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Bataille de France (The Battle of France)

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From May 9th 20:00 GMT to May 10th 20:00 GMT

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German Advance up to the 16th of May 1940

May 10th, 1940 , a historical date that marks the end of the famous ''Phoney war'' , ''Drôle de guerre’’ and ‘’Sitzkrieg'' (The Sitting War) and the start of the ‘’Bataille de France’’. The Germans invaded western countries like a devastating tidal wave. France, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg joined forces against the German enemy , but it isnt enough . Overwhelmed by the incessant waves of Panzers and by the extraordinary ingenuity of Erwin Rommel and Heinz Guderian , France and its allies on the continent were swept aside in less than six weeks, ending with the historical ''Armistice du 22 Juin'' signed by the Petain government of France and the Third Reich, the proof of the German extreme victory against their previous opponents of World War 1.

Numerous battles and confrontation took place between French armour and those of the German army, one of the most famous engagements was the Battle of Hannut which took place from May 12th to 14th, 1940 , often referred to by historians as the first battle tank against tank of the modern era . It was also a remarkable victory on the side of France with 165 German tanks destroyed for just 105 loss.

There was also the battle of the village of Stonne , against an attack on a military ally, a strategic important place that , if the French had shown a victory, it would have changed the course of history and maybe even the result of this campaign. The dominant position of the German bridgehead at Sedan, capturing Stonne would have had the effect to halt and even contain one major offensives of the Manstein Plan. The violence of the fighting was so intense that this event was named ''The Verdun of 1940'' by a lot of historians . An important result of this battle that could describe all the importance of capturing Stonne is that the village changed sides no less than 17 times! But in the end, German took the village and secured their advance toward the Manche.

These achievements were due to the French equipment excellent quality, the B1/B1 bis , although constituting only a small proportion of tanks, they were superior in almost most points against the German tanks of that time. A high velocity gun , heavily armoured for its time , impervious to a 1940 german anti-tank gun. Nevertheless, this tank also had its problems with an overworked tank commander in the turret having to reload, shoot and command, an unreliable engine, slow speed, and a simple Morse code radio.

This steel behemoth was an opponent not to underestimate by the Germans forces, these light metal beasts had no choice but to either use the technique of a wolf pack. The commander in the German tank designated the B1, the radio operator transmitted the message to the other tank, encircled using 3-4 panzers and shot it at point blank range in various places to neutralize it , or they would destroy the B1 with their FlaK 36 88mm anti-aircraft guns, which was the only equipment capable of destroying these french tanks at long distance .

The tank Jeanne D'Arc became a legend after receiving approximately 90 impacts during the Abbeville attack on May 28th, 1940, as well as having crushed a dozen anti-tank guns and two armoured cars whilst it was disabled. The tank was knocked out when it was hit in the left fuel tank by an 88mm cannon, setting it on fire.

The Battle of France is memorable, limited space does not allow me to talk about all the confrontations, commitments, the support of the British with their Matilda, the famous ''Ghost Division’’ of our dear Erwin Rommel, the fierce resistance of the Belgians, the air superiority of the Luftwaffe. But remember that history is at hand for all to investigate!

The War Thunder Team