Through superior command/control and tactics, the Germans were able to prevail in the Battle of France, despite the deficiencies of their Panzers. By May 1940 349 Panzer III's were available for the attacks on France and the Low Countries. The Panzer force for the early German victories was a mix of the Panzer I ( machine-gun only) and Panzer II (20mm gun) light tanks, and Czech tanks (the Panzer 38(t) and the Panzer 35(t)). There were also technical problems with the Panzer III: it was widely considered to be under-gunned with a 37 mm KwK L/45 and production was split between four manufacturers (MAN, Daimler-Benz, Rheinmetall-Borsig, and Krupp) with little regard for each firm's expertise, and the rate of production was initially very low (40 in September 1939, 58 in June 1940) taking until December 1940 to reach 100 examples a month. Nevertheless the number of available Panzer IV's (211) was still larger than that of the Panzer III (98). Rommel in the Western Europe campaign (June 1940) Production was also dropped because metal was very expensive and not many citizens were donating it. Even that low number could not be sustained however, production dropping to ten in April 1940. The development work was then halted and limited production began by Krupp in Magdeburg (Grusonwerk AG), Essen and Bochum in October 1939 with 20 vehicles built. Designated the Panzer IV, design work had begun in 1935 and trials of prototypes were undertaken in 1937, but by the time of the invasion of Poland only a few hundred 'troop trial' models were available. Guderian had planned for two main tanks, the Panzer III was in production but the second support tank with a 75 mm gun was not. Only 4% of the defence budget was spent on armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) production. The German Panzer force at the start of World War II was not especially impressive. In actual tank-on-tank encounters the German armour performed poorly, but as a coherent unit, the combined arms tactic of the Blitzkrieg shocked the West. Using the Blitzkrieg, Guderian, Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist and other field commanders such as Rommel broke the hiatus of the Phoney War in a manner almost outside the comprehension of the Allied - and, indeed, the German - High Command. Many of their tanks outclassed allied armor, delivered more casualties than they took in most engagements due to the impressive training the German soldiers received, and the excellent tactics used by the German forces. ![]() The German tank force was an amazing success due to tactical innovation more than tank quality. Heinz Guderian in the Battle of France with the 'Enigma' machine
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