912. Chapter 879 Dunkirk Evacuation (1/2)

Chapter 879 Dunkirk Evacuation

At this time, Germany was full of vigor and had already taken the initiative in this super war.

After taking control of the entire territory of Belgium, Germany divided its troops to attack the Netherlands and Luxembourg on the one hand, and tried to march alone into Amiens on the other hand to encircle the British, French and Belgian troops in Lille and the west of Kortrijk.

According to the data, there were at least 400,000 troops from the three countries staying in these areas, including 150,000 British troops and 200,000 French troops.

If these troops could be fully surrounded and swallowed, Germany's attack on France would be much easier, and the British and French forces would also lose a considerable part.

However, Britain and France naturally understood the disaster after being surrounded. As early as when Kortrijk was besieged, the British and French joint operations command had held an emergency meeting and determined the evacuation point of 400,000 troops on the Franco-Belgian border, which was Dunkirk, the northernmost port in France.

Speaking of Dunkirk, the geographical location of this port city is still relatively important on the Franco-Belgian border.

As the northernmost city in France, Dunkirk is actually located in the rear of Belgium and is the best evacuation point for the British and French forces in Belgium.

More importantly, it is across the sea from the British city of Dover, and the straight-line distance between the two cities is only about 70 kilometers.

On June 29, the German army launched a full-scale attack on the line from Dunkirk to Lille.

As long as any city is conquered, the British and French forces' plan to retreat will be shattered, and the 400,000 troops will officially enter the encirclement of the German army.

Of course, although it is said that there are more than 800 ships, only half of them are regular transport ships and warships, and the rest are some civilian cargo ships and tankers, and even small sailboats made of wood.

For this great retreat, Britain has actually been prepared for a long time.

According to this plan, the British government will mobilize more than 800 transport ships within a week.

Once Lille falls, not only will Dunkirk be in danger, but even cities like Calais and Amiens will face attacks from the German army, and even Paris will be threatened.

Germany dispatched a large number of air forces to carry out air strikes on Dunkirk and also bombed the Lille garrison.

On the front battlefield, the French army in Lille could no longer resist the attack of the German army. How to withdraw more than 300,000 British and French troops from Dunkirk in a short period of time has become the biggest problem for Britain and France.

On the afternoon of July 1, a German infantry division that rashly launched an attack was surrounded by two French infantry divisions and a tank brigade. The two sides fought for a long time and finally ended with the victory of the French army.

The so-called retreat plan was named "Dynamo Operation", and the main purpose of this name was to conceal people's eyes.

While resolutely resisting in Lille, Britain and France organized a large-scale retreat in Dunkirk.

Every additional ship will give the British army in Belgium more hope of survival.

According to the combat capabilities and attitudes of most Belgian troops, this retreat will only fail.

At the beginning of the attack, the German army's offensive was very smooth.

On July 2, Guderian, who received orders from the German government again, set off his armored forces.

It was the German Army Group B that captured Belgium and continued to attack France. This army group had a large number of armored forces and infantry, as well as a sufficient number of artillery.

Although it was extremely difficult, Britain and France also understood the importance of defending Lille.

Starting from the evening of July 1, a larger-scale retreat was fully carried out, and more than 7,500 soldiers were successfully withdrawn on that day, which was 7 times the number of the previous day.

If Germany's consecutive defeats of Poland and the Austrian Empire only made the British see the strength of the German Army, then Germany's encirclement and annihilation of more than 100,000 French troops on the front battlefield made the British see the arduousness and difficulties of the early war.

But because France had evacuated the people of these two cities in time, the German air strikes caused only small casualties to the army, and most of the shells fell on the seashore or in open areas.

That night, the retreat plan continued.

Originally thought it was a tough battle, but unexpectedly, there were problems within the German army itself.

This also gave the French army an opportunity.

But in the offensive on July 1, the armored forces led by German General Guderian did not cooperate with the infantry's actions.

On the first night of the operation, the British successfully evacuated about 1,100 people from Dunkirk.

In order to create enough opportunities and time for Dunkirk, the French army on the front line of Lille launched a counterattack against the German army, using all means to entangle with the German army.

The elite German armored forces made the British and French unable to resist at all, and even the defense line carefully deployed by the French army in Lille failed.

On June 30, the Dunkirk evacuation code-named "Operation Dynamo" officially began.

In the planning of all parties, Germany's attack on France was officially launched, and the British and French Dunkirk evacuation plan was officially carried out.

In order to save more than 300,000 British and French troops, it is necessary to sacrifice more than 50,000 French troops.

In order to delay the Germans and not arouse the Germans' suspicion, about 50,000 French troops will be left as bait to protect more British and French troops from withdrawing from Dunkirk to Britain.

This is also the first time that the French army has directly defeated the German division-level organization when facing the German army.

When questioned by the German infantry, Guderian gave the reason that he had not received any orders from the head of state and gave his armored units a two-day rest.

The halt of the armored advance and the defeat of the infantry created enough opportunities for a retreat from Dunkirk.

After all, if the name of the plan is the Dunkirk Evacuation Plan, wouldn't it be equivalent to telling the Germans all the main contents of the plan?

Although at the request of the ally France, more than 250,000 troops were transported to the French and Belgian regions.

But the British War Cabinet held an emergency meeting on the day Brussels, the capital of Belgium, was breached and formulated a plan for the rapid withdrawal of British troops in Belgium.

As for why the British army is not at the rear? After all, this is the border between France and Belgium. If most of them are British troops, it will inevitably arouse the suspicion of the Germans.

The next day, the Lille garrison launched a more violent attack on the German army.

The German army continued to launch attacks on the British and French forces in an attempt to eliminate the British and French forces in France.

With such a premise, Britain is naturally not optimistic about the Belgian battlefield.

This is also something that can't be helped. Counting on the Belgian army to stay behind was equivalent to handing over the hope of victory in the Dunkirk evacuation to Belgium.

Although it was only a small number compared with the Anglo-French coalition forces stranded on the French-Belgian border, the smooth success of the retreat plan on the first day also gave Britain and France hope.

In order to hide it from the Germans as much as possible, only about 4,000 people were evacuated on the third day of the retreat, and the furthest route was chosen.

No way, the Germans are not completely stupid.

In order to prepare for the possible retreat of Britain and France, the Germans deployed a large number of mines in the English Channel and also patrolled submarines.

The good news is, it's as if God is helping Britain and France. On July 3, heavy fog suddenly filled the Dunkirk area. The bad weather directly prevented the Luftwaffe from bombing Dunkirk, and also helped the British and French evacuate their troops in such weather.

That night, the number of evacuated soldiers reached 17,800, setting a new high in a single day.

On July 5, the fighting at Lille and Dunkirk finally subsided a little because the Germans stopped attacking.

Why stop attacking? This is an unknown mystery for Britain and France.

But all German troops knew it in their hearts, because this was an order from the German government, issued by their trusted and loyal prime minister.

Since it was an order issued by the Prime Minister, the German army must obey it unconditionally.

Because of this, even though he knew that Lille was in danger and that it would only take a few days to break through Lille, Guderian still chose to stop the attack and wait for further orders from the Prime Minister.

Why did the German Prime Minister order the army to stop the attack?

When the German army was in excellent condition and the offensive was going smoothly, such an order seemed very brainless, even as if a prime minister who did not understand military affairs acted arbitrarily and interfered with military command as a stupid order.

But if we turn our perspective back to Germany, we will understand why the German Prime Minister issued such an order.

Considering the overall situation, although the situation of the German army is excellent at this time, the consumption of weapons and equipment is unprecedented.

Especially the armored forces, although they advanced very quickly, Britain and France could not let the German army advance in vain.

The attrition of those armored units, the beating of any number, was heartbreaking for the German government.

You know, Germany currently has only two allies, namely Italy and island countries.

The resources of the island country itself are very poor. Coupled with the fact that they are thousands of miles away, it is naturally impossible to help Germany in terms of materials.

The only country that might be able to help Germany is Italy. However, Italy itself is not rich in mineral resources, and Germany's domestic mineral reserves are even more abundant than those in Italy.

Under such circumstances, the German government had to face the significant impact of a large-scale war and a comprehensive shortage of supplies.

Under such circumstances, if there is a way to save part of the material consumption and preserve the strength of the armored forces, then it will naturally attract the attention of the German government.

You know, the actions of armored forces are extremely dependent on oil. Without petroleum energy, no matter how many armored forces there are, they will be nothing more than a pile of scrap metal.

Under such circumstances, Air Force Commander Göring, who was hand-picked by the German Prime Minister, put forward his opinion to the Prime Minister, that is, the Air Force should take over the Dunkirk battlefield and withdraw most of the armored forces.

What is Goering's basis for this?

The terrain of Dunkirk is full of swamps and low-lying areas. This terrain is not suitable for armored forces, which is why the offensive was blocked when it reached the French area.

But such terrain has no impact on the air force. The air force can continue to pose a threat to the British and French troops on the Dunkirk and Lille lines, and help the army occupy these areas.

After comprehensive consideration, the German Prime Minister agreed to Air Force Commander Göring's proposal and ordered the armored forces led by Guderian to temporarily rest and handed over the task of assisting the infantry attack to the Air Force.

If you don't look at it from God's perspective, there is nothing wrong with such a decision.

After all, in terms of its heritage and national strength, Germany has no strength at all to compete with Britain and France.

In fact, it is impossible to say who is right and who is wrong in the choice made by the German Prime Minister.

But history is so coincidental. It just so happened that the British and French armies had reached the most critical moment at this time, and even the French defenders in Lille had reached the point of survival and could not hold on for a few days.

If the armored forces were not withdrawn, although they might suffer greater losses, they would most likely complete their offensive as planned and prevent the British and French armies from retreating from Dunkirk.

But the Germans withdrew the armored forces, which also made the British and French forces on the entire defense line completely relieved.

Although the Air Force was also bombing Dunkirk all the time, such bombing was destined to be impossible to maintain all day, and there was still a certain amount of relaxation time at night.

In the opportunities created by the Germans for Britain and France, Britain and France lived up to expectations, evacuating more than 45,000 people per day on average, and evacuating nearly 140,000 people in three days in total.

In summer, the air humidity in the Dunkirk area is relatively high. The higher humidity produced a hazy fog that not only covered the entire beach, but also this small port city.

If it was an armored force, the impact of the fog could actually be ignored. But it happened that the Air Force was responsible for assisting the Army at this time, and the Air Force was the army that was seriously affected by the fog.

In foggy weather, it is difficult for the air force to successfully complete the combat plan, and even casualties due to foggy weather are inevitable.

In such weather, the German Air Force naturally canceled the operation, which also gave Britain the greatest opportunity.

On July 9, relying on the heavy fog, nearly 57,000 people were evacuated throughout the day, setting a new evacuation record.

Although thousands of people were unfortunately killed and injured by the bombing of German planes, it didn't matter compared to the number of evacuees.

But this also means that Britain's evacuation operation was exposed. The British and French coalition forces in the defense line were greatly reduced, and the German army naturally felt something was wrong.

As of July 9, the British and French coalition forces evacuated more than 220,000 troops in just 10 days, which was extremely exaggerated.

Although the German army discovered the British and French actions, the evacuation operation was nearing its end at this time, and the German army could no longer stop the trend.

On July 10, the German Air Force and the British and French Air Forces, who reacted, engaged in a fierce battle in the sky of Dunkirk.

German Air Force Commander Goering was very angry at this time. He boasted to the Prime Minister at that time, vowing that the Air Force alone could complete the attack on Dunkirk and destroy the 400,000 British and French troops.

But the current reality gave Goering a loud slap in the face. Britain and France evacuated most of their troops under his nose. Even if the Air Force could help the Army occupy Dunkirk, Britain and France would only lose two cities without population, and the casualties of the army were not great.

Imagining the Prime Minister's angry eyes, Goering shuddered and quickly ordered the Air Force to launch a full-scale attack in Dunkirk to prevent the British and French troops from retreating.

At least there are still nearly 200,000 British and French troops on the line from Dunkirk to Lille, and these troops must not be allowed to escape to Britain.

If all these troops were allowed to escape, I am afraid that Goering's position as the commander of the German Air Force would be unstable.

Under the order of the angry Air Marshal Goering, the German Air Force almost went out in full force, dispatching more than 1,800 aircraft to engage in fierce battles with the 1,500 aircraft of the British and French coalition forces.

In order to protect the evacuation of the fleet, the British and French coalition air forces were actually distracted from fighting.

This also led to the Germans taking the advantage in the direct air battle, winning the air battle, and shooting down at least 200 British and French aircraft, sinking more than 21 large ships, severely damaging at least seven British destroyers, and causing tens of thousands of people to die directly in the sea.

The retreat operation on this day suffered an unparalleled resistance. A total of 46,000 British and French soldiers boarded the ship, and less than half of them eventually escaped to the UK, to be precise, only about 21,000 people.

Today, I will update once for the time being and take a break.