How Nazi Germany’s Blitzkrieg Tactics Sliced Through France | Greatest Tank Battles | War Stories

At the outset of WWII, the Germans pioneered a new form of mobile armored warfare.This is the story of how the Nazi's unleashed the blitzkrieg on Western Europe as thousands of Panzer tanks raced across rugged terrain and crushed Allied defenses.
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[@WarStoriesChannel]

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[@petel7418]

No mention of Luftwaffe/Stukas In this doc even though it was the main thing In blitzkrieg..? First stukas, then panzers..

[@matthewchase1363]

@@petel7418 the first 🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇

[@djraythefurry0420]

I'm sad to see and say that David Fletcher has left the tank chats from the tank museum , tell tank Jesus aka David lol that the community he built misses him and hopes that he does well when you guys can lol 😂

[@brucelamberton8819]

It must be realised that in respect to the approx 2,500 German tanks in the invasion that over 1,800 were Panzer I, II, 35(t) and 38(t) light tanks, and there was only a little over 600 Panzer III and IV medium tanks. Not only that but the Panzer I and II were not equipped with cannons and only carried machine guns (albeit a heavy 20mm in the case of the Panzer II). France, on the other hand, had over 400 Char B1(s) heavy tanks with hull-mounted 75mm and turret-mounted 47mm cannons, and almost 450 Somua S-35 medium tanks with a 47mm cannon. As well as this the BEF had around 150 A10 and A13 Cruiser Tanks and around 25 A13 Infantry Tanks (i.e. Matilda II) all armed with the 40mm 2-pounder anti-tank gun, and around 25 close support tanks armed with a 94mm howitzer. So on paper at least, Germany was severely out-gunned - which shows just how dismal the British and French defence truly was.

[@EK-gr9gd]

Only Panzer III, with 37 or 50 mm gun, were intended to fight tank on tank. Panzer II were just for recon and Panzer IV, at this time, were just for infantry support.

[@leodesalis5915]

Well basically eveytime the British or French tanks got into a fight with German tanks they held them off and cost them precious time, but due to the incredible speed of panzer 1's and 2's that allowed them to basically just go around as we didn't listen to our intelligence that the Germans would push through the Ardennes, and once they were through we never had time to set up defensive tank positions like we had every earlier battle and then alongside the Luftwaffe support there was nothing we could do but try to hold them as long as possible, many tankers never got to the beaches of Dunkirk as they were the ones that made the Germans think again about sending in their tanks and instead used the Luftwaffe to bomb Dunkirk, and as a result saved countless lives

[@salvatorepitea5862]

Battle doctrine rules the day

[@robertmaybeth3434]

The allied leadership suffered from a total lack of imagination and "wrong war" disease. It has been said and said, the British and French in 1940 came prepared to re-fight world war 1, and in their ignorance their leadership foolishly assumed it would just be a repeat of 1918 ("We already beat them once, so why must we do it again?"). The dumb leadership could possibly be forgiven for falling under the spell of "victory disease" EXCEPT the new lessons had been there, for years, of what the new German tactics of the new kind of mechanized warfare could mean! In the Spanish civil war in the 1930's the Germans shook down their tanks and air tactics in an ideal "live-fire exercise" but the allies all but ignored it. In 1939 in Poland (where they showed what blitzgrieg could do), IF the allies had only observed, taken the lesson and adjusted their tactics and prepared, things might have been different in 1940! Instead the myopic allied leadership sat back, waited for the attack to come, based their defense and counter-attacks on all the wrong assumptions ("The Ardennes is impassable" etc.) and counted on their numerical superiority to hold back the German offensive. And we all know what happened after that.

[@dennishorne1220]

It’s so easy to criticize wars and battle tactics 80 years after the fact isn’t it?

[@davidbradford4105]

The radio gave the Germans a massive advantage. It link tanks together, tanks and artillery, and tanks and Stukas together.

[@johnwinter7597]

Thanks captain obvious

[@davidbradford4105]

@@johnwinter7597 I'm glad that I could bring clarity.

[@normanberg9940]

Is it only me or does anyone else think the French build their tanks purposely ugly? Mind you it's the same story with their cars.

[@thegreatreddragon2105]

Well, tactics always prevail, as such wasn't clear enough for most of those "Allied powers"... Good point mate

[@danijelkasunic7572]

And most importantly, it brings together tanks and tanks! 😁

[@MrWolf-kd8yh]

My grandfather fought for Germany he was part of the 6th army during the battle of France before being deployed to the east. Ultimately he was captured at stalingrad and endured many years at a Russian prisoner of war camp before returning home in the mid 1950s to live out a long peaceful life. God bless

[@noahhess4955]

Wow. He is a lucky man to have made it out of there as many did not. My grandfather was a U-boat Cpt. Thankfully he survived the war as well

[@ajayb.7240]

God bless your family

[@zulubeatz1]

My great uncle fought at Stalingrad and was captured and survived also! (I am part Austrian) His name was Piffer I wish I knew which unit he was in. being Tyrolean I suspect Jaeger.

[@MrWolf-kd8yh]

@@zulubeatz1 That is incredible! My Grandfather was the first lieutenant in his regiment. Please excuse me I can't remember precisely which unit he was in but he was part of the 44th infantry division within the 6th army. During captivity he lost almost 80 pounds of body weight moving around different Russian labour camps during his ordeal before release. The younger brother of my Grandfather started off the war in the East as part of the the 439th Regiment of the 134th Division and was at the battle of Moscow then later he was one of 9 survivors out of 1,000 men in his regiment to die in the battle of Kursk where he was injured. Later he lived through the war as part of the 512th heavy tank destroyer battalion as a loader for the Jagdtiger when he surrendered to the Americans in May 1945. Best wishes to your family and maybe even one day we can both sit down with tall glass of Pilsner and tell other stories. Best regards and I salute to you!

[@michaelscott5653]

I hope your grandfather wasn't with the 6th army in Stalingrad!

[@kenflagler635]

Back in the 70's when I was really young, I would watch World At War. Still love WW2 DOCS. This one is great. Thanks.

[@picklerix6162]

I use to watch it on PBS with my father on the weekends. My father was part of the American occupation forces after Germany surrendered.

[@scottyfox6376]

As a kid I was always excited to hear that mournful music of World At War, good memories to be sure.

[@robertbennett9949]

Were you told then that 82% of German casualties were inflicted on the Soviet front? And that it was Germany on December 11th. 1941 which declared was on the USA, at a time when the Gerrman army had already been driven back from Moscow, losing territory which it would not regain?

[@demarcusfaulkner7411]

I would watch it on the history channel with my great grandfather he was at the battle of the bulge.

[@demarcusfaulkner7411]

@@robertbennett9949 what I was told is the Russians took the bront of the fighting which allowed the allies to advance and beat the Germans. Thanks for that it saved allot of lives.

[@samuelparker9882]

The moment when the German army found out that the 88 flak cannon was a tank killer as well. Thanks to Rommel. He lived a charmed life up until the very end. He was lucky in WW1 and WW2.

[@fergusmallon1337]

But his luck did run out.

[@VisualdelightPro]

He is against Rooservelt's Nazism.

[@micksmith5123]

He had to kill himself to save his family...

[@timberry4709]

The German's figured out the usefulness of the 88 against ground targets in the Spanish Civil War where it was also used in both direct and indirect fire roles. In 1938 the 88 was designated to be used against bunkers and "other strong targets" (i.e. tanks). This is why there were armor piercing rounds available for the 88.

[@davidmuir7711]

Made his own luck. An intelligent resourceful leader, and one to respect. Where have these men gone?

[@thomashogan9196]

It was a shock to the system to see David Fletcher (Tank Museum) with a haircut and basic grooming.

[@karlflavell968]

He wasn't making bizarre comments either.

[@thomashogan9196]

@@karlflavell968 Yes, but don't we miss that part?

[@generalfrog4658]

A very young David

[@thomashogan9196]

@peadar colmain I love the man. Nobody does tanks like him. His Albert Einstein hairdo is iconic.

[@thomashogan9196]

@peadar colmain Allright. Meeeow.

[@wolfu597]

The Allies had tanks that were superior in terms protection and numbers. However, one big flaw of both the French and British high-command, was that they considered the tank to be an infantry support weapon, so they were widely dispersed amongst the infantry divisions. Most of the heavy allied tanks couldn't go faster than an infantry mans walking pace, not to mention that their means of communications were also hopelessly obsolete compared to those of the german Panzers.

[@picklerix6162]

Actually, the French had modern tanks and were more than a match for the German tanks. It was their tactics that were obsolete.

[@theepicgamer5862]

@@picklerix6162 none of the French takes had radios, all German tanks had radios, with that alone gave the Germans a very big lead

[@canuzzi]

@@picklerix6162 The tanks were better from a armor and gun point. But they were fighting with old tactics and especially one important thing was missing. Every german tank had a radio - the french and British had none beside some command vehicles. This made the Blitzkrieg possible and change quickly tactics and get support to weak points.

[@DerpyTurtle0762]

Yes, they had decent tanks but their armored doctrine held them back

[@ericamborsky3230]

@@canuzzi Every British tank had a radio that could transmit in addition to receive. The British Expeditionary Force more or less had its act together on the tactical and operational level, they were just not in the critical areas and their flank that was held by the French collapsed due to issues at the highest levels of French command

[@sam8404]

It's awesome you were able to license this show for your channel. I've been looking all over for Greatest Tank Battles but all I can find are low quality rips. Are you planning on uploading the entire series?

[@malldollar4886]

Sometimes you come across such a great show, you actually go to On Demand to binge watch it!!

[@thomascrowley9122]

"Losing war is one thing. Losing home is another"

[@wazza33racer]

Its important to keep in mind that the German anti-tank guns being described in these battles was the Pak 36. Ive seen one up close and they are..............small and quaint. By comparison the Flak-88 the the germans were forced to use on the Matilda's is a beast of weapon.

[@hothe65]

An anti tank gun only has to be slightly better than the armour it faces. True the 88mm was awesome but the British 17 pounder was actually better!

[@nicholasthuya7683]

@@hothe65 and extremely long (to the point it was unnecessarily long” The British had to put the firing breech sideways just so they could it it into the Sherman firefly

[@Sturminfantrist]

Funny this old French Tanker with a german name STEINBACH but we in germany have also a lot of de Maiziere`s, Marseilles , Hennies, Faure ect. their ancestors were Hugenottes and fled from persecution in catholic france to Germany Prussia during 1600`s we also have some german ppl with engl or scottish names they came here during 30 years war as Mercennaires and stayed

[@LeeSeulYeon]

It might be some alsacians names too. They're really similar to German names :)

[@santagemma6212]

Sure German women made them stay

[@Sturminfantrist]

@@santagemma6212 Yep this sweet blend german Chicks are sticky one made my northafrican father stay ;)

[@user-ir2fu4cx6p]

@@Sturminfantrist What part of northafrica he was and what year he come to Germany .

[@Sturminfantrist]

@@user-ir2fu4cx6p He was born in Constantine Algeria in 1933 and few years later his Family relocated to Tunesia and he grow up in Tunis Rue Okba ibn Naffa my Grandpa buyed a House there. My Father lived for a while in France and belgium before he came to germany met my Mother in late 1958 or early 59 iamborn1960 in lower saxony,

[@shainemaine1268]

This channel started out so strong

[@DanTheArtisan91]

Really love this channel and all videos ive seen from it even if i can't watch i just play it on the background while gaming and listen thank you for the great content

[@witchking8497]

The French vet at the 14 min mark hits the key of it, Radio. Every German tank had one. At best French command tanks had one, for the most part other tanks communicated with flags. Even more crippling than the differences in armament for the course of the campaign.

[@johnstevenson1709]

Every British tank had a radio but the allies simply had no tactics to counter the German tactics of movement and speed

[@witchking8497]

@@johnstevenson1709 but British tanks were a small minority of the Allied Tanks...and for the most part not in the critical sectors. Still radio #1, #2 would be eliminating any reserves to put together the forces for the move into Belgium and the Low Countries.

[@michaelscott5653]

Not even the French commander-in-chief, Gamelin, had radio or any other form of modern communications!

[@cobraccc7474]

The Polish had radios, am transistsor

[@benjaminrush4443]

Another Great War Story. Thanks again.

[@ghostdiv7sion194]

this series is just awesome

[@CMDRFandragon]

In your best GTB narrator voice 3 and a half million men, 16,000 health guns, 3000 tanks but no tactical sense

[@JeffreyOrnstein]

Excellent! I have not seen this episode before!

[@donnieray6568]

same here btother "))

[@musicmann6812]

When the Germans headed through the ardenn, there was a five mile traffic jam of tanks and armored vehicles, and other vehicles with big guns like the 88's in tow.. a french piolet spotted it, and when he reported it, his superiors dismissed it and said it was impossible, had they acted on that information, they could have destroyed half of the Germans tanks that took part in the battle of France. . They could have won the war just from that one bit of info. 😤

[@musicmann6812]

@Bronze Wolf very true..

[@frags7792]

And that is how France lost their ground within weeks...

[@nicholasthuya7683]

@@frags7792 days*

[@jameson32]

Wonder how many millions of lives that pilot may have saved if the French acted on the information and stopped their advance, as they absolutely could have. I bet the war would have been won at least a year earlier.

[@musicmann6812]

@@jameson32 A LOT.. for sure..

[@thishominid871]

David Fletcher (see The Tank Museum) sighting!

[@heastoida8993]

Communication was a key point in ww2 battles.. often communication was so bad that many soldiers died because of friendly fire.. when is was in the austrian army or bundesheer, my sergeant told us so..

[@LegacyTeams]

Thank you for the English voice overs!

[@Bearclaw_Jake]

It's worth mentioning that france declared war on Germany and also attacked Germany in 1939 "saar offensive". I realize the treaty france had with Poland. This just made it sound like the french were just sitting around wondering if Germany was going to attack.

[@khalidgagnon8753]

Sort of.... The sarr offense went 10-miles then fell back.... Gamelon was a coward

[@tertiusdejager1440]

Strategy was one of Germany's best advantages.

[@nikolay_2134]

Strategy and Amph Pharmaceuticals

[@raginasiangaming910]

More so than tanks, radios and command and control structure gave the Germans a decisive advantage. The army that can make quick decisions based on battlefield conditions is much more likely to gain and maintain initiative and win. Similarly, the widespread use of radios, which allowed tank-to-tank and tank-to-air communications was absolutely decisive. This was really the first example in history of an armored spearheaded using CAS to blast a path into enemy lines.

[@garycleveland6410]

Panzer III were initially armed with the 37 mm guns. Later models were upgunned with the long barreled 50mm gun.

[@challenger2031]

In all seriousness this series is just a joy to watch. The balance in audio could be better in terms of the narrative and the explosions but the overall program is brilliantly done, the veterans and historian actors talking about the significance and brutal reality of tank warfare is something quite difficult to take in but wars happen all over the world but seeing the battles unfold using state of the art technology to reinact the battles is incredible.

[@tomghzel]

True! I didn't notice it on the black barron video, but on this one yes! (About the audio)

[@jensleck547]

i love these Dokumenarys🤩🤩🤩

[@nayan8989]

One of the best documentary. Your show should have been run on TV channel for larger audience. Hat's off.

[@pierredecine1936]

Battle of France Germany: 141 divisions 7,378 guns 2,445 tanks 5,638 aircraft 3,350,000 troops Italians in the Alps 22 divisions 3,000 guns 300,000 Italians

[@EK-gr9gd]

The Italians in the Alps were quite ineffective. The French checked their assault without problems. The Italians had the same problem as the French, they weren't ready for war. For different reasons.

[@EK-gr9gd]

@@user-ir2fu4cx6p Who threatened whom?

[@thetruthcompany5635]

Btw: This is not the story of the Blitzkrieg! The secret and the newidea in the strategy of the Blitzkriges was - as before in Poland - the cooperation between air force and fast, strong pacer armies! Wherever the German tanks met resistance, the Luftwaffe appeared in the form of the Ju 87 Stuka and eliminated this resistance!The Blitzkrieg was not a pure tank war, it was a new form of warfare, which was characterized by cooperation between tactical air force and fast tank armies! But not a single word about Luftwaffe and Stukas in this documentary! Without the support of the Luftwaffe, especially the Stuka Dive Bomber Ju 87, the Blitzkrieg would not worked! Besides, Rommel's and Guderian's tanks were all connected with each other by radio contact, but the tanks of the Allies were not, they fought each for himself.

[@Roscoe.P.Coldchain]

Yes the French fought like girls

[@donaldvandergriff6590]

Been to the entire Sedan area, including walking the ground at Stonne. Beautiful area.

[@joelennon432]

Nice flex 💪

[@darknight9302]

Thanks.

[@MrDlt123]

Its refreshing to see stories regarding some of the lesser-known tanks and tank battles prior to the Normandy invasion.

[@shaneneilson10]

This isn't the battle of Normandy

[@jaydoneash2098]

@@shaneneilson10he said prior to it

[@semuapenuh]

It was completely the result of the lack of ability of the French and British commanders on how to use their superiority. In addition to speed and mobility, command and control, spying and logistics are also important as Subutai a Mongol army commander did more than 700 years ago.

[@jahoney42]

No one talks about how the German Blitzkrieg was a good battlefield/tactical way to win battles, but how it was a crappy way to win a war. No one talks about the German army of World War Two was the least mechanized army of all the major combatants in World War Two. 80 percent of the German Army was horse drawn.

[@zerotwouzumaki9610]

Mostly due to needing to conserve oil.

[@zerofuckkksgiven8027]

Also the Germans weapons were way better then most everyone also!

[@pesthizid]

Crappy way to win? I would call it smart. BTW.....the german Blitzkrieg was the bible for following wars. Look at the US Forces in Iraq.

[@adityakumar4087]

German science was better than the Allies.

[@wade3878]

You are not wrong regarding the high fraction of horse drawn units. But Germany was able to conquer huge parts of Europe, Russia and Africa. The push on Stalingrad was basically the only occasion where more motorised and/or mechanised units would have made a huge difference (Less time for the defenders to gather troops etc.). The main negative impact was a lack of fuel and supplies (Africa), and/or the weather conditions (Russia). So where would have an increase of mobile units won them the war?

[@dgrays2800]

Playing Forgotten Hope 2 but watching this first. great doco.

[@HOTSHTMAN53]

Me seeing the thumbnail: “oh nice, a video about the soviet union.” the video: “this is the battle of france” Me: “oh…okay then. Battle of france it is…”

[@johnhough9593]

Communication is everything in war… no wonder Guderian started out as a signals officer.

[@bremnersghost948]

Even though it was seen as a failure at the time, The Attack at Arras has to be a Contender for the Battle that turned WW2 in the Allies favour. The Confusion, Delay & Bizarre Decisions made by the German High Command immediately afterwards saved the BEF and enabled Britain to keep fighting until the Soviets & US became involved.

[@thetruthcompany5635]

Btw.: This is not the story of the Blitzkrieg! The secret and the new idea in the strategy of the Blitzkriges was - as before in Poland - the cooperation between air force and fast, strong pacer armies! Wherever the German tanks met resistance, the Luftwaffe appeared in the form of the Ju 87 Stuka and eliminated this resistance!The Blitzkrieg was not a pure tank war, it was a new form of warfare, which was characterized by cooperation between tactical air force and fast tank armies! But not a single word about Luftwaffe and Stukas in this documentary! Without the support of the Luftwaffe, especially the Sttuka Dive Bomber, the Blitzkrieg would not worked! Besides, Rommel's and Guderian's tanks were all connected with each other by radio contact, but the tanks of the Allies were not, they fought each for himself.

[@EK-gr9gd]

Ralf Raths is the Director of the Panzermuseum Munster. It started an English Channel in 2020.

[@kingcobra7183]

The English Channel? The one germany couldn't invade?

[@cloudforest4087]

What a scary piece of history.

[@haadbajwa7565]

Excellent Documentaries.

[@thetruthcompany5635]

No! What a bad documentary! This is not the story of the Blitzkrieg! The secret and the newidea in the strategy of the Blitzkriges was - as before in Poland - the cooperation between air force and fast, strong pacer armies! Wherever the German tanks met resistance, the Luftwaffe appeared in the form of the Ju 87 Stuka and eliminated this resistance!The Blitzkrieg was not a pure tank war, it was a new form of warfare, which was characterized by cooperation between tactical air force and fast tank armies! But not a single word about Luftwaffe and Stukas in this documentary! Without the support of the Luftwaffe, especially the Sttuka Dive Bomber, the Blitzkrieg would not worked! Besides, Rommel's and Guderian's tanks were all connected with each other by radio contact, but the tanks of the Allies were not, they fought each for himself.

[@paultynan8705]

Harry Martin...My step Grandfather was a tank gunner. He had to run off the field with a broken ankle! Great man and survived! He taught me all about Flag Day! RIP Harry!

[@raphaelcharpy6092]

Battle of Stonne reduced to a skirmish !!!!!!!!!! A shame

[@lapinmalin8626]

La bataille qui aurait juste pu arrêté net le Blietzkrieg réduit à une escarmouche bordel C'est même pas une honte juste de la propagande anti française

[@arunaamarasingha2091]

good videos please add the story of battle of kursk

[@suriil9875]

Facing blitzkrieg was like 6h00 am : we are under attack! (Soldiers run to grab rifles) 6h15 am : platoon is ready, where are enemies? Eh... At Paris already

[@loudelk99]

The allies were ready to fight the last war, the Germans had no intention of repeating that mistake.

[@onlinejobspakistan629]

You are doing great work I am from Pakistan and I want to know about Pakistan and India wars of 1965 and 1971 and indo-china war 1962. so please make stories on these wars

[@robertmaybeth3434]

Mr pakistan, this show is from a Canadian-made show on American military channel called "greatest tank battles". I too would like to see even more tank battles illustrated similarly but this show is about 5 years old and no new ones are being made.

[@anevolvingape5573]

This channel is about the greatest tank battles and not about goats and donkeys clashing.

[@doubledwaffle7605]

@@anevolvingape5573 Right. If anything maybe make one how about proper sanitation and not crapping in the street.

[@fratersol]

They didnt mention the Stukas devastated the allied tanks

[@neganrex5693]

The show is about tanks not airplanes. Watch the video on Stukas.

[@TheNolife96]

@@neganrex5693 Yeah Ok but the " greatest tank battle " was too a big part of aviation devastating tanks, i mean it's cool to got a video for each but when you want to tell an history do it in one time with all the details cuz there's a lot of miss there

[@neganrex5693]

@@TheNolife96 You are right. The Russian planes took a major toll on German tanks like the German planes was on the Russian tanks. The plane was the weapon of chose on both fronts when it came to tiger and panther tanks.

[@ruslanaskliucevic3337]

super

[@Area51UFOGynaecology]

best episode

[@thetruthcompany5635]

No! It is a bad documentary! This is not the story of the Blitzkrieg! The secret and the new idea in the strategy of the Blitzkriges was - as before in Poland - the cooperation between air force and fast, strong pacer armies! Wherever the German tanks met resistance, the Luftwaffe appeared in the form of the Ju 87 Stuka and eliminated this resistance!The Blitzkrieg was not a pure tank war, it was a new form of warfare, which was characterized by cooperation between tactical air force and fast tank armies! But not a single word about Luftwaffe and Stukas in this documentary! Without the support of the Luftwaffe, especially the Stuka Dive Bomber, the Blitzkrieg would not worked! Besides, Rommel's and Guderian's tanks were all connected with each other by radio contact, but the tanks of the Allies were not, they fought each for himself.

[@williamschlenger1518]

The 88 flack gun changed the war.

[@steveperreira5850]

Most certainly it prolonged the war. It was the best artillery piece of the entire war by far.

[@tamirj.b.n9814]

Facing the blitzkrieg is like playing war thunder with 10 other people who'd rather doing anything else

[@olivierdk2]

Hungary wasn't conquered, they joined the Axis, the following year, they participated in the invasion of Yugoslavia and USSR.

[@detroit12870]

It's a real shame that the stupidly loud explosions in ALL of these videos drown out the far more important story dialogue

[@jcartiii]

it adds realism

[@thekameleon9785]

The Dutch had 1 tank in may 1940 and it was in a garage being worked on.

[@SuperDevilDoctor]

Very good documentary... although the new Thumbnail image showing Tiger II tanks circa 1944 is very misleading. (This is about the Battle of France, May-June 1940).

[@jpmtlhead39]

What many dont realize until today is the real dimension of the French defeat in terms of human casualties. In just 5 weeks the French army sustained 100.000 thousand KIA soldiers,not mention injured or captured but KIA. Not even in the worst Battles of WW1 a single nation lost so many men in such short time. It was a Real Catastrophe for the French Army and Nation,and an Overwhelming and Astonishing victory from the German Whermacht.

[@TheYeti308]

Ya think the boys went on a beer run, when things quieted down.

[@user-ue1ze8bd8g]

MV rất hay, i like it 🙁💛😞

[@willhatfield493]

No radios, and not having true armor companies working as one will gitcha every time.

[@karenstaniforth1338]

NEVER TRY IT BUT I KNOW ABOUT IT

[@saropoulosioannis8924]

In battle of France prevailed the superior tactics of the Germans. And BTW the so called Lightning War, it was just a War of movements.. According to the Doctrine of the Combined Forces, a german armored division included a battallion of antitank guns, two to three battallions of infantry, a battallion of anti aircraft artilery , a company of engeneers( Grenadiers ) and a detachment of mechanics. On the other side Allies were thinking the tank war as a solid tank on tank fight . (Operation Crusader is the brightest ex.)And plus the fact , that german were able to coordinate all those units by radio .

[@homefront3162]

What was it like? Fun, just oodles of fun

[@EvoPulpPatriot]

the 88 finished any chance of that armor making a difference

[@marcelodizon5109]

The french tanks have a single gear when advancing while three gears when retreating.plus 2 option buttons of surrendering,red button for surrendering after fight,yellow button surrendering without a fight

[@didierpaya9069]

le troll inculte de service...

[@BFVK]

@@didierpaya9069 Et oui... c'est comme la vermine, pas moyen de s'en débarrasser... Les chars français de 40 sont assez mauvais comme ça pour ne pas avoir besoin d'en rajouter.

[@pierredecine1936]

15:40 - "we shot our 75mm gun" - so the video shows them firing the 47mm lol

[@Titan_Ruler622]

Are you blind?

[@pierredecine1936]

@@Titan_Ruler622 why would you ask that ?

[@pierredecine1936]

@@Titan_Ruler622 15:45 - when they fire the 75mm - the gun barrel is horizontal, not upward at the tower ...

[@sam8404]

@@pierredecine1936 ok after watching it a few times it seems they did animate it correctly; you can see smoke coming out of the hull mounted cannon and not the turret, which is correct. He wasn't firing at the tower, he said he advanced past it and was firing at enemies on the ground.

[@steveperreira5850]

You have to remember this is the history channel, and it really isn’t professional history, this is entertainment, and it’s like there’s no editor, they had to meet the deadline, and accuracy and facts be damned

[@dardalion3199]

If you can't pierce an enemy tank's armor, did they try to knock out the tracks? The tracks always seem vulnerable on most tanks.

[@johnpaul3099]

The turret can still shooy

[@nicholasthuya7683]

Most tanks could be destroyed by shooting the tracks and barrel off Then a snapper team with explosive satchel charges or an artillery barrage could finish it off

[@Gangkoyt]

I watched this when I was kid and if I’ve being even today Idgaf about the Effects being not good it’s good enough and not essential I personally like them by the words of sun tzu- IT IS REAL TO ME!

[@babyyoda1050]

Same i watched this with my brother all the time

[@imranhazim5434]

22:50 I cannot believe Wolfpack tactic really work.

[@incredibleXMan]

It seems difficult to believe that noone on the allied side thought that it was plausible that the Germans could attack through the Ardennes. Surely someone could have scouted the area and ascertained it was possible?

[@redseagaming7832]

One word that best describes the incompetence of the French High command traditionalism they thought it was going to be the same thing as World War one so all their military plans were based on that

[@RouGeZH]

The French knew very well that the Ardennes could be crossed. Heck it was the crux of France's 1914 plan: counter-attacking the German advance in Belgium with a strike through the Ardennes. What the French didn't forsee in 1940 was how fast the Germans crossed it, because they didn't wait for the artillery, they used aviation as fire support.

[@incredibleXMan]

@@RouGeZH that is interesting. I think it was a combination of French errors and German tactics that France fell so quickly.

[@BFVK]

@@incredibleXMan RouGeZH is right. In addition, french commanders imagined a secondary armored force through the Ardennes as something possible. But not a large main armored force.

[@incredibleXMan]

@@RouGeZH so did the French have a contingency if the Germans attacked through it slowly?

[@Akeno0002]

The charb1 driver was driving and shooting the tank at the same time lol

[@generalfrog4658]

The French build the maginot line, and the Germans just go around it

[@ericamborsky3230]

That was the plan. Most of France's strategic resources and heavy industry were right along the border with Germany. The plan was to create strong fortifications to force the Germans to attack someplace else so that France would not lose all of its heavy industry in the first weeks of the war. The Maginot line did what it was intended to, but things kind of fell apart.

[@johnhough9593]

Napoleon- “He who sits behind his defenses has already lost the war” … and yeah, He was French.

[@Pazuzu4219]

Kursk was the largest tank battle in history and stalingrad was the largest and deadliest battle in all of human history.

[@ashleybishop9937]

Did so well until about the 26 min mark, a British Medium mk 3 not in service in France!

[@mikearmstrong8483]

In just 3 days the Germans advance 100 km, and the Allies are caught off guard. WTF?? That's 33 km per day. Allowing for over a 12 hour day in May (assuming no night advance), that's less than 3 kph, or less than 2 mph. Apparently, I walk faster than the panzers could advance, and yet Allied commanders couldn't deal with that?

[@deancorso4630]

Yes that's very strange and some cries for some conspiracy, which is possible

[@robertalaverdov8147]

@@mikearmstrong8483 Just read the final bits of your statement. Was watching on the toilet, can't see the whole thing. I'm a veteran too. I just see so many of these wise guy comments who think war is a stroll in the park. It's plain maddening! Anyway my bad. I deleted my response.

[@mikearmstrong8483]

@@robertalaverdov8147 And I was bitchy for having a rough night at work. I apologize. Deleted mine also.

[@mikearmstrong8483]

And thanks for your service.

[@robertalaverdov8147]

@@mikearmstrong8483 Thanks! To you as well. Let's keep these comments in place to let people know that they can be civil in the comments section.

[@fratersol]

The Stuckas defeated the french couter attack...

[@ivanpetrov6075]

Not a single word of the Battle of Hannut which was the largest tank battle of the campaign.

[@HistorysHaven]

France probably used crusty bread shells as ammunition IMO

[@scarletmacaw]

What a great movie about the major tank offensive“The Battle of the Bulge” with Robert Shaw.

[@challenger2031]

Here here, cracking war film

[@Bobby-fj8mk]

It's amazing how French and British air power couldn't stop the breakout from the Ardennes. They only had to hit the fuel trucks and Hitler's tanks would have ground to a halt.

[@wade3878]

In this phase of the war, the German air force was superior in numbers and experience. Also, the Allies believed that the Germans would never take the main route through the Ardennes. So, they focused their air forces on the Maginot line and the Northern Coast .

[@Bobby-fj8mk]

@@wade3878 - yes but the Germans actually created a terrible road block in the Ardennes so they were sitting ducks for over 2 days.

[@edwardchristensen414]

Maybe next time you can use a Commondore 64 for graphics?

[@lllPlatinumlll]

17:50 When the guy calmly tells you his commander slaughtered surrendering troops?

[@BFVK]

Always the legend about the B1 bis... This tank is a large waste of resources but everybody makes "waaah" because it is impressive. The video says the weaponery is powerful: 2 guns... But why nobody never mention that a multi gun tank is ALWAYS a bad design ?

[@staffangoldschmidt2721]

Dear narrator the allies never sent thousands of tanks to stop the germans in the invasion of France!

[@eliasjarjoura445]

I've Always wondered what's the track in the beginning?

[@timberry4709]

If you are referring to the still with the picture of de Gaulle... It threw me off too. There's actually a bit of "trick photography" going on. Take a look at the soldier walking next to the tank. The eagle national emblem is supposed to be over his right breast pocket not the left. The photograph has been reversed. The tank is a Mk II, probably an Ausf A, with the reworked front end. The original hull front was rounded.

[@eliasjarjoura445]

@@timberry4709 I was talking about the music at the beginning !!!

[@timberry4709]

@@eliasjarjoura445🤣

[@dunexapa1016]

@ 21:00 park in the open ... surrounded by woods ... no guards posted ????

[@iratecomputeruser4160]

The French were wedded to the idea that tanks were only support units for the army. To this end, the French tanks had no radios, and were expected to get orders from their army commanders in the middle of battle! As Charles de Gaulle later noted, it was as though the General Staff had orders to deliberately frustrate the army command! As an example, the army reported that *100,000 pigeons* had been mobilized to carry orders!

[@TheMrcassina]

David Fletcher's mustaches are armored

[@VVhistory]

Fun

[@Spotcats]

For a lot of French forces it was like waiting for a fight. Then being told you lost cuz the enemy went around you and what was your forward outpost is now deep inside enemy territory.

[@goldenschlong4846]

Didn’t realize that it was like 2 gladiators

[@HungLe-ih8yk]

The biggest problem of allied tanks early in the conflict is the tiny gun :)

[@Sempfer5]

I just listened to 45 minutes of explosions

[@mrlodwick]

The French done what they could. Thank you to the French .

[@jonathanpowell613]

The French fought valiantly (this becomes especially clear at Dunkirk) with what they had, but what really screwed them over was a combination of outdated battle doctrine and equipment that just wasn't designed to fight a highly mobile lightning war like the Germans were. They were outfought and outmaneuvered by a technologically superior opponent.

[@davecopp9356]

Thanks to all german soldiers of WW2 for your service.

[@joelex7966]

Nice try, you left out the part where France and England declare war on Germany. Making the war inevitable

[@doubledwaffle7605]

Right. The Germans were fighting French/English aggression.

[@joelex7966]

Not sure what you know about WWII but the Soviet Union invaded Poland at the same time as Germany did and France and England declared war on Germany, not the Soviet Union. Then France and England spin the whole thing as German ageession.

[@CB-fz3li]

@@joelex7966 That's not entirely correct. Russia invaded Poland two weeks after the German invasion and after the French and UK had declared war on Germany. Ultimately Hitler's gamble that the French and British would do nothing didn't pay off.

[@joelex7966]

The French and British made a promise of support to Poland that they had no way of keeping. Prior to that pledge of support Hitler's demands were considered reasonable and the Poles we're considering going along with it. You are correct that the Russians waited until the bulk of Polish forces were in the west and in the process of getting beaten before invading

[@rhysnichols8608]

True comment, I tend to ignore the clear political agenda of these vids and just listen to the vets talk

[@BA-gn3qb]

Insert commercial here. Then repeat everything afterwards, doubling the length of the video. 👎👎

[@TrotzdemDeutsch]

They forgot to mention the devastating role of the Luftwaffe, espacially the Stuka (Ju 87) without whom the success of the Blitzkrieg would not have been possible. Every time the tanks did not get through and encountered insurmountable resistance, they called for the Luftwaffe and several squadrons of Stukas appeared and destroyed the bunkers or tanks that stopped the advance. Without the Stukas, the Blitzkrieg would not have been possible!

[@justinmuca8842]

Not to forget that Germany had some good generals at the start of the war and good strategy.