On May 17, General Reichenau, commander of the German 6th Army, received orders to have his two panzer divisions transferred to Army Group A. He was also ordered to launch a rapid offensive southward to link up with Army Group A's armored forces as quickly as possible, jointly executing an encirclement of the Anglo-French Allied forces.

General Reichenau obeyed the order without raising any objections. Not only that, he also ordered the various infantry divisions under Army Group B to intensify their attacks.

Up to this point, whether it was within the infantry-heavy Army Group B, the German General Staff, or Hitler himself, no one considered Army Group B—attacking frontally from north to south—to be a supporting actor in this campaign. The 6th Army under Army Group B certainly didn't hold that view.

By any standard, Army Group B's performance had been exemplary. In the campaign plan, Army Group A's armored forces were tasked with reaching the Atlantic and severing the link between the French forward forces and their rear. So far, Army Group A could only be said to have completed the tasks required of them by the plan.

The campaign objective received by Army Group B was to use a fierce offensive to continuously pressure nearly 800,000 of the elite Anglo-French Allied forces and the Belgian Army. The 6th Army had repelled France's elite 1st Army in the massive Battle of Hannut and crippled two French armored divisions. From the start of the Western European campaign to now, Army Group B had not only completed its mission but had also mauled two French armored divisions. They could be considered to have over-fulfilled their quota.

The role of armored forces is to divide the enemy's battle lines and attack transportation hubs and logistics lines in the enemy's depth. Precisely because Reichenau attached great importance to armored forces, he would not send them to charge trenches. Such bloody battles were inherently the task of the infantry. Now, the 6th Army's mission was to smash the Anglo-French Allies and the Belgian Army from the front. General Reichenau prepared to continue executing his mission until there were new orders from the General Staff.

Reichenau was also a general who commanded from the front. In the following three days of bloody and brutal fighting, Reichenau either received telegrams or saw with his own eyes that the Chinese Volunteer Air Force was always able to cause some trouble for the 6th Army's offensive.

Germany had already learned that a Volunteer Army composed of three groups of Chinese air forces had participated in the Western European campaign. The German military did not underestimate the Chinese Air Force. In the Sino-Japanese War and the Sino-British War, the Chinese Air Force had won superiority on the battlefield and demonstrated great power. When Germany rebuilt its air force, it had fully absorbed China's air force concepts, building an independent air force while also ensuring the German Luftwaffe could fulfill various tactical air missions.

After engaging them, the German Luftwaffe took the Chinese Air Force even more seriously. Reichenau believed the Chinese Volunteer Army had extremely capable commanders. Unlike the Anglo-French Allies, the commander of the Chinese Volunteer Army had thoroughly grasped Germany's mode of warfare. Facing 5,000 German aircraft, 300 Chinese fighters could not withstand a war of attrition, so this Chinese commander did not cling to battle but employed various means to launch surprise attacks.

Whether suddenly intercepting the German Luftwaffe at high altitude or launching raids on German infantry columns on the offensive, regardless of success, they would flee without looking back after a single strike.

Reichenau had originally been slightly worried, thinking the Anglo-French Allied commanders might learn this flexible but coldly effective combat mode from the Chinese Volunteer Army commander. Fortunately, this did not happen. The Anglo-French air forces remained extremely brave, dispatching large numbers of fighters every time to engage in endless dogfights with Germany. The German Luftwaffe had large numbers and good training; the brave but tactless attacks of the Anglo-French air forces simply increased their own losses for no reason.

Since the Anglo-French air forces' understanding of air combat was so backward, Reichenau was relieved. Although the Chinese Volunteer Army displayed strength far superior to the Anglo-French Allies, they only had 300 fighters. Moreover, the Chinese pilots possessed physical stamina and fighting spirit that amazed Reichenau. According to statistical data, Chinese pilots flew at least four sorties a day. 300 aircraft completed a number of sorties equivalent to 1,000 French aircraft. Every sortie caused a bit of trouble for the German army; accumulating small amounts resulted in a large total, and the damage was indeed considerable.

But no matter how tough the Chinese pilots were, or how excellent the Chinese commander was, the Chinese pilots flew every day, and every day there were losses. The Chinese Volunteer Army had only 300 aircraft, and they were becoming fewer and fewer.

Reichenau's judgment was basically correct. However, he did not know that the people truly doing the judgment work for every Chinese Volunteer Army sortie were the entire staff personnel of the six complete carrier battle groups located on the two Chinese carrier strike groups and the rotation transport convoy.

Of course, the staff personnel of these six complete carrier battle groups hadn't expected they would be able to "participate" in such a high-intensity war from such close range. In recent days, the staff officers' biggest exclamation was often, "What the Chairman said is true!"

The Chinese Volunteer Army had been replenished with 50 J-9 fighters from the carrier formations. The main mission of these 50 J-9 fighters was not combat, but to utilize their 4,800-kilometer range to conduct reconnaissance and photography day and night, and to use their ultra-long range to send the intelligence back to the carriers as quickly as possible.

He Rui had described "future warfare" to the troops, and the Chinese National Defense Force had also been preparing for "future warfare" in the direction He Rui pointed out. When the air force commanders and the army commanders who had rushed over saw the large number of photos with their own eyes and analyzed them, everyone suddenly realized that the war deduced from imagination was actually real.

German armored forces were advancing 40 kilometers a day on the battlefield. What was this concept? For infantry in a non-combat state doing a forced march, one day was at most 50 kilometers. And it was absolutely impossible to sustain a forced march for ten days.

The photos just brought back on May 20, still slightly damp, were sent to the command center. The photos showed that the German Panzer division that had been charging at the very front had already swept past Amiens and reached the English Channel near Abbeville.

Just as the young generals led by Yu Cen and Lin Hu were analyzing the battlefield situation, the German General Staff and Hitler in the southern German command post both received telegrams from Guderian. To ensure Guderian wasn't lying, Hitler even sent another telegram to confirm. Soon, Guderian gave an unequivocal answer: "My unit is right on the Atlantic coast."

Next, General Kleist, commander of the German Panzer Group Kleist, and the German Luftwaffe sent telegrams successively, confirming that the 10th Panzer Division commanded by Guderian had reached the Atlantic.

With a *clatter*, Hitler threw his pen onto the map in front of him. Hitler stood up with his hands behind his back and walked to the window. Seeing Hitler's back, the officers in the General Staff had different expressions. The young men showed joy, and some even high-fived to celebrate. The older, more prudent ones also showed joy, but the worry on their faces was unconcealed.

It was naturally wonderful that the battle had gone like this. The prudent generals, especially those bearing immense responsibility, felt this was the calm before the storm. Because up to now, the Anglo-French Allied forces were only engaging the German army under the fierce attacks of Army Group B; their other movements were incredibly slow, or arguably nonexistent. It could only be described as "calm."

Which of the German high command hadn't fought on the bloody battlefields of World War I? German Führer Hitler was also a battlefield prodigy during WWI. Joining as an ordinary private, he not only survived various battlefields of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, but also won the Iron Cross First Class, usually reserved for officers, by accumulating combat merits.

These soldiers who had walked through life and death knew they must never underestimate the enemy, and they knew the strength of Britain and France even better. If Britain and France hadn't moved before, the war had been going on for ten days; they should have made some move by now.

Hitler had already walked back to the map with his hands behind his back. His expression was no different from those generals shouldering heavy responsibilities. There was indeed a look of joy, but more of it was the determination to complete an even more arduous task. Hitler asked, "Generals, what is the plan for the next step?"

The generals in the German General Staff were speechless for a moment. After receiving Manstein's campaign plan, the General Staff had less than two months in total to implement this campaign concept, clearly concocted by a single person, into concrete execution.

If the German General Staff hadn't been of extremely high caliber, two months would essentially not have been enough to complete a campaign plan involving over six million troops from both sides.

For example, the German General Staff estimated that German casualties in this campaign would be around one million. To prepare for one million casualties meant dozens of large field hospitals and nearly a thousand small and medium-sized field hospitals.

The German General Staff believed that vast quantities of various materials and weapons and ammunition, calculated in millions of tons, needed to be transported. Railways, roads, and various field communication lines all needed to be replanned.

The German General Staff completed the new operational plan with astonishing speed and efficiency, and prepared for the possibility of the plan suffering setbacks. It could be said that most probable situations were considered, except for the possibility that German armored forces would take only ten days to reach the Atlantic coastline, cut France in two, and encircle the elite forces of the Anglo-French Allies.

Hearing Hitler ask them for "the plan for the next step," the generals looked at each other, and simply no one knew what to do next. Because according to the plan, the current situation wouldn't appear until ten days later at the earliest.

The German generals were not idlers after all; they quickly began to discuss. The armored forces had run wild all the way, leaving behind an incredibly fragile "defense line." By World War I standards, whether this thing could be called a defense line was entirely debatable.

At present, German infantry were relying on Pervitin, advancing without rest or sleep, striving to reach the destinations designated by their superiors a little earlier to start constructing a real defense line. Motorized infantry were a bit better off, having some trucks. Among those units that inherited the German ancestral "mule and horse corps" transport, at least six infantry corps relied on animal power for transport and two legs for marching. They really hadn't rested for three days and three nights, marching over 100 kilometers. Even with such effort, they were still over 100 kilometers away from Guderian's position. For these "mule and horse corps" to complete the infantry line-filling, it would take at least another five days.

Surrounding the use of armored forces next, the German Ministry of War split into two factions. One faction, led by Chief of Staff General Franz Halder, believed that since the Anglo-French Allies' performance was so abysmal, it proved they had been beaten by the German Panzer Corps to the point of losing their judgment. If German armored forces stopped attacking at this stage, it would instead allow the Anglo-French Allies to see the clues and boldly launch a counterattack. At this stage, continuous attacks by German armored forces were needed to keep the Anglo-French Allies at a loss.

Such a radical viewpoint met with massive opposition. Any German general who wasn't blind knew that Germany had basically won now; what remained to be considered was only the question of how much they would win. "Winning" did not have only one criterion; annihilating more enemies was winning, and reducing one's own losses was also winning.

The German upper echelon was facing a situation never encountered before. The war looked won so far, but a single wrong step could lead to huge losses. If the position Guderian was in now wasn't held by the Wehrmacht's precious armored forces, but by a few infantry divisions... no, even a few infantry corps, the German upper echelon would issue the most radical orders without hesitation. As long as victory could be achieved, the German high command wouldn't feel heartache over losing a few infantry corps. After all, from the start of the war, the General Staff had prepared for one million German infantry casualties.

Now, the ones in the most dangerous position were the German armored forces. If they were wiped out, the German upper echelon really couldn't bear it. Annihilating the over 700,000 elite Anglo-French troops in northern France was indeed a great victory, but even if these elites were annihilated, the greater part of France still remained. In World War I, the German army occupied northern France for a long time and even approached Paris twice, with advance units able to see the Eiffel Tower, but in the end, didn't they still fail to conquer it?

The so-called prudent faction didn't oppose attacking; they also fully understood the power of armored forces. Precisely because they recognized the combat power of armored forces, they were even less willing to take risks.

Although Chief of General Staff Halder hadn't expected the situation to develop to this extent in the early days of the campaign, now that it had, Halder believed the German army had nothing left to worry about. Even if the armored forces suffered certain losses in the bold attacks to follow, as long as the Western European campaign could be won quickly, Germany could rapidly build stronger armored forces in the time that followed. So Halder believed Guderian's troops should be ordered to move north along the coastline immediately and occupy a series of ports.

Hearing that Halder wanted to use the armored forces to the breaking point, the opponents expressed their objections one after another. However, Halder was the Chief of General Staff, and the opponents actually didn't know where that powerful French reserve force everyone had been expecting to appear actually was, or how it would launch an attack. To search for the location of the French reserve, German Luftwaffe reconnaissance squads continued to penetrate deep into French-controlled areas in the south for reconnaissance, risking their lives. Up to now, there had been no sign of any powerful reserve force.

If one thought with unconstrained imagination, everyone could dream up beautiful dreams. But fighting a war is a very realistic matter. Since it wasn't detected, one could only admit it hadn't been found. The French army was human too; they couldn't suddenly fly out and start attacking the German army.

As the argument was deadlocked, Colonel General Rundstedt rushed from Army Group A's headquarters to the general headquarters. Hitler didn't like Rundstedt, but Hitler respected the old general. Especially since the armored forces that had created amazing results were under Rundstedt's command. Germany had always given frontline commanders executing complex military missions very large autonomy. This mission-type command style helped the German army win victory after victory. So Hitler asked, "General, what is your view on the armored forces' next moves?"

The Western European campaign plan was supported by Rundstedt himself. Manstein, who formulated the plan, was Rundstedt's Chief of Staff during the Polish campaign. Kleist and Guderian, who were executing the plan, were also Rundstedt's men in a sense. The old man was quite confident about the situation ahead. He replied, "Führer, since the armored forces believe they can still fight on, let them continue to execute their own ideas."

Hitler's dilemma was only because he was now worrying about personal gains and losses, expecting this victory to be flawless. Hearing Colonel General Rundstedt say this, he agreed with the old general's view.

On May 21, Guderian received new orders requiring him to move north along the Atlantic coast and occupy various ports. Receiving this order, the stinking Guderian was overjoyed and immediately ordered the whole army, "10th Panzer Division advance towards Dunkirk; 1st Panzer Division advance towards Calais; 2nd Panzer Division advance towards Boulogne!"

Guderian's Chief of Staff was not by his side at this moment because Guderian had rushed too fast, so much so that first Panzer Group Commander Kleist, and then Army Group A Commander Rundstedt, had personally found him and demanded Guderian's 19th Panzer Corps stop and wait for the infantry to catch up and fill the line. So Guderian's adjutant relayed the message sent by the Chief of Staff via telegram to Guderian, "Corps Commander, 40% of our tanks and armored vehicles have now malfunctioned..."

Guderian didn't care at all. He immediately interrupted the adjutant, "The tanks that can keep up now are enough for us to take all the ports. Advance!" After speaking, Guderian jumped onto the command vehicle and patted the seat beside him, signaling the adjutant to get on quickly.

The adjutant had experienced the crazy advance he had never experienced before in these ten days, and had gotten used to everything he had experienced. He got in the car and didn't mention the issue of the armored forces actually suffering serious losses again.

At this time, the Chinese Air Force reconnaissance units had also taken off, continuing to conduct reconnaissance on German movements. When that day's intelligence on German progress was sent back to the battleship *Xinyang*, the flagship within the carrier formation, Lieutenant General Yu Cen in the command center couldn't help but show a look of astonishment. The Chinese Overseas Command originally generally believed that the German Panzer troops would quickly capture several seaports and wrap the Anglo-French Allies in a dumpling. Unexpectedly, the German army's efforts to attack Calais were blocked by a small-scale local garrison. Yu Cen wanted to say that the German armored forces lacked the ability to assault fortifications, but the words reached his lips and he couldn't say them.

The battle continued for two days, and it wasn't until the 23rd that the German army took Calais. By this time, the Chinese European Command had a general assessment of the German armored forces. Without infantry follow-up, it was difficult for German armored forces to capture pre-set positions with sufficient artillery defense.

But this wasn't just the status quo for the German army. China's current Type 59 tanks, mounted with 100mm smoothbore guns, would still suffer very heavy losses in urban warfare. Moreover, armored forces fighting urban warfare had another problem: once a tank was destroyed, it would become cover for the enemy on the street. Therefore, in the operations proposed by He Rui, mechanized brigades needed the coordination of motorized infantry brigades when attacking. And in muddy areas, motorized infantry brigades needed tracked armored personnel carriers, not wheeled armored personnel carriers. Such equipment truly cost a huge amount of money.

The Chinese Air Force was not only monitoring the German army but also the Anglo-French Allies. Just as Guderian managed to capture Calais with great difficulty, the main British force was already advancing towards Dunkirk in tanks and trucks. The mighty force was clearly visible in the photos. Checking against the map, the group of Chinese officers either smiled bitterly, sighed, or looked serious. Everyone could see that Britain had abandoned its ally and was retreating on its own.

This British force was supposed to be fighting side-by-side with the French 1st Army holding the trenches. Running away so suddenly left a part of the French 1st Army to the Germans.

Sure enough, by the 24th, seeing the opportunity, the German army began attacking Lille. Also on this day, Hitler personally flew to Charleville, where the Army Group A headquarters was located. Seeing Hitler arrive, Rundstedt didn't exchange pleasantries and said directly, "Führer, I believe it is necessary to halt the armored forces' offensive and wait for the infantry to arrive to annihilate the enemy forces."

Hitler was just stunned for a moment, then asked Rundstedt the reason for this decision. Rundstedt didn't state the real reason. In reality, it was Kleist, commander of Panzer Group Kleist, who believed the armored forces were facing a difficult situation never encountered before.

The outskirts of Dunkirk were vast swamps with few roads. The Anglo-French Allies could block these roads with only a small number of troops. Moreover, the British infantry could easily pass through swamps that German tanks couldn't. German armored forces were moving significantly slower in the swampy areas.

Previously, Rundstedt supported the armored forces deciding to attack on their own because Kleist himself had asked Guderian to stop earlier, as the Meuse River crossings were extremely unstable and could face a massive French counterattack at any time. Even so, Kleist still agreed to Guderian continuing the attack. After the infantry arrived at the Meuse crossings, Kleist didn't mention stopping operations again.

But after the 21st, Guderian faced no constraints yet only captured two ports. He encountered stubborn resistance at Calais, so much so that it took two days to conquer it.

At this point, Kleist himself believed the armored forces had entered a domain unsuitable for combat. Rundstedt naturally used his authority as Army Group A commander to judge that the battle couldn't go on. Guderian and the officers and men of the armored forces surely had the determination to fight on and defeat the enemy, and Rundstedt thought this was good. The troops' combat confidence was only one of the factors Rundstedt had to consider. Rundstedt had to cast aside personal emotions and realistically choose the decision most beneficial for winning victory.

Of course, Rundstedt didn't say these things to Hitler. He only realistically introduced the battlefield situation and the status quo of the armored forces to Hitler. After hearing this, Hitler immediately expressed agreement and issued a direct order from the Führer to the frontline troops, rare in the Western European campaign: "German armored forces must not cross the canal line from Lens to Gravelines already reached. Troops are to begin resting and prepare to continue the attack after receiving orders."

After hearing Hitler's order, Rundstedt only said one phrase in his heart: "Bohemian Corporal." Of course, these words couldn't be spoken aloud, but Rundstedt just didn't like Hitler. For instance, this time, Rundstedt believed that although Hitler made the correct judgment, the reason for the judgment was a calculation of the result of victory, not out of an understanding of war itself.

If it were Rundstedt's own judgment, he wouldn't care if the armored forces failed. If necessary, if all German armored forces were crippled in the attack, Rundstedt wouldn't be unable to resolve himself to it. It was just that at the moment, Rundstedt discovered that not only did he not know what the result of the attack would be, but the frontline officers and men actually didn't know either, so he made the armored forces stop.

But Rundstedt completely hadn't expected that the British Army knew very well what they wanted to do. Facing the crisis of annihilation, Britain chose to preserve its own elite forces first. To manufacture all the equipment needed for an elite force took one year. But to form an elite force where those soldiers mastered the equipment and tactics took three years. And to cultivate officers who commanded soldiers took more than a decade.

So the British Army, having abandoned the French Army to retreat alone, left a big hole for the German Army. On May 25, the German Army occupied the city of Lille, encircling the more than 40,000 men of France's elite 1st Army.

Seeing the British Army retreating towards Dunkirk, the French Army had no choice but to follow the British in retreat. The Belgian Army was abandoned by the Anglo-French Allies. King Leopold III of Belgium was incredibly furious. Belgium hadn't wanted to fight from the start. Unexpectedly, lacking planes and tanks, the Belgian Army filled the trenches with human lives, making huge sacrifices. Yet seeing things going wrong, the Anglo-French Allies immediately abandoned the Belgian Army and ran.

Of course, if Leopold III heard the words of British commander Lieutenant General Bruce, he would probably be fuming with rage, or perhaps feel like he had fallen into an ice cave. Lieutenant General Bruce's adjutant asked, "We're withdrawing; what about the Belgian Army?"

Lieutenant General Bruce replied with a cold face, "That is the Belgians' own affair!"

The Chinese European Command also basically understood the war situation at this time. Everyone felt He Rui's correctness even more. If the Chinese army and the German army were to trade places, there wouldn't be many choices left; it would be to use all air power to bomb the retreating Anglo-French Allies all the way, causing the already frantically retreating Anglo-French Allies to completely lose order.

However, General Reichenau, commander of the German 6th Army, had a different feeling at this moment. He discovered that chasing four wheels with two legs—you really can't catch up.