The Du River is a river in eastern France. Its origin is 937 meters above sea level and is near Mute in the Jurassic Mountains in the Du Province. Some of the upper river sections are rapids, leaving Lake San Poon and passing through Puntalie to form a waterfall.

The Du River passes through a 32-kilometer long canyon, flows into Swiss territory for a short time, then turns sharply to the west and turns north through Saint Hippolith, to the Nalein-Long Canal on the south side of Montberyar, and then flows southwest through Besanson, the capital of the Du Province. Finally, it flows into the Thorne River downstream of Dole, with a total length of 430 kilometers.

The overall direction of the Du River is northeast and southwest, and the river channel is fifty to sixty kilometers away from the French-Swissland border in the southeast. General Besson, the commander of the French Third Army Group, asked his troops to deploy defenses along the left bank of the Du River to protect the last passage between the defenders of the Maginot Line and the French inland.

The French Third Army Group has the eleventh and eighth army divisions under its jurisdiction. The original mission of the army group was to defend the French-Swiss border and prevent the Germans from attacking France through Switzerland.

Unexpectedly, the situation of the battle was beyond General Besson's expectations. The French-Swissland border was safe and sound, and the Maginot defense line to the east was as stable as the Alps. The Germans fought from the junction of the Second Army Group stationed at the Maginot defense line and the First Army Group fighting in Belgium, and successfully crossed the Mass River from the Seden area.

It was not until May 15 that General Besson learned from a telegram sent by the Supreme Command that the German main force, the Army Group, was advancing to its own defense zone, and the vanguard troops alone had seven armored divisions and more than one thousand tanks.

General Besson found that although he knew the Germans' march clearly, he did not know where his troops should build a line of defense to block the German army, because the German army's advance was too fast. General Besson received information today that a certain German armored division appeared in a certain place. The information the next day would show that the armored division had appeared at least fifty kilometers away.

This problem also plagued the French Supreme Command. The latest task they gave General Besson was to protect the security of the Maginot Line of Defense defenders and the supply lines in the French inland.

This command is so simple that it is vague that it is not mentioned at all. The specific area of ​​defense and when the task is executed.

General Besson's first reaction after receiving the order was that the French Supreme Command had been scared by the German attack and actually issued such a loophole order to himself.

General Besson had no choice but to let the troops set up positions on the left bank of the Du River based on the Du River natural danger. At the same time, he actively contacted General Prat, the commander of the Second Army Group of the Maginot Line, and asked him to send troops to defend the upper reaches of the Du River. General Prat agreed to his request without hesitation.

On the afternoon of May 18, the defense lines rebuilt by the second and third groups had just taken shape. General Besson received information and found a small group of German reconnaissance units in the Vosul area of ​​the upper reaches of the Du River and the Besson area of ​​the middle reaches of the Du River.

General Besson immediately copied the information to the Supreme Command and the Second Army Group Command, and then ordered the troops to accelerate the construction of fortifications and prepare for the upcoming large-scale attack of the German army.

May 19 and 20 were two nightmares for General Besson.

On May 19, first, the French Air Force reconnaissance aircraft reported that a large number of German troops were arriving on the front lines of Vosul and Besanson one after another, and then reports of small-scale firefights with the German troops sent by various departments along the Du River.

On May 20, bad news came one after another. The important town of Wosule, the upper reaches of the Du River, was lost at around 10 am. At around 4 pm, the middle reaches of the Du River, Besanson City was occupied by the German army in the city on the right bank of the Du River. Fortunately, when the defenders retreated to the left bank, they blew up all the bridges in the city as planned, preventing the German army from continuing to advance.

At twelve noon on May 21, a bigger bad news came, and a small group of German troops suddenly appeared in the town of Zervri, southwest of the city of Dole in the lower reaches of the Du River, and successfully seized an unblasted bridge in the town and built a small bridgehead on the left bank of the Du River.

When General Besson heard the news that the German army had crossed the river, he almost fell down. He said his heart, Duhe was broken through naturally and had no power to stop the Germans.

About an hour later, General Besson received another telegram. Seeing the news that the bridge said that the telegram had been destroyed and the German vanguard was surrounded by the bridgehead, his gloomy eyes regained their spirits.

"Let General Charles de Gaulle's troops speed up and must destroy the Germans before they get reinforcements."

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the sky in the Dole area in the lower reaches of the Du River was covered with clouds, and the expression on the face of Colonel Rosenberg, the commander of the 25th Armored Regiment of the 7th Armored Division, was as gloomy as the weather.

Regardless of the shells fired from time to time by the French from the other side of the Du River, Colonel Rosenberg rushed to the town of Gervry southwest of Dole, just like a burning tank, and met with the First Battalion of the Twenty-Fifteenth Armored Regiment fighting there.

"How are the troops of the Thirty-Seventh Reconnaissance Battalion?" Rosenberg found Major Schultz, the commander of the first battalion, west of the town of Zevry. As soon as he jumped off the tank, he hurriedly asked about the situation of the Thirty-Seventh Reconnaissance Battalion.

"Their situation is very bad. After crossing the bridge, they encountered a French infantry regiment in Parce, about three kilometers east of the bridge. This infantry regiment was strengthened by tanks. They could not stop the French counterattack and had to fight and retreat until the shore. However, the bridge was blown off by the French 155mm shells, and their retreat route had been cut off. I can only let the tanks in the battalion use firepower to support them on the shore, hoping that they can hold on for a while. At least they have to persist until dark so that we can cover them to retreat from the river, but their heavy equipment will definitely not be brought back."

Colonel Rosenberg looked at his watch and it was still early before dark. He looked up at the dark sky outside. In this kind of weather, the Air Force would definitely not be able to dispatch to provide support, and he could only rely on the Seventh Armored Division himself.

"The people from the Fifty-Eighth Engineer Battalion will arrive later. When they arrive, you send someone to cover them to check the bridge and the river bank. If the bridge can be repaired, choose a suitable location to rebuild the bridge if it cannot be repaired." Colonel Rosenberg said.

Major Schultz nodded and said, "I will ensure the safety of the engineers, but the people from the 37th Reconnaissance Battalion may not be able to hold on to the engineers' bridge."

"I know. I will transfer the 150mm infantry cannon from the 705th Infantry Artillery Company to come here. Their firepower should be able to suppress a large number of French people and reduce the pressure of the reconnaissance battalion. Unfortunately, the 78th Artillery Regiment and the 296th Anti-Air Artillery Battalion are both with the division commander. If they are there, our pressure will be reduced a lot." Rosenberg said regretfully.

"Where have they and the division commander gone?" Schultz asked.

"They were in Langel last night when it was dark. The straight line distance here was about 80 kilometers, which was a bit far away, but the commander said that they would definitely arrive before it was dark today." Rosenberg said.
Chapter completed!