Chapter XVII: Fall Gelb
Many French newspapers were pleased with the capture of Freiburg, and some journalists even ventured to ensure that the war would be quick and clean, and that this time the French Army would even arrive victorious to Berlin in just a few months time. Nothing was further from reality. Recklessly, the French had stored most of its army on the border with Germany, barely leaving any reserves in their own mainland that could be quickly repositioned if necessary. Despite repeated protests from some talented young officers, the French Generalship was anchored in the Great War conceptions, and thought that another war of attrition was possible.
Maurice Gamelin, leader of the French Army who failed to understand modern warfare
OKH knew that, and had planned several alternatives to beat the old enemy. Some generals chose to invade Italy and to surprise the French from the south, but the crossing of the Alps would be extremely difficult and costly, while others sennoir officers argued that a landing on the coast of Brittany would be appropriate even though the Reichsmarine understood that it was impossible to compete with the large Anglo-American surface fleet. It would be a young General, Erich von Manstein, who would design the final plan against the French. Inspired by Guderian´s theories, Manstein promoted an attack through Belgium and Holland, with which in a few days the motorized and armored divisions would have overrun the fragile Belgian defenses and surrounded the outdated French Army.
Final version of the Manstein Plan
The main problem was that, due to the air superiority that the Americans were enjoying, German forces could be severely damaged if the allies launched a coordinated bombing campaign against the Axis forces. Most German aircraft were in a period of repair, and there were hardly enough airplanes to defend the German cities from the relentless American bombing campaign. Faced with this problem, von Manstein found a solution that many described as mad alternative: to attack in in winter, when the dire visibility conditions would impede the Allied aircraft from bombing the advancing Wehrmacht.
Unfortunately, Allied airplanes enjoyed an almost total supperiority
Although some considered such idea as the "prelude to a Panzers graveyard", OKH finally approved the Manstein plan, and after redeploying the mobile divisones that had been used in the eastern campaign, the final attack on the French rear was ready. In November 20th, Germany sent an ultimatum to the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg requesting the devolution territories claimed for so long and asking for air military access through their territory. After the refusal of the German conditions, Germany declared war on the Benelux countries, and the troops stationed in the border received their first orders.
Troops receive orders to be ready to advance into Belgian lands
At the same time, the Soviet Union contacted Finland and asked for the return of the territories of Karelia and Murmansk, and after the Finnish refusal the red giant declared war on their northernmost neighbours. The Scandinavians had pinned all their hopes on the talents of Marshal Mannerheim and their defensive network, but in a few weeks the Soviet Union would sweep the Finnish army reached the gates of Helsinki, where the local government signed a peace agreement in which the Soviets were just requested the territories demmanden in the recent ultimatum. Far to the east, a German staged coup triumphed in Iraq, and the new government broke ties with the UK and became part of the Axis.
Territory ceded by Finland after the Winter War
In the west, the surprised Belgian troops could not stop the German overwhelming attack, and in just four days the motorized units of the Wehrmacht reached Nimejen. The OKH was joyful when news arrived that about 14 French divisions had recently been relocated by train and were now inside the Dutch pocket, and while the infantry was tasked to capture Amsterdam and to anihilate the encircled divisions, the attacking spearhead seized Brussels and entered French territory. In late November, the Dutch and Belgians capitulated, and their governments retreated to their colonial possessions waiting for a final peace treaty with Germany.
In just a few weeks, the French Army started to crumble
When barely two weeks of the invasion had passed General Rommel and his VI Panzer Division, triumphantly entered Paris and took control of the city. Without pause, the General continued the advance through French territory to Lyon, while Manstein headed for Normandy and Guderian moved his tanks to Bordeaux. For its part, Von Bock´s Headquarters took control of the French capital and marched triumphantly under the Arc de Triomphe while the rest of the infantry cleared any French resistance around Paris.
Wehrmacht troops parading in Paris
It was clear: the French army had been defeated, and it was not unusual to see advancing tanks meeting huge columns of retreating soldiers that surrendered without firing a single shot. In just two weeks, the Wehrmacht would capture more than 40 French divisions, and the French government took refuge in the city of Vichy as the Maginot line troops vainly attempted to break the pocket where they were locked up. However, any French resistance would cease on December 28th, when the French government called for a ceasefire and asked for a negotiation of an armistice between the two countries.
The defeated French begged for an armistice
After a series of negotiations in Rethondes, Germany demanded, on the one hand, the return of territories seized by the Treaty of Versailles, and also the control of the north of France "as a preventive and temporary measure until the end of all hostilities with the Allies was achieved". Seeing his army defeated, the French Prime Minister signed the Armistice, and ended the continental conflict after the overwhelming German victory. Such a treaty would sow discord and resentment within France, and Marshal Petain staged a coup and formed a military junta, which declared a state of emergency after the assassination of Admiral Darlan by a group of anarchists.
Petain´s cabinet before the murder of Darlan
Once peace with France was achieved, Chancellor Vogel made contact with his British counterpart to negotiate a peace between the two alliances. The German proposal was generous: the Reich would return to France all northern territories and would also restore the governments of Holland and Belgium, and would not ask for war reparations to any of the defeated countries. Much of the British cabinet expressed that such a peace agreement was possible, but not its Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who had taken this war as a personal matter and would not abandon in his foolish promise to "fight on the beaches, fight on the landing grounds, fight in the fields and in the streets, and never surrender". Despite the U.S. complaints, the United Kingdom rejected the German peace proposal and condemned Europe to a new war, and many felt that Churchill stubborness would condemn millions to die.
However, winter came and with it some of the troops returned home, where several military parades where being organized. With the perspective of a long war ahead, the german Government prepared a new industrial plan to increase the Luftwaffe effectives, grant some order to the controlled territories with some specialized garrisons, improve the Navy and its amphibious capacities and finally, advance with the reactor project in Munich that looked so promising. A New World was being born, and Germany lead it.
New airplanes were being built with the new Assembly Line technique
I hoped for a democratic crusade against Communism. With Germany, as the ones bearing the brunt of the fight, also getting some serious influence in the liberated territories.
