On May 12th, 1940, General Gamelin has given the Cavalry Corps the mission to execute a delaying battle, somewhere between Gembloux and, to prevent the enemy from reaching the Gembloux area until the eighth day of an invasion and to allow the 1st Army sufficient time to dig in. The Cavalry Corps had included the 3e DLM, recently constituted on 1 February, manned with reservists and still insufficiently trained. Nevertheless, still considered this force sufficient to either contest a river-crossing at Maastricht, or wage a maneuver battle or, as a third alternative, defend an improvised line. What follows next is the first clash between German and French armor doctrine and equipment.
On May 12th, 1940, General Gamelin has given the Cavalry Corps the mission to execute a delaying battle, somewhere between Gembloux and, to prevent the enemy from reaching the Gembloux area until the eighth day of an invasion and to allow the 1st Army sufficient time to dig in. The Cavalry Corps had included the 3e DLM, recently constituted on 1 February, manned with reservists and still insufficiently trained. Nevertheless, still considered this force sufficient to either contest a river-crossing at Maastricht, or wage a maneuver battle or, as a third alternative, defend an improvised line. What follows next is the first clash between German and French armor doctrine and equipment.