14. The French Were Wrong Footed
The French had adequately fortified the south, and amassed enough mobile forces in the north to keep the Germans from bursting into France via that route. However, they ignored a stretch of wooded terrain in the center, the Ardennes Forrest. It was judged to be impassable for tanks, so it was not strongly defended. The Germans figured the Ardennes was actually passable, so they massed the bulk of their armor against that sector. The French high command had its oops moment when the Germans burst through the Ardennes, and raced to the English Channel to sever France’s armies in the north from the rest of the country.
The French were caught flat-footed. Their mobile forces were advancing into Belgium, and couldn’t be turned around in time to stop the Germans pouring out of the Ardennes. They also lacked adequate reserves to send in and plug the widening gap. Collapse quickly followed. The same country that two decades earlier had fought the Germans for four bloody years and emerged victorious in WWI, capitulated and signed a humiliating surrender after just 40 days of fighting in WWII.
