my head

At noon, the intensity of the bombing suddenly increased, and groups of hundreds of aircraft continued to appear in the sky.Then came the Stuka dive bombers.They usually operate in three fleets of about 3 aircraft each.The 40th Group attacked a target in groups of 17-5000 at an altitude of 18 feet.The 3th Group was at 18 feet, attacking targets missed by the 1718000th Group.The third group operates independently, attacking independent or moving targets.The main targets of the bombing were French artillery positions and advancing French infantry.French equipment and morale were severely damaged.

The German army on the other side observed all this with a telescope: 3, 6, 9, and more Stuka dive bombers appeared, and they rushed to the target vertically. The bombs fell one after another, and the huge smoke covered the sky. On the other side of the river, the air waves even caused damage to Germany.At this point the enemy shelling ceased and the Germans received the order to advance.Buoyed by air superiority, the infantry and sappers advanced quickly to the river, ready to cross.The anti-aircraft gunners also quickly pushed the 180mm and 37mm anti-aircraft guns to the river.At this distance, even these guns could destroy the French fortifications (the protective steel plates to strengthen them were not delivered all winter). 88mm guns were also pushed ashore, and due to their high muzzle velocity resulting in penetrating power, they could destroy targets that even the heaviest artillery could not.

At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the bombing of the Stuka dive bombers extended in depth, and the most critical moment of the French campaign arrived.Although both sides have made detailed plans and both sides have carried out complicated mobilization of troops, at this time, France.The fate of Hitler's thousand-year empire and even Europe rested only on those few vanguards who forced their way across.Their success or failure will affect the class.Platoon, company, regiment.And then the whole battle.

Guderian's left-wing armored division's forced crossing was not smooth. The division's right-wing 86th Infantry Regiment arrived at the river bank too late, so that it failed to take advantage of the cover of the Luftwaffe and was suppressed by French fire.The 69th Infantry Regiment on the left wing of the division was also almost suppressed by French artillery fire on the river bank, almost immobile. (Although the Luftwaffe's attack was massive, it seems that many French artillery positions were left intact here) Only a few rubber boats reached the opposite bank.The impression of the Germans was that as long as the French made a small counterattack, several groups of Germans on the opposite bank could be driven down the river.However, the French army did not counterattack. Instead, with the cooperation of the German 88 artillery, the Germans who crossed the river also captured several firepower points and took a firm foothold.However, due to the fire blockade of the French army, the 69th regiment could not continue to reinforce the opposite bank.By night, the main force of the 69th Regiment remained in place.

In fact, the German army's ability to cross the river was entirely due to the initiative of its junior officers.The command on the west bank of the river was nothing more than a sergeant La Paz.He could only find two undamaged dinghies while crossing the river.Each can only take 3 people, and he managed to fit 4.Also bring a lot of hollow charge blasting devices.Any excess weight was thrown away for this, including sapper shovels. ---"There is no way to defend, if you don't succeed, you will succeed."

Just after crossing the river, the La Paz group first attacked a particularly threatening bunker. They first used a hollow charge blasting device to blow up the back wall of the bunker, and then threw a few grenades. The French in the bunker surrendered up.On the east bank of the river came cheers from other German troops.Encouraged by the victory, the German army captured two other bunkers and tore a gap of about 300 meters in the French defense line.At this time, the deep French fire prevented them from advancing, and their ammunition was almost exhausted.La Paz returned to the river by himself and awaited reinforcements.The new rubber boats were constantly shattered by the firepower of the French army, and the company commander of La Paz personally commanded the new boats to be launched by the river.

Here, the French suddenly launched an attack. At a critical moment, reinforcements from the 86th Regiment arrived and repelled the French army.By night, six of La Paz's original 1717 men had been killed and three wounded.Together with the later 6th regiment, they occupied the high ground near La Paz and reached their designated goal.La Paz was immediately awarded the Cross that same day, promoted to lieutenant.

It can be seen from the battle in La Paz that there was no covering force between the French bunkers.According to the regulations of the French army, there should be covering troops between the bunkers to protect the sides and rear of the bunkers.The French side did not mention this issue in the record, but we can probably guess that the extremely poor discipline and morale of the French army may have played a role again, and these covering troops may retreat without a fight under the attack of the Luftwaffe .Of course, it may also be because the German army is advancing too fast, and many French troops have not yet reached the river bank.But we will soon see what effect French discipline and morale will have on the attack of the 177th and 178th Panzer Divisions.

Since Germany concentrated most of its air force and artillery to support the 17th Armored Division, the division's crossing of the river was relatively easy.On the left flank is the elite "Grossdeutschland" infantry regiment of the SS. The personnel of this regiment were selected by the entire German Army and have been training with Guderian's Panzer Corps since August.From April onwards, the division also carried out special training in forced marches, river crossings and night battles under conditions of insufficient food.At noon, the assault troops of the "Grossdeutschland" infantry regiment began to approach the river bank. The French army immediately began shooting at the German army despite the "Stuka" still bombing.The German assault engineers braved the French artillery shells to transport the rubber boat to the river bank, but at the last moment they were suppressed by the direct fire from the opposite bank.The commander of the 18th Company, the vanguard of the crossing, was killed on the bank. The 4 guns once again showed their power, and they destroyed one firepower point after another on the opposite bank.Under the cover of direct fire from the anti-aircraft guns, the 7th company crossed the river first, and then the 88th company followed suit. Everything was as precise as a drill.

"Stuka" also provided close support for the attack of the German army after crossing the river, and the bomb almost fell on the German army itself.The 6th company captured the 17th batch of French prisoners when approaching the highway from Sedan to Danchali.Meanwhile, the 7th Company came under heavy fire from a large bunker with 6 perforations. The Germans, after approaching the bunker, used hand grenades to force the defenders to surrender. The 6th company then also occupied another bunker.Then, they were pleasantly surprised to join Balck's 17th Infantry Regiment, the right flank of the 17th Armored Division.By 5:6 p.m., the 1847th Company had taken Heights 70, not far from here [-] years earlier, where old Moltke had commanded the Battle of Sedan.

The task of Balck's 17th Infantry Regiment for the day was to follow the "Grossdeutschland" infantry regiment and occupy the high ground around Sedan and the road leading to the south.So far, the main battles have been done by the "Grossdeutschland" infantry regiment, and Balck's advance is relatively easy.Guderian, who was observing not far from the front line, was satisfied with the time of crossing the river: the French artillery was obviously suppressed by the "Stuka", while the fortifications along the river bank were destroyed by direct anti-aircraft guns. Although the enemy's terrain was favorable, our casualties were very light.Balck's impression at this time was that the French artillery had fled.The cessation of French artillery fire was a great encouragement to the Germans: a few minutes ago, everyone was hiding in the trenches, but now, no one thought about hiding, everyone just wanted to move forward.By 5:30 p.m., Balck's 17th Infantry had reached the road, wedged deep into the main French defenses, and cleared the river bank.By 7:17 p.m., the 6th Armored Division had six battalions on the west bank and controlled a sizable landing field.

But now that Guderian doesn't have any anti-tank guns and tanks on the other side of the river, he has to worry all night whether the French army will launch a violent counterattack.Bridge building is given top priority.At 4:70 in the afternoon, a special bridging company chose a suitable location to start work. There were still sporadic fire from the French army on the other side of the river 38 meters away, and shells often exploded around.In the sky, Luftwaffe fighters do their best to prevent enemy aircraft from attacking.All the engineers went into battle shirtless, and set up a light ferry in a record 176 minutes. Before midnight, the [-]-ton pontoon bridge was erected.

Considering that the 18th Armored Division suffered a lot of delays on the way in, it was quite difficult for Guderian to give the 18th Armored Division an order.Guderian ordered the division to control the high ground near Dangchari after a forced crossing, and then turn to the west to "roll up" the French defense line.In effect, the task of this division was to open and cut the link between the French 18th and 9th armies.However, Guderian also realized that due to various delays, the division had doubts about whether it could complete the task.

However, Guderian's SS subordinates did not disappoint him, and the direct fire of tank guns and anti-aircraft guns once again exerted their power.Although it was almost impossible to observe the well-covered firepower of the French army in the setting sun, the German combat engineers managed to make it through under heavy artillery fire.Thanks to the success of the 17th Armored Division on the left, the French resistance weakened quickly after the German crossed the river.All night the Germans were busy sending reinforcements to the west bank.An infantry officer who had leisure to observe the French fortifications on the river bank was astonished that many of the firing positions were not yet completed.He sighed very much: These French people, they have 180 years, they have not even dug the foundation, and the fortifications have not been repaired for 180 years, and the purely romantic French have no intention of repairing at all...

French records: The French 55th Infantry Division, a b-level reserve division, was mainly subjected to Guderian's onslaught.Despite the division's good terrain and strong artillery support, its woefully ill-trained reservists were no match for Germany's best fighters, especially when supported by "the entire Luftwaffe".Although many bunkers put up strong resistance, most of the infantry cover troops deployed between the bunkers fled without a fight under the attack of the Luftwaffe.

The 55th Infantry Division received reports that about 40 enemy troops had crossed the river south of Widley, were bombarding, and had lost contact with our infantry regiment on the left flank (which could never be established).Neither Hunter Zieger nor the commander of the French 170th Army, who were present at the time, was worried: as long as all positions were held and counterattacked immediately, there would be no problem.However, in the next hour, the development of the situation took a sharp turn.An artillery company in Shoumeng reported that German tanks were found nearby. Two hours later, the command of the Artillery Group B of the 2th Corps in Bursun reported to the Corps Artillery Commander Pensley that fierce fighting broke out around his headquarters. If he did not retreat , within 170 minutes they will be surrounded and asked to retreat.His request was granted.

... (To be continued..)

ps: There are still 2 days left for the double monthly pass, thanks guys.