The Maginot line was well thought and the Germans didn't even tried. Starting from Switzerland it covered the borders with Germany and Luxembourg (Alsace Lorraine, here we go again) but stopped right at Belgium for political reasons.
So one may ask, where was the northern tip of the Maginot line ? Where was the northern fort ?
That one
[URL unfurl="true"]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouvrage_La_Fert%C3%A9[/URL]
now if you look at the southern flank of the German breakthrough corridor (south of Sedan) then this fort is quite close: barely 20 km.
What Guderian and co. did, was to unfold a map of the MAginot line, pick the Luxembourg - Belgium - France border corner where the line stopped: the last fort in the line.
Then they added a "safety" margin corresponding to its guns maximum range... and their breakthrough southern flank was exactly there !
What is also pretty infuriating in that one of the Meuse crossings of shame (Lafontaine, 71e D.I, Bulson panic...) is only 20 km from that place, too, and nearby there is Stonne & Mont Dieu where the French resisted Verdun style.
But could never start a counteroffensive to crush the bridgehead on the Meuse. It just went too fast.
So within a span of 30 km are three symbols of France 1940 defeat
- the northern tip of the infamous Maginot line (La Ferté)
- the schwerpunkt where the frontline broke (Montmédy)
- one of the fiercest battle of the campaign (Stonne)
Between May 14 and May 19 the French HQ and Government vaguely knew 7 panzer divisions were "somewhere between Sedan and Abbeville in northern France". These divisions covered 250 km (Sedan - Abbeville) in 5 days !
