Rommel before the Serre — the Crécy bridge

While Guderian wrestled with his superior Kleist to the south, Erwin Rommel was driving his lightning advance farther north. On the morning of 17 May, his 7. Panzer-Division reached Crécy-sur-Serre, in the Aisne — some 35 miles west of the Meuse he had crossed four days earlier. In three days his division had covered 55 miles, bypassing pockets of resistance by a sequence of audacious initiatives that earned it the nickname Gespensterdivision.

The Serre was a small river, but it constituted an obstacle: Rommel did not know whether it was defended. His column was advancing with only four tanks in the lead, for he had once again outpaced the bulk of his forces. Before him, the bridge at Crécy-sur-Serre looked intact — but doubtless mined, ready to blow.

If he sent out a cautious reconnaissance, he would lose six to twelve hours and give the French time to destroy the structure. If he raced forward in his command tank to seize the bridge by surprise, he would expose himself in the front line. Rommel had to choose quickly.