18th May 1940
Britain
The 1st Canadian Division is ordered to France, as is 3rd Armoured Brigade (with attached Infantry tanks). The 52nd(Lowland) division is to be made ready to follow. These units will be designated as V Corps, and at the moment they are intended to be the mobile reserve for the BEF. It is expected it will take about a week for everything to be moved over and the Corps to be put in place. The fighting in the Sedan area has made this deployment more urgent, and the move is given priority. The shipping will also deliver additional tanks for 1st Armoured and 1 ITB, to replace those taken from the reserve in France to cover those lost during the recent fighting.
Holland
Given what is seen by the General Staff as the failure of the Manstein Plan, the immediate conquest of Holland has been temporarily postponed. Two of the front line divisions will be replaced by reserve units, to keep an eye on the Dutch, allowing them to be redeployed in northern Belgium. It is not expected that the Dutch will do more than perhaps the occasional raid - if that - from behind their water defences.
North Belgium/Antwerp
Reconnaissance aircraft and patrols have found that Antwerp, and the area around it, is a considerably tougher proposition than had been initially thought. The failure to take Holland quickly has given the defenders a few extra days to prepare. While the original plan - to circle around Antwerp and isolate it - is still considered the best option, more forced will be necessary. Two additional divisions will be there in a day or two from Holland, and two more are being reassigned from those intended to follow up an Ardennes breakthrough. Additional armoured support had also been requested, as only one panzer division, the 9th, is available. High Command is considering moving two of the divisions battered in the Ardennes north, and one of these could be made available, but with the losses taken fighting the British and French armour these will only be at about half strength
Belgium
Small actions and patrols continue along the Dyle Line. These seem at the moment to be mainly to keep the defence occupied, although at least one attack against the British 3rd Division was in brigade strength, and caused the defenders heavy losses before they could be repulsed. There is also activity in the Gembloux area, where the two Panzer divisions stationed there have recovered from their earlier battle with 2 and 3 DLM, but as yet nothing major has occurred. As the earlier battle was basically a draw between the two armoured formations, the German command wants to reinforce with one of the southern panzer divisions. Given the time, its now thought that the French are well dug in, and the artillery is being positioned and supplied for proper support of an attack. The Luftwaffe will also be needed, and at the moment the bridgehead over the Meuse is occupying most of their attention.
Ardennes.
After the actions of the previous day, things seem calm by comparison, although many units are still involved in action. The most notable being in the north west of Dinant. This is seen as a town that needs to be held by the Germans, and the French are equally determined to force them back from it. The German infantry forces here are actually stronger than the French, and resist stubbornly. The French have better success with 1DCR against the already-damaged 5th Panzer Division, but the panzers are used skilfully, showing their still-superior tactics, and with the infantry unable to press forward the days actions are inconclusive. The French are bringing forward more artillery to support a new attack on the following day, while the Germans are finally managing to untangle their logistic issues east of the Meuse.
Around Sedan, both sides are digging in. The French artillery is in range of the city and the river crossings (or rather what used to be the river crossings), and the Germans are getting more supplies brought up. The heaviest action is in the vicinity of Charleville-Mezieres, where the French 53rd division, aided by part of 3DCR, is attempting to push the Germans out of the town. They have some success, but have been surprised at the problems of using their tanks in the town, and have had significant losses due to this. They also have to worry about 1st Panzer, whose tanks have been identified in the area.
In the area between Rocroi and Fumay, the Germans are digging in. While the panzers are withdrawing to reform, they do have a sufficiency of Infantry divisions, and their aim is to hold this bridgehead west of the Meuse. Their problem is getting supplies up over the limited road and bridges, in order to hold they need artillery and shells. The French want to at least push them back over the river, which would give them a much more defensible line, and 2DCR and 4DCR are moving up. While the terrain isn't ideal for tanks, they are not looking at a fast advance, just continuing pressure to force the German infantry back to the river line.
In the rear, 1DLM is recovering from the previous days battle. The division is at around half strength, with more than a few tanks in need of repairs before they become available, and it is therefore the mobile reserve. British 5th Division is to hold the Phillipville area, in case of any unexpected German successes, while the 1st Armoured Division, with about 70% of its original tank strength now available, is the main mobile reserve.
General Giraud hopes that new French units arriving from the south will soon enable the Meuse line to be reclaimed. He is worried the 1AG's mobile reserve is currently immobile and stuck here. A new Corps under Touchon will be in a position to force the Germans out of Charleville-Mezieres tomorrow, and as long as the other German forces can be held, should be in a position to roll the forces west of the Meuse up. He doubts if this will actually happen - he thinks it much more likely that the German Infantry will retire behind the river - but that will make the defensive situation a lot safer.
The Luftwaffe suffered considerable losses yesterday, and while in action, it's not the type of heavy support, being mainly reconnaissance missions and fighter cover while decisions are made as where to use them next. The French Air Force is also recovering from the previous day, although the new High Command is in general pleased with the effort, it is obvious it still needs a lot more planes, and the work at getting more French Aircraft available goes on.
A small column of British tank transporters starts off from Trelon, heading to Calais. It carries the least-damaged examples of some of the German tanks and equipment left behind after the previous days actions with the British and French divisions. The idea is to get them back for detailed examination by British and French technical experts to work out the best ways of countering them.
Germany
The US Ambassador delivers a formal note of protest to the German Government concerning the Luftwaffe bombing of Dutch cities, seen as an attack on civilians rather than military targets. This is rejected by the Germans, who merely reply that the bombing was on factories supplying war materials and Dutch Army units using the cities as cover.
The failure of the Manstein Plan (as the Generals are making sure it's called) is an obvious worry to the Staff. While the actions of the next couple of days are obvious, a proper plan is needed for the next couple of weeks to carry on the offensive in the West, with the assumption that at best the french defence opposite the Ardennes will be in place and not caught by surprise. A number of options are available, and it is hoped to present these in a day or two. Input from the Luftwaffe as to its current capacity to help is also required, and their planning isn't made any easier by the keen interest Hitler is taking.