The Rise of the Third Reich

French Prime Minister Paul Reno hung up the phone. He didn't understand why he made such a call to that fat man Churchill. This made him embarrassed - a French Prime Minister who had a mental breakdown, like a child seeking comfort after being bullied. Same, go call the British Prime Minister.

Is this what the proud French should do?

Thinking of this, the French Prime Minister took out his handkerchief and wiped his tears, then picked up the phone receiver and dialed the number of Commander-in-Chief Gamelin.

"Admiral, how is the situation?" Renault's voice was hoarse, but his tone was cold. Although he is not as strong as Churchill, he is not stupid. He can certainly sense the critical situation on the battlefield, but Gamelin, as commander-in-chief, is helpless.

Maybe we should consider changing the commander-in-chief! Renault thought: General Wei Gang, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Army, is a suitable candidate. He had been Foch's chief of staff and was the hero of France's last victory over Germany.

"Prime Minister, the German army has broken through the Maas River defense line." Gamelin on the other end of the phone line did not know that Prime Minister Reno was planning to replace him. "Not only the 9th Army and the 2nd Army are facing huge risks, but even those in Belgium are facing huge risks." Troops fighting were also at risk of being surrounded, as were troops stationed on the Maginot Line."

"Then what should we do?" Paul Reno asked.

"The 9th Army is as stable as possible," Gamelin said. "The 2nd Army is trying its best to counterattack to see if it can seal the gap. At the same time, our troops in Belgium must also be prepared to retreat by sea... …”

"Retreat by sea? Use the port of Antwerp?"

"It's not Antwerp. We are currently considering retreating from Zeebrugge." Gamelin said.

Zeebrugge is Belgium's second largest port, close to the North Sea and closer to the UK than Antwerp. Compared with Dunkirk, which is 60 kilometers away, Zeebrugge is also closer to the front line of the British and French coalition forces, making it easier to escape. However, Zeebrugge is also disadvantageous for retreat, that is, it is too close to the German mainland. The BF-109 can cover German bombers and torpedo attack aircraft to launch attacks.

Renault thought for a moment and then asked: "Prime Minister Churchill will come to Paris tomorrow. Do you want to tell him about this?"

"It should be said," Gamelin replied, "we cannot withdraw without British ships. In addition, air cover continues during the counterattack of the 2nd Army, but we do not have any kind of aircraft that can compete with the BF-109 and Fokker Zero Confrontation."

In fact, the French D.520 can compete with BF-109 and Fokker Zero - provided that BF-109 and Fokker Zero cannot play high and low. In this way, the D.520 can rely on flexibility to fight against the BF-109, and at the same time fight against the Fokker Zero with high-altitude dives.

However, after losing hundreds of its best pilots in one day, even if the French Air Force immediately obtained a large number of D.520s, it would be of no avail. If it wanted to compete for air supremacy in the theater, it could only rely on the United Kingdom.

"So can the 2nd Army's counterattack be effective?" Paul Reno asked the question he was most concerned about.

Gamelin was silent for a while, and then said firmly: "Yes! The 2nd Army will definitely be able to complete its mission... They will fight a Marne-style battle on the Meuse River!"

After hanging up the phone, General Gan Molin squinted his eyes and stared at the huge military map. He came over and began to dictate orders: "The motherland is in danger! An army that cannot advance would rather die on the battlefield that it holds fast than give up on its trust. They defended every inch of French soil. As in all historical moments of our country, our slogan at this time is: Victory or death!"

This was the order issued by Marshal Xiafei on the eve of the Battle of the Marne in September 1914. Gamelin now handed these words intact to the commander-in-chief of the Northeast Front, General Joseph George.

Joseph George was very angry at the setback of the 21st Army in the battle at Stoney Town. The Northeastern Front he led was on the verge of collapse. The 1st Army, 7th Army and the British Expeditionary Force that were deep in Belgium had already fought with The attacking German forces were in a stalemate and were still at a disadvantage. It was not easy to break away from the contact. The 9th Army, which was responsible for the central defense, was being severely beaten by the German troops who broke through the Meuse River from the Sedan-Mans line and was about to be defeated. The only life-saving straw is the Second Army, which is tasked with counterattacking towards Sedan. If the Second Army's counterattack fails, the "Marne-like miracle" will turn into a "Sedan-like disaster" (referring to the Franco-Prussian War). The Battle of Sedan).

So after receiving Gamelin's order, Joseph George immediately called Henchiger, the commander of the 2nd Army. He first reprimanded him, and then promised that the 2nd Reserve Armored Division and the 4th Armored Division would be mobilized as soon as possible. Reserve armored divisions arrived at the front to reinforce the 2nd Army.

After receiving the assurance that "reinforcements will arrive soon," General Henchiger immediately called Flavigni on the front line and strictly ordered him to attack the enemy at Sedan that day (April 15). Launch a counterattack. Under strict orders, Flavigny summoned his two division commanders to his headquarters and ordered them to launch the attack at 2 p.m.

"General, this is impossible!" Brocade, commander of the 3rd Reserve Armored Division, immediately raised objections. "The Germans are far more powerful than us, and they also have a 'turretless tank' that we didn't know about before." Refers to the No. 3 assault gun), this tank is very strong, and even our 47mm gun can hardly penetrate its front armor. This shows that it is stronger than our CharB1 tank, and the German No. 3 tank has been replaced. A 47mm or 50mm cannon can penetrate the front armor of the CharB1 tank at a distance of 500 meters!”

In the days following the massive German offensive, various exaggerated reports about German tanks began to reach French armored commanders. What moved and frightened them the most was the No. 3 assault gun and the No. 3 tank equipped with a 50mm gun of 42 times the caliber. The former's 80mm frontal armor can block the French 47mm anti-tank gun at a distance of 1,000 meters. The latter's 50mm gun has already caused heavy losses to the French S35 heavy tank on the Belgian battlefield (the S35's frontal armor is 56mm, which cannot withstand a 42-time caliber 50mm gun using a tungsten alloy warhead at a distance of 500 meters). Now Brocade, commander of the 3rd Reserve Armored Division, is worried that the armor (60mm/45 degree angle) of the CharB1 heavy tank will not be able to withstand the attack of the German No. 3 tank.

"General, we should follow the original plan and use the CharB1 heavy tanks for defense and let the German tanks attack." Brocard suggested, "Because defense can bring out the power of the CharB1 heavy tanks better than offense."

"No!" Flavigni immediately rejected Brocard's suggestion, "We must launch an attack, today!" He turned his attention to General Betty Busu, commander of the 3rd Motorized Infantry Division, "Busu General Syria, you come under unified command of the 3rd Reserve Armored Division and the 3rd Motorized Infantry Division. We must launch a counterattack before 14:00 today!"

…

"Marshal, the French armored forces seem to be concentrated south of Sedan!"

Manstein, located in the Western Front Headquarters in Cologne, at 2 pm on the 15th (the French counterattack had not yet begun, but the enemy's German army in Stoney Town had already detected the arrival of a large number of French tanks, and at the same time aerial reconnaissance (also proved the same situation), traces of French armored forces have been found in a large number of battle reports.

"Oh? Are they going to counterattack?" Marshal Hammerstein, the commander-in-chief of the Western Front, put on his reading glasses and walked to the map table.

“Here,” Manstein pointed to the Monte-Dieu Highlands on the map, “yesterday morning the 1st Armored Division fought a battle with dozens of French tanks and an infantry regiment, destroying several Ten light tanks. Early this morning, the "Grossdeutschland" infantry regiment and a section of the 10th Armored Division fought against the French army in the town of Stoney. "

"The town of Stoney is in our hands?" Harmanstein was very familiar with the terrain around Sedan, and naturally knew the importance of the Monte-Dieu Highlands and the town of Stoney.

"It's in our hands now!" Manstein said, "But the French mobilized a lot of tanks to recapture it, and the CharB1 heavy tank also appeared there."

"Is it a reserve armored division?" Harmanstein frowned. Of course he knows the "prestige" of the French Reserve Armored Division, and the CharB1 heavy tank is almost the business card of the Reserve Armored Division (except for the Reserve Armored Division, only four independent tank companies have such tanks).

"It should be them, and maybe a motorized infantry division and an infantry division..." Manstein thought for a while, "Maybe the main force of the French 2nd Army is coming towards Sedan."

"Erich, what do you think?" Harmanstein asked himself this promising chief of staff (since "Operation Sickle" has been successful, Manstein's next position is likely to be the second munitions director) ).

"Annihilate the main force of the French 2nd Army!" Manstein said, "Then there will be nothing to stop the 12th Army from moving south to Verdun."

Even a layman who knows nothing about military affairs knows what kind of place Verdun is! Now as long as the German army captures it, it will not only cut off the traffic between Metz and Paris, but also open the way for the German armored corps to continue southward along the Meuse River. 6-70 kilometers south from Verdun is Thule, an important railway transportation hub. Another 100 kilometers south of Thule is Langre, another railway transportation hub. As long as these two areas are captured by the German army, the French army stationed at the "Maginot" line of defense will be completely surrounded!