The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1168 - 878: The Great Retreat of Dunkirk_2

However, in the offensive on July 1st, the Armored troops led by General Guderian did not coordinate with the actions of the infantry.

Amid skepticism from the German infantry, Guderian explained that he had not received any orders from the Führer, which allowed his Armored units to rest for two days.

This also gave the French Army an opportunity.

On the afternoon of July 1st, an overzealous German infantry division launched an attack and was surrounded by two French infantry divisions and one Tank brigade, with both parties engaged in fierce fighting that ultimately ended in a victory for the French Army.

This was also the first time the French Military managed a direct and successful assault on a German division-level formation.

The halt in the advance of the Armored troops and the failure of the infantry created sufficient opportunities for the Dunkirk evacuation.

From the evening of July 1st, the evacuation escalated significantly, and over 7,500 Soldiers were successfully evacuated that day, a sevenfold increase from the previous day.

On July 2nd, having received new orders from the German government, Guderian moved out with his Armored troops.

The German army continued its offensive against the British and French forces, endeavoring to annihilate them within France.

Germany deployed a large number of Air Force units to carry out bombing raids on Dunkirk and also bombed the forces stationed in Lille.

But since France had already timely evacuated the civilians from these two Urban Cities, Germany's air raids caused only minor casualties among the Military, with most shells landing on the seaside or in open areas.

That night, the evacuation plan continued.

In order to keep the Germans in the dark, only about 4,000 people were evacuated on the third day, and the longest route was chosen.

After all, the Germans were not completely foolish.

To guard against a possible British and French retreat, the Germans deployed numerous mines in the English Channel and also had submarines patrolling.

The good news was as if God was assisting the United Kingdom and France.

On July 3, a thick fog suddenly enveloped the Dunkirk area, and the inclement weather directly halted the German Air Force's Bombing on Dunkirk, also aiding the British and French evacuation under such conditions.

That night, the number of evacuees reached 17,800, setting a new record for the number of people evacuated in a single day.

On July 5, the flames of war at the front lines between Lille and Dunkirk finally subsided somewhat, as the Germans had halted their offensive.

Why did they stop their attack? For Britain and France, this was an unknown mystery.

But all within the German Military were clear, for this was an order from the German government, issued by their trusted and loyal Chancellor.

As it was an order from the Chancellor, the German army naturally complied unconditionally.

For this reason, even though they knew Lille was on the verge of collapse and that it might only take a few days to breach the city, Guderian still chose to halt the offensive, awaiting further orders from the Chancellor.

Why did the German Chancellor order a halt to the offensive?

At a time when the situation for the German Army was very favorable and the offensive was going smoothly, such an order seemed quite illogical, almost as if an ignorant Chancellor was making a foolish and arbitrary decision, interfering with military command.

But when one looks back to Domestic Germany, one can understand the reasons behind the Chancellor's order.

From a strategic standpoint, although the situation for the German Military was very favorable, the consumption of weapons and equipment was unprecedented.

Especially for the Armored troops; although they advanced quickly, Britain and France had no intention of letting the German Army proceed unopposed.

The consumption of the Armored units caused the German government considerable distress with every numeric fluctuation.

You see, Germany's only Allies were two countries, Italy and the Island Nation.

The resources of the Island Nation were quite meager, and due to the long distance, they naturally could not support Germany with supplies.

Italy was the only country likely to assist Germany. But even Italy's mineral resources were not abundant, and the reserves of mining materials inside Germany were even more superior than Italy's.

In such circumstances, the German government had to face the significant impacts of large-scale warfare and the situation of a comprehensive scarcity of supplies.

Under these circumstances, if there was a way to save on some material consumption and preserve the strength of the Armored troops, it would naturally attract the attention of the German government.

After all, the movement of the Armored troops heavily relied on petroleum. Without petroleum energy, an abundance of Armored units would just be a pile of scrap iron.

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In such circumstances, Göring, the Air Force Commander whom the Chancellor personally promoted, presented his opinion to the Chancellor: that the Air Force take over the Dunkirk battle scene and withdraw most of the Armored units.

What was Göring's justification?

Dunkirk's terrain was filled with swamps and lowlands, such a terrain was not suited for Armored troops, and this also was why the advance was halted upon reaching French territory.

However, such terrain had no impact on the Air Force. The Air Force could continue to threaten the British and French forces in Dunkirk and Lille and aid the Army in capturing these areas.

After comprehensive consideration, the German Chancellor agreed to Göring's proposal and ordered Guderian's Armored troops to rest temporarily, entrusting the task of assisting the infantry to the Air Force.

Without an omnipotent view, such a decision was actually not entirely unreasonable.

After all, from the perspective of depth and national power, Germany thoroughly lacked the strength to engage in a war of attrition with Britain and France.