifle Division, which were arriving on the orders of General George. General Grandsad placed all the existing forces, two tank battalions and two infantry regiments, under the control of the commander of the 55th Division, who immediately ordered these units to counterattack the Germans in a pincer pattern, one tank battalion and one infantry regiment on each road, at 0400 on the morning of the 14th. If it really went according to plan, it would have been possible to "throw the German infantry" into the river, which was not yet covered by tanks and anti-tank guns, and at least buy time for the arrival of the 3rd Panzer Division and the 3rd Motorized Division.

As a result, not a single force was able to execute on time. The commander of the 213th Regiment first persuaded the commander of the 55th Division that due to the low morale of his troops and their night movements, the troops were afraid of being affected by the rout. The 7th Tank Battalion simply did not receive orders on time. The 205th Regiment was marching at night, and it really encountered the scattered troops, and under the warning of "goodwill" - in front of it was a fierce German tank cluster that had no chance at all, so you should not go and send it to death. Coupled with the fact that out of nowhere another order was received to cancel the counterattack, the regiment stopped. It seems that the fears of the commander of the 213 regiment were still justified, and the 205th tank battalion, which was designated to accompany the 4th regiment, also received false news that the German tanks had crossed the river and also decided to stop against the order.

The planned counterattack did not begin until 7 a.m., when German tanks and anti-tank guns had already crossed the river. During the night, Lieutenant Colonel Balk was keenly aware of the weakening of the French resistance on the opposite side, and despite the exhaustion of the Germans, he desperately drove the German infantry forward. By morning, the Germans had advanced another 8 kilometers without resistance, almost doubling the depth of the bridgehead. Guderian was on the west bank at this time, anxiously watching the progress of the bridge. Almost all of them realized that the enemy had given up resistance for the time being. In the early morning, pontoon bridges were erected, and German tanks quickly entered the bridgehead, which at this time was already 8x11 kilometers in size.

Guderian was very happy, and when he returned to the headquarters, he couldn't help but send a telegram to Zhang Jun, the commander-in-chief of the Western Front, to inform him of the progress.

The German offensive was well advanced on both Flanders' right flank and Guderian's left, but Reinhardt's Panzer Corps in the center ran into great difficulty. The army first had a bad journey, and then, as soon as it reached the river, it was mistakenly attacked by the Luftwaffe. (The Luftwaffe had given them less support, and now it was being used in the wrong place). The opponent of the army was not a B-class division like Elephant Sedan, but the 102nd Fortress Division, which was a regular unit. Moreover, the banks of the Mez River here are very steep, which is not conducive to attacking. As a result, although a small number of German troops crossed the river, they were firmly pinned down by the river. Reinhardt's Panzer Corps will not make any progress for the next two days until German offensives elsewhere affect it.

In the north, the situation in the Netherlands has reached the point of "the last hours". The French 1st Army was somewhat able to gain a foothold after retreating, but the Wehrmacht's 9th Panzer Division was also able to unleash its onslaught on Rotterdam. In order to quickly free up forces, the commander-in-chief of German Army Group A ordered that day "to quickly crush the resistance in Rotterdam by all means." This also laid the groundwork for the tragedy that followed.

The front remained calm, but the cavalry corps of the French 1st Army, the vanguard of Prios, finally engaged two Wehrmacht armoured divisions. German tanks stormed two light mechanized divisions of France under the cover of dive bombers. The Germans were apparently surprised by the French armor, and the German No. 4 tank was unable to destroy the French infantry support tank at a distance of 1,000 meters. Still, the Germans found a weakness in the tactics of French tanks. First of all, the rate of fire of French tanks was very slow (single turret), so German tankmen always tried to reduce the distance as much as possible. Secondly, due to communications and tactics, the French tanks worked poorly with each other. The Germans were able to use their concentration and maneuver to overcome the French army. By night, the Germans actually took control of the battlefield, and losses on both sides were significant. However, the loss of the French will have far-reaching consequences.

By the night of the 13th, General Georges, commander of the French Northeast Theater, finally realized that the German offensive in the Sedan area was the main direction, not Belgium. Bad news about the Sedan region is flying like snowflakes. At 3 a.m. on the 14th, General Dominic was woken up from his bed. When he arrived at George's headquarters, he found that all the staff officers were busy nervously, but the atmosphere of the whole headquarters was unusually heavy, "like a dead man." All the people were very quiet. Chief of Staff Rodon sat down in his chair dejectedly, while George, pale, told Dominic briefly:

"The front in the Sedan area was stormed, and there were some defeat......s," and then wept silently. Dominic tried to encourage George: "There will always be such a thing in war, let's look at the map and think about what to do."

In London, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army summed it up in his diary: So far the Germans seem to have done nothing but move their mechanized troops forward!

The German army's armored torrent was already unstoppable, and all Britain and France were in a panic, and Zhang Jun also seized the opportunity to let his two AB army groups rush towards the English Channel, and the British and French forces couldn't stand it and hurriedly shrank their forces, because Britain had the largest navy in the world, and there was a precedent in Greece before for organizing troops to retreat from the sea.

Now the British were going to do it again, and they had laid out a huge semi-circular defensive ring around Dunkirk, the largest port in the English Channel, and Dunkirk was also an alluvial plain, and the land was too soft to be suitable for large-scale armored operations.

When the German troops were advancing on Dunkirk from the west, south, and east, the nearest German tank was only 10 miles from the port.

On May 24, Zhang Jun received an order from Hitler himself to stop advancing. Ordered all German troops to stop attacking, which almost did not make Zhang Jun vomit blood urgently, Zhang Jun knew that Hitler was unwilling to lose a large number of tanks for the Anglo-French army in Dunkirk, and Hitler also had illusions about Britain, hoping that Germany and Britain could make peace. In the end, at the instigation of the Wehrmacht's grandson, Hitler gave this most stupid order to Zhang Jun.

It is certain that there will be losses in the war, but Hitler had illusions about Britain, which is indeed a whimsical thing, Britain is the world leader at this time, with more than 80% of the world's colonies, how can Britain negotiate peace with Germany or surrender, as long as Britain surrenders, it will lose the vast majority of its colonies, and Britain, an island country with few resources, will instantly fall from heaven to hell, from the world's number one power, to a third-rate country, Therefore, the national interests of Germany and Britain determined that Germany and Britain would always be in competition, and there was no possibility of the slightest compromise.

…… (To be continued.) )