3rd Update
Allright here's my brief attempt at a History Book style post...enjoy.
Excerpts from
The French Continuation War by Dr. Eduard Neufeld
...The first of July saw the most surprising offensive in the history of the second World War. Henri-Phillipe Pétain in defiance of previously signed accords and previous behaviour launched the worlds most surprising offensive to date. No one not even the French military command itself saw it coming. Fortunately for Pétain, neither did the Germans...
... Pétain’s daring thrust towards the Channel was from the outset doomed from the start. With only 2 mobile divisions at his command Petain was about to create a practically indefensible salient. If he was successful he would isolate nearly a dozen German divisions in Western France...
...All of a sudden France’s hopes were dashed 6 divisions in Le Havre seemed too big of an obstacle for the French troops, outnumbered now 3 to one...
...It was then that General Charles Francois took matters into his own hands. Breaking away from Pétain’s stalled offensive he drove into Orleans planning to hook around into Caen...
...The hubris of General Glokke would soon be his downfall. Having split his forces he left the port of Le Havre open. Soon the men of the 2nd Motorised division had moved in completing Pétain’s planned offensive while Francois dashed back to the Paris line...
...Many attribute the massive allied success in this phase of the war to General Anders of the XIII Corps, whose actions against German forces advancing towards Paris preserved the Vichy Lines...
...“Operation Panic” as it was called allowed for massive reinforcement of the northern Front. Soon Allied forces were pushing both east and west grabbing as much land as possible...
“By landing at Brest not only do we aid our French comrades but we also eliminate the threat posed by the German U-boats.”-Winston Churchill
“The Battle of the English Channel was the greatest naval blunder of the Second World War.”-Grand Admiral Raeder
“A long time ago the British realized that they could not govern the world single handedly. In realizing this they created the Commonwealth. By giving the people of French Africa self governance I intend to mimic this great feat to the betterment of the world.”- Henri-Phillipe Pétain
...A lack of desperately needed German aid coupled with the landing of the Australian Expeditionary force in Tunisia led to the ultimate downfall of the Italian African Empire.
...The Italian offensive under General Audet went nearly un-noticed by the Axis. Neither side had the necessary troops to pursue a determined campaign. General Audet seemed content to simply dig in along the previous French border...
...The Western Front of the Vichy campaign was long ignored though it suffered the most heavy casualties. Throughout the July offensives poorly equipped French troops, fighting with the same weapons their fathers had used in the Great war, held off superior German forces. It was only the victory at Le Havre and the Brest landings which abated the German offensives....
“Never before has such honor been restored to the French people. No longer will we surrender, we have proven to the world that we have the will to fight for the cause of Freedom.” –Jean Francois Darlan after the 1st Battle of the Tyrrhenian Sea
...With the “Vichy Problem” growing out of hand, Hitler realized something must be done. With Barbarossa stalled Hitler forced Army group south to accept defensive positions while Runstedt along with Army Group South’s mobile elements were spirited west to halt the Vichy Insurrection...
...It was decided that a decapitating move would end the insurrection quickly and efficiently. By depriving not only Vichy forces but Allied forces as well of vital supplies the Allied presence in France could be successfully eliminated. Thus began the infamous Burgundy offensive...
“There was no stopping them, the sheer determination of their Panzers plowed straight through our lines. Our only option was to retreat”-General Verdillac after the Battle of Dijon.
Situation as of July 22nd 1941. The Panzers are coming! The Panzers are coming! Oh what shall we do?