* 5/16/1940 * Ardennes Forest
Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2019 5:44 pm
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--- Lt. Caldwell had heard enough, the 36mm shells from the Panzer llls were way too close.
Time to fall back again. His battalion was the first trenched unit not in the Ardennes Forest.
The forward men were smart enough to retreat when the shells made them bounce. Most of the
retreating soldiers were French. They had been blasted and bombed away from the Meuse River near Sedan.
From Nazi airbases near Namur, Belgium about 50 miles straight north. Lt. Caldwell's men needed to facilitate
the retreat without collateral damage. With 2 hours of daylight left, he needed to consolidate his defence.
The forest offered little resistance, since the Nazi's chose to Blitz 2 divisions through.
The French generals were wrong about the forest being a complete obstacle, it just slowed them.
Well of course they wouldn't try blasting their way through the Maginot Line, fortified howitzer
emplacements. But they didn't expect Holland and Belgium to fall like leaves either, for the second time.
--- And to think the Treaties of 1926 were to monitor the German industry of weaponry. [Turns out they parted out the work to Russia and Czechoslovakia]
---Now there was, first estimate, 1000 armored tractor and tire driven cannons blasting
through the rough terrain. (The trails are plentiful because very industrious people have been
living, breeding, mostly safely for 500 years. And maybe 2000 years before that. By way
of successful farming and hunting and metal working.)
--- Another 1000 mechanized cannons on the smooth lands near Brussels and Bruges. Not to forget
the air-superiority that could be at the front in 30 minutes.
Caldwell was pleased with one thing, the small arms repulse of a Stuka attack achieved by
800 entrenched soldiers. The bombs did plenty of damage but not accurate by Stuka measure.
-
1
--- Lt. Caldwell had heard enough, the 36mm shells from the Panzer llls were way too close.
Time to fall back again. His battalion was the first trenched unit not in the Ardennes Forest.
The forward men were smart enough to retreat when the shells made them bounce. Most of the
retreating soldiers were French. They had been blasted and bombed away from the Meuse River near Sedan.
From Nazi airbases near Namur, Belgium about 50 miles straight north. Lt. Caldwell's men needed to facilitate
the retreat without collateral damage. With 2 hours of daylight left, he needed to consolidate his defence.
The forest offered little resistance, since the Nazi's chose to Blitz 2 divisions through.
The French generals were wrong about the forest being a complete obstacle, it just slowed them.
Well of course they wouldn't try blasting their way through the Maginot Line, fortified howitzer
emplacements. But they didn't expect Holland and Belgium to fall like leaves either, for the second time.
--- And to think the Treaties of 1926 were to monitor the German industry of weaponry. [Turns out they parted out the work to Russia and Czechoslovakia]
---Now there was, first estimate, 1000 armored tractor and tire driven cannons blasting
through the rough terrain. (The trails are plentiful because very industrious people have been
living, breeding, mostly safely for 500 years. And maybe 2000 years before that. By way
of successful farming and hunting and metal working.)
--- Another 1000 mechanized cannons on the smooth lands near Brussels and Bruges. Not to forget
the air-superiority that could be at the front in 30 minutes.
Caldwell was pleased with one thing, the small arms repulse of a Stuka attack achieved by
800 entrenched soldiers. The bombs did plenty of damage but not accurate by Stuka measure.
-
1