The Fall of France

[Europe Aflame]

The French army put up a good defence against the German invaders, and was, overall, quite solid (much to the surprise of several German officers who predicted a quick, relatively bloodless collapse).

But when the end came, there was very little time to react for the valiant defenders...

Extremely heavy fighting from 21st to 28th of April, 1940, left most of the French army in a state of reorganization, which the Germans were quick to capitalize on.

Two Panzer Korps, in an attempted encirlement manuever, met a large French force 50 kilometers south of Paris. The decision was made to press on with the attack regardless, as the complete lack of a functioning command structure in the French ranks was readily apparent.

The following is the situation just prior to the opening of the offensive.

There were roughly 5 corps worth of infantry present in the southern-most hex. Due to the state these forces were in, and the total lack of communication and supply, the entire force was either destroyed or captured.

Similar fates were in store for the rest of the French army targeted in this operation. Below is the troop disposition the Germans faced when the southern hex collapsed after only two days of fighting:

Three French corps and an armored division met their end in three days of bitter fighting. German casualties were almost nonexistent.

Now just 25 kilometers outside of Paris, and the final push of this particular offensive was set to begin. The French were in a state of complete disorganization, and total panic was not far off as word of the German advances in the south made their way towards the capital.

The French were able to firm up somewhat, but the momentum of the Germans was well nigh unstoppable. By the time the defenders were able to establish a reasonable line and halt the German advance, the borders of Paris itself had been reached by the Axis invaders.

The following week saw action all along the length of the front as the Germans took their prize in the west. Below is the opening positions of Axis toops preparing for the final offensive.

Here is the final troop positions, as the last offensive of the French campaign draws to a close:

May 5th, 1940, saw the French sign an armistice with the Germans, imposing harsh terms on the defeated Allied nation. Marshal Petain established a pro-axis Vichy French regime; no more than a puppet govenment for the Axis conquerors.

A dark day indeed for the Allies.

One of the few bright spots for the British in this was the fortuitous escape of the Royal Marines, which were earlier routed in battle by the Germans as they raced towards the coast. Heavy bombardment by the Royal Navy enabled the Marines to make good their escape from Dunkirk, back to the safety of the Isle.

Just prior to the fall of Paris, De Gaulle had reformed the 4th Armoured Division for a counterattack against the Germans to the south, but the savvy commander knew the situation to be hopeless, and instead facilitated the escape of these precious units to England, where they will continue their fight against the Axis hordes.

[17poundr]

Exellent work, thankyou, so clear, and so well explained!

This is truely a worhwile project, and I am gratefull for your great efforts in such an ambitious project that get's better and better!

But being a part of the allies, the war cituation is critical.

And I will vote, and give my oppinions, somewhere...

Here? Or perhaps after a vote? Anyway, I am glad that de gaulle got some French troops to Britain.

Am I right in assuming that all other Brit units followed the Marine's in going back to Britain?

Sorry, I might be in the wrong place, great description of the battle for the last chanche of France.
The panzer's left hook did the final blow,huh?

[Mantis]

Yes, the left hook was decisive, at a time when virtually the entire French army was reorganizing from vicious fighting in the preceeding weeks. They were simply unable to respond to the attacks, and were rolled up with disturbing ease.

There will be another Allied vote coming up shortly, but for the most part, we are on the defensive at this point in the war. Most of the 'big' choices lie with the Axis in the early game, but we'll get our turn later in the war!

Yes, you are correct in assuming that the Brit units all made it out of France. The Royal Marines left a good many men behind; men that gave their lives so that the unit could escape - men that fought and died for our freedom. We were quite fortunate that we were able to extract them at all, quite frankly, the situation was quite dire.

[Pruitt]

Hold on! A number of British Brigades, historically, did NOT make it out of France! Most of those French troops that evacuated to Britain were loaded back on ships and sent back to France! How are you going to show this?

Pruitt

[Secret Agent]

Originally Posted by Pruitt

Hold on! A number of British Brigades, historically, did NOT make it out of France! Most of those French troops that evacuated to Britain were loaded back on ships and sent back to France! How are you going to show this?

Pruitt

This isn't a reinactment; it is 'alternative history.' So, I would suspect that, in the TOAW game, Mantis was able to get the British Brigades across. Not that I know much about it, or anything....

[17poundr]

Originally Posted by Secret Agent

This isn't a reinactment; it is 'alternative history.' So, I would suspect that, in the TOAW game, Mantis was able to get the British Brigades across. Not that I know much about it, or anything....

EXACLY! I MIGHT SAY (SORRY BUT THIS IS WORTH CAPITAL LETTERS), THAT WE, HERE NOW, ARE MAKING HISTORY, IN A FIRST ATTEMPT AT A MULTIPLAYER RE-ENACTMENT OF WW2 ON THE NET!

Phew, I just love this 'experiment', that I hope will be a trademark ACG 'game thing' on the net in the future...

Yes, this is somethign, that I rank as not only very entertaining, but also incredibly generous on the part of the guy's who probably have been up to the wee hours doing 'our moves, and votes', for more than on a couple nights!

P.S. Thankyou for getting at least the Experienced 'core' of the RM's back!...

They might follow their historical role in the future with some beefing up and resting, and split up to smaller units and make the Axis nervous by hitting remote places on the now huge axis coastline...

By the way, how big is the map?

Is it whole of Europe? If so, I'm a strong candidate of Winning over Finland, for fun reasons, and for the fact that the Northern corner of Western Europe, where you just leap, and you are in Russia, deep into Eastern Europe, is just too good a place to hand all to the nazi's on a platter!

Get the Finn's onto our side!

Yep, Hasse Wind, Juutilainen and Brandt flying Spit's !
Keep it up! And thanks again for your efforts! P.S. If you want to know of anything conserning the Finnish cituation after the Winter war, (ie, kind of now in our campaign), please let me know.

I can tell right now that Marshall Mannerheim, and Winston Churchill were in correspondence, and even on the eve of the Finns joining the Barbarossa attack, on their 'continuation war' to take back lost territories from the Winter war, Churchill sent a message to Mannerhein saying that he was sad that 'Marski' had jumped on the Axis bus, but understood his motives...

Also, there have been analysists, who have said that President Ryti, was an anglophile, and was only forced to look for a 'patron' from Germany, once the Norway campaign had closed the route to Britain.

As an afterthought, it is interesting, that when the first boats full of Brit troops heading for Finland's aid in the winter war, took off.

Russia agreed to peace talks and a cease fire was announced, immediately, making the Brit troops turn course back to Britain!

The same British troops went to Norway a couple of months later..

Just a note for the 'little bit of Diplomacy'... Perhaps wishful thinking? Still, suggestion are welcome eh?