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

had already written Achtung Panzer!, a treatise on the employment of tanks
in modern warfare, two years earlier. Jealousy and mistrust had ensured that
von Manstein had long since been sidelined, but Guderian had not, and was
now, on the morning of 9 May, preparing to lead Panzer Corps Guderian,
containing three of the Wehrmacht’s best armoured divisions, as the
spearhead for the drive towards the Meuse and then, with luck, to the
English Channel.
As one of the principal architects of the entire offensive plan, the 51-
year-old Guderian had complete faith in its potential, but also considerable
concerns as to whether his superiors would allow it to unfold in the way he
hoped. An unusual and untested grouping of three corps – of which his was
one – had been placed under the command of Generaloberst Ewald von
Kleist, who, Guderian was well aware, was no great enthusiast for mobile
warfare. Nor was Generaloberst Gerd von Rundstedt, commander of Army
Group A. At planning conferences, Guderian’s heart had sunk as it became
clear that von Rundstedt had little idea about the potential of tanks. He also
revealed his complete lack of understanding of the battle plan when he told
Guderian and von Kleist that he preferred a more cautious approach to
battle. Senior German commanders were far from singing from the same
hymn sheet, yet since Guderian knew that it would be up to his three lead
divisions to make the critical breakthrough over the Meuse at Sedan, he had
done his very best to avoid consulting with his superiors, and to train his
men in the way that he wanted; to prepare them for the task that he had
envisaged.
At 1.30 p.m. that Thursday he received the orders to prepare to move.
The task ahead was an enormous one. Everything depended on maintaining
surprise and breaking through the main objective before the French caught
wind of what was going on and brought up the substantial reserves they had
at their disposal. That required sticking to a very tight timetable. It meant
Guderian’s spearhead had to reach the Meuse at Sedan and get across in just
four days. Yet before he even reached the River Meuse, his men had to
cross the Luxembourg border barriers, then the first Belgian fortification
line, and, thirdly, the second Belgian fortification line. After these obstacles,
there was the River Semois, which was bound to be defended, and finally
there were the French border fortifications, which lay some six miles in
front of the Meuse.