The History of WWII Podcast XX
[0] Welcome to True Spies, the podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.
[1] Suddenly out of the dark, it's a bit in love.
[2] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.
[3] What do they know?
[4] What are their skills?
[5] And what would you do in their position?
[6] Vengeance felt good seeing these.
[7] People paid for what they'd done, felt righteous.
[8] True Spies, from Spyscape Studios, wherever you get your podcasts.
[9] Hello, this is Ray Harris.
[10] I'd like to get a little housekeeping out of the way before we get started on episode 24.
[11] First off, I've started a Twitter account, so if you're so inclined, you can go to www .podcaster .com on Twitter and find me. And that's the number two, not a Roman numeral two.
[12] I do a This Day in World War II History each day, and I find things on NPR and BBC that I like to share with you that I don't put into the podcast because I don't want to make it any longer than I have to.
[13] And also I'll give updates as to when the next episode will be out so you don't have to keep guessing since I'm less than predictable.
[14] I also wanted to ask you, the listeners, some questions about the podcast and get some feedback so that Twitter makes sense.
[15] So sign up if you're so inclined, and I'd really appreciate it.
[16] And while you're at it, if you do, you might want to think about signing up for Laszlo Montgomery's Twitter feed for his China History Podcast.
[17] And you can find him at LaszloCHP.
[18] L -A -S -Z -L -O -C -H -P.
[19] I'm sure he'd appreciate it.
[20] Lastly, since we're covering lots of battles and troops and opposing forces, I thought I'd take a moment to give you an idea of the structure of the army and the sizes we're talking about.
[21] Just keep in mind that the men in any unit can vary greatly, and as battles go on, the wounded or dead are never really fully replaced.
[22] So the smallest unit in the army is called a fire team, and it can have three to five men.
[23] After the fire team is a squad.
[24] and that's made up of 2 -4 fireteams, so you're talking about 8 -16 men.
[25] And after a squad is called a platoon, which is made up of 2 -4 squads, so you're talking about 25 -60 men.
[26] After the platoon, there's a company, which is made up of 2 -6 platoons, which is 70 -250 men.
[27] After a company is a battalion.
[28] which is two to six companies, which can be anywhere from 300 to 1 ,000 men.
[29] And after a battalion is a brigade, which is two to five battalions, which can be 3 ,000 to 5 ,000 men.
[30] And after the brigade is a division, which you've heard me talk a lot about, which is two to four brigades, which can be anywhere from 10 ,000 to 20 ,000 men.
[31] And then divisions are put together to make a corps, and then several corps together.
[32] It can be an individual army, but obviously there can be several armies in the field at one time.
[33] So I hope this helps with you picturing the people involved as I continue on with the rest of the story of World War II.
[34] Hello.
[35] And thank you for listening to a History of World War II podcast, episode 24, The Fall of France, part 5.
[36] May 15th.
[37] General Reichenau of the German 6th Army was not a happy man. He was unhappy at being left out of the main attack when Fall Gelb was changed in early 1940.
[38] He was very unhappy about his current role in the German offensive against the Allies, namely as a decoy.
[39] and although a well -equipped one, a decoy nevertheless, that was to draw the British Expeditionary Force and the best of the French forces into Belgium.
[40] Reichenau decided he would prove himself and his 6th Army to his superiors by doing more than getting the Allies' attention.
[41] He would break the dial line.
[42] He had his infantry, and he had General Hopner's 16th Armor Corps of two tank divisions and one mechanized infantry division.
[43] He'd have the Allies scurrying before him.
[44] Never mind if his plan had succeeded, it would have ruined the Manstein plan and he would have been shot for disobeying orders.
[45] He would prove his worth.
[46] He started going beyond his orders on May 15th and pushed hard on the dial line at Louvain in the north and Hueve in the south.
[47] His men and the two armored divisions that were supposed to be used as a feint came very close that day to succeeding.
[48] The dial line was pierced in three places that day, but pushed back.
[49] by desperate Allied troops each time.
[50] Disbelieving his plans had not worked, General Reichenau called off the offensive at 5 p .m. Lord Gort of the BEF British Expeditionary Force and the French First Army were right to be proud, but the next day, through no fault of their own, they would have to retreat.
[51] Their valor was wasted.
[52] Their right flank along the Meuse was threatened, and in a few days, it was no more.
[53] Late in the night on May 15th, Gamla put the word out that the government must be ready to leave Paris.
[54] But confusion reigned that night.
[55] Some thought the word was the government was leaving, and some thought the message said to be ready to leave just in case.
[56] A hastily called meeting was arranged at 3 a .m., and Deladier, Renault, and the military governor of Paris, General Pierre Erring, attended.
[57] Erring recommended getting out of Paris now.
[58] He told the two civilians that Gamla said he could not be held responsible for Paris after nightfall on May 16th.
[59] It was time to organize for an evacuation.
[60] May 16th By the morning of May 16th, the true situation of the Allied defensive position began to sink into Gamla's consciousness.
[61] To his credit, Gamla started uncharacteristically making some decisions and taking action.
[62] However, still admitting the truth, Only to himself, at 1 .30 p .m., he told the exhausted General Georges to remember to destroy the oil deposits if they had to leave Paris.
[63] He then sent a message to ask Churchill for more fighter planes, even though Churchill had already approved sending four more squadrons over.
[64] What Gamla did not know is that France was still not using all of their first -line planes.
[65] This will not be discovered until after the fighting is over.
[66] It came down to a simple lack of organization and communication.
[67] between the armed services.
[68] Then, trying to find a silver lining within the retreat that was quickly becoming a rout, Gamla instructed the retreating troops to hide where they were, let the German panzers pass them by, and then attack at least enough to disrupt their communications and supply lines.
[69] But honestly, this order was a pipe dream.
[70] The men were panicked and incapable of organized or courageous action.
[71] From May 12th to the 16th, The people in Paris were enjoying the beautiful weather.
[72] The weather had been perfect since May 10th.
[73] Sending themselves in the parks or on the sidewalk cafes, they had no idea of the Teutonic tidal wave cutting them off from the Allied forces trying to protect them.
[74] They also had no idea of the quiet panic behind the walls of the Quai d 'Orsay, where the French Foreign Ministry and other government buildings were.
[75] and I'm probably saying that name wrong, my French help let me down this week, Premier Renaud's military consular had the unenviable task of finding out the military situation any way he could and report back to the Premier.
[76] But the staff of whatever commander Villamay went to would not tell him much.
[77] At the peak of this military unprofessionalism, Colonel Petitbeau, Gamelon's chief of staff, told Colonel Vellumet that if Renault kept asking questions about the current situation, he would give no more information of any kind.
[78] Renault's nerves snapped.
[79] He sent for Marshal Pétain in Spain.
[80] It was hoped he would be able to do something with the plotting Gemla.
[81] Another meeting between Renault, Deladier, and the military governor of Paris was held at noon that day.
[82] After only a few minutes of talking, the ministers figured out that they had no trains or trucks to transport the government officials, documents, archives, or any of the Parisians who wanted to leave.
[83] Since they couldn't leave right away, the men started to calm down and try to think.
[84] They then realized if they fled, that would signal the war for France was over.
[85] The meeting ended with a loud noise outside the window.
[86] and heavy black billowing smoke rushing past their view.
[87] Civil servants and junior officers were already burning sensitive documents and maps of French troop positions.
[88] The newly installed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill flew to Paris at 5 .20 p .m. on May 16th.
[89] He met with Renaud, Deladier, and Gamelin at the Quai d 'Orsay.
[90] Gamelin lectured those present.
[91] with the aid of a small map showing where the Germans had broke through at Sedan.
[92] The Generalissimo was calmly telling them the Germans were traveling at unheard of speed toward Amiens and Arras with, quote, the intention, apparently, of reaching the coast of Abbeville, or alternatively, they might make for Paris, unquote.
[93] So he had no idea.
[94] During this meeting, German spearheads were 60 miles west of Sedan, going along undefended country.
[95] But Churchill did not know this.
[96] He asked, where is the strategic reserve?
[97] Gemmler turned to Churchill, shook his head, and said either, there is none, or there is no longer any.
[98] Churchill was shocked, but it seems he, like the Germans, assumed there were massive reserves waiting to pounce on the exposed German armor.
[99] Churchill later claimed, I was dumbfounded.
[100] I admit it was one of the greatest surprises I have had in my life.
[101] The meeting continued.
[102] Churchill wanted the French to hold firm in the north, but the French wanted to pull back.
[103] The French had the right of it.
[104] The Allied forces in the north were seriously close to being cut off.
[105] The conversation was quickly leaving this plane of existence.
[106] Gamla did not help when he said he would have General Girard counterattack with the 9th Army.
[107] The 9th Army only existed on paper now.
[108] Churchill was asked and agreed to send more planes to help.
[109] Inwardly, Churchill knew the French wanted the planes to take on the German armor, but he knew that the best anti -tank weapon was artillery.
[110] He also knew that France had one of the best and largest stockpiles of artillery in the world.
[111] But when he saw the haunted faces looking at him, he agreed to their request.
[112] Anything to keep their spirits up and to keep France in the struggle.
[113] It wasn't until the evening of the 16th that General Georges, who was conducting what was now the survival of the French army, realized the impossibility of holding the 9th Army together and what that meant for the entire defensive posture.
[114] But even now, after all that had happened, Georges, though desperate like Carap, was thinking defensively.
[115] At no point did he think to wheel some of the forces in the north around to attack the thin wedge of German armor heading towards the coast.
[116] To be in front of the panzers would be in a position almost impossible to deal with.
[117] but to hit them from the side, or better yet, attack their support or supplies once they were passed, would have severely hurt the German offensive, heading towards the British Channel.
[118] By the night of the 16th, the German armor was in Mabouge, Adennes, Guise, and Marley.
[119] The lead panzers were heading for the Wasse River that day, but General von Rundstedt, commander of Army Group A, which was dashing through France, started to get nervous.
[120] Things were going too well.
[121] This should not have been this easy.
[122] Where were the French reserves?
[123] Just like Hitler, Rundstedt was obsessed with his left flank.
[124] His armored wedge was driving through and cutting into France beautifully, but it was so thin.
[125] It wouldn't take much to snap it in two.
[126] If that were done, the advanced units would have to stop and protect their own rear.
[127] The offensive would be over.
[128] It was assumed by the German Air Reconnaissance Force.
[129] that the tank's Colonel de Gaulle was assembling was the beginning of the real battle that was to come.
[130] The Germans, obsessed over the 30 divisions of reserves, they assumed the French had.
[131] The German high command also assumed the French reserves were just waiting to advance north and wipe out the panzers that had broken through.
[132] That's why seven of the ten armored divisions the Germans had were designated for this operation.
[133] General Halder himself firmly believed the reserves that were there, just waiting for the right moment, but he did not think the French would be able to effectively organize them for any attack.
[134] General von Rundstedt, picturing himself explaining the situation to Hitler about how the war was lost by him, ordered his Panthers to halt where they were.
[135] They were not to cross the Oise without his approval.
[136] And Oise is spelled O -I -S -E, in case I'm saying it wrong.
[137] Something was definitely wrong.
[138] His tanks were traversing the French territory way too fast.
[139] General Billot of the French First Army realized the worsening position of his forces and issued orders for the Belgian forces, the British Expeditionary Force, and their French First Army to begin withdrawal that night of the 16th.
[140] He had wanted to begin on May 15th.
[141] but King Leopold of Belgium held up the decision for 24 hours.
[142] Billot finally got the orders to withdraw from General Georges on the morning of May 17th, but he had already started moving his men back 10 hours earlier.
[143] This retreat allowed the tension to surface between King Leopold and the Belgian ministers.
[144] The ministers wanted their forces to retreat with and keep fighting beside the British and French forces, but Leopold wanted his forces to retreat north, thereby splitting them from the Allies.
[145] By now, his attitude was defeatist, and he had readied himself for the inevitable.
[146] He certainly didn't want to flee to keep the resistance alive, as the Queen of the Netherlands had.
[147] The king and his ministers argued the point for several days.
[148] For today, however, the Belgian forces stayed with the Allies.
[149] Welcome to True Spies.
[150] The podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.
[151] Suddenly out of the dark it's appeared in love.
[152] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.
[153] What do they know?
[154] What are their skills?
[155] And what would you do in their position?
[156] Vengeance felt good.
[157] Seeing these people pay for what they'd done felt righteous.
[158] True Spies from Spyscape Studios.
[159] Wherever you get your podcasts.
[160] May 17th.
[161] The Belgium capital, Brussels, had to be abandoned by the Belgian forces.
[162] The government was now in Austin, and the fight between the king and his ministers was still raging.
[163] Leopold started putting out the view that the British and French were not allies, but guarantors of Belgium independence.
[164] Belgium owed them no loyalty.
[165] If the Allies could not keep their promise to keep Belgium independent, then Belgium was free to take any action it wanted, including a separate peace.
[166] For General Guderian, May 17th was another beautiful day, in which he would play a game with himself by seeing how many miles he could cover.
[167] For a military man, this kind of freedom to move in the enemy's rear was what all the hard work and planning was for.
[168] He had reached Riboumont on the Oise River and began the normal procedures to prepare to cross.
[169] But then, He received an order that made his blood turn cold.
[170] He was ordered to halt his panzers where they were and to not cross the oise for any reason.
[171] His confusion turned to anger.
[172] He soon found a target to vent his frustration on when his superior, General von Kleist, arrived by air near Montcarré.
[173] But before he could start with his angry questions about the stupidity of halting his armor, von Kleist started berating him.
[174] about disobeying orders, which was a very serious offense.
[175] This brought Guderian up short.
[176] He was accused of endangering the entire war by advancing without having adequate protection for his left flank.
[177] He was reminded that this was a basic principle of combat.
[178] Guderian wanted to scream that warfare had changed.
[179] The tank allows the aggressor to keep moving, which keeps his opponent off balance and only reacting instead of being able to strike back.
[180] Tanks took the basics of war, changed them, and sped them up to a dizzying pace.
[181] Surely the German high command knew this, and could see why he had not stopped his tanks.
[182] Of course, Guderian said none of this.
[183] He was accused of insubordination, and during a time of war, that alone could have found him on the wrong end of a firing squad.
[184] His face, a mask of stone, Guderian, the commander of the 19th Armor Corps, asked to be relieved of command.
[185] Kleiss accepted.
[186] But General von Rundstedt, Guderian and Kleist's superior, was no fool.
[187] There was no way he was going to let a talent like Guderian get away.
[188] So that afternoon, Kleist sent General List, commander of the 12th Army, to figure something out.
[189] General List visited Guderian and explained that the order to stop came from the German high command.
[190] It had to be obeyed.
[191] But then, with a knowing look that Guderian caught, The best Liszt could do for Guderian was to approve a reconnaissance in force, and that was all Guderian needed to proceed with his tanks.
[192] By that evening, his tanks crossed the Oise.
[193] General Liszt knew, like Guderian, what it would mean if the Panzers made it to the coast.
[194] Hitler had a crisis of nerves earlier on May 17th.
[195] Directing the battle himself, Hitler received intelligence from the Luftwaffe, saying that the French were getting ready for a great counterattack.
[196] But one wonders what they saw to report this.
[197] There were French tanks and artillery to be sure, but nothing was organized.
[198] The military, like everything else, is nothing if it is not organized.
[199] The German pilots above could not see or hear the panic of the men below.
[200] Hitler talked with Army Commander -in -Chief Braulich and the Chief of General Staff Halter, but they did not agree with his fear over the exposed left flank of the panzers.
[201] Hitler, who now considered himself a military genius, started yelling at everyone that they were going to lose this war for him.
[202] Frustrated, Hitler left the command center.
[203] He needed to talk to someone who understood the situation better.
[204] Hitler decided to see General Rundstedt, commander of Army Group A. Rundstedt was barely able to get the cigarette smoke and wine bottles out of his command center before Hitler walked in.
[205] Hitler, who did not smoke or drink, looked down on those who did.
[206] Hitler explained the situation to Rundstedt, who turned out to be more sympathetic, and agreed with him that the left flank had to be covered before there could be any more advancement.
[207] Of course, it's not known if Rundstedt was sincere or merely telling his commander -in -chief what he clearly wanted to hear.
[208] Near Paris, General Georges, earlier that day, had ordered the forces in Belgium to retreat.
[209] But it was too late.
[210] The Germans were racing to the sea.
[211] Their goal, per the Manstein plan, was to cut off and annihilate the Allied forces in the north, and the first part of the plan was almost complete.
[212] Then Paris and the rest of France could be taken with relative ease.
[213] The French, still thinking of Paris, wasted another armored division by lining it up on the southern side of the N River.
[214] The N is northeast of Paris.
[215] The Germans did not even try to cross and challenge the French armor.
[216] To do so would have led to Paris.
[217] Paris could wait.
[218] The French High Command was learning every minute on the 17th about the true situation of their troops.
[219] Georges wanted counterattacks from the 9th and 2nd Armies.
[220] When he tried to issue these orders, he found out that the 9th Army no longer existed, and Hunziger's 2nd Army was dealing with German pressure by pulling back further south.
[221] Georges had plans for de Gaulle.
[222] but knew that de Gaulle's 4th Armored Division had just been assembled, was under strength, and lacked training as a division.
[223] He would find out too late that the 2nd Armored Division, a division that could have given the panzers serious headaches, had been so dispersed that it could not be counted as an armed force.
[224] But there was French armored resistance.
[225] De Gaulle, still only a colonel, was given command of the 4th Armored Division.
[226] The problem was, it only existed on paper.
[227] There were no tanks, but this is de Gaulle.
[228] On May 11th, he went out and obtained what he needed from the various scattered and broken units.
[229] France had the material to fight Nazi Germany, they just didn't have it organized to fight.
[230] By the 17th, de Gaulle had assembled three tank battalions, one of heavy B tanks, capable of taking out anything the Germans had, and two light R -35s.
[231] He brought them together just east of Lannes, which was being menaced by the panzers.
[232] But when he figured out that the town of Mont -Coriné was on the expected path of the panzers, he headed that way.
[233] More incredibly, his men followed him.
[234] De Gaulle had to find his way to Mont -Coriné, which was 12 miles northeast of where he was, but he made it.
[235] It seemed to him that the Germans were everywhere.
[236] Unfortunately, De Gaulle's forces stood out as one of the few putting up resistance.
[237] and got the attention of the German artillery and Stücke bombers.
[238] Had his been a small part of a larger organized line, the Germans would have had to have scrambled to deal with it.
[239] As it was, he had no infantry or artillery.
[240] While he was engaged by panzers holding his attention, more tanks slipped in behind him.
[241] De Gaulle eventually figured this out and backed away with his tanks intact and in possession of German prisoners.
[242] Two days later, De Gaulle decided he would try again.
[243] He was going to hit the Germans, who were by now further west.
[244] But then he received orders from General Georges himself to take his tanks and get behind the N River.
[245] The N is immediately west of Rattel.
[246] The French were using the river to build a wall to protect Paris.
[247] But as we now know, the Germans weren't heading to Paris, and this order effectively removed de Gaulle's armor out of the Panzer's path.
[248] Another armored division was wasted.
[249] That day, The Belgian forces stayed with the Allies.
[250] May 18th The battle within the German command center was still raging.
[251] Hitler was still not happy about any advance towards the coast.
[252] Doing so, he pointed out for the nth time, would be to increase the danger to his panzers.
[253] Couldn't they see that?
[254] Generals Browlich and Halder's nerves were frayed as well over the fighting that had lasted for days.
[255] Instead of repeating their argument, that the French were too disorganized to hurt the panzers, they switched their argument for a drive on Paris if the panzers were not allowed to go to the coast.
[256] In their minds, anything to keep the offensive going and regulate the French to only reacting was the issue.
[257] The two army commanders had thought the issue was resolved yesterday.
[258] After yelling at each other for hours, the two sides worked out a compromise.
[259] Braulich and Halder would work on building at the left flank, and Hitler agreed to a reconnaissance in force.
[260] Hitler gave the OK at 6 p .m. to this compromise, and the order was sent to Guderian at 7 p .m., but no one told the high command that Guderian was already working on crossing the N. The argument that finally worked on Hitler was that if the German forces halted long enough, the Allies would be given time to build up defenses, and then Germany would be looking at another static war, like World War I. where movement was impossible.
[261] Holder was also thinking the whole purpose of breaking through the center of the Allied line was to trap the bulk of the enemy forces in the north.
[262] The Allies would be retreating south or west by now.
[263] The Panzers had to make it to the sea.
[264] By the 18th, the Allies had withdrawn to the Scheldt River.
[265] The German 6th Army did not follow too close.
[266] They did not want to push the Allies too far west or south too fast.
[267] They needed them to be more or less stationary until they were trapped.
[268] The Germans had crossed the Waz River and were heading due west.
[269] They were heading for the mouth of the River Somme.
[270] The Somme ran to the sea, only 50 miles away.
[271] Premier Renaud had decided the day before to shake up his government, and now he was ready to act.
[272] He hoped this change would give France some chance of surviving.
[273] He would take the Ministry of Defense for himself.
[274] He was beside himself with rage at the seemingly lackadaisical attitude of the French high command.
[275] To soothe Deladier's hurt pride, who would be losing his position, he would be given the foreign ministry.
[276] He'd been the defense minister since 1936, and the current state of the French military could be laid, with some justification, at his feet.
[277] Before, the French president, Loubra, would have not gone along with these kinds of changes, but now...
[278] with defeat staring at them renault had a blank check renault had also decided on removing gamelat this he knew would not be popular but if he found himself someone who was respected he would be able to make a go of it so general maxime vegan was recalled from syria to replace gamelat marshal petin the victor of verdun was recalled from madrid to serve as minister of state and vice premier george mandel was made Minister of Interior and told to rid the government of any defeatists.
[279] But we know now that General Vengan, who was even older than Gemmler, felt the French cause was lost.
[280] Also, Pétain believed he was being recalled to take charge of the nation.
[281] Renaud would learn that not all his enemies were German.
[282] But the one thing they all agreed on, without expressing it to each other, was that if France fell, Britain would not be far behind.
[283] May 19th.
[284] General Gamla, who did not know his downfall was imminent, decided now was the time to take command from General Georges, who had not slept much since May 10th.
[285] Arriving at Georges' headquarters, he was still unable to embarrass Georges by taking over in front of the staff.
[286] Instead, he asked for a quiet room, paper, pencils, and some maps, and closed the door.
[287] After a few hours, Gamla opened the door and read his secret and personal instruction number 12 to Georges, who agreed.
[288] The first step, according to the plan, was to have the forces in the north disengage from fighting and advance south, but fighting along the way if they had to, towards Paris, and to cut through the thin wedge of German armor heading to the coast.
[289] Meanwhile, freshly assembled units south of the River Somme, but still north of Paris, would push north.
[290] and meet up with the British Expeditionary Force, Belgium, and French forces.
[291] So, so far, so good.
[292] But any junior officer could have come up with that.
[293] And it's wondered why Georges did not order it earlier, or why Gamla, if it was so obvious, did not order it or suggest it to Georges before May 19th.
[294] But the rest of the order by Gamla leaves reality quickly behind.
[295] He wanted the 2nd Army, still under Hunziker, to counterattack, and the 6th Army to join in.
[296] But Hunziker had no intention of doing anything other than keeping his defensive posture.
[297] The 6th Army was beyond any offensive or organized action.
[298] Gemla finished by saying that if this does not work, then the government will have to evacuate.
[299] He wanted his plans to start today.
[300] He knew the situation called for it.
[301] had heard that morning about Vegard returning to France to be his replacement, and so left to meet him.
[302] By the morning of May 19th, seven panzer divisions were moving westward on the north side of the Somme River.
[303] They were only 50 miles from the channel.
[304] The French forces to the south of the German armor wedge, cutting through northern France, were still unorganized and retreating.
[305] The only hope was to get control of them, organize them, and move north to meet the Allied forces.
[306] hopefully coming south.
[307] But first the Allies in the North had to disengage themselves from the German 6th Army.
[308] Unfortunately for the Allies, the 6th Army had done its part perfectly.
[309] They first pressed against the dial line, but not too hard, but now they were fully engaged and made it impossible for the French and British to pull back, as ordered.
[310] However tricky this retreat was, it remained their only chance to survive.
[311] But to complicate things even more, and the whole operation was riddled with complications.
[312] Renault had Gamla replaced with General Maxime Végan that same evening, and General Végan's first order was to cancel Gamla's order to bring the forces together for mutual defense.
[313] Gamla was briefing Végan on the situation that evening when a letter from Renault came to him at 8 .15 p .m. The letter stated that Végan was now Chief of the General Staff of National Defense and, Commander -in -Chief.
[314] Their meeting was over.
[315] Unlike Gamla, Weygand would have control over the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
[316] Gamla admitted that the last part of the letter had hurt his pride considerably.
[317] May 20.
[318] Generals Weygand and Gamla met again at 9 a .m. Weygand did not ask Gamla to continue his detailed update, and Gamla...
[319] did not want to be ungentlemanly and push his views on the new commander -in -chief.
[320] They would not meet again until the end of 1943 in a castle in the Tyrol as prisoners of Germany.
[321] So, France looked to their aged heroes, Weygand, 73, and Pétain, 84, for a way out of the situation.
[322] Now Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle, who had fought Pétain, and Végan about the place of tanks, planes, and wireless communications in warfare, and had lost, was the only one with an intact armored division left.
[323] He was once again taking orders from another former nemesis.
[324] Végan, wanting to size up the situation for himself, had Gamla's last order about bringing the Allied forces together, closer to Paris, cancelled.
[325] He would issue new orders in a few days.
[326] To compare the two, Gimelin was where thought and action rarely met, whereas Végan had never commanded a large unit in battle, much less several armies.
[327] But they did share the attribute that neither man had a conception of the new tempo of war with its lightning strikes made possible by tanks and planes.
[328] These two gentlemen fought for years to stop technology from transforming the army.
[329] They got their way with the French army, and there was little change.
[330] but they couldn't stop the Germans from taking advantage of technological changes.
[331] General Weygand spent the day in Paris meeting with politicians and dignitaries.
[332] He also spent some time with Georges, who was still in his position, but Weygand did not issue any specific orders for that day to give his men something to do.
[333] On the evening of May 20th, the 1st Panzer Division captured Amiens on the lower Somme, close to the coast.
[334] and the 2nd Panzer Division reached Abbeville, at the mouth of the Somme.
[335] The Allied forces in Belgium were now successfully cut off.
[336] The German encirclement was complete.
[337] Hitler, still trying to stop any forward movement of the Panzers, was jubilant when the news reached him.
[338] He spoke in the highest regards of the army and its leaders, and he immediately started drawing up the terms for a peace treaty with the Allies.
[339] While writing up the main points of the treaty, he allowed himself to fantasize about the great German state, much like when he was homeless in Vienna.
[340] The former Austrian bum was now a warlord, on par with Caesar and Napoleon.
[341] Getting back to reality, though, the panzer divisions were stretched out for a hundred miles, and the German infantry had not yet caught up.
[342] If Weygand had allowed Gemla's instruction number 12 to be activated, The German armor would have been in a precarious situation, but Vegard's tour gave the Germans the time they needed to secure what they had captured.
[343] Late on May 20th, Churchill saw what was happening.
[344] Paris was open to German attack.
[345] The French did not have the reserves to counterattack, and the strongest Allied forces were trapped in Belgium.
[346] Guderian's tanks were at Abbeville on the sea.
[347] The battle was lost.
[348] Churchill knew the Battle of France was over, but the battle for Britain would begin soon enough.
[349] He needed to get the BEF, the British Expeditionary Force, and any other Allied forces he could back to Old Blighty.
[350] So Churchill personally ordered an operation to begin to round up all possible ships for a probable evacuation from a channel port.
[351] The plans swirling around Churchill's mind first called for the collecting from the French soil of the non -combatant personnel.
[352] and what he called other, quote, useless mouths, unquote, and bring them to Britain.
[353] The British Prime Minister was in an ugly mood.
[354] Next time, we'll cover the miracle of Dunkirk.
[355] For the French, it was an embarrassing defeat.
[356] For the Britons, it was an embarrassing blessing.
[357] And for the Germans, it was something that could be shrugged off.
[358] After all, it was Britain's turn to capitulate or to be conquered.
[359] Welcome to True Spies, the podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.
[360] Suddenly out of the dark, it's appeared in love.
[361] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.
[362] What do they know?
[363] What are their skills?
[364] And what would you do in their position?
[365] Vengeance felt good.
[366] Seeing these people pay for what they'd done felt righteous.
[367] True Spies, from Spyscape Studios, wherever you get your podcasts.