WI the French massed tanks

[NapoleonXIV]

WI the French Army followed DeGaulles advice and used their tanks in massed formations similar to the Germans. I've always read that one of their main problems was they split the tanks up among the infantry. Would it have slowed or stopped the Blitzkreig in 1940?

 

[67th Tigers]

WI the French Army followed DeGaulles advice and used their tanks in massed formations similar to the Germans. I've always read that one of their main problems was they split the tanks up among the infantry. Would it have slowed or stopped the Blitzkreig in 1940?

Their flaw was to whittle away the extremely large reserve (30 Divisions!) on propping up even point in the line under pressure. When Guderians ill-advised breakthrough occurred it should have been smashed, but the French had basically nothing left in reserve.

Hence we all learnt the wrong lessons about tanks.....

 

[Redbeard]

Their flaw was to whittle away the extremely large reserve (30 Divisions!) on propping up even point in the line under pressure. When Guderians ill-advised breakthrough occurred it should have been smashed, but the French had basically nothing left in reserve.

Hence we all learnt the wrong lessons about tanks.....

Agree about the reserve, you even get the impression, that a WWI French General Staff would have done WWII much better than the WWII one.

Panzergruppen would have been of no use on the French side, and although mobile Armycorps were present and with huge potential for operational counterattack the French CCC system was was too slow reacting to utilise them.

But if you let all French staffs at say regimental level and above be equipped with reliable radios - and capable of using them - the campaign will end up very differently - no matter how the French tanks are deployed initially.

BTW I don't think the lesson of concentrating your tanks was wrong by 1940, it proved the obvious way to outmanoeuvre a slow reacting army re-fighting WWI. Already by June 40 however the French had sensed how to counter it (360 degree fortified positions in chequerboard formation as oppsed to a WWI like continious frontline) and by mid and late WWII these principles had been implemented to a degree meaning that tanks had to be accompanied by an ever growing component of infantry, artillery, engineers etc.

Regards

Steffen Redbeard

 

[Kiwiguy]

I doubt even massing the tank forces would have worked because you can't change tactics mid-stream without training.

The Germans were more co-ordinated on several different levels. All tanks had radio contact allowing their cohesive manouvering. The german tank formations would have manouvered around and bypassed massed French tank formations leaving them to the stukas.

Use of close air support by Stukas was the other aspect apart from radios in tanks which would have ensured German victories no matter what.

The entire German doctrine of fluid warfare would have overcome any regrouping by the French.

It is funny to reflect but Hitler's stand and fight edicts on the eastern front in 1942-43 placed the German army in the same position that France had faced in fighting the Russians.

Germany lost mobility on the eastern front and suffered from the Soviet blitzkreig.