And those same Panzers had a lot of trouble any time they ran into the heavier armored French tanks. Only the Panzer IV's short 75mm gun could penetrate some of them at close range, and she wasn't designed for that at the time. That's way Rommel started improvising by turning the 88mm anti-aircraft guns into anti-tank guns. That would lead to to the Tiger having a gun that could penetrate a lot of things, but also a push to give the Panzer III and IV better guns. (The Panzer III's 37mm gun wasn't up to the task, and its late 50mm gun wasn't that much better...but it made for a nice platform to build StuG IIIs on. And those kicked a lot of Soviet armor's butts.)
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how much armor your tanks have if the enemy can just... go around them.
The tanks weren't part of the Maginot Line (or at least, the vast majority of them weren't committed to it). The Maginot Line was designed to force the Germans to go through Belgium, where France did deploy its tanks. Not that there weren't crippling strategic failures (like refusal to believe the Germans would go through the Ardennes, or not updating tank doctrine), but it's not as simple as saying the French were incapable of ever fighting a battle because the Maginot Line guaranteed all plans would inherently end in failure.
First up, Maginot Line wasn't stupid idea. The idea itself isn't the Maginot Line, but to make the German go up north and divert all battles to Belgium.
However, the stubbornness in French leadership crippled them from fighting anywhere near effective enough. No, they did good enough by sending troops to Belgium to take care of any German going up north. But still holding onto old tank doctrine and insist that German armors can not go through Ardennes costed them for all the years after.
How they delayed modernization of weaponry was critical too. Even that B1 that gave German armors a hard time is still a not finished design, making it shit, good for nothing but a tough mobile target. It's even slow too. So it's more like no matter how much armor you tanks have, they are useless if they can't be where they are needed.
When the Maginot Line was designed, France and Belgium were allied and the defenses point went into Belgium. Thus having a really force in forts and prepared positions before the Germans could make it through. But not too long before the war started, Belgium went officially neutral, and thus France couldn't forward deploy troops their without starting a war (with Belgium). As it turned out, the French Army managed to get to one of the prepared defensive positions and did give the Germans a hard time of it, but they couldn't get the whole line formed due to time (the idea to set up a defense in Belgium and then if needed fall back to a natural defensive line more along were World War One was fought, thus containing the Germans and allowing France time to stomp on them).
The Ardennes were not covered because it was thought to be impassible with tanks. It did prove to be extremely difficult to pass, but by the time the French found out what the Germans were doing, it was too late, and their were panzers behind the line. After that the technology and tactical differences took their toll on the French Army, and their support from Britian was cut off as quickly as possible. Rommel was effective in France, but he had problems with the French tanks that did manage to get wise and fight like tanks. Thus the 88s becoming an anti-tank gun of renown for Germany.
When the Maginot Line was designed, France and Belgium were allied and the defenses point went into Belgium. Thus having a really force in forts and prepared positions before the Germans could make it through. But not too long before the war started, Belgium went officially neutral, and thus France couldn't forward deploy troops their without starting a war (with Belgium). As it turned out, the French Army managed to get to one of the prepared defensive positions and did give the Germans a hard time of it, but they couldn't get the whole line formed due to time (the idea to set up a defense in Belgium and then if needed fall back to a natural defensive line more along were World War One was fought, thus containing the Germans and allowing France time to stomp on them).
The Ardennes were not covered because it was thought to be impassible with tanks. It did prove to be extremely difficult to pass, but by the time the French found out what the Germans were doing, it was too late, and their were panzers behind the line. After that the technology and tactical differences took their toll on the French Army, and their support from Britian was cut off as quickly as possible. Rommel was effective in France, but he had problems with the French tanks that did manage to get wise and fight like tanks. Thus the 88s becoming an anti-tank gun of renown for Germany.
Not trying to be grammar nazi, but I think those spots should be "there" instead of "their". It confused me for a while reading your comment.
Right. That was something the German started right in WW1 as they had to resort to field artillery's to deal with British tanks because they really wanted something to punch a hole in those tanks and anti tank rifles weren't enough. It's kind of the same thing as bunching up a lot of grenades to throw at tanks. And Anti-tank artillery/anti-tank cannon didn't quite exist back then. So the German started developing artillery/cannon to be multipurpose. This idea was put to test in Spanish Civil War and concluded as a success so it was continued.
But then again, I think it really was Rommel who realized how good an anti tank the 88 can be as he used tactics where he would pick up British armors using this gun so effectively.
And Prinz-dono, too!Francocidal BlitzkriegIt's the Wehrmacht Tank Zone!German tanks are the spirit of ambition!Hold it right there!Are you perhaps looking for a fight?Would it not be better if we didn't peruse this area?Right, battletater.Bismarck-dono!?Our tank roars there in the storm's wind.
From the first stanza of the Panzerlied, which was banned from being included in Bundeswehr songbooks in 2017That's right!
These very Panzerkampfwagens II and III here were the ones that broke through the Ardennes, weren't they~Ach, that Maginot was quite the toughie!Dear me.Tell me, which country was it that got utterly trounced by a blitzkrieg of these clunksters of tanks again?If we have you being the guide, then it's a foregone conclusion that the commentary will be biased, ja?What?
Tagged along, did you?They're big, tough, heavy and strong!To call them clunky is plain rude!My, what a lineup of clunky tanks, non?Get outside.Akitsu Maru headOooh...!