During world war II, the Germans defeated the British and French forces with lightning speed and occupied the vast french in a short time. The ineffectual Anglo-French coalition was compressed by the Germans on the beaches of Dunkirk, which can be said to be a lifeline. The rapid withdrawal of as many as 338,000 Allied officers and men by the British in a short period of time is a miracle in military history. Why would the Germans, who dominated Europe in blitzkrieg, sit back and watch the Anglo-French forces escape?
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the Germans who took the initiative to stop</h1>
In 1940, Nazi Germany used blitzkrieg tactics to penetrate the Belgian forest, bypass the fortified Maginot Line, and blasted into the French hinterland like a bison that had lost its reins, and successfully cut the French army into isolated north and south parts. The Anglo-French coalition troops stationed in the northern border area of France were like a frightened flock of chickens and ducks, and they could not break the army and did not choose a way, they abandoned a large number of heavy equipment and fled to Dunkirk. The German panzer group followed them, ready to enjoy a bloody feast.
The last time the French were beaten so badly was the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, when Napoleon III was captured by Bismarck, Germany's iron-blooded Prime Minister, and France was forced to pay 5 billion francs as war reparations. Later, France defeated Germany in World War I and once again regained the throne of "the world's first army power". But this throne had only been sitting for 22 years, and the Germans came to the door to take revenge. Returning to the point, let's go on to say why the Germans stopped at Dunkirk and did not wipe out the Anglo-French forces?
Many claims suggest that hitler was the one who first gave the stop order. In fact, according to German records, the German panzer group stopped advancing long before Hitler issued the order, that is, on the 23rd. Due to the rapid advance and a series of continuous battles, the German army at that time caused a large number of vehicles and tanks to continue to be maintained and repaired.
At the same time, due to the speed of the attack, the German armored forces have already thrown the logistics convoy far away, and at this time the German army's fuel is not enough, so it is natural to stop and rest, wait for replenishment and then launch an attack, and completely annihilate the coalition army on the beach like slaughtering broiler chickens.
In fact, there are also contradictory opinions within the German army on whether to stop and rest, because the radical faction led by the German chief of staff Hader, because now the morale of the British and French coalition forces is collapsing, the German army is in full swing, no matter what gasoline is not gasoline, ammunition is not ammunition, it should rush to the beach with a bang, and the frightened French Gallic chicken and The English manatee should be boiled in one spoon.
The logistic convoy did not follow, and the soldiers had reached the point where they had to rest. Moreover, the overall situation has been decided, even if the British Navy has it, but the German front generals do not think so, and a number of armored commanders have complained that the tank has reached the point where it must be maintained, and the officers believe that even if Britain has the world's first naval force, it will not be able to withdraw a large number of allied troops from Dunkirk in a short period of time. Unless the coalition forces flew over the English Channel or moved out of thin air, there was only one way to die.
For a time, the front-line generals and the German General Staff were in a state of rage, and Hader forcibly ordered the troops to launch an immediate attack without delay, otherwise the military law would be punished. The generals simply went straight to Hitler, once again stressing the need for rest. So Hitler, after much thought, decided to order the armored forces to stop and rest. Except for Hadr's strategic instincts, which told him that delaying might free the Allies, none of the German generals believed that the British were capable of evacuating more than three hundred thousand men from the beaches in a week.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Goering's mind</h1>
It would be a mistake to think that the Stagnation of the German Army was merely a contradiction between the General Staff and the generals at the front, and in fact Luftwaffe Field Marshal Goering also played a certain role. Although the frenzied german bombardment into France was a news that excited all Germans, not all Germans were optimistic and positive about the army's brilliant achievements.
The Luftwaffe's performance in the blitzkrieg was mainly in Belgium and the Netherlands for air superiority, and the airborne operation in the Netherlands was also unsuccessful, the paratroopers supported by Goering were suppressed as soon as they landed, and the commander, General Spanneck, was injured in the butt by a bullet as soon as he landed, and finally the army arrived in time to break the siege for the paratroopers.
Air Force Commander Herman Goering, seeing that the Army has achieved such brilliant results, is naturally a little unhappy. Goering has always stressed that in blitzkrieg, the air force is an important factor in determining the success or failure of the campaign. But now the glory of the Air Force has been overshadowed by the Army, and if it is allowed to develop, the Air Force will be reduced to a supporting role. So Goering used his private ties with Hitler to intervene in the war, and he wanted to give the Luftwaffe a chance to prove its worth and gain greater glory.
Just when the Army Armored Corps wanted to stop and rest, he strongly supported it, so that the Air Force also had the opportunity to perform. Goering packed tickets in front of Hitler, the Air Force only needed a week to blow up the Allied forces, even if the British Royal Navy came to support, the Luftwaffe also had the advantage of internal combat, as long as the British Navy dared to approach the French coast, make sure that they had no return.
This also fits the minds of the German army generals, who believe that the German armored forces are the main force in future wars, and they need to rest at the moment, rather than blindly throwing themselves into the annihilation of the beachhead. As the saying goes, if the Anglo-French dogs jump the wall, the German armored troops will also bear a lot of losses. Therefore, it is better to let the Air Force blow up all the coalition forces piled up on the beachhead, so as to give the Air Force face, meet the strategic needs of the Army, and also give the Coalition forces a fatal blow, which can be called one arrow and three eagles.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Hitler's fantasies</h1>
The Germans stopped at Dunkirk, and apart from the needs of the German Army and the Luftwaffe, the biggest factor was actually Hitler's illusions about the war. If he really forced the armored forces to attack, and then let the air force do a good job of cover, in fact, the coalition forces were unlikely to cause any heavy losses to the Germans.
Hitler believed that Britain was actually the number one powerful colonial empire at that time, with very rich human and material resources, as well as the world's most powerful naval power at that time, and the air force was no worse than the Luftwaffe. Moreover, the British mainland is isolated across the English Channel, and the German navy is unlikely to defeat the British navy. If an armistice agreement could be reached with Britain, and perhaps there was a chance to draw Britain to its side, then the United States would not go to war, and it would be much easier to deal with the Soviet Union.
However, if the Allied Forces, which will be mainly British troops, are annihilated on the beach, the relationship with Britain will be completely broken, and the British ally since the First World War, the United States, will be drawn into this war, and Germany will be difficult to win in any case. Therefore, Hitler agreed to stop the attack, and deliberately delayed the time of the air raid for several days, and set the main target of the air raid as the port terminal, hoping to negotiate with the British.
Unfortunately, due to rainy days, the Luftwaffe's operational efficiency was greatly reduced, the Air Force only destroyed the Dunkirk docks, coupled with the desperate resistance of the British Air Force, the Luftwaffe was not able to complete the task.
What Hitler and a number of German generals did not expect was that Britain, under the leadership of Churchill, carried out a general mobilization. The British Navy recruited all civilian ships, including small wooden boats, into the evacuation fleet, and under the cover of rainy weather, successfully withdrew more than 330,000 Allied officers and men to the British mainland, during which the Luftwaffe interception operation had little success.
The only thing that pleased Hitler and the German generals was that the Coalition had abandoned dunkirk with up to 63,000 vehicles, 75,000 motorcycles, 700 tanks, 500,000 tons of supplies, and 2,450 artillery of various types when they withdrew. In this way, Britain's resistance would be greatly reduced, and the Germans could use this batch of supplies to expand their troops and prepare for the next big war.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > concluding remarks</h1>
In summary, before the German army stopped at Dunkirk, in addition to Hitler's illusions, there were also german army assaults that were too fast, logistics overloaded, and officers and men were tired in continuous combat. At the same time, Goering promised to use the Air Force to solve the Allied forces, which would have been a good idea, but because Hitler delayed the air raid and happened to catch up with the rainy day, the luftwaffe's operational efficiency was greatly reduced. In addition, the Germans only prejudged the British Navy, but ignored the possibility of British general mobilization, so they missed the opportunity to eliminate the Allied Forces.
References: A Brief History of World War II, Operation Dunkirk