The Blitzkrieg Legend by Frieser Karl-Heinz

Author:Frieser, Karl-Heinz
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-6125-1358-4
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Published: 2013-04-10T16:00:00+00:00

Bunker No. 2/152a (west of Clairfayts) was taken in the evening of 16 May during the breakthrough of Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division as it punched through the extended Maginot Line. Bundesarchiv Koblenz [Federal Archives]

An artillery battalion of the 7th Panzer Division driving through Avesnes on 17 May. Knocked-out Hotchkiss 39 tanks of the 25th Tank Battalion, French 1st Armored Division, can be seen on both sides of the street. Bundesarchiv Koblenz [Federal Archives]

Now Rommel decided to make the most of his opportunities. He smashed right through the rows of confused enemy all the way to Landrecies, which was eighteen kilometers away, to seize the important bridge over the Sambre River there. Once again, his advance detachment ran into French elements that acted as if paralyzed by the surprising approach of the Panzers. A former Panzer commander reports that Rommel simply drove up to them and told them to throw their weapons away. The reaction was almost always the same: “Many willingly follow this command, others are surprised, but nowhere is there any sign of resistance. Several times his [Rommel’s] tank men were questioned, somewhat hopefully: ‘Anglais?’”88

Around 0600 the Sambre River bridge in Landrecies was taken in a swift assault. Rommel kept chasing forward as if possessed and allowed his Panzers to stop only as the point of the advance detachment reached the hilly terrain east of Le Cateau around 0630. In the meantime, not only ammunition but also fuel began to run out. Only now it began to dawn on Rommel into what a fatal situation he had maneuvered himself. He noticed that in his attack in the end only two Panzer battalions and a few motorcycle rifle platoons had followed him. The third Panzer battalion and the main body of the reconnaissance battalion had gotten stuck under way. The worst surprise was still in store for Rommel. In his impetuous advance, he failed to notice that he had conducted the entire push—almost fifty kilometers as the crow flies—with the advance detachment only! The main body of his division, including the two rifle regiments, was still in front of the extended Maginot Line on Belgian territory and in the meantime had settled down for the night!

There was big excitement at the division command post that had been left behind at Froid-Chapelle. Rommel’s operations officer, Major i.G. Heidkämper, was now the only man in charge there and was unable to answer the nervous inquiries that were coming from corps who wanted to know where his commander and his Panzers had disappeared to. A written corps order arrived at 2230, giving permission for the continuation of the attack across the border fortifications only for the morning of 17 May: “7th Panzer Division will cross the line reached in the evening of 16 May at 0800 and, as its first attack objective, will seize Avesnes and will then stand by for further advance in the direction toward Landrecies.”89

Radio contact with Rommel’s command echelon had been lost rather mysteriously. Because almost all radio messages

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