The Rise of the Third Reich

On April 16, 1940, at the same time that Churchill was visiting Paris, the 4th Reserve Armored Division commanded by Colonel Charles de Gaulle finally arrived near the Mont-Diou Heights. His division also set out from the 6th Group Army assembly area in Reims, but it was dispatched later than the 3rd Reserve Armored Division. It only set off at noon on the 14th. Like the 3rd Reserve Armored Division, it also encountered severe congestion on the road.

Probably because the last war left such a terrible impression on people, many French people were unwilling to live in occupied areas, so they all fled with their families and carriages loaded with furniture and items. As a result, the limited roads were tightly blocked. De Gaulle's armored division could only stop and go, and in order to avoid air attacks, they did not dare to march during the day. As a result, we walked for nearly 2 days on a 90-kilometer journey, and we didn’t arrive until the morning of the 16th. In order to reach the designated target within the specified time (before 12 o'clock on the 16th), De Gaulle forced his troops to march on the morning of the 16th. As a result, he was blown up by dozens of Ju87s and Hs-123s and turned over. Eighteen CharB1 heavy tanks, fifteen H39s and dozens of trucks were lost. In addition, more than 30 CharB1s and H39s broke down on the road. Less than 100 tanks arrived successfully, and the equipment integrity rate was less than 60%.

After placing all the tanks that arrived successfully (most of them drove into the woods, and some were camouflaged and parked on the grass), de Gaulle drove to the headquarters of the 21st Army, a wine estate with a beautiful house.

De Gaulle found that the atmosphere inside the 21st Army Headquarters was very depressing, and the staff officers who came in and out all had sad faces. When he arrived, a meeting was taking place in the temporarily arranged conference room. The commander of the 2nd Army, General Charles Hunzig, arrived at the front line in person an hour ago and took over the command from General Flavigni. We are now giving instructions to several division commanders who are arriving one after another (3rd Motorized Division, 3rd Reserve Armored Division, 2nd Reserve Armored Division, 4th Reserve Armored Division, 2nd and 5th Light Cavalry Divisions, and the 55th Infantry Division). Already arrived) to assign tasks. Seeing de Gaulle come in, the French lieutenant general waved to him and called him to his side.

"Charles, you came just in time to catch up with the general offensive in the evening!" General Charles Henziger said to de Gaulle, "How many tanks can your armored division still have?"

"There are 45 CharB1s and 52 H39s." De Gaulle said, "There are also 11 CharB1s and 19 H39s under maintenance and may arrive later."

"Well," General Charles Henziger nodded, "45 more CharB1s, plus 50 vehicles from the 2nd Reserve Armored Division, and 33 vehicles from the 3rd Reserve Armored Division, a total of 128 vehicles... That's it. "

128 intact CharB1s are the maximum number that the three reserve armored divisions can produce now. Even if they cannot, there is nothing they can do.

"At 6:30 in the evening, the attacking forces set off, the shelling started at 7:30, the tanks and armored vehicles fired at 7:45, and the attack started at 8:00." General Charles Henziger made a hasty arrangement, and then said to de Gaulle, "Char, your CharB1 tank will also participate in the attack."

"Are only CharB1 tanks participating in the attack?" Charles de Gaulle asked.

"Yes, the H39 tanks are too vulnerable when facing German tanks and anti-tank guns." General Charles Henziger shook his head and said, "We lost a lot of H39 tanks last night and during the day, so tonight's attack will be completely Use the CharB1 tank."

…

"Shell attack! Hurry and take cover...boom!"

When a French pre-attack bombardment began. The eldest son of the German Foreign Minister and the grandson of the chairman of the Heinkel Wine Company, Rudolf Ribbentrop, the handsome Nazi superman, was shirtless, wielding a sapper shovel, and walking in Stoney, which was almost flattened by artillery fire. Foxholes were dug next to the ruins of a church on the south side of town. The remaining 33 people from the 2nd Platoon of the 11th Company where he belonged (the rest were either wounded or killed) are now stationed here as the outpost of the entire flag team.

Due to time constraints, the officers and soldiers of the 2nd Platoon of the 11th Company had no time to dig trenches. They could only dig foxholes based on the ruins of the Catholic church that was destroyed by artillery fire. They also used building materials from the church to build machine guns and anti-tank guns. firepower point.

The main force of the "Gross Deutschland" flag force was stationed in Stoneytown and Sugarloaf Heights. The 1st and 3rd Battalions were stationed in the town, and the 2nd Battalion was stationed at Sugar Loaf Heights, and there was no time to build any strong fortifications. The fourth battalion, which is an artillery battalion, is divided and stationed in two places.

The 5th Armored Division also sent their 7th Tank Company (1 Armored Division has 16 tank companies) into the small town of Stoney. This is a tank company composed of 8 No. 3 tanks and 7 No. 3 assault guns. It is very powerful. In today's daytime battle, 25 H39 tanks and 5 CharB1 tanks were destroyed by this company. They themselves also lost three No. 3 tanks, and none of the sturdy No. 3 assault guns were damaged beyond repair - the 80mm frontal armor thickness was still very strong in 1940.

The 14th anti-tank gun company of the "Grossdeutschland" flag force has also achieved remarkable results in the past dozen hours. Although this company only possessed 12 underpowered 37mm anti-tank guns and 1 captured 47mm anti-tank gun, 28 H39 and 3 CharB1 tanks were destroyed by them.

Attacks from the air also caused heavy losses to the attacking French tanks. Ju87 dive bombers and Hs-123 attack aircraft destroyed 17 H39 and 16 CharB1 tanks during the day of the 16th.

Six No. 3 assault guns deployed on the Sugarloaf Heights (belonging to the 4th Battalion of the "Gross Deutschland" flag force) and three No. 4 F-type professional anti-black artillery guns (possessing a powerful but short-lived 42x caliber 75mm gun). Their results were equally surprising, destroying 16 H39 tanks and 7 CharB1 tanks.

In addition, many H39 tanks and CharB1 tanks had their tracks broken by anti-tank mines planted by the Germans. Some of them were destroyed by anti-tank guns and German tanks, and some were towed down by French tank repair vehicles. battlefield.

"God, this is simply a tank cemetery!" Charles de Gaulle followed General Charles Henziger into a former enemy command post located below the southern side of the Monte-Dieu Heights. He raised his telescope and took a look, and endured it. He couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice.

Under the bright moonlight, the entire southern slope of the Monte-Diu Highlands was littered with the remains of destroyed tanks and scattered steel fragments and twisted and damaged parts. There are also many corpses of French soldiers accompanying these tank wreckage, which seem to tell the cruelty of the battle.

"Charles," Brocade of the 3rd Reserve Armored Division stood next to de Gaulle. Hearing de Gaulle's words, he just sighed softly, "This is a cemetery, the cemetery of our French armored forces."

His words were a bit discouraging. General Charles Henziger of the 2nd Army turned his head and glared at him, "Now most of the German armored forces are moving north. If we can break through the high ground, we can threaten the German army's retreat. It can force the German armored divisions heading north to return reinforcements!"

Can it really be done? Charles de Gaulle looked at the charred and damaged remains of nearly a hundred French tanks on the battlefield, and then thought about the bombing his armored division encountered on the way from Reims, and he was not optimistic about the attack in front of him.

At this moment, the French army's short artillery preparations had ended. General Charles Henziger shouted loudly to the messenger behind him: "Order the troops to start the attack!"

125 CharB1 tanks (three more broke down during the start) slowly drove out from the attack launch area, slowly rushed up the hillside, then divided into two groups, and rushed all the way to Sugarloaf Heights, following this Behind the 125 tanks were 30 companies of infantry, spreading like a tide towards the high ground where the German troops were stationed.

"French tanks! There are at least 100 of them," Second Lieutenant Gustav Schwarzenegger squatted in the foxhole and shouted with a phone headset. "They are all B1 types, and there are a lot of infantry. The French are attacking. ! Hey, do you hear that?

There was no reply from the phone receiver. Gustav Schwarzenegger guessed that the shelling just now might have interrupted the phone line. He turned back to Rudolf Ribbentrop and shouted: "Rudolf, go to the company headquarters and report the situation!"

News that more than 100 CharB1 tanks appeared on the battlefield soon spread to the 12th Army Headquarters 10 kilometers away. General Kleist had three powerful armored divisions in his hands, the 5th, 6th and 8th Armored Divisions. , there are more than 1,000 tanks, assault guns and self-propelled artillery that can be driven, which is enough to crush the French armored forces attacking the Monte-Dieu Highlands!

However, on the morning of the 16th, the German general did not dispatch his powerful armored assault force. Instead, let them hide in the woods and villages north of the Monte-Diu Highlands. Because he did not want to expose his trump card prematurely in order to attract more French troops to the south of Sedan.

"There are 100 B1 tanks, plus those that were destroyed during the day and those that broke down during the march, there are almost three French reserve armored divisions coming to us." General Kleist looked at the commander of the 41st Armored Corps Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Thoma, "The three armored divisions have been handed over to you, now we can start to make a roundabout way!"