They believed that the Germans would enter northern France through Belgium, just like they did in WWI. On the other hand, the commanders of the French and British troops had thought that the Ardennes Forest was impassable. Its short barrel 7.5cmL/24 gun could only destroy armoured vehicles if it used HEAT ammo. It had the 3 rd and 4 th Panzer Divisions, with 620 tanks in total: 498 Pz Is and IIs, 73 Pz. This was the XVI Motorized Corps commanded by General Erich Hoepner. In order to increase the power of Army Group B, OKH allocated a Panzer Corps under Army Group B. Panzergruppe Kleist ended up behind the Allied forces, and would aim to crush the Allies with Army Group B in a classic hammer-and-anvil move. In this way, they isolated the main body of the British and Frenchs force in Belgium and northern France. At the same time, Army Group B, located farther north, entered Belgium. The “Panzergruppe Kleist”, the main force of Army Group A, went through the Ardennes forest between Belgium and Luxembourg, then entered north France and headed for the English Channel. On 10 May 10, 1940, the Germans activated Fall Gelb, or “Case Yellow”. This agility was the key to the German victory in the early days of World War II. However, General Heinz Guderian, the German military leader who pioneered mobile armoured warfare, had ensured that German armour had a good balance between firepower, mobility and protection. It came equipped with a 3.7 cm gun, and faced challenging battles because the Western Allies had more heavily-armoured tanks. Pz IIIs formed the backbone of German armour during the invasion of Western Europe. In total, 1,200 German and French tanks took part in the fighting. This was the first large-scale tank battle of WWII. The Tank Battle of Hannut: The First Tank Battle of WWIIįrom 12th May to 14th May 1940, the 3 rd & 4 th Panzer Divisions of the XVI Motorized Corps of the Wehrmacht clashed with the 1 st & 2 nd Light Mechanized Divisions of the French cavalry in Hannut, Belgium.
What led to this battle? Who finally won? What tactical and strategic significance did this battle have? Let us learn about the fierce fighting that went on at Hannut in this article. The Tank Battle of Hannut is said to be the first real tank battle of WWII.
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