Dunkirk , Dutch means "church on the dunes". This is a city in northern France that can no longer be ordinary from the outside. The most famous cultural event is the Dunkirk Carnival held in February or March each year, and it is also the largest spring festival in northern France; the most famous dessert is “Le Doigt de Jean Bart” (Le Doigt de Jean Bart). ), to commemorate the famous French historical celebrity Jean Barr.
A corner of Dunkirk downtown
Dunkirk Lighthouse
At the same time, another identity of Dunkirk is the most important deep-water port in northern France! The port of
has always been a battleground for military strategists. Just as modern Tsarist Russia has pursued, a deep-water port that does not freeze all the year round is so important to a big country. Dunkirk is located in the Pas de Calais region in northern France. This region is located on the axis of Europe, bordering Belgium in the north, the United Kingdom in the west, and radiating the capitals of four European countries. It is 242.45 kilometers away from Paris, France, 181.67 kilometers away from London, England, and Brussels, Belgium. 140.14 kilometers, 228.74 kilometers away from Amsterdam, Netherlands, , and 307.96 kilometers away from Düsseldorf, the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia.
is such a significant and important location, I don’t know if it is an honor or a misfortune for Dunkirk.
Dunkirk’s location
time retreated from 1939 to 1940. After Nazi Germany swept away most of its opponents on the Eastern Front except the Soviet Union, it began to look at Western Europe. After preparing it properly, it followed its preparations. Years of planning sounded the clarion call to attack Western Europe. Before the war, Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg had a total of 147 divisions and more than 3 million troops. The military strength was basically equal to the military strength of the 136 divisions of the German Western Front. However, Britain and France were rigid and conservative in their strategies. They pinned their hopes of war on the Maginot line that they believed to be solid. They only made diplomatic condemnation of the German attack on Poland in September 1939, but instead "declared it. No war"; on the German-French border, there were only small-scale exchanges of fire, but there was no major battle, and the famous "strange war" appeared in history. The fangs of the
beast will eventually be exposed. finally, on May 10, 1940, Nazi Germany, spearheaded by elite armored forces, began to attack Western Europe.
's careful planning, years of preparation, excellent frontline commanders, elite armored forces, coupled with rigid and conservative opponents-the British and French high command, the Nazi Germany's offensive was exceptionally smooth. In just over ten days, the German armored forces traversed the French mainland and penetrated directly into the shore of the English Channel; on May 21, Nazi Germany surrounded 400,000 British and French forces in a narrow strip of northern France, and the British and French forces had been de facto surrounded ;Belgium surrendered on May 27, 400,000 Anglo-French allied forces began to retreat to Dunkirk in the encircled area. At this time, the only hope for the Anglo-French coalition forces was to withdraw to Britain through Dunkirk.
However, withdrawing is not an easy task.
In fact, as early as May 19, the ninth day of the start of the Western Front, the British had already foreseen the inevitable loss of the Western Front. Your Excellency in the United Kingdom ordered the Admiralty and other departments to start formulating and implementing a retreat plan, code-named "Operation Generator". The operation was fully commanded by Lieutenant Admiral Bertram Ramsey , commander of the Dover military port, and planned to withdraw 10,000 people from the three ports of Calais, Brun and Dunkirk along the French coast. Started to mobilize more than 30 ferries and 12 minesweepers . However, the plan could not keep up with the changes. To be precise, most people did not expect that the British and French forces would lose so quickly! As of May 27th, Buren and Calais, among the three French ports that were originally planned to be used, were occupied by German forces on the 23rd and 27th, respectively. This meant that the only way to survive for the 400,000 British and French forces trapped was left. Lower Dunkirk and its nearby 40 kilometers of coastline!
So, the largest military retreat in history began!
Dunkirk Beach
(to be continued)
I am Dahan, a man of liberal arts with a wide range of reading hobbies, newcomers to post articles, welcome everyone to leave a message and discuss, thank youattention.
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