23rd May 1940

[Pdf27]

1st Army starts to shift its axis of attack towards Paris alongside II corps of the BEF, while 5th Army prepare to grind their way slowly towards Luxembourg. It will take at least two days to move all the forces into position. 1st Army would be ready sooner, but needs to leave strong forces guarding their eastern flank until 5th Army are in position. Unlike in the recent battle of Reims, it is clear that the Germans will be trying to break out with as much of the power of Army Group A as they can bring to bear, thus it is considered critical that the full strength of 1st Army is available. Likewise, the Germans are fully expected to launch a counterattack by their forces in Belgium towards Reims, so they are not willing to withdraw 3rd Corps until 5th Army is in position.
OKH orders Army Group B to send “all the men they can spare” to the Sedan corridor, in order to open it up again and rescue the trapped section of Army Group A. General von Bock detaches the entirety of 18th Army towards Sedan, although as little of it is motorised then he does not believe it can arrive in any strength before the 27th – and his troops will be tired when they do. He is assigned the majority of the OKH reserve in return. In the meantime, 16th Army (Army Group A, which is currently approaching down the roads from Sedan) is ordered to launch an attack as soon as possible down the corridor, and 4th Army is turned around from its approach to Paris and ordered to attack eastwards. 12th Army took the brunt of the Anglo-French attack, and will not be battle-worthy for a few days as it is reorganised.

After lunch, a new French government is announced:

• Paul Reynaud – President of the Council
• André Marie - Vice President of the Council
• Édouard Daladier - Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Charles de Gaulle – Minister of National Defence and War
• César Campinchi – Minister of Military Marine (junior)
• Guy La Chambre – Minister of Air (junior)
• Paul Marchandeau - Minister of the Army (junior)
• Auguste Champetier de Ribes – Minister of Veterans and Pensioners (junior)
• Raoul Dautry – Minister of Armaments
• Henri Roy – Minister of the Interior
• Léon Blum – Minister of Finance
• Alexandre Bachelet – Minister of Labour
• Albert Sérol – Minister of Justice
• Alphonse Rio – Minister of Merchant Marine
• Albert Sarraut – Minister of National Education
• Georges Monnet– Minister of Agriculture
• Henri Queuille – Minister of Supply
• Georges Mandel – Minister of Colonies
• Pierre-Étienne Flandin – Minister of Public Works
• Marcel Héraud – Minister of Public Health
• Alfred Jules-Julien – Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, Telephones, and Transmissions
• Ludovic-Oscar Frossard – Minister of Information
• Louis Rollin – Minister of Commerce and Industry
• Paul Thellier – Minister of Blockade

In reality, all major policies will be agreed by a Troika of Reynaud, Daladier and Blum before being presented to the Chamber of Deputies. They have agreed that they need a strong and decisive government if France is to survive, and have decided that this is the only way to achieve it within the structure of the Third Republic.

[Belushi TD]

I find it interesting that 12th Army is considered not battle worthy. Is this inexperience on the part of the German officers running 12th Army? My take on this is that the Germans were always ready to fight, even if they've lost half their men, particularly if they're fighting from the defensive. I get that they won't be as effective as if they were rested, trained, had all the slots filled, etc, but they're trying to rescue the pocketed troops near/in Paris. I'd have thought that they'd have kept the pressure up no matter what.

Belushi TD

[Lordroel]

1st Army starts to shift its axis of attack towards Paris alongside II corps of the BEF, while 5th Army prepare to grind their way slowly towards Luxembourg. It will take at least two days to move all the forces into position. 1st Army would be ready sooner, but needs to leave strong forces guarding their eastern flank until 5th Army are in position. Unlike in the recent battle of Reims, it is clear that the Germans will be trying to break out with as much of the power of Army Group A as they can bring to bear, thus it is considered critical that the full strength of 1st Army is available. Likewise, the Germans are fully expected to launch a counterattack by their forces in Belgium towards Reims, so they are not willing to withdraw 3rd Corps until 5th Army is in position.
OKH orders Army Group B to send “all the men they can spare” to the Sedan corridor, in order to open it up again and rescue the trapped section of Army Group A. General von Bock detaches the entirety of 18th Army towards Sedan, although as little of it is motorised then he does not believe it can arrive in any strength before the 27th – and his troops will be tired when they do. He is assigned the majority of the OKH reserve in return. In the meantime, 16th Army (Army Group A, which is currently approaching down the roads from Sedan) is ordered to launch an attack as soon as possible down the corridor, and 4th Army is turned around from its approach to Paris and ordered to attack eastwards. 12th Army took the brunt of the Anglo-French attack, and will not be battle-worthy for a few days as it is reorganised.

After lunch, a new French government is announced:

• Paul Reynaud – President of the Council
• André Marie - Vice President of the Council
• Édouard Daladier - Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Charles de Gaulle – Minister of National Defence and War
• César Campinchi – Minister of Military Marine (junior)
• Guy La Chambre – Minister of Air (junior)
• Paul Marchandeau - Minister of the Army (junior)
• Auguste Champetier de Ribes – Minister of Veterans and Pensioners (junior)
• Raoul Dautry – Minister of Armaments
• Henri Roy – Minister of the Interior
• Léon Blum – Minister of Finance
• Alexandre Bachelet – Minister of Labour
• Albert Sérol – Minister of Justice
• Alphonse Rio – Minister of Merchant Marine
• Albert Sarraut – Minister of National Education
• Georges Monnet– Minister of Agriculture
• Henri Queuille – Minister of Supply
• Georges Mandel – Minister of Colonies
• Pierre-Étienne Flandin – Minister of Public Works
• Marcel Héraud – Minister of Public Health
• Alfred Jules-Julien – Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, Telephones, and Transmissions
• Ludovic-Oscar Frossard – Minister of Information
• Louis Rollin – Minister of Commerce and Industry
• Paul Thellier – Minister of Blockade

In reality, all major policies will be agreed by a Troika of Reynaud, Daladier and Blum before being presented to the Chamber of Deputies. They have agreed that they need a strong and decisive government if France is to survive, and have decided that this is the only way to achieve it within the structure of the Third Republic.

What is the meaning of (junior).

[Bernard Woolley]

A junior minister, I'd guess.

[Pdf27]

Posts are taken from OTL, but those in post aren't always. My assumption is that junior ministers report to their senior minister rather than directly to the Cabinet.

[Lordroel]

Posts are taken from OTL, but those in post aren't always. My assumption is that junior ministers report to their senior minister rather than directly to the Cabinet.

A so, César Campinchi, Guy La Chambre and Paul Marchandeau report to Charles de Gaulle then.