Blitzkrieg in the West. After the breakthrough of the German divisions to the sea, about a million French, British and Belgian soldiers were cut off from the main forces. German tanks advanced along the coast with little or no resistance and occupied French ports. Guderian could occupy Dunkirk practically without a fight, which led to the complete destruction and capture of the entire enemy group. However, then Hitler ordered to stop the offensive. Hitler's "Stop Order" has become one of the mysteries of history.
Allied armies disaster
Holland surrendered on May 14, 1940. On May 17, the Nazis captured the Belgian capital Brussels. German Army Group "A" under the command of Rundstedt and Army Group "B" under the command of Leeb encircled the million-strong group of Anglo-French-Belgian troops in an enveloping movement, pushing them to the sea. In the areas of Sedan and Dinan, the Germans crossed the Meuse on the move. When London learned that the line of defense on the Meuse had been broken and that the French commander-in-chief Gamelin did not have strategic reserves ready to close the gap and immediately launch a counteroffensive to break through the blockade ring, they were shocked.
Tank formations of the 4th German army, easily repelling poorly organized French counterattacks, broke through to Saint-Quentin. Kleist's attack tank group, crossing the Ardennes and the Meuse, quickly advanced through northern France, already on May 20, 1940, reached the English Channel in the Abbeville area. The Anglo-French-Belgian grouping was blocked in Flanders and pushed to the coast. There were still chances for breaking through at least part of the troops. The surrounded allied group initially had almost double superiority over the surrounding German forces. It was possible to concentrate combat-ready units and strike to the southwest, to withdraw part of the grouping from the encirclement.
However, the British were already thinking about the evacuation and did not want to risk it. And the French were stunned and confused. The French commander-in-chief Gamelin gave the order to break through. But at this time, the French government took care of how to conceal the catastrophe, to find the extreme. At the most tense moment, Gamelin was removed, Weygand was put in. The new commander-in-chief of the French army, General Weygand, could do nothing. Moreover, at first he canceled Gamelin's order to organize counterattacks to save the blocked group. Then, having figured it out, he repeated this order. But the time was already lost. The position of the Allied forces quickly became disastrous. Command and control of the troops was disrupted, communication was interrupted. Some divisions still tried to counterattack, scattered and unsuccessfully, without proper pressure, others only defended themselves, others fled to the ports. The troops quickly turned into a crowd of refugees. German aircraft bombed and shot the enemy. Allied aviation was almost inactive. Huge crowds of refugees worsened the situation and blocked roads. There were many soldiers among them who dropped their weapons. They belonged to units that were put to flight during the German breakthrough.
Allied troops cut off in Flanders and Northern France were located in the triangle of Gravelines, Denin and Ghent. Rundstedt's armies advanced from the west, and Leeb's troops from the east. On the night of May 23, the main command of the ground forces ordered Army Groups A and B to continue to tighten the encirclement around the enemy. The troops of the 6th Army were to push back the enemy forces located in the Lille region to the coast. The troops of Army Group "A" were to reach the Bethune-Saint-Omer-Calais line and advance further to the northeast. As a result, the destruction of the enemy grouping was planned to be carried out by the joint efforts of two army groups advancing from the west and east.
Stop order
Undoubtedly, the allies were threatened with death or surrender. In particular, the 550,000-strong Belgian army, having no hope of evacuation, the help of the allies and the ability to hold the defense on the coast for a long time, surrendered on May 28. London understood this and ordered their expeditionary corps under the command of General Gort to immediately evacuate across the strait to the British Isles. The problem was that the British did not have time to evacuate their army if the Germans had not suddenly stopped.
German mobile units advanced rapidly, occupying French ports almost without a fight. On May 22, German troops occupied Boulogne, on May 23 they reached Calais and on the near approaches to Dunkirk. The French troops, panic-stricken and completely demoralized, laid down their arms. The British, in fact, leaving the Belgians to fend for themselves, quickly retreated to Dunkirk, the only remaining port from where it was possible to evacuate to their native island. The British command mobilized almost all watercraft and ships, including private ones, to take out the soldiers. But Guderian's 19th Panzer Corps reached Dunkirk two days earlier than the main body of the British. German armored vehicles stood practically in front of a defenseless city. And then the order came to stop the offensive. “We were speechless,” the German general recalled. Guderian believed that the German forces were able to destroy the enemy.
The greatest threat to the Allies was posed by the mobile formations of the 4th Army, which were supposed to advance from the west. But the commander of Army Group A, Rundstedt, decided to postpone the offensive of the troops of Kleist and Hoth until 25 May. Hitler, who arrived at the Rundstedt headquarters on May 24, together with Jodel, agreed with the opinion that the mechanized divisions should be held on the line reached, and the infantry should go forward. The corresponding order was received by von Kluge's 4th Army.
As a result, German tanks were unexpectedly stopped on May 24, already in front of Dunkirk. 20 km from the city, which the German tank divisions could overcome with one dash. As W. Churchill noted, the British intercepted "an unencrypted German message that the offensive on the Dunkirk, Hazbruck, Merville line should be stopped." The allies had no defense here yet. In two days, the British were able to establish defense in this direction and organize a large-scale evacuation operation.
Reasons for the "miracle in Dunkirk"
Researchers identify military and political reasons for Hitler's "stop order". The Fuhrer and the High Command could not yet fully believe in the defeat of France, in the fact that the French had already gone to bed and would not rise. The Germans believed that they were still facing fierce battles in central and southern France. Hitler and many generals from the high command remembered 1914, when the German corps marched bravely to Paris in the same way, but stretched out communications, fizzled out and could not win the Battle of the Marne. The Fuehrer declared: "I will not admit the second Marne."
On the whole, Hitler and his generals assessed the current situation correctly. The enemy had to throw strategic reserves into battle, strike from the south at the base of the tank wedge. It was believed that the French army would be able to organize strong counterattacks to release the blockade of the Dunkirk group. France still had the resources and strength for serious resistance. And on the coast, the desperate allies could dig in and take the last battle, inflicting severe losses on the Germans. It is necessary to bring up the infantry and artillery, the rear. Logic dictated that mobile units should be preserved for future battles. Tanks on the coast must not be exposed to attacks by British naval artillery and aircraft. It was obvious that the British would throw in all their strength to save their only cadre army. The Expeditionary Army was needed to defend the British Isles.
Strong enemy counterstrikes were expected. It seemed that it would be so. On May 21 and 22, the Allies counterattacked in the Arras area. On May 23, the Allies, with three British brigades and part of the 3rd French Mechanized Brigade, again attacked the right flank of Kleist's group in the Arras area. The Germans suffered heavy tank losses. True, the battlefield remained with the Nazis, they quickly repaired and returned to service damaged vehicles. The Germans decided that it was necessary to regroup the mobile formations for a new attack and save for new offensive operations in France. Thus, Hitler and the German high command decided to reserve the tanks "for the battle for France." And in the end it was not, the French, in fact, were already blown away.
On the other hand, the head of the Luftwaffe, Goering, promised the Fuehrer that his pilots would cope without tanks. The relatively small Dunkirk bridgehead, packed with soldiers, refugees and equipment, must be properly bombed, and the enemy will throw a white flag. There were grounds for these hopes. The allies were not only defeated, but also began to quarrel with each other. The British threw the front, the French and Belgians pushed around, tried to put them on the defensive of the export of the British. The refugees were driven away from the ships. King Leopold of Belgium was asked to abandon the army and flee. As a result, the Belgians decided that it was all over and surrendered.
The political reason is also clear. Hitler wanted to have the prerequisites for concluding peace with England. The Fuhrer wanted to defeat France, to avenge the war of 1914-1918. In England, the Nazi elite saw "brothers" in the Aryan nation and spirit. It was Britain that began to build the world order that the Nazis dreamed of. With the division of people into "superior race and" inferior ", with genocide and terror of" subhumans ", any resisting, with concentration camps, etc. Therefore, Hitler saw in England not an enemy, but a future partner in the new world order. Therefore, the Fuehrer gave the British a chance to escape from France, albeit in a difficult situation and at the cost of serious losses. Then to come to an agreement with the British. Fortunately, Britain had a strong pro-German party.
Operation Dynamo
On May 25, 1940, the German 6th and 18th armies and two army corps of the 4th army launched an offensive with the aim of eliminating the enemy grouping. But the offensive against the allied grouping from the east and southeast proceeded very slowly. The forces of one infantry were not enough. Delay was dangerous. The enemy could come to his senses and try to seize the initiative. On May 26, Hitler, having understood the situation, canceled the "stop order". But at the same time, mobile units began to withdraw from the battle, they aimed at Paris. The elimination of the allies pinned to the sea was entrusted to the infantry, artillery and aviation.
Thus, the ban on the use of armored formations to defeat the Dunkirk grouping lasted a little more than two days. However, the British managed to take advantage of this and slip out of the trap. When the German tanks resumed their offensive on May 27, they met strong and well-organized resistance. The French held their defenses on the western flank, the British on the eastern. Taking advantage of the very rough terrain, the allies prepared more or less strong lines, saturated them with artillery and stubbornly defended, sometimes counterattacking. British aircraft actively covered their ground forces and navy.
The British have already begun collecting ships for evacuation on May 20. For the Dunkirk operation, all available ships of the military and merchant fleets were mobilized - about 700 British and about 250 French. Used hundreds of civilian vessels (fishing, passenger, pleasure yachts, small cargo ships, ferries, etc.), mostly small. They took people straight from the beaches and transported soldiers to larger ships and vessels, or carried them directly to Britain. Some shipowners brought their own ships, others were requisitioned. In addition, the existing Dutch and Belgian vessels were used for evacuation.
Even before the official start of the Dunkirk operation, the British were actively exporting troops (rear, auxiliary units) and evacuated about 58 thousand people. On May 26, an official order was issued to evacuate the Expeditionary Army. The evacuation took place in a dispersed manner, under artillery fire and air strikes. In the port, they loaded onto large ships and vessels; on the beaches, soldiers built temporary berths from cars driven into the water, which could be approached by small vessels. Some ships could be reached either by boats, boats, rafts or by swimming.
The German Air Force actively bombed the bridgehead, but could not disrupt the evacuation. For several days the weather was bad, which hampered the actions of the aviation. On the other hand, the British concentrated their air force to cover the evacuation. The British had airfields nearby, and their fighters constantly hung over Dunkirk, driving off the enemy.
Thus, the Hitlerite command made a major mistake, having missed the opportunity to destroy the allied grouping in the Dunkirk area with the help of mobile formations, when the enemy was not ready for defense and was not fortified. Even before the start of Operation Dynamo, about 58 thousand people were evacuated. From May 26 to June 4, 1940, during the Dunkirk operation, about 338 thousand people (including about 280 thousand British) were taken out to the British Isles. This made it possible to save the regular English army.
Allied losses were heavy. In the surrounded Lille alone, on May 31, about 35 thousand Frenchmen surrendered. Another 40-50 thousand Frenchmen were captured in the Dunkirk area. In particular, about 15 thousand French soldiers covered the evacuation until the last moment. During the operation and transportation, about 2 thousand soldiers and sailors died or went missing. The Allies lost a large number of ships and vessels - 224 British and about 60 French ships (including 6 British and 3 French destroyers). Some of the ships and vessels were damaged. The British lost over 100 aircraft, the Germans - 140. The Allies lost almost all military materiel: over 2, 4 thousand guns, tens of thousands of small arms, vehicles, hundreds of thousands of tons of ammunition, fuel, munitions and equipment. Virtually the British army lost all heavy weapons and transport.
