Some French combat divisions still put up a tenacious defense, especially in the eastern area. General Delatre led the 14th Infantry Division to confront the German 41st Armored Corps. In the Rethere area slightly to the west, the French army
The 2nd Division once repelled German attacks continuously within one day.
In the end, the German army did not launch an attack on these positions. Instead, they found gaps between these positions. After breaking through these gaps, they turned towards Reims.
Even the lower echelons of the French army seemed unable to understand the use of unimplementable static defense against powerful and high-speed mobile armored forces. An armored battle was also staged during the war. In a French Japanese heavy tank formation participated
During the counterattack, Guderian was very worried when he saw anti-tank shells falling from "the thick decks of French tanks...". The Japanese tanks were the strongest tanks in the world at that time. The French armored forces headed north
They entered a small village called Posais to rescue an infantry regiment that was surrounded there - but they themselves were also trapped in the encirclement and ran out of oil pestles!
However, in other places, the French troops were all suppressed or cut off, and the headquarters lost control of the troops. As the German armored forces penetrated deep into the heart of France, the German infantry columns that followed occupied more villages.
and towns. The morale of the French people plummeted, and the French army gradually disintegrated.
As early as June q, Wei Gang stated, "Our army is fighting for the last possible defensive operation. If this effort fails, the army is destined to be quickly destroyed."
Two days later, he moved his headquarters from Paris to Briar-sur-Loire. There, Britain and France held the last joint meeting. Churchill attended the meeting, accompanied by Generals Eden, Ismay and Speirs;
From the French side, Marshal Pétain accompanied Weygand to the meeting.
The meeting began with Weigang's statement, "The last line of defense has been breached by the German army, and all reserves have been used up. We are on the edge of a knife and don't know where to go."
When the heated discussions and arguments finally died down, the meeting ended with Weygand's warning: "Once our deployment is disrupted, and it won't be long, we will have no hope of reorganizing our deployment because we lack reserves."
.In this case, I cannot stop the German invasion of the entire France."
The "humiliation" Weigang read from this proposal is difficult to understand, especially since just eight days later, he ordered about 40,000 French troops to be deployed inside and outside the Maginot Line.
Requesting the German army to cease the war while maintaining the honor of war...". In the French legal provisions, the "biggest crime" refers to the act of "surrendering while still capable of defending...". Therefore, the French commander-in-chief said on 1q4
What he did in June of that year is as incredible as a mystery.
On June 16, Reynaud resigned, and Marshal Pétain succeeded him as French Prime Minister. He immediately decided to sue for peace with Germany as soon as possible and form a government in accordance with Hitler's wishes. By June 2, the German army's clutches had reached French cities in the south.
Lyon and Grenoble stretched to the border of France and Switzerland in the east, and controlled the Biscay coast and the area south to Royan in the west. 1. Mussolini, who declared war on Britain and France a few days ago, at this time
Italian troops were also being sent to France in large numbers, and Nice was captured before the German troops arrived.
A series of events that occurred the next day finally led the fascists to stop their offensive. At 3:03 pm on June 21, the French delegation led by General Huntsiger was taken to the section where the armistice agreement was signed in 1Q18 in Compiègne.
In the train carriage, Hitler also came to Compiègne, accompanied by Göring, Keitel, Ribbentrop and Hess.
Hitler silently read the inscription carved on the monument in the Compiègne Museum condemning "the war crimes of the German Empire..." with a mixture of "an expression of anger, contempt for revenge and victory..." on his face. He finished listening to the preface to the terms of the armistice.
After that, he left the carriage and joked with his subordinates in extremely humorous words.
There was no negotiation at all, because Hitler knew very well that he had already won, and any proposal Huntziger made would be sent back to Prime Minister Petain, who would accept all of Hitler's conditions. As a shrewd man,
As a politician, Hitler knew how to control the scale. For reasons of face, he had to convince the French people that the French nation's self-esteem had been saved, even in the event of defeat.
Article 3 of the Armistice Agreement recognized the Pétain government as the government representing all French sovereign states and their overseas possessions, allowed France to retain its imperial rights, and recognized France's nominal national sovereignty. Germany also promised that France would retain its rights in Toulon and other Mediterranean countries.
The combat fleet in the port was still under the command of France. Hitler was very satisfied with this, because one of the things he was most worried about was the merger of France's powerful fleet into the British Royal Navy!
By 7 p.m. on June 22, both sides had signed the armistice agreement, and the two sides had also reached an agreement on the demarcation of the boundaries of the German-occupied areas. However, these terms were just a disguise, and Hitler intended to punish France. The agreement did not clearly stipulate
The specific date for the release of the 20,000 French soldiers imprisoned by the German army. The Vichy government's army is not allowed to exceed 10,000 people. This is a reflection of the Treaty of Versailles. The French people must not only pay war compensation to Germany, but also must
To bear the costs of the German occupying forces.
Hitler was generally not interested in visiting the areas he conquered, but Paris was an exception.
The amateur architect visited the French capital Paris, accompanied by Albert Speer and his favorite sculptor Arno Breck.
The city seemed very desolate - because with the German attack, a large number of residents had left, and the population had dropped from the original 30,000 to 80,000. The head of state visited the Eiffel Tower and paid respect to Napoleon's tomb in the Invalides.
He also made his own grand remarks about the ugliness of the Sacre Coeur. "If I had destroyed Paris, I would have been very painful." He later said. He was surprised that he could defeat the arrogant and decadent France. He believed that the French people
Love of culture weakened his martial spirit.
The humiliation suffered by France was comprehensive. France was betrayed by its leaders, who lacked the courage to stand up straight and fight. When these shameful clauses were posted in Paris, when these shameful clauses were broadcast on German radio
When they came out, the eyes of the French people were filled with tears. In sharp contrast, the German citizens were sharing Hitler's joy. When the Führer returned to Berlin, he was greeted by a Roman Empire-style victory welcome ceremony. The street
Flowers were strewn all over the house and the worshiping crowd lined the streets to welcome him. They were praising the man who had changed the destiny of Germany in only 7 years. In 1q33, Germany was just a low-class country that looked at people's faces, but now it is
and became the master of Europe.
The defeat of France in June 1q4 was the victory Hitler most desired, as he believed France was to blame for some of the most vindictive provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. However, Britain, under Prime Minister Winston Churchill,
Now he stubbornly refuses to accept defeat.
The German High Command was very clear that Germany must maintain pressure on Britain, first by maintaining air threats, and secondly by threatening sea invasion. On July 16, Hitler issued Directive No. 16, ordering the launch of the "Sea Lion" operational plan.
Preparations were made and engineers were asked to begin transforming barges into landing craft. However, Germany's war against Britain had to solve a problem, that is, any army attempting to pass through the English Channel must first pass through the Royal Navy.
To deal with the powerful British maritime power, we must first win air superiority. The task of the Luftwaffe is to suppress the Royal Air Force. If the Royal Air Force can be eliminated, the German navy and air force can jointly hold back the Royal Navy and allow the German ground forces to cross the channel.
Gain time.
The Air Force is the youngest and most charismatic branch of the German army. As early as 1q3q, Hermann Goering, the founder of Hitler's Air Force, clearly stated the development goals to his subordinates. He said: "In the past few years,
In the past year, I have tried my best to build the most powerful air force in the world." In the next year, it was this air force that did not exist five years ago, and Germany conquered Europe by force.
On the road, it served as the vanguard of the invincible German Wehrmacht.
Only the stubborn British are still struggling to support themselves. However, Britain's failure seems to be only a matter of time.
When the war broke out, the Luftwaffe consisted of 3.2 squadrons and 237 combat pilots, with 2,564 combat aircraft of various types. In the first year of the war, the Luftwaffe could be said to have enjoyed the joy of success. Compared with its opponents, the German Air Force
The pilots were not only well-trained, but also superb in tactics. At dawn on July 1, 1937, three "Junkers" J87 aircraft of the 1st Squadron of the German Air Force's Dive Bomber Wing roared down from the sky in a nearly vertical dive.
A bomb was dropped on the Dilsdew Bridge on the Vistula River. Eleven minutes later, German armored divisions surged across the Polish border. In this way, Hitler's Luftwaffe fired the first shot of World War II.
The first task of the 16 aircraft belonging to the 1st and 4th Luftwaffe of the German Air Force was to destroy the Polish Air Force. The Polish air base was bombed indiscriminately by the German "Heinkel" and "Dornier" bombers.
The military's obsolete PZL fighter jets were also vulnerable to the Japanese B1.Q fighter jets of the Luftwaffe. Within two days, the Luftwaffe eliminated all air threats!
Subsequently, the German dive bombers began to perform the mission of attacking enemy troops and key communication targets. The "Stuka" bombers were like flying cannons, bombing all military obstacles in the path of the German armored forces. This kind of
The ferocious-looking bomber with inverted seagull wings is simply an aircraft that spreads fear and chaos to enemy soldiers and civilians.
Although Britain and France declared war on Germany on July 3, the two sides rarely engaged in air combat throughout the cold winter of 1q3q to 1q4.
Before the outbreak of the war, Britain, like many other countries, believed that Germany could be defeated by aerial bombing alone. However, although the development of the Luftwaffe was focused on offense, German planners did not neglect the country's defense; as a result, the Royal Air Force
Finally discovered that defeating Germany was not as easy as they imagined.
Britain's initial air raid on Germany in 1q3q did not drop bombs, but leaflets. Combat operations were limited to attacking ports and coastal targets. In an independent air raid on Germany's Wilhelmshaven in 1q3q, the British army did not have an escort.
24 "Wellington" bombers were intercepted by German radar-guided "Messerschmitt" Type 61.q fighters, and 12 were shot down. This operation and similar previous encounters forced the Royal Air Force to change its air raid operations to
Carry out at night.
In the spring of 1940, the Luftwaffe began operations again to support the German army's operations in Scandinavia.
In this coordinated land, sea and air operation, the German Air Force played an important role, transporting a large number of troops to Denmark and Norway, providing support for the implementation of sudden air-ground attacks, completing the most basic close support tasks, and providing
We have created an anti-ship strike force to counter the expected intervention of the Royal Navy! (To be continued [This text is provided by " " ]. If you like these works, you are welcome to come to Qidian◤First release from Qidian◢Vote for recommendation, monthly vote, you