The Sound of Drums - A British Hearts of Iron AAR
Part Thirty-One
2nd - 5th June 1940
The Cabinet of Doom ultimately decided to await the results of the German attack on Compiegne, then act on that. As it turned out any decision to withdraw or support the French troops there would have seen failure anyway - they would simply have run into the German assault further north into Valenciennes, which began on the 2nd of June.
Panzers in France!
Here the British forces experienced their first experience against the might of German armour. Until the first clashes with the German army in Belgium, it had been expected that the bulk of the German armoured force would still be using the outdated Panzer II, and would employ them only in limited numbers on the western front. In fact, not only was every German armoured division fully supplied with the far superior Panzer III tank, but all ten of their divisions were being used against Belgium and France! The British Crusader and Matilda tanks deployed in France could still hold their own against such machines, but not when pressed against such massive numbers.
During the battle an even more serious problem was seen. By now French and Belgian forces had been fighting against the immense German forces for three weeks, while the British were only seeing their first engagements. Exhausted and demoralised at how far the Germans were advancing, the French-Belgian forces simply ran, continuing their retreat into France. Four British divisions were simply not enough to hold off the German attack and within an hour they too were withdrawing to Amiens.
The next day, at Compiegne, German forces suddenly halted their attack and withdrew beyond the horizon. The offensive there had simply been a feint, designed to frighten Allied troops further north into retreat.
Proposed Plan 1093, the raids on Germany
It was perhaps because of this inability to take on German forces head-on that UNIT Member Toda, supported by Minister GinandTonic, suggested the idea of raids along the German coastline to harass and distract the enemy. Their belief was that such attacks would be enough to force German troops away from France, possibly giving Allied forces enough time to reorganise their frontlines.
The Prime Minister saw another possibility to the raid. An attempt at Kiel would certainly force the German First Flotte out of their docks and right into a well-positioned Grand Armada. Donitzs hit-and-run campaign was becoming dreadfully wearying, and continued to draw on Royal Navy resources that could be better used elsewhere. What was needed was some final crippling blow to remove the Kriegsmarine as any sort of force.
At present there was no way to conduct such a plan. There were no spare troops, resources, and most importantly no time to prepare any sort of attack that could threaten the German attack into France. Mons - the last Belgian province - fell to the
wehrmacht late on the 4th of June. Less than 15 hours later Field Marshal von Bock and his Second Army Group began an artillery barrage on British positions in Dunkirk. The fate of Frances western flank was now totally dependant on the BEF and the First CFC Division
We'll have to see if we can do something to cheer up the men, perhaps a performance by the excellent Keith Falkner will give them heart.
