The Need for Organisational Resilience Chapter 5

units made it across the Meuse and moved inland towards the French second line of

defence. At Sedan, the commander of the 1st Panzer Division moved the Gross

Deutschland regiment, an elite infantry unit, as well as a tank battalion towards Bulson and

Stonne. It did not take long until the German forward units ran into trouble, although not of a

magnitude they could not deal with:

The Gross Deutschland Infantry Regiment closely followed the tanks in an excellent

manner. Suddenly, reconnaissance revealed an enemy counterattack with tank support.

The enemy’s infantry were operating as if they were on a training exercise, and they

were running directly into the fire of the company. Three enemy tanks were knocked out.

The [German Tank] company crossed over the road and continued attacking further

toward the south. Close to the Chémery-Raucourt road east of Maisoncelle, the

company occupied its position and secured the continued movement of the Gross

Deutschland regiment.

Suddenly, 10 French R-35 tanks, grouped together closely in a column, appeared on

the edge of Maisonelle on the road to Raucourt. In a flash the [German tank] company

opened fire with every gun tube. The enemy was completely surprised. He did not fire a

single round. Three vehicles turned toward the south and, although hit, managed to

escape. Four tanks remained in place, one of them burning in a fiery blaze. The last

three vehicles could turn and drive back into the village. They were nevertheless so

badly damaged that their crews abandoned them. (Doughty 1990, 209)

Intense fighting ensued at Bulson. The French were quickly routed. Yet, the German

High Command insisted on halting the advance, to allow more infantry and panzer forces to

catch up with the forward units that had been in battle for an excruciating three days without

pause. As Guderian lacked sufficient and potent enough anti-tank weapons, a defensive

stance would be foolish. Hence, he ignored this ‘advice’ and pushed further south towards

the Stonne plateau, where French forces were massing, to aggressively disrupt any French

attempt to counter-attack:

From the headquarters of the 10 th Panzer Division I drove to the headquarters of the

Infantry Regiment ‘G.D.’ [Grossdeutschland] in Stonne. A French attack was actually in

progress when I arrived and I could not find anyone. A certain nervous tension was

noticeable, but finally the positions were held. I then went to my new corps

headquarters, which was a small town wood near Sapogne on the southern bank of the

Meuse.

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