Breakout at Sedan

French General Staff thought it was impossible for tanks to cross the massif of the Ardennes. Because of that assumption, French forces were completely surprised when, on the evening of May 12, General Guderian and his Panzer Divisions appeared before …

1940-05-13

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French General Staff thought it was impossible for tanks to cross the massif of the Ardennes. Because of that assumption, French forces were completely surprised when, on the evening of May 12, General Guderian and his Panzer Divisions appeared before the river Meuse and Sedan. The town was only defended by the 55th Infantry Division of General Lafontaine, which was a weak division made up of reservists with little weaponry. On May 13, with sirens screaming, German Stukas bombed the French defensive positions. The bombing lasted until 4 p.m. before infantry crossed the Meuse with rafts. At the same time, German artillery and Panzers fired at all known casemates that were in range. Soldiers of the Infantry Regiment Grossdeutschland, the 1st Schützen Regiment and the 1st Kradschützen Battalion soon reached the south bank of the Meuse and entered the forest of the Marfée that evening. The first pontoon bridges were constructed, allowing reinforcements to flood the Marfée. On the French side, the 55th Infantry Division was disorganized and the infantry started to panic from the German air raids and the force of the sudden assault. The Meuse was crossed and nothing more could be done to stop the Panzer advance.

Sedan, France

The Battle of Sedan or Second Battle of Sedan took place in the Second World War during the Battle of France in 1940. It was part of the German Wehrmacht's operational plan codenamed Fall Gelb for an offensive through the hilly and forested Ardennes, to encircle the Allied armies in Belgium and north-eastern France. German Army Group A crossed the Meuse river with the intention of capturing Sedan and pushing northwards towards the Channel coast, to trap the Allied forces that were advancing east into Belgium, as part of the Allied Dyle Plan.

Wikipedia: Battle of Sedan (1940)

German

French

Game Type: Standard

Board Type: Countryside

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