* After Guderian had captured a bridgehead west of the river Meuse near Sedan, he feared that the French tanks massing south near Stonne would counterattack and encircle his forces
* As such, he captured the strategically important town of Stonne to guard his flank.
* General Flavigny, following standard French doctrine, had dispered his tanks to support the infantry. As such, when the tanks are ordered to recapture Stonne, the assault is uncoordinated and the tanks are fed piecemeal to German towed anti-tank and close air support.
* Despite that, the superior chars B1 bis eventually break through, capturing the village.
* In one famous instance, **a single char B1 bis commanded by lieutenant** [**Pierre Billotte**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Billotte) **broke through the germans lines, destroying 13 Panzer III and IV while sustaining 140 direct hits.**
* But each time Stonne was captured by French tanks, the vital infantry support needed to hold it never materialized, and the tanks were forced to withdraw and ressuply. This lack of coordination between the tanks and the infantry was one of the main weaknesses of the French tanks brigades: they lacked the dedicated motorized infantry and support artillery that made the German Panzer division so formidable by allowing it to operate fully independently.
* In the end, the village **changed hands 17 times**. The French never were able to counterattack the Sedan bridgehead and the panzers raced west unopposed.
* A newly appointed colonel De Gaulle is given command of the 4th DCR and tasked with delaying the German breakthrough to buy time for the Sixth Army to redeploy and close the gap.
* At last, De Gaulle gets the chance to implement his ideas of tank warfare. He decides launch a counterattack and recapture the strategic village of Montcornet on Guderian’s flank.
* The attack catches Guderian off-guard, and the Germans are brushed aside. Guderian rushes in the 10th Panzer Division to outflank De Gaulle and calls for close air supports. Despite this, de Gaulle still breaks through and comes within 1 mile of Guderian’s HQ before being stopped by relentless CAS bombing
* De Gaulle requests two infantry divisions to support his assault, but is denied. Without infantry support, his tanks withdraws from Montcornet and Guderian avoids catastrophe.
THE12TH_ on
Not to be an asshole but…you used a belgian uniform for the meme, sorry.
Tight_Contact_9976 on
It’s sad that there were several generals who knew exactly what to do and could’ve stopped the Germans but they weren’t listened to.
The only consolation is that some of them got to put their ideas into practice in the last two years of the war.
ChristianLW3 on
The battle for sedan was handled so poorly that the French general in charge was actually suspected of treason
Battle of Abbeville exposed their slow doctrine. The french left the germans more than enough time to form reistance pockets around 88s which made short work of the Char B1s
Nyther53 on
“Superior Char B1” is a bit of a meme take.
For instance, you’re choosing to focus on instances where they actually showed up to the battlefield, instead of running out of fuel or breaking down far short of where they were needed, which happened far more often. The rest of the time they were getting lost, or maneuvering independently because lacking radios like the Germans had they couldn’t coordinate with anyone else. Its not an accident or a mystery why they were constantly lacking Infantry support, that’s a consequence of the Char B1’s poor design, not an outside factor.
The Char B1 is bigger, and heavier than its German counterparts during the Battle of France. I’m not convinced that thats the same thing as being “Superior”, and the results of the campaign really doesn’t support the assertion either. A tanks job is not to win honor duels with other tanks.
laZardo on
And this was while the German panzer corps was basically outrunning their own infantry support
NecroticJenkumSmegma on
I always wanted one, apparently you can buy one on the cheap nowadays (cheaper than an actual new car) and most have been rebuilt to not be such pieces of crap mechanically.
Ogtak on
What are the sources this actually happened? I was recently watching 10 days at Sedan and Indy noted its not entirely clear if this happend.
9 Comments
**Inspired by these two famous tank battles during the Battle of France:**
# [Battle of Stonne:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonne#History)
* After Guderian had captured a bridgehead west of the river Meuse near Sedan, he feared that the French tanks massing south near Stonne would counterattack and encircle his forces
* As such, he captured the strategically important town of Stonne to guard his flank.
* General Flavigny, following standard French doctrine, had dispered his tanks to support the infantry. As such, when the tanks are ordered to recapture Stonne, the assault is uncoordinated and the tanks are fed piecemeal to German towed anti-tank and close air support.
* Despite that, the superior chars B1 bis eventually break through, capturing the village.
* In one famous instance, **a single char B1 bis commanded by lieutenant** [**Pierre Billotte**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Billotte) **broke through the germans lines, destroying 13 Panzer III and IV while sustaining 140 direct hits.**
* But each time Stonne was captured by French tanks, the vital infantry support needed to hold it never materialized, and the tanks were forced to withdraw and ressuply. This lack of coordination between the tanks and the infantry was one of the main weaknesses of the French tanks brigades: they lacked the dedicated motorized infantry and support artillery that made the German Panzer division so formidable by allowing it to operate fully independently.
* In the end, the village **changed hands 17 times**. The French never were able to counterattack the Sedan bridgehead and the panzers raced west unopposed.
# [Battle of Montcornet:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Montcornet)
* A newly appointed colonel De Gaulle is given command of the 4th DCR and tasked with delaying the German breakthrough to buy time for the Sixth Army to redeploy and close the gap.
* At last, De Gaulle gets the chance to implement his ideas of tank warfare. He decides launch a counterattack and recapture the strategic village of Montcornet on Guderian’s flank.
* The attack catches Guderian off-guard, and the Germans are brushed aside. Guderian rushes in the 10th Panzer Division to outflank De Gaulle and calls for close air supports. Despite this, de Gaulle still breaks through and comes within 1 mile of Guderian’s HQ before being stopped by relentless CAS bombing
* De Gaulle requests two infantry divisions to support his assault, but is denied. Without infantry support, his tanks withdraws from Montcornet and Guderian avoids catastrophe.
Not to be an asshole but…you used a belgian uniform for the meme, sorry.
It’s sad that there were several generals who knew exactly what to do and could’ve stopped the Germans but they weren’t listened to.
The only consolation is that some of them got to put their ideas into practice in the last two years of the war.
The battle for sedan was handled so poorly that the French general in charge was actually suspected of treason
https://youtu.be/EoKmcTS6xy8?si=BRLGeH1VeBBr2WeE
Battle of Abbeville exposed their slow doctrine. The french left the germans more than enough time to form reistance pockets around 88s which made short work of the Char B1s
“Superior Char B1” is a bit of a meme take.
For instance, you’re choosing to focus on instances where they actually showed up to the battlefield, instead of running out of fuel or breaking down far short of where they were needed, which happened far more often. The rest of the time they were getting lost, or maneuvering independently because lacking radios like the Germans had they couldn’t coordinate with anyone else. Its not an accident or a mystery why they were constantly lacking Infantry support, that’s a consequence of the Char B1’s poor design, not an outside factor.
The Char B1 is bigger, and heavier than its German counterparts during the Battle of France. I’m not convinced that thats the same thing as being “Superior”, and the results of the campaign really doesn’t support the assertion either. A tanks job is not to win honor duels with other tanks.
And this was while the German panzer corps was basically outrunning their own infantry support
I always wanted one, apparently you can buy one on the cheap nowadays (cheaper than an actual new car) and most have been rebuilt to not be such pieces of crap mechanically.
What are the sources this actually happened? I was recently watching 10 days at Sedan and Indy noted its not entirely clear if this happend.