SEDAN
May 14, 1940

While the Dyle Plan seemed to be working in the north, Case Yellow was well ahead of schedule in the Ardennes. The 5th and 7th Panzer divisions were racing towards Dinant, south of Namur. The 6th and 8th Panzers were heading to Montherme. The biggest push of the 1st, 2nd and 10th Panzer divisons were striking towards Sedan. The Germans had almost every advantage imaginable. The Belgians were under orders to blow bridges, obstruct roads and then retreat to Namur. Very few roadblocks were defended and thus were easily dismantled by German engineers. The Sedan advance was along the seam of 9th and 2nd Fr. Armies. The French also assigned their least trained and equipped divisions to this "inpenetrable" forest. Again French Cavalry, the 2nd and 5th DLM's, were to advance and delay but unlike their northern counterparts they mostly consisted of light reconaisance tanks, armored cars and motorcycle battallions. They were mauled, bypassed and hastily retreated to the Meuse. So hastily that they did not even defend the portion of the town of Sedan on the eastern bank. In three days all three spearheads had reached the Meuse when the French had predicted weeks.
What was left of the cavalry retreated behind all the blown bridges of the Meuse to be joined by the 55th and 71st infantry divisions. These were reservist divisions, with an average age over thirty and an appropriate nickname of 'crocos' or 'old soldiers' with less than a year of service. They were starved of weapons including field artillery, anti-tank and anti-aircraft, fully a third of what they did receive was from the last war. They moved into pillboxes and fortifications along the river bank, some of which were incomplete.
At 9am on May 13, six hours of aerial bombardment were joined by tank fire, smoke and the pinpoint accuracy of Guderian's 88's to pin down and reduce the infantry defenders. The assault troops, motorcycle battalion, and infantry from the 1st Panzer Division and the Gross Deutschland regiment crossed the Meuse, swept the river bank west of Sedan and initiated bridge building during the night. Then incredibly the 55th division defending in front of this bridgehead panicked. After enduring a hard march to Sedan and six hours of terrifying bombardment the reservists fell to a rumor when a battery commander reported tanks in the Marfee woods. Soon the cry of "Enemy tanks" caused nearly the entire division to abandoned their posts and weapons, fleeing to the south. They fled as far south as thirty miles panicking the 71st along the way. All this because in reality they had seen some of their own tanks moving south. By May 14th all three Panzer divisions were across at Sedan and by the 15th the 1st and 2nd were heading west while the Gross Deutschland and 10th Panzer defended the bridgehead until he infantry could arrive. The French 3rd Armor was to attack on the 14th with its two battalions of Char B's, two battalions of H tanks, and a battalion each of towed artillery and infantry. Having been formed on May 1st these strengths were paper fictions as all the components had yet to arrive and only uncoordinated, desultory attacks were launched.