![]() However, the Germans succeeded in tying down substantial Allied forces at Hannut which might have participated in the decisive. The French won a series of delaying tactical engagements at Hannut and fell back on Gembloux as planned. The Germans reached the Hannut area just two days after the start of the invasion of Belgium. Regardless of what happened at Hannut, the French planned to fall back on Gembloux. The French sent two armoured divisions to Hannut, to delay the German advance and give strong French forces time to prepare a defence at Gembloux. For the French Army, the plan in Belgium was to prepare for a prolonged defence at Gembloux, some 21 miles to the west of Hannut. With the 1 st French army under Auguste Yvon Edmond Dubail , flank exposed, the German could thrust to the English Channel which would encircle and destroy the Allied forces. When the Allied armies advanced into Belgium, they would be tied down by German offensive operations in eastern Belgium at Hannut and Gembloux. The delay was to entice the Allies into believing the main thrust would, like the Schlieffen Plan in World War i, come through Belgium and then down into France. The German breakout of the Ardennes was scheduled for 15 May, five days after the German attacks on the Netherlands and Belgium. The primary purpose of the Germans was to tie down the strongest elements of the 1 st French Army and remove it from the German’s Army Group A, under General Gerd von Rundstedt ( see Rundstedt) main thrust through the Ardennes, as laid out in the German operational plan Fall Gelb, or “Case Yellow”, by General Erich von Manstein ( see Manstein). It was the largest ever tank battle at the time. The Battle of Hannut was a World War II battle fought during the Battle for Belgium as Belgium like Holland had not surrendered, and which took place between 12 and at Hannut, Belgium. ![]()
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