Author: Robert Falchick
Translation: Yao Jun
On June 14, 1940, a German patrol passed through the Arc de Triomphe
On the morning of 12 June 1940, the French still had more than 10 infantry divisions on the Chauvino Line north of Paris. Although Bock did not deploy any armored divisions in the area, it would not be long before Küchler's German 18th Army broke through the line. Artillery General Walter Heitz's German 8th Army dispatched 2 infantry divisions at the western end of the attack line at Lilleadam, while Cavalry General Georg Stumme's 40th Army dispatched 4 infantry divisions to attack the French 1st Army, commanded by Schard, along the River Nineet. Fighting raged throughout the Chauvino Line, with the French fighting to the death, trying to keep the Germans out of Paris.
At Lille Adam, Haats' 8th Army began a 10-minute artillery strike at 9:50 a.m., but due to rain, plans to carry out the Stuka attack were halted. The French artillery in the concealed position remained silent. When the shelling stopped, four battalions of the German 8th Infantry Division attempted to cross the 100-meter-wide Oise River in rubber boats, but the previously silent French artillery suddenly opened fire intensively, ruining the attack. The machine gunners of the French 13th Infantry Division also attacked German ships with flat fire, inflicting heavy casualties on the Germans.
At 12:10, the second attack launched by the two German battalions was also repelled, and the third attack at 14:00 was the same result. An extremely concealed French machine gun bunker (built by Sauvino's sappers) killed and wounded the Germans in large numbers until they were suppressed by anti-tank fire. Heitz ordered a halt to the attack, but the 8th Infantry Division made another offensive attempt at 18:25. A German infantry company managed to cross the intact barrage and enter a small island in the river, but was unable to secure a foothold on the opposite bank. At about 22:00, the French 13th Infantry Division launched a Jedi counterattack, forcing the Germans to withdraw across the river. It was astonishing that Gransar's 10th Army had repelled four German river crossing attacks.
(Above) A German Panzer IV tank passes by the statue of Joan of Arc in the Orléans Martyrdom Square
The German 9th Infantry Division to the north tried to cross the river at Boran-sur-Oise, but the French 19th Infantry Division and some tanks from the 1st Panzer Division (several Shire B1 bis and 1 company of R35) counterattacked, stopping the Germans. However, Stume's German 40th Army crossed the Nonnet River at two river crossing points near Senlis. Both the French 29th Mountain Division and the 47th Infantry Division were forced to retreat, and the right end of the Chauvino Line was no longer stable. The German 6th Army in Reichenau also pressured Freyer's French 7th Army to launch a small attack on the 24th Army of the 7th Army. By the evening, although the Germans had achieved some partial victories, the French still held most of the Chauvino Line. The main reason why the Germans had difficulty breaking through the French lines was that the rains left the Germans without air support. Without the Stuka, the burden of breaking through the French defenses fell on the shoulders of the German infantry.
The situation north of Paris remained unresolved, but the French defenses on both flanks of the capital were collapsing. Manstein's German 38th Army expanded the bridgehead of the lower Seine, while Artemaire's French 10th Army was now left with only patchwork units—no fixed divisions. Admiral León de la Laurency, who had been withdrawn from Dunkirk, began to reorganize the 3rd Army to block Manstein's attack. Artemeille ordered the 3rd Army to guard an area 60 km wide along the Seine, but this army had only 2 reconnaissance units, as well as the newly formed 236th Light Infantry Division and 2 75 mm artillery groups. Later, de La Laurency was reinforced by the C Brigade of the Boman Division and a new unit, the 8th Colonial Light Infantry Division (DLIC), composed of colonial cadets from the south of France. Nevertheless, De la Laurency was unable to establish a continuous position around Manstein's bridgehead.
In order to reinforce the rapidly disintegrating field army, the GQG tried to reorganize the combat forces with troops evacuated from Dunkirk, but this effort was hampered by shortages of weapons, equipment and vehicles. To make matters worse, the British authorities confiscated the light weapons of French officers and men withdrawn from Dunkirk and returned to France unarmed. The First Consideration for the French was the reorganization of General Jean Langlois's cavalry corps with the officers and men who survived the 3 light mechanized divisions lost in Belgium.
By June 10, the 6th Cuirassier Regiment of the 1st Light Mechanized Division had gathered 69 percent of its men, but the regiment had only 6 AMD armored vehicles and about 60 motorcycles, while the 4th Cuirassier Regiment had 10 Soma S35s and 10 H39 tanks. The division's Motorized Infantry Regiment (4e RDP) consisted of 1 motorcycle battalion and 1 truck battalion. In terms of support weapons, the new 1st Light Mechanized Division received only 8 75 mm guns, 6 47 mm anti-tank guns and 4 25 mm anti-aircraft guns. Although the cavalry corps was far from ready for battle, it marched to the front on 11 June to rendezvous with the 3rd Army. Given France's limited resources, efforts to rebuild a DLM of 40 to 50 percent of the staffing would be better than three DLM with only 15 percent staff and equipment. The 1st Light Mechanization Division, upon arrival at the front, immediately threw itself into the counter-offensive of The Passy-on-Eare against Manstein's forces. The French cavalry lacked firepower to achieve any significant results, but the sudden appearance of French tanks in the defensive zone still surprised Manstein. However, the only real advantage for de la Laurenzi's French 3rd Army was that Kluge's German 4th Army did not have any motorized troops and could not immediately take advantage of the bridgehead established by Manstein.
East of Paris, the entire 4th Army group of Anziger was in serious trouble. After Strauss's German 9th Army established a bridgehead on the Marne River near the Château de Thierry, Kleist immediately threw his armored troops into battle. This was the decisive moment of the entire campaign. By the morning of 12 June, German sappers had begun to build a 16-ton bridge over the Marne, and Hopner's 16th (motorized) Army was able to cross the river into the bridgehead at 14:15. After intensive fire from powerful artillery, the German 3rd Panzer Division, spearheaded by the 5th Panzer Regiment of Baron Hans Freiherr von Funck (ranked Colonel), attacked rapidly. The sudden appearance of the German armored forces shook the French will to resist, and by 21:30 the German armored forces had almost reached their main target, Montmirail. However, the German 3rd Panzer Division did not want to break into a deep trench and high-fortified town in the dark without infantry support, so the attack was postponed until the next morning. Hopner's armored forces penetrated rapidly, and Tucción's French 6th Army had no chance to establish a defensive line behind the Marne.
(Above) German motorcycle infantry units pass through a village. Note that each motorcycle transports 3 soldiers, who get out of the car quickly when they come into contact with the enemy. Taking advantage of tactical mobility, motorcycle infantry battalions played a key role in the early German victories, but later proved unsuitable for Russia's muddy roads.
The attack on Guedri's armored groups terrified the French 2nd Army in Fredenburg, and French divisions began to retreat south and east to Argonne. Due to various command errors, the retreat of the 2nd Army became very chaotic, and Reinhardt's armored troops took the opportunity to quickly enter the blank space between the Marne and Meuse rivers. On the afternoon of 12 June, Recan's army group was behind the Marne, but the flanks of the two French armies were retreating step by step. The screening of the Marne had been destroyed, and Anziger's 3 armies could no longer maintain a continuous defensive line.
After receiving reports of German breakthroughs in the lower Seine and champagne, Wei Gang ordered General George to issue Circular 1444 at 13:15 on June 12, and all three French army groups began a general retreat. Curiously, Preterra's 2nd Army Group received the order at 14:30, while the other 2 Army Groups did not receive it until 16:45. Only the troops stationed on the Maginot Line and southern France remained in place. Erin and his "Army Group Paris" were apparently the last to find the capital unguardable. This retreat meant not only abandoning Paris and retreating more than 150 kilometers to the Loire, but also meant that all attempts to maintain a continuous defensive line were over. After this order was given, the French Army would flee with no plans other than to survive. Wei Gang's orders led the French Army to embark on a shameful retreat, which could only lead to the disintegration of the army and seriously damage France's military reputation.
This article is excerpted from The Red Plan: The Collapse of France
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