15th May 1940, Sedan
The French 3rd DCR had been intended to attack on the previous day, but the chaos on the roads had left it unable to concentrate in time. Instead the infantry formations were left to defend Bulson, which they did with ferocity. The ground changed hands a number of times during the day, but by the evening the French still held the area; although many of their units were exhausted, the German infantry were not in much better shape. Worst for the Germans was the fact that the French had finally managed, despite interference from the Luftwaffe, to bring up some of their 155mm guns, which could now range on the bridges at Sedan. While only limited damage was done that evening, it was obvious that if the crossing and Sedan was to be held, the French would have to be eliminated, or at least pushed back far enough to be out of artillery range. Accordingly a maximum effort would be made the next morning, using 10th Panzer to crack the French defence.
The French were also intending to attack on the 16th. General Georges was intending to split 3rd DCR, sending half of it north to Wadelingcourt near Sedan. However this was countermanded by General Billotte, who reasoned that holding Bulson, and so allowing the artillery to do the job, was more sensible that hoping that part of the 3 DCR could drive through what was obvious a powerful German defensive line. Instead 3rd DCR would press forward with the infantry and push back the German defence towards Sedan.
On the evening of the 15th, General Huntzinger countermanded the attack, instead deciding to use the division to dig in and help hold his line. General Flavigny strongly opposed this idea - it would negate the bravery shown by the French Infantry, and cede the initiative to the Germans, while doing little to recover Sedan or its bridges. Huntzinger was insistent, suggesting Flavigny do as ordered or he would be relieved. Fortunately for General Flavingy, General Billotte had for a while been unhappy with Hunzinger's lack of speed or enthusiasm for driving the Germans back. His Chief of Staff had flown to Huntzinger's HQ on the 14th, and when he heard of this, a phone conversation with Billotte led to Huntzinger being relieved of his command, and General Flavingy placed in charge. The armoured attack would go in as planned.
By midday on the 15th the road for Guderian’s 1st and 2nd Panzer Divisions was wide open despite the heroic efforts of the French Chanoine Group, a battalion of the 152nd Infantry Regiment, the 3rd Spahis and the 53rd Division, all of which had fought tenaciously but which were now to all intents and purposes annihilated. The German tanks were now nosing their way into a twenty-mile stretch of rolling hill country, beyond which lay the broad valleys of the Aisne and Oise. They attacked Chagny in the hills, heroically defended by the 8th Chasseurs and Chanoine’s Cavalry, while further to the north the 3rd Spahis under Colonel Marc battled until nightfall against hopeless odds against the onslaughts of 1st Panzer.
By 1800 the French could fight no more, the panzers rolling into the ruined streets of Chagny The Germans had a stiff fight on their hands at Bouvellemont, where the advance of Guderian’s armour was resisted by the 152nd Infantry Regiment assisted by General Touchon’s training battalions. The French retreated from the blazing village during the early hours of the morning, and the panzers raced after them, bypassing French machine-gun nests which were still firing at dawn. Further to the north the 53rd Division’s 208th Infantry Regiment, the 1st Battalion of the 152nd and troops from a few other scattered units were being pushed back relentlessly by the 2nd Panzer Division. By dawn on 16 May, the whole Vence Valley had been occupied by the Germans and what was left of Touchon’s forces were falling back south-westwards towards the River Aisne.
However while the speed of advance of the two panzer divisions, despite the fierce resistance, was impressive, it also had consequences. 1st and 2nd Panzer had broken through, but were not yet in a position to destabilise the French rear, and in doing so had completely outdistanced their infantry support, still slogging along the French roads on foot. They were also low on fuel and ammunition, though Guderian thought that was a problem that would soon be solved by further French collapses.
16th May 1940
Holland.
The failure of the Luftwaffe attack on Rotterdam has caused Hitler to go into a rage at their defiance. With Goering's eager agreement, he orders that the air attacks will continue "until all of Holland is as flat as its polders". This causes consternation among the Army staff, who have quickly realised that if the Luftwaffe is busy bombing Holland, then they wont be supporting the Army. Worse than the missing He111 bombers is the need for them to be accompanied by fighters, meaning less interference with the Allies in the air, and less available cover for their own aircraft. However any attempt to try and argue this point with Hitler leads to more violent outbursts, so they decide they will just have to live with it. Hopefully Holland will surrender after a few days of air bombardment.
Belgium
Given that there looks like no sensible use for panzers in Holland right now, 9th Panzer has moved to Antwerp. It had originally been hoped that the city would have fallen in the first few days, but the fact that 16 Corps hadn't tried to advance past the city, instead settling in around it to bolster the Belgian defence, had meant it would now have to be taken, The big problem was that the four infantry divisions of 18th Army were now sitting looking across inundations at the Dutch, and in case the Dutch tried anything, they needed to remain there.
Accordingly XXVII Corps of 6th Army had been tasked with the job, and while the Belgian troops weren't highly rated, 9th Panzer would be a welcome addition. Of course this meant that no serious attacks would be able to be made against the Allied Dyle line, but at the moment it seemed they were willing to sit behind the river line and continue to dig in. The attacks in the Sedan area were going well, and the longer the Allied troops stayed put, the easier it would be for the Sickle Cut to isolate them. If Antwerp could be taken, it would help, as it would make it more difficult to retreat to the Belgian coast. The attack was planned to start on the 17th, by which point it was hoped the crumbling French defences further south would be severely distracting the Allies High Command.
In the meantime, light spoiling attacks along the Dyle line would continue, in order to dissuade any withdrawal of troops to use further south. 3rd and 4th Panzer were being held to exploit any breakthroughs which did happen, but the next major attack would be after Antwerp.
France
While the battle on the ground was obviously reaching a critical point, the night of 15th/16th Mayis chiefly memorable in Air Force history as the first on which the Royal Air Force attacked German industrial objectives in the Ruhr. Until then the heavy bombers were held back from such targets in Germany by the British Government, partly to conform with French policy but also because they were themselves determined not to risk the infliction of civilian casualties so long as German observed similar restraint. The ruthless bombing of Rotterdam on May the 14th showed, however, that no regard for humanitarian principle influenced German policy. Their action was dictated solely by military convenience, and so even though civilian casualties might result, it was calculated that a British attack on vital objectives in the Ruhr would provoke the enemy to transfer some of his attention to this country and so weaken his attack on France and Belgium.
On this first night seventy-eight heavy bombers were directed from England against oil targets, nine against blast furnaces and steel works, and nine against railway marshalling yards; all were given as secondary objectives self-illuminating target such as coke ovens and blast furnaces and, as a last resort, marshalling yards. Sixteen failed to locate any targets and brought their bombs home again; only twenty-four found oil plants, some of which were reported to have been left burning fiercely. The remainder had to be content with marshalling yards. But all returned safely, although it wasn't realised at the Air Ministry how useless the effect of the bombing had actually been.