The Battle of Britain Five Months That Changed History, May—October 1940 by James Holland (z-lib.org).epub

time to wait for reinforcements. The French were reeling; it was time to
exploit a favourable situation. The problem was that if he went ahead, he
would be blatantly disregarding orders that went to the very top. It was a
big call to make.
It was the 1st Panzer Division’s Chief of Staff, Major Walther Wenck,
who helped Guderian make up his mind, by reminding the General of one
of his favourite sayings: ‘Klotzen, nicht kleckern!’ – ‘hit hard, not softly!’
Guderian, his decisive, tough-guy reputation put on the line by a mere
major, needed no further pause for thought. ‘That really answered my
question,’ he admitted.
Immediately, he ordered 1st and 2nd Panzer Divisions west, leaving
10th Panzer to protect the bridgehead. The dash to the Channel had begun.
To the north, around Dinant, the 5th and 7th Panzer Divisions were also
expanding the bridgeheads they had fought so hard to secure the day before.
Hans von Luck heard that Rommel’s command tank had been hit and
knocked into a ditch. ‘“Is Rommel immune?” we asked ourselves.’ Hans’s
reconnaissance battalion was once again at the front of the advance. ‘Keep
going, don’t look to left or right, only forward,’ Rommel had told them. ‘I’ll
cover your flanks if necessary. The enemy is confused; we must take
advantage of it.’
Once again, a slow response by the French allowed the Germans to
burst out of the bridgehead. Both 5th and 7th Panzer Divisions had faced
hard fighting on the 14th, but by the end of the day had begun breaking out
because the French 1st Armoured Division, although on standby near
Charleroi since the 13th, was not actually ordered forward until 2 p.m. on
the 14th and then did not get moving for another couple of hours. Battling
against roads crammed with fleeing civilians, it had gone about twenty
miles when it leaguered for the night. Little did the troops realize that
Rommel’s lead panzers were also corralled for the night just a few miles
away.
By morning, the Luftwaffe had bombed and destroyed several French
fuel convoys, so the 1 Division Cuirassée (1st Armoured Division) was still
in the process of refuelling near the village of Flavion when Rommel’s
tanks spotted it and immediately opened fire. Meanwhile, anti-tank gunners
and panzers from 5th Panzer Division had also arrived on the scene.
Disengaging, Rommel ordered his panzers to push on while the remaining