Sedan — Guderian on the Meuse
's Sichelschnitt plan calls for the German breakthrough across the Ardennes — terrain held to be impassable by armour according to , who has posted there only the 55th Infantry Division of reserve under General Lafontaine, mediocre troops with little anti-tank artillery. , 51, commands the : three armoured divisions (1st, 2nd, 10th Panzer), 800 Panzer III and IV tanks, massive support from 600 Stukas and 100 He 111s ( under ).
From 10 to 12 May, the crosses 130 km through the Ardennes in 60 hours without serious opposition. On 13 May at 10:00, first units on the Meuse north of Sedan. The French 55th Division is in panic even before the first shot is fired: four days of advertised air bombardment have broken the troops' morale (few casualties but massive psychological effect).
At 15:00 on 13 May, Guderian launches the assault. The Stukas dive on the French positions for five hours (sirens howling — the "Stuka psychosis"). German infantry crosses in inflatable boats. The question for Guderian: must he wait for the pontoon bridge planned for the following day, or cross at once?
Should Guderian cross the Meuse before the pontoon bridge is in place?
Guderian applies B. At 19:00, the is on the south bank. By 22:00, a 5 km breakthrough — the French line is torn open. During the night of 13-14 May, panic in the 55th Division: massive flight of French soldiers to the rear (the so-called "Bulson panic"), abandonment of anti-tank guns, desertion of officers. By the morning of 14 May, the breach widens to 20 km. The French under General is annihilated. From 14 to 16 May, Guderian exploits westwards — not south towards Paris. His direction: the Channel. He reaches Saint-Quentin on 17 May, Abbeville on 20 May. He cuts the Allied deployment in two. Guderian becomes a strategic icon of the Wehrmacht. Hitler dismisses him in December 1941, restores him in 1943 as Inspector General of armoured forces. Guderian survives the war, writes his memoirs Erinnerungen eines Soldaten (1951), and dies in 1954. Sedan 13 May = a modern equivalent of Austerlitz: a pivotal battle that in a few hours decides the fate of a war.
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