Transmigrated as the Crown Prince

Late at night, Ardennes Forest.

The loud snores echoed for hundreds of miles, echoing each other, which was very shocking. They had been toiling in this rugged forest for more than fifty hours, and everyone was exhausted.

"General, why aren't you sleeping yet?!" The adjutant who got up to pee couldn't help but asked curiously when he saw Guderian smoking there.

Guderian smiled. "Thinking about the expressions on the French people's faces when they see us tomorrow, I'm so excited that I can't sleep." Walking more than 10 kilometers further, they will be able to walk out of the Ardennes Forest and invade the land of the French!

"Yes." The adjutant also became excited when he mentioned this. "That idiot Gamelin actually transferred all the main forces to Belgium. Didn't he realize that there was a huge gap in their local defense deployment? I don't know how this guy became the commander-in-chief of the British and French coalition forces. ."

Guderian laughed. "If he hadn't mobilized those troops and sent them to Belgium, Belgium would have surrendered long ago. Just look at it. In just two days, the vanguard of General Reichenau's Sixth Army has already reached the gates of Brussels. Without the British and French coalition forces, Belgium would have surrendered. People may have been so scared that they peed their pants. Once Belgium surrenders, the British may withdraw their troops and go back to defend their hometown. After all, our navy is not inferior to theirs now, and they must be afraid that we will suddenly launch a landing war. At that time, Isn’t it a dead end for France to fight alone?”

"Your Highness, that's true." The adjutant's face showed a sincere sigh. They also heard on the radio that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince personally participated in the attack on the British fleet. "It's really humbling."

Guderian deeply agreed. "Yes, Your Highness leads by example. If we can't win this war, then we really are not worthy of being a soldier." He threw away the cigarette butt in his hand. "Go to sleep and gather enough energy to defeat Sedan in one fell swoop tomorrow!"

The next morning, Guderian woke up early. First we went to a nearby spring to wash up and have a solid breakfast. "Pass the order, the whole army will check the equipment one last time."

While the tank crews were busy checking the tightness of the track, the tank's fire control system, and the engine status, there was a continuous roar of the engine in the sky.

Looking up, through the gaps in the branches, I saw an overwhelming fleet of aircraft, including fighter jets, bombers, and attack aircraft. It looked like there were at least a thousand of them.

The fleet was flying to Sedan.

On September 1, 1870, a world-famous battle took place in Sedan. In that battle, 120,000 French troops were surrounded in Sedan. The battle lasted from morning to evening, and finally a white flag was raised on the top of Sedan. !

Later that day, Napoleon III wrote a letter of surrender to the King of Prussia.

On September 2, under the city walls of Sedan, Germany's Iron Chancellor Bismarck officially accepted the surrender of Napoleon III!

The significance of this incident is not just as simple as a battle, it also marks that the Second French Empire has entered the reincarnation of history. At the same time, it also marks that the German nation has completely become a whole and the German Empire has been officially established. , they stand among the nations of the world with an independent and proud attitude.

Despite the lessons learned in 1870, the French army 70 years later still did not regard Sedan as a key defense area. The famous Maginot Line ended 12 kilometers east of Sedan. Although the French 2nd Army, which was tasked with covering the left wing of the Maginot Line and the right wing of the French 1st Army Group that entered Belgium, was very confident in its defense line, as of before the war, there were only 103 various buildings in Sedan. Most of these fortifications are not completed, but the French army only deployed the 55th Infantry Division affiliated with the 2nd Army here. This division was formed from older conscripts after general mobilization, so its combat effectiveness is naturally not very strong.

The commander of the 2nd Army was General Charles Leon Clément Antziger. General Anziger is known as "one of the most capable generals in the French army" and is very popular among the French army. Many people even think that he will be the next commander-in-chief of the French army and an officer of the 2nd Army. The praise said that "there is no one more suitable to command the 2nd Army than Anzige."

It's a pity that such a general who was given high hopes made several fatal mistakes.

You must know that making one fatal mistake is enough to kill a person, but this person actually made several in succession.

A certain great man once said a famous saying, "Contempt the enemy strategically and attach importance to the enemy tactically." However, this General Anziger did the feat of despising the enemy both strategically and tactically. He also ignored the enemy three days before the German attack. He said, "I never thought the Germans would consider the possibility of launching an offensive in the Sedan area."

That’s what he said, that’s what he thought, and that’s what he did.

By the outbreak of the war, this group army only had 5 divisions, including 1 North African Division (3rd North African Division), 1 colonial division from Senegal (3rd Colonial Division), and 2 second-rate infantry divisions (55th and 55th North African Division). 71st Infantry Division), the 41st Infantry Division, the most powerful in the group army, was deployed on the far right wing of the group army.

Because the terrain near Sedan is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there is a natural barrier on the Meuse River to rely on, the French army only deployed a second-rate infantry division here, the 55th Infantry Division. East of Sedan is Fort Laferte at the western end of the extension of the Maginot Line. Mouzon, between Sedan and Fort Laferte, was undefendable. Both the 2nd Army and the 10th Army put most of their energy into organizing the defense of this area.

Previously, the German army discovered through aerial reconnaissance that the French army in the Sedan area seemed to be quite well defended - the Malfi Forest highlands on the other side of the river, which could control the entire Sedan area, were filled with bunkers one after another. At this time, an engineer officer from Austria used his expertise in interpreting aerial photos and came to a conclusion that surprised the German top brass - he believed that most of the French bunkers densely populated on the highlands of the Malfi Forest were just one dug one. The foundation is still far from ready.

There is also no shortage of farsighted and capable people in France. Some people have long guessed that the real main direction of the German army's attack is Sedan, and are deeply disturbed by the messy defense preparations of the French army in the direction of Sedan.

Ironically, he was not a soldier, but the parliamentarian Pierre Titange; he reported the poor defense situation of Sedan to the then Minister of War Édouard Daladier and the French Commander-in-Chief Gamelin. Chen "We placed too much hope that the forests of the Ardennes and the Meuse River would protect Sedan, and placed most of our hopes for the defense of Sedan on these things. Our army's defense work here can no longer be simple, but only simple." It can be described as simple."

After receiving this report Gamelin forwarded it to General George, who asked General Anziger for an answer.

Unfortunately, General Anzire completely ignored this shocking and prophetic report. Seeing that their boss, General Anzire, was indifferent, the French troops were even less diligent when building fortifications.

Compared with these terrible firepower points, what is even more deadly is that the French army's minefield layout is insufficient. You must know that during World War II, the most effective defensive tactic to slow down the advancement of armored forces was continuous minefields covered by cross-fire from anti-tank guns. In the future, the German army suffered all the Soviet Red Army's losses from the Soviet Red Army who used this tactic on the Eastern Front battlefield. suffering. The seemingly spectacular armored assaults of the German army were defeated again and again by the Soviet army's improvised minefields and anti-tank gun positions. Later, Rommel used similar tactics when dealing with Montgomery at El Alamein - laying 500,000 mines on a 70-kilometer-long defense line. This area was fearfully called the "Devil's Garden" by the British army.

However, on the same defensive front that is about 70 kilometers long, the French 2nd Army has only 16,000 landmines in total. Only 2,000 landmines are actually used in the Maas River defense line. Specifically, the French 55th Infantry in the Sedan section division, with only 422 anti-tank mines left.

What’s even more incredible is that the 55th Infantry Division has not even completed laying a mere 422 anti-tank mines. The French officers and soldiers only focused on endlessly building bunkers and basically did not spend any energy on laying mines. Just before the German attack, the French army also removed some of the originally laid mines because they needed to lubricate these mines to prevent them from being corroded by moisture. These mines were not found by the Germans until 1941 in a dilapidated warehouse north of the Maas River. Guderian's armored forces had basically never encountered minefields laid by the French army.

The 55th Infantry Division, which was originally a second-rate infantry division, should have seized every available opportunity to carry out combat training - the vast majority of the soldiers in the division were over 30 years old and were reserve soldiers recalled after the outbreak of the war. All the combat skills learned while serving were forgotten. For this reason, the countermeasure adopted by General Anqire was to organize soldiers to participate in more sports activities to restore their physical strength. What’s even more incredible is that the French army even strictly prohibits soldiers and junior officers from conducting private training. A lieutenant of the 147th Fortress Infantry Regiment was arrested by the French army for boldly organizing a 25mm anti-tank gun battery for live-fire training. The top management directly ordered a 15-day confinement.