Chapter 281: The Sedan Conspiracy

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The 5th Light Panzer Corps, which had been reinforced from Army Group C to Army Group A, ran into trouble. They had rampaged through Belgian

The 5th Light Panzer Corps, which had been reinforced from Army Group C to Army Group A, ran into trouble. They had rampaged through Belgian territory and, with the cooperation of Stuka dive bombers, had cut through the plain west of Eben-Emael, excellently completing their mission of covering the flank of Army Group A.

Unfortunately, as they were rushing to expand their gains, they encountered the two main armored divisions of the French 1st Cavalry Corps. This unit was the vanguard of a large number of Anglo-French coalition soldiers who were heading north into Belgium to meet the German army. The strength of the two sides was evenly matched, and so a tank battle that surpassed the scale of all armored battles in the Polish campaign began.

The tanks of France and Germany engaged in a fierce battle, and the flames of war burned for a full three days, stretching from the vicinity of Hannut, 25 miles west of Liège, all the way to a place 15 miles from the city of Gembloux.

Germany’s 5th Light Panzer Corps had four panzer divisions under its command, one more combat division than the panzer corps equipped with Panther tanks. But the 18th and 19th Panzer Divisions within this corps were only equipped with P-3 tanks, which were a considerable step down from the newest Panther tanks.

And another light panzer division, the 5th Light Panzer Division, was only equipped with Germany’s oldest P-2 tanks. However, these tanks had been modernized in 1937. Their turrets had been removed, their chassis modified, and an open-topped combat compartment and a 75mm anti-tank gun had been installed, turning them into a type of self-propelled anti-tank gun.

This corps also had a panzergrenadier division as a supplement, which was the 19th Motorized Infantry Division. They were equipped with a small number of StuG IIIs and a large number of armored cars and vehicles and possessed strong combat capability.

It could be said that, as a light panzer corps meant to make up the numbers, although this unit had nearly 800 tanks and self-propelled anti-tank guns, its assault combat capability seemed to be inferior to the 1st Panzer Corps, which was equipped with 500 tanks. Of course, relying on its numerical advantage, this panzer corps was by no means a soft persimmon.

Now, the opponent it faced, the armored forces of the Anglo-French coalition’s French 1st Cavalry Corps, was also one of the top armored forces in the world. This unit had more than 400 tanks, most of which were the advanced Somua S35 and B1 heavy tanks. These tanks all had 47mm anti-tank guns that were sufficient to threaten German tanks, and most were also equipped with radio equipment and had strong coordination capabilities.

When two strong opponents meet, a fierce battle ensues. The French, relying on their local advantage in vehicle quality, attacked the German army fiercely, repeatedly creating situations where they outnumbered the Germans. The German army lost 110 tanks and self-propelled anti-tank guns, which made the German high command’s heart ache for a good while.

But the excellent quality of the German crews was on full display during the battle. In the process of destroying 110 German armored vehicles, the French had unknowingly paid the heavy price of a full 180 of their own tanks.

This local counter-attack by the Anglo-French coalition had stabilized the Allied defensive line in Belgium, neutralized the German armored forces’ advantage, and had halted the further offensive actions of the German Army Group B and the right-wing forces of Army Group A in Belgium.

After such a fierce tank battle, the commander of the British Expeditionary Force and the French commander-in-chief, Gamelin, both believed that the main German forces were in Belgium. Thus, within a few hours, the main forces of the Anglo-French coalition, which had already penetrated deep into Belgian territory, actually continued to push north, disregarding the threat to their rear.

To meet the surging German Army Group B in northern Belgium and the flank forces of Army Group A west of Liège, 40 of the Allies’ main divisions—almost all the elites of the French field army, plus the entire British Expeditionary Force, and the Belgian forces—jointly defended their planned defensive line.

They deployed on a long, 65-mile front from the Dutch radius near Antwerp, south through Brussels, and then to Namur. A large number of troops were stationed in these areas. As time went on, the total strength of the French and British here was even in danger of surpassing the German army.

And this great victory at Gembloux, which had given the Allies a breathing space, had helped the Anglo-French coalition to stabilize their position in Belgium. They were able to consolidate their strength and establish a solid defensive line. However, this victory, for the German side, could be said to be a setback that led to a greater gain, playing right into the hands of Akado and his senior generals.

As Akado and the senior German commanders had foreseen, with the appearance of the German military forces such as Army Group B and Army Group A’s 5th Light Panzer Corps, the attention of Gamelin and other senior French generals had been diverted from the fragile Sedan defensive line to Belgium.

When Akado heard that all of the French and British armies had fallen into the trap, he almost wept with joy. The big pit that he had dug for the Allies in Belgium had finally come in handy. The German forces’ operations near Sedan and Dinant had been completely ignored by the French.

And when the more than 300,000 traditional infantry of Army Group A passed through the Ardennes forest, all resistance had already been cleared by the armored forces in front. They crossed mountains and ridges, passed roadblocks and trenches that had long been undefended, and passed through the Ardennes forest with ease. When they appeared at Sedan, had reinforced the German defensive line, and had laid a solid foundation for the continued advance of the two elite armored units of Guderian and Rommel, no one had yet realized the true intentions of the German forces.

“In the direction of Dinant, our army is gradually eliminating the positions constructed by the French soldiers. But the fighting is very arduous, and our troops’ losses are staggering,” Field Marshal von Brauchitsch said, pointing to the map and reporting the current war situation to the Führer, Akado.

In the spacious and bright operational conference room, the German Chief of the General Staff, General von Bock, was frowning and staring at the map. In his heart, he was not very optimistic about this lightly initiated war. And facts had also proven the weakness of the German forces in the attack.

Although Keitel’s Army Group B had achieved a very surprising offensive speed at the beginning, that frantic offensive speed had been entirely completed under the strange assault of the paratroopers. Later, in the south of the Netherlands, when his troops were entangled with the main French forces, the entire southern Dutch front had gradually stabilized.

The 6th Light Panzer Division had halted its southward advance in front of the important northern Belgian city of Antwerp and had not succeeded in advancing a single kilometer for two consecutive days. The 7th Infantry Corps was fighting a bloody battle in an area 35 kilometers north of Brussels, losing 3,000 men to take only 7 kilometers of land. And the situation of the 1st Infantry Corps was not much better; they had to dig trenches to deal with the increasingly strong counter-attacks of the British Expeditionary Force.

On another front, in the just-concluded Battle of Gembloux, the German armored forces had suffered the most serious losses since their formation. In just three days of fighting, Germany had lost 63 Panzer III tanks and 47 modified Marder II self-propelled anti-tank guns. This loss made a staid and prudent general like Chief of Staff von Bock feel very worried. He was worried that Germany would be bogged down in a quagmire of war and would go down the old road of defeat from the last war.

But Field Marshal von Brauchitsch was unconcerned about all this, because the real heavy punch that Germany was preparing to throw was on the Sedan line. So he still believed that Germany had a chance to win. And the naval advisor had also told him that Germany’s current maritime power was more advantageous than it had been in 1912, which also gave him even greater confidence.

Of course, his confidence also came from home. Under the efforts of Akado and August, Germany had already mobilized a full 1 million reservists, establishing Army Group H, commanded by General von Weichs, and Army Group I, commanded by General von Kleist. This military expansion had made the Wehrmacht even stronger, with a total of more than 5 million combat troops.

The SS had formed the 6th and 7th Panzer Divisions, which were incorporated into the 9th Panzer Corps of Army Group H and the 11th Panzer Corps of Army Group I, respectively. These two units were also equipped with more than 1,000 newly produced, up-armored Panther B models.

In this way, Germany now had a full eight army groups: Army Group A, commanded by General von Rundstedt; Army Group B, commanded by General Keitel; Army Group C, commanded by General von Leeb; Army Group D, commanded by General Model; Army Group E, commanded by General List; Army Group F, commanded by General von Kluge; Army Group H, commanded by General von Weichs; and Army Group I, commanded by General von Kleist.

Of course, if one were to classify them purely by scale, Army Group A and Army Group B could now be called army group groups. The scale and organization of these two army groups were almost twice or even three times that of the other army groups. For example, Army Group A now had four panzer corps—the 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 7th—and its scale was four times that of the other army groups.

So, after introducing the current stage of the war situation, Brauchitsch pointed his pointer firmly at the German troop markers in the Sedan area and said confidently to Akado, “In the next stage, the army will coordinate with the air force and fully implement Operation Sickle Cut, launching attacks simultaneously here, here, and in this area.”

“Can we achieve victory in the area west of Sedan and ensure that our troops can advance quickly? You know, we don’t have many armored forces. Once we get bogged down in a war of attrition, the situation will be unfavorable for us,” von Bock had to ask his most pressing question.

“This problem is very easy to solve,” Brauchitsch said, pointing to the large area west of Sedan. “The French army has no main forces here. Our armored forces can reach their designated attack targets at the fastest speed. Our infantry has also been supplemented with a large number of transport vehicles, precisely in the hope that these troops can keep up with the offensive speed of the armored forces.”

Finally, he looked at the silent Führer, Akado, stood up straight, and said, “My Führer, although I firmly believe that we will win this war, I must still assure you here. If this battle cannot be won, I will choose the most honorable way to give you an accounting.”