title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Before 2012, much of the country was completely off-limits to tourists, and the military tightly controlled interactions between foreigners and the people of Burma. Locals were not allowed to discuss politics with foreigners, under penalty of imprisonment, and in 2001, the Myanmar Tourism Promotion Board issued an order for local officials to protect tourists and limit "unnecessary contact" between foreigners and ordinary Burmese people. Since 2012, Burma has opened up to more tourism and foreign capital, synonymous with the country's transition to democracy.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: The Myanmar Infrastructure Summit 2018 noted that Myanmar has an urgent need to "close its infrastructure gap", with an anticipated expenditure of US$120 billion funding its infrastructural projects between now and 2030. More specifically, infrastructural development in Myanmar should address three major challenges over the upcoming years: 1) Road modernization and integration with neighboring roads and transportation networks; 2) Development of regional airports and expansion of existing airport capacity, and 3) Maintenance and consolidation of urban transport infrastructure, through instalments of innovative transportation tools including but not limited to water-taxis and air-conditioned buses. Myanmar needs to scale up its enabling infrastructure like transport, power supply and public utilities.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure projects may affect 24 million people in Myanmar living in the BRI corridors, thus transforming the allocation of economic benefits and losses among economic actors in the country.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: This is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Burma at market prices estimated by the International Monetary Fund and EconStats with figures in millions of Myanmar kyats.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Though foreign investment has been encouraged, it has so far met with only moderate success. This is because foreign investors have been adversely affected by the junta government policies and because of international pressure to boycott the junta government. The United States has placed trade sanctions on Burma. The European Union has placed embargoes on arms, non-humanitarian aid, visa bans on military regime leaders, and limited investment bans. Both the European Union and the US have placed sanctions on grounds of human rights violations in the country. Many nations in Asia, particularly India, Thailand and China have actively traded with Burma. However, on April 22, 2013, the EU suspended economic and political sanctions against Burma.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: The public sector enterprises remain highly inefficient and also privatisation efforts have stalled. The estimates of Burmese foreign trade are highly ambiguous because of the great volume of black market trading. A major ongoing problem is the failure to achieve monetary and fiscal stability.One government initiative was to utilise Burma's large natural gas deposits. Currently, Burma has attracted investment from Thai, Malaysian, Filipino, Russian, Australian, Indian, and Singaporean companies. Trade with the US amounted to $243.56 million as of February 2013, accounting for 15 projects and just 0.58 per cent of the total, according to government statistics.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: "The Economist"s special report on Burma points to increased economic activity resulting from Burma's political transformation and influx of foreign direct investment from Asian neighbours. Near the Mingaladon Industrial Park, for example, Japanese-owned factories have risen from the "debris" caused by "decades of sanctions and economic mismanagement." Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe has identified Burma as an economically attractive market that will help stimulate the Japanese economy. Among its various enterprises, Japan is helping build the Thilawa Port, which is part of the Thilawa Special Economic Zone, and helping fix the electricity supply in Yangon.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Japan is not the largest investor in Myanmar. "Thailand, for instance, the second biggest investor in Myanmar after China, is forging ahead with a bigger version of Thilawa at Dawei, on Myanmar's Tenasserim Coast ... Thai rulers have for centuries been toying with the idea of building a canal across the Kra Isthmus, linking the Gulf of Thailand directly to the Andaman Sea and the Indian Ocean to avoid the journey round peninsular Malaysia through the Strait of Malacca."


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Dawei would give Thailand that connection. China, by far the biggest investor in Burma, has focused on constructing oil and gas pipelines that "crisscross the country, starting from a new terminus at Kyaukphyu, just below Sittwe, up to Mandalay and on to the Chinese border town of Ruili and then Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province". This would prevent China from "having to funnel oil from Africa and the Middle East through the bottleneck around Singapore".


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Financing geothermal projects in Myanmar use an estimated break even power cost of 5.3–8.6 U.S cents/kWh or in Myanmar Kyat 53–86K per kWh. This pegs a non-fluctuating $1=1000K, which is a main concern for power project funding. The main drawback with depreciation pressures, in the current FX market.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Between June 2012 and October 2015, the Myanmar Kyat depreciated by approximately 35%, from 850 down to 1300 against the US Dollar. Local businesses with foreign denominated loans from abroad suddenly found themselves rushing for a strategy to mitigate currency risks. Myanmar's current lack of available currency hedging solutions presents a real challenge for Geothermal project financing.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: The level of international aid to Burma ranks amongst the lowest in the world (and the lowest in the Southeast Asian region)—Burma receives $4 per capita in development assistance, as compared to the average of $42.30 per capita.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: In April 2007, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified the financial and other restrictions that the military government places on international humanitarian assistance in the Southeast Asian country. The GAO report, entitled "Assistance Programs Constrained in Burma," outlines the specific efforts of the Burmese government to hinder the humanitarian work of international organisations, including by restricting the free movement of international staff within the country. The report notes that the regime has tightened its control over assistance work since former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt was purged in October 2004.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Furthermore, the reports states that the military government passed guidelines in February 2006, which formalised Burma's restrictive policies. According to the report, the guidelines require that programs run by humanitarian groups "enhance and safeguard the national interest" and that international organisations co-ordinate with state agents and select their Burmese staff from government-prepared lists of individuals. United Nations officials have declared these restrictions unacceptable.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) said that the report "underscores the need for democratic change in Burma, whose military regime arbitrarily arrests, tortures, rapes and executes its own people, ruthlessly persecutes ethnic minorities, and bizarrely builds itself a new capital city while failing to address the increasingly urgent challenges of refugee flows, illicit narcotics and human trafficking, and the spread of HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases."


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: rice, pulses, beans, sesame, groundnuts, watermelon, avocado sugarcane; hardwood; fish and fish products


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: kyats per US dollar – 1,205 (2008 est.), 1,296 (2007), 1,280 (2006), 5.82 (2005), 5.7459 (2004), 6.0764 (2003)


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: note: unofficial exchange rates ranged in 2004 from 815 kyat/US dollar to nearly 970 kyat/US dollar, and by year end 2005, the unofficial exchange rate was 1,075 kyat/US dollar; data shown for 2003–05 are official exchange rates


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: In the first eight months, Myanmar has received investment of US$5.7 billion. Singapore has remained as the top source of foreign direct investments into Myanmar in the financial year of 2019-2020 with 20 Singapore-listed enterprises bringing in US$1.85 billion into Myanmar in the financial year 2019-2020. Hong Kong stood as the second-largest investors with an estimated capital of US$1.42 billion from 46 enterprises, followed by Japan investing $760 million in Myanmar.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Total foreign trade reached over US$24.5 billion in the first eight months of the fiscal year (FY) 2019-2020 .


title: Ila Arun

text: Ila Arun is an Indian actress, TV personality and Rajasthani folk and folk-pop singer. She has appeared in many prominent Bollywood movies such as "Lamhe", "Jodhaa Akbar", "Shaadi Ke Side Effects" and "Begum Jaan".


title: Ila Arun

text: Arun was born on 15 March 1954 in Jodhpur in Rajasthan. She hails from Jaipur . She is the sister of Piyush Pandey and Prasoon Pandey. Her mother name is Bhagwati Pandey. Ila Arun is the mother of actress Ishita Arun.


title: Ila Arun

text: Arun has sung numerous film songs in Hindi and quite a few South Indian languages such as Tamil and Telugu. Her most famous film song to date has been "Choli Ke Peeche" sung along with Alka Yagnik for the film "Khalnayak" starring Madhuri Dixit, for which they won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer. Another song which she is famous for is "Ghup Chup" from the film "Karan Arjun". She also is well known for her song "Morni Baaga Ma Bole" accompanied with Lata Mangeshkar, in the movie "Lamhe", starring Sridevi. She has lent her voice to the Tamil song "Muthu Muthu Mazhai", for the film "Mr. Romeo", composed by A. R. Rahman. Her last noteworthy song was also with Rahman composed for the internationally acclaimed film "Slumdog Millionaire", called "".


title: Ila Arun

text: She has produced several successful singles such as "Vote for Ghagra". She also sang the promotional hit song "Halla Bol" for the Rajasthan Royals team in the Indian Premier League She hails from Rajasthan and sings Rajasthani songs in her albums and movies.


title: Ila Arun

text: Arun was first seen acting in "Lifeline (Jeevanrekha)" a Hindi TV serial on life of doctors, along with Tanvi Azmi on Doordarshan. She delivered an electrifying performance in the 2008 hit "Jodhaa Akbar" as Maham Anga, Akbar's shrewd wet nurse and political advisor. She has also acted in supporting roles in films such as "China Gate", "Chingari", "Well Done Abba", "Welcome to Sajjanpur", "West is West" and "". In "Shaadi Ke Side Effects" and "Begum Jaan", she played a governess and a brothel member, respectively. In "Raat Akeli Hai", which is a Netflix movie and released on 31 July 2020, she has played the role of mother of the Hero "Nawazuddin Siddiqui" and correctly delivered the dialogues in local dialect.


title: Ila Arun

text: Arun has been a part of the early years of Indian television Industry, acting in the 1980s "Bharat Ek Khoj" and "Yatra." She also took on the role of Hansa Mehta, an independence activist who was part of the advisory committee of the constituent assembly, in "Samvidhaan" which is a TV mini-series based on the making of the Constitution of India.


title: Endymion (poem)

text: Endymion is a poem by John Keats first published in 1818 by Taylor and Hessey of Fleet Street in London. John Keats dedicated this poem to the late poet Thomas Chatterton. The poem begins with the line "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever". "Endymion" is written in rhyming couplets in iambic pentameter (also known as heroic couplets). Keats based the poem on the Greek myth of Endymion, the shepherd beloved of the moon goddess Selene. The poem elaborates on the original story and renames Selene "Cynthia" (an alternative name for Artemis).


title: Endymion (poem)

text: It starts by painting a rustic scene of trees, rivers, shepherds, and sheep. The shepherds gather around an altar and pray to Pan, god of shepherds and flocks. As the youths sing and dance, the elder men sit and talk about what life would be like in the shades of Elysium. However, Endymion, the "brain-sick shepherd-prince" of Mt. Latmos, is in a trancelike state, and not participating in their discourse. His sister, Peona, takes him away and brings him to her resting place where he sleeps. After he wakes, he tells Peona of his encounter with Cynthia, and how much he loved her.


title: Endymion (poem)

text: The poem is divided into four books, each approximately 1,000 lines long. "Book I" gives Endymion's account of his dreams and experiences, as related to Peona, which provides the background for the rest of the poem. In "Book II", Endymion ventures into the underworld in search of his love. He encounters Adonis and Venus—a pairing of mortal and immortal—apparently foreshadowing a similar destiny for the mortal Endymion and his immortal paramour. "Book III" reveals Endymion's enduring love, and he begs the Moon not to torment him any longer as he journeys through a watery void on the sea floor. There he meets Glaucus, freeing the god from a thousand years of imprisonment by the witch Circe. "Book IV", "And so he groan'd, as one by beauty slain." Endymion falls in love with a beautiful Indian maiden. Both ride winged black steeds to Mount Olympus where Cynthia awaits, only for Endymion to forsake the goddess for his new, mortal, love. Endymion and the Indian girl return to earth, the latter saying she cannot be his love. He is miserable, 'til quite suddenly he comes upon the Indian maiden again and she reveals that she is in fact Cynthia. She then tells him of how she tried to forget him, to move on, but that in the end, "'There is not one,/ No, no, not one/ But thee.'"


title: Endymion (poem)

text: "Endymion" received scathing criticism after its release, and Keats himself noted its diffuse and unappealing style. Keats did not regret writing it, as he likened the process to leaping into the ocean to become more acquainted with his surroundings; in a poem to J. A. Hessey, he expressed that "I was never afraid of failure; for I would sooner fail than not be among the greatest." However, he did express regret in its publishing, saying "it is not without a feeling of regret that I make ["Endymion"] public."


title: Endymion (poem)

text: Not all critics disliked the work. The poet Thomas Hood wrote 'Written in Keats' "Endymion"', in which the "Muse... charming the air to music... gave back Endymion in a dreamlike tale". Henry Morley said, "The song of "Endymion" throbs throughout with a noble poet's sense of all that his art means for him. What mechanical defects there are in it may even serve to quicken our sense of the youth and freshness of this voice of aspiration."


title: Endymion (poem)

text: This poem is quoted by Monsieur Verdoux in Charlie Chaplin's homonymous film, before committing a moonlit murder. "Our feet were soft in flowers...".


title: Endymion (poem)

text: The first line ("A thing of beauty is a joy for ever") is quoted by Mary Poppins in the 1964 Disney movie, while she pulls out a potted plant from her bag. It is also referenced by Willy Wonka in the film "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" upon introducing the Wonkamobile, and in the 1992 American sports comedy film "White Men Can't Jump", written and directed by Ron Shelton. In the beginning of the 1968 animated film "Yellow Submarine", the Chief Blue Meanie says, "A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever!" as a parody of the poem.


title: Endymion (poem)

text: Nawaaz Amhed's debut novel, "Radiant Fugitives," features Keats' poems throughout and specifically mentions "Endymion".


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The Battle of Sedan or Second Battle of Sedan (12–15 May 1940) took place in the Second World War during the Battle of France in 1940. It was part of the German "Wehrmacht"s operational plan codenamed "Fall Gelb" (Case Yellow) for an offensive through the hilly and forested Ardennes, to encircle the Allied armies in Belgium and north-eastern France. German Army Group A crossed the Meuse with the intention of capturing Sedan and pushing westwards towards the Channel coast, to trap the Allied forces that were advancing east into Belgium, as part of the Allied Dyle Plan.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: Sedan is situated on the east bank of the Meuse. Its capture would give the Germans a base from which to take the Meuse bridges and cross the river. The German divisions could then advance across the open and undefended French countryside to the English Channel. On 12 May, Sedan was captured without resistance and the Germans defeated the French defences around Sedan on the west bank of the Meuse. German "Luftwaffe" bombing and low morale prevented the French defenders from destroying the bridgeheads. The Germans captured the Meuse bridges at Sedan allowing them to pour forces across the river. On 14 May, the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and the French "Armée de l'Air" jointly tried to destroy the bridges, but the "Luftwaffe" prevented them from doing so. In large air battles, the Allies suffered high losses which depleted Allied bomber strength in the campaign.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The French counter-attacked the German bridgeheads from 15 to 17 May, but the offensives fell victim to delay and confusion. On 20 May, five days after consolidating their bridgeheads, the German Army reached the Channel. Crossing the Meuse had enabled the Germans to achieve the operational goal of "Fall Gelb" and encircle the strongest Allied armies, including the British Expeditionary Force. The resulting June battles destroyed the remaining French army as an effective fighting force and expelled the British from the continent, leading to the defeat of France.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: On 10 May 1940, the "Wehrmacht" invaded Luxembourg, Netherlands and Belgium. In the Netherlands the Germans made steady progress. By 12 May, units of the German Army Group B were closing on Rotterdam and Amsterdam, while in central Belgium the Germans were close to reaching the Dyle river east of Brussels. In response to the invasions, the Allied First Army Group, under the command of Gaston Billotte, containing the French Seventh Army, French Ninth Army, French First Army and the British Expeditionary Force, advanced to the Dyle river to form a solid front line as part of the Dyle Plan, a defensive strategy to halt the German advances in Belgium. However, the offensive by Army Group B was a diversion. The main thrust of "Fall Gelb" was to be conducted by Army Group A through the Ardennes in Luxembourg and southern Belgium. Once these lightly defended areas were negotiated, Army Group A's "XIX Panzerkorps" (19th Tank Corps), under the command of Heinz Guderian, was to strike into France at Sedan, located on the Meuse river. Its capture would enable a German advance into the undefended depths of France and to the English Channel, into the rear of the Allied mobile forces advancing into Belgium. The result would be a strategic-level encirclement.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: For the offensive, the "Oberkommando der Wehrmacht" (German High Command) gave Army Group A the most powerful concentration of German armour and motorised forces. Although Army Group B was allocated 808 tanks, over of the total German tanks, they were largely light tanks such as the Panzer I and Panzer II, as opposed to the Panzer III and Panzer IV. The heavier tanks were handed over to Army Group A as it required the best machines to conduct the critical operation at Sedan. Army Group A contained 1,753 tanks of the heavier types.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: Following the First World War, the French General Staff had ruled out the idea of a future German thrust through the Ardennes–Sedan sector. The French were certain such terrain could not be crossed by tanks. Marshal Philippe Pétain described them as "impenetrable". Maurice Gamelin described the geographical feature as "Europe's best tank obstacle". The "barrier" of the Meuse and Ardennes appeared to be a sound strategic defence feature that a future enemy could not get through or go around. The French concluded that, at best, a German assault through the Ardennes towards Sedan would not reach the Meuse for two weeks after the start of any German offensive, and would take between five and nine days to penetrate the Ardennes alone.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The French assessments were less credible in the light of military exercises carried out in 1938. That year, General André-Gaston Prételat took command of manoeuvres which created a scenario whereby the German Army launched an assault with seven divisions, including four motorised infantry divisions and two tank brigades (the type of the remaining three are not given). The "French" side's defences collapsed. "The result was a defeat of so comprehensive a nature that the wisdom of publishing it was questioned lest morale be damaged." As late as March 1940, a French report to Gamelin named the defences at Sedan, the last "fortified" position on the Meuse, and the last before the open country of France, as "entirely inadequate." Prételat had correctly identified the landscape as relatively easy terrain for armour to cross. At most, he concluded, the Germans would take 60 hours to reach the Meuse and take one day to cross it. This estimate was to prove inaccurate by just three hours; the Germans achieved the Meuse crossing after just 57 hours.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The French Army authorised fresh attempts to increase the strength of the fortifications in the autumn of 1939, but severe winter weather prevented the pouring of concrete and the delivery of the necessary materials. On 11 April 1940, General Charles Huntziger asked for another four divisions to work on the defences but was refused.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The French defences at Sedan were weak and neglected. The French had long believed that the German Army would not attack through the Sedan sector as part of their concentrated effort, and only Brigadier General Henri Lafontaine's French 55th Infantry Division, a category B division, was allocated to this sector. The Maginot Line ended east of Sedan at La Ferté, where Fort No. 505 constituted its most westerly position. Sedan was a part of the extended Maginot Line that ran north behind the Meuse river. Between Sedan and La Ferté lay the Stenay gap, which was a stretch of unprotected terrain not covered by French defences or natural obstacles. This was the reason a significant number of French generals insisted on strengthening this sector, while ignoring Sedan.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: As the French constructed further fortifications, "Luftwaffe" reconnaissance aircraft picked up the activity and reported it. The steep slopes on the banks of the Meuse, added to what appeared in photographic reconnaissance to be a formidable barrier of bunkers and defence lines, caused Colonel-General Gerd von Rundstedt, the commander in chief of Army Group A, to question the wisdom of Guderian in choosing Sedan as the point of maximum effort. To identify how strong these fortifications were, a team of photographic specialists were called in to evaluate the pictures. Their analysis concluded that what appeared to be strong fortified positions were just the construction sites of half-built bunkers that were, to all intents and purposes, empty shells. The contribution of the specialists tilted the Sedan attack plan into Guderian's favour.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: General Huntziger was happy to rely on "concrete" to ensure the safety of Sedan as he rejected the idea that the Germans would attack through the Ardennes. The Second Army built of concrete fortifications along its front, but very little in the Sedan sector. Only 42 bunkers protected the Sedan bridgeheads on the outbreak of war in September 1939 and an additional 61 were built by 10 May. However, by 10 May, most of the bunkers were incomplete, lacking gun port shutters for the artillery casemates. Some of the bunkers lacked rear doors, making them vulnerable to infiltration by infantry. To the north of Sedan, on the northern bend of the Meuse, the town of Glaire overlooked the crossing points on the river, which was to be where the German armour would deliver its heaviest blow. There was a gap of between Bunker 305 at Glaire and Bunker 211 next to the Pont Neuf bridge. This allowed an attacker coming from the north to use the good road routes through the Fleigneux–Saint-Menges–Glaire axis to enter Sedan from the north.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The defences at Sedan also lacked any mines. The French Second Army was guarding a front of , and was given only 16,000 mines. Of that number, 7,000 were given to the cavalry divisions that were intended to delay a German advance through southern Belgium as well as to blockhouse points along the Franco–Belgian border. That left 2,000 for the defence of the river Meuse. Of those, the 55th Infantry Division got 422. Not all of these were laid, and some barriers were moved during the bunker construction in the Sedan sector.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: As the German Army advanced through southern Belgium on 12 May, General Ewald von Kleist and Guderian clashed over where the main point of effort should fall. Kleist was Guderian's immediate superior, commanding "Panzergruppe von Kleist", consisting of XLI Panzer Corps and XIX Panzer Corps (under Guderian). Kleist pressed for the main point to come at Flize, further west than Sedan. Kleist argued that the blow would avoid a double river crossing at the Meuse (at Sedan) and Ardennes canal (to the west of Sedan). Moreover, the blow would strike at the dividing line between the French Ninth Army and the French Second Army. Guderian saw things differently, and pointed out that a thrust along the lines of Kleist's plan would put the flank of the advance within range of the fortress artillery at Charleville-Mézières, some north west of Sedan. The shift of operations further north would also disperse concentration (or ) and disrupt the intense planning of the German tactical units, who had been in training for the Sedan attack and an advance north-west, for months. He also felt that a regrouping period in front of Sedan would delay the assault for 24 hours and allow the French to bring up reinforcements. Kleist agreed that such a delay was unacceptable, so he agreed to Guderian's plan.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: Nevertheless, while Kleist accepted the folly of the Flize detour, he insisted the offensive concentration point should be made west of the Ardennes Canal. Kleist reaffirmed this in a letter to Guderian on 18 April, but when operations began Guderian ignored this completely. Guderian had wanted a large, bridgehead at Sedan and the rapid occupation of Stonne and the high ground surrounding Sedan.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: Guderian's plan for 13 May was straightforward. The 2nd Panzer Division in the north was to form the right flank of the assaulting force when it reached the Meuse near Donchery. The 1st Panzer Division, reinforced by the "Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland", a battalion of assault engineers, and divisional artillery of the 2nd and 10th Panzer Divisions, was to make the main attack by crossing the Meuse just north of Sedan and seizing the Heights of la Marfee overlooking the city. The 10th Panzer Division was to cross the Meuse south of Sedan and protect the southern flank of the corps. Throughout the day, large masses of troops and equipment assembled north of the Meuse in preparation for the river crossing.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The German forces consisted of the 1st, 2nd and 10th Panzer Divisions. The 1st Panzer Division under the command of "General-Major" (Major General) Friedrich Kirchner, had on strength 52 Panzer IIs, 98 Panzer III, 58 Panzer IV, 40 Panzer 35(t) and eight Sd.Kfz. 265 Panzerbefehlswagens. The 2nd Panzer Division, under the command of "Generalleutnant" (Lieutenant General) Rudolf Veiel, had to hand 45 Panzer I, 115 Panzer II, 59 Panzer III and 32 Panzer IVs. It also had 16 Sd.Kfz. 265. The 10th Panzer Division, under the command of "Generalleutnant" Ferdinand Schaal, had 44 Panzer I, 113 Panzer II, 58 Panzer III, 32 Panzer IV and 18 Sd.Kfz. 265. In total Guderian could muster 60,000 men, 22,000 vehicles, 771 tanks and 141 artillery pieces. He could also call upon 1,470 aircraft.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: Part of Guderian's problem was the lack of mobile artillery. He had no intention of halting the breakout in order to wait for additional artillery units to be moved into place to assault Sedan. Instead, Guderian requested maximum support from the "Luftwaffe". For the first few days the German air arm would be used mostly in support of Army Group B. Most of the air support over Sedan was to be provided by "Luftflotte 3" (Air Fleet 3). Initially, only limited numbers of air units were to be used, but the "Luftwaffe"s workload was greatly increased nearer the time of the battle. The "Luftwaffe" was to commit "I. Fliegerkorps" (1st Air Corps under Ulrich Grauert), "II. Fliegerkorps" (under Bruno Loerzer), "V. Fliegerkorps" (under Robert Ritter von Greim), and "VIII. Fliegerkorps" (under Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen). These units came from "Luftflotte 2" and "Jagdfliegerführer 3" (Fighter Leader 3). The most significant unit was "VIII. Fliegerkorps", nicknamed the "Nahkampf-Fliegerkorps" (Close Support Air Corps), which contained "Sturzkampfgeschwader 77" (Dive bomber Wing 77), a powerful concentration of dive-bomber units equipped with the Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" precision ground attack aircraft. This powerful air concentration numbered some 1,470 aircraft; 600 Heinkel He 111 and Junkers Ju 88 medium bombers and Dornier Do 17 light bombers, 250 Ju 87s, 500 Messerschmitt Bf 109s and 120 Messerschmitt Bf 110s.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: In the sector of Longwy, Sedan and Namur, where the Ardennes and the Meuse meet, the Ninth Army and Second Army were made up chiefly of poor quality divisions. Reinforcements were minimal, and those units were equipped with obsolete weapons. The resources at the disposal of the two Series B divisions, the 55th and later 71s Infantry Divisions, who were to bear the brunt of the attack, were weak. They had almost no regular officers and they had not been broken in to war conditions by being in contact with the enemy.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The 55th Infantry Division guarding Sedan had little time for combat training, as its time had been spent in construction work. The division consisted mainly of reservists, most of who were over the age of 30. Little attempt was made to improve the poor combat quality of the division. One officer, First Lieutenant Delas of the 1st Battalion 147th Fortress Infantry Regiment was arrested and confined for 15 days for ordering firing practice with a 25mm anti-tank gun in a nearby quarry.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The division's commanding officer, General Lafontaine, put more faith into fortifications than training, as he believed it would compensate for the weakness of the division. The men of the division lacked the confidence and will to fight when the battle took place.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The organisation of the French 55th Infantry Division was chaotic. Most units had been involved in construction work and were constantly moved to different tactical positions. Of the nine companies in position by 10 May, only a few had been holding their respective positions for even a few days and were not familiar with them. One of the premier infantry regiments, the 213th Infantry Regiment, was removed from the line altogether and was replaced with the 331st Regiment. In some cases, Infantry regiments were made up of several different companies from several different battalions from different regiments. For example, the 295th Infantry Regiment's 6th Company, 2nd Battalion, was made up of four different companies which were drawn from three different battalions belonging to three different regiments.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: Such actions damaged the cohesion of the units that were initially strong. The 147th Fortress Regiment was the backbone of the 55th Infantry Division and was to occupy the bunker positions on the Meuse. At the start of mobilisation, the unit had high morale and very good cohesion. Because of the constant changes in organisation, however, the unit's battalions were "torn apart again and again".


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: To relieve the 55th Infantry Division, the French 71st Infantry Division was ordered out of reserve and into the frontline. The presence of the 71st Infantry shortened the front from along the Meuse. This would increase the density of fighting strength in the immediate area, but such a move was only partially complete by 10 May, as it was scheduled to be completed on 13–14 May, three days "after" the German attack. Although the two divisions had 174 artillery pieces, more than the German forces opposing them, they had to share that force between them. Both divisions were short of anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns, a critical short-coming.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The main problem confronting Guderian and his Sedan strategy was inadequate artillery support. Several batteries were stuck in traffic in the Ardennes and he could not rely on the artillery batteries of his Panzer Divisions only. Everything depended on the support of the "Luftwaffe". General der Flieger Hugo Sperrle, commander of "Luftflotte 3", had planned a conventional method of a brief bombardment before the ground forces moved in. After preparatory raids, the medium and dive-bombers were to smash the French defences in a concentrated blow lasting 20 minutes. The raid was planned for 16:00 before the infantry crossed the Meuse. In collaboration, "II. Fliegerkorps" had developed the concept of the rolling raid with Guderian. The idea of a single massed strike was abandoned, and the German air units were to attack in small formations but constantly, through the day. It was deemed the effect would be threefold; the French artillery would be eliminated, the effect of continuous raids would damage enemy morale, and smaller formations would be more systematic and accurate against targets such as bunkers.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: Unknown to Guderian, von Kleist, his immediate superior, had contacted Loerzer and banned Guderian's proposed long systematic approach in favour of one big assault. Guderian complained. Kleist ignored him. Yet, the following morning, Loerzer rejected Kleist's method and went ahead with the agreed rolling bombing as discussed with Guderian. Loerzer would later say that the official order from Hugo Sperrle had arrived too late to make changes.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: By nightfall on 12 May, Guderian's XIX. "Panzerkorps" rolled into Sedan. Guderian reported there was no sign of the enemy. With the city itself secured, Guderian would now have to strike south, across the defended rear behind Sedan, which in turn was protected by a large bunker complex located on Marfee ridge, a piece of high ground covering the Sedan-Meuse river to the south. But there were three fundamental choices. He could obey tactical necessity and protect the bridgeheads against a French counter-attack from the south; he could strike west-south-west towards Paris with his Corps; or he could carry out the dash to the Channel. Remembering the Chief of Operations, 1st Panzer Division, Walther Wenck's saying, "Hit with your fists, don't feel with your fingers!", Guderian decided on the last option.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: In the early hours of 13 May, the 10th Panzer Division slipped into position upstream to the north-east of Sedan, ready to strike at its designated crossing point near the town of Wadelincourt. Downstream, the 2nd Panzer Division moved into position to cross at Donchery. The 1st Panzer Division prepared to strike at the Gaulier bridgehead, near Floing, in the centre of Sedan's tactical front. It was on the northern bend of the Sedan-Meuse loop that the "Luftwaffe" was to make its maximum effort, between Gaulier and Wadelincourt. To supplement his air support, Guderian stripped most of his Panzer Divisions of their artillery, which he then positioned directly opposite Gaulier. However, the artillery regiments lacked ammunition. Sustained and damaging bombardment through shelling was impossible. The "Luftwaffe" was going to have to do most of the work. Guderian reported that his Corps had only 141 artillery pieces against the French 174. To the north and south of Sedan, the French X Corps and French XXXXI Corps (at the artillery fortress at Charleville-Mézières) could also add their artillery and shell Guderian's Panzer units as they crossed the bridgeheads. The slow advance of artillery units to the front added to the German numerical inferiority, which was now 1:3 against. Only in the afternoon did the German artillery make an appearance, but with little effect. The 2nd Panzer Division was forced to attack without artillery support. For these reasons, Guderian had decided the outcome depended on the quality of air support, acting as flying artillery.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: "Luftflotte 3" and "Luftflotte 2" (Albert Kesselring), executed the heaviest air bombardment the world had yet witnessed and the most intense by the "Luftwaffe" during the war. The Luftwaffe committed two "Sturzkampfgeschwader" (dive bomber wings) to the assault, flying 300 sorties against French positions, with "Sturzkampfgeschwader 77" alone flying 201 sorties. A total of 3,940 sorties were flown by nine "Kampfgeschwader" (Bomber Wing) units often in "Gruppe" strength.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The planned aerial assault would last for eight hours, from 08:00-16:00. Loerzer and Richthofen committed two "Stuka" units to the attack. Loerzer's Ju 87s flew some 180 missions against Sedan's bunkers whilst Richthofen's managed 90. The nine "Kampfgruppen" (bomber wings) of "II. Fliegerkorps" flew 900 missions against the 360 of "VIII. Fliegerkorps". "VIII. Fliegerkorps"s total mission count on the Meuse front was 910 compared to "II. Fliegerkorps" 1,770 missions.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The "Luftwaffe"s target was the Marfee heights which lay behind Sedan to the south west. They contained the fortified artillery positions and dominated the approaches to the strategic and operational depths beyond Sedan and the Meuse. The "Luftwaffe" was two hours late in appearing but the effort made was considerable. The attacks were made in "Gruppe" (group) strength and against the line of maximum resistance along the enemy gun line. To restrict enemy movements and communications, German fighters swept the area to cut land-lines and strafe fortifications, with some shooting of radio antennae off command posts. The attacks isolated the forward defence lines. "Sturzkampfgeschwader 77" struck first in the morning of 13 May. In just five hours, 500 Ju 87 sorties had been flown.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The "Luftwaffe" cowed the defenders, breaking them psychologically. The gunners, the backbone of the defences, had abandoned their positions by the time the German ground assault had begun. The cost to the "Luftwaffe" was just six aircraft, three of which were Ju 87s.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The French 55th Infantry Division was not prepared for such an attack. French soldiers commented on the massive psychological effect of the bombardment, in particular the siren of the Ju 87. However, after the war, it was discovered that none of the bunkers had been destroyed by direct hits. Moreover, just 56 French casualties were suffered. It was the indirect effect that did the damage. The telecommunication cables were destroyed (most had been laid out in the open) through bombing, paralysing the division's communications, and the psychological damage crippled its defensive capacity.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The ensuing psychological damage contributed to "the panic of Bulson". At about 19:00 on 13 May, a report by a French artillery observer was passed on incorrectly. There was a rumour that German tanks were approaching the village of Bulson. The false reports spread and the French 55th Infantry Division deserted their positions. German sources say that the first German tank crossed the Meuse 12 hours later. By the time the error was realised, most of the artillerymen and infantrymen had abandoned their heavy equipment.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The central ground assault was to be conducted by the 1st Panzer Division and supported by the Infantry Regiment "Großdeutschland" and the "Sturmpionier-Battalion 43" (43rd Assault Engineer Battalion) as the 1st Panzer only had a single rifle regiment. The "Großdeutschland" would be attached to the 1st Panzer Division for the remainder of the campaign and it was the first unit to breach the defences on Hill 247, the high ground dominating Gaulier. The regiment, much to their surprise, discovered the "Luftwaffe" had failed to destroy the enemy bunkers. Enemy small arms fire ensured that crossing the river at Pont Neuf bridge could not be done in rubber assault boats as intended. The Regiment retreated. Reconnaissance found an enemy Bunker, No. 211, was still active. Its location guarded the bridgehead, making it dangerous for German infantry attempting a crossing. A platoon of infantry guns (75 mm short barrel artillery) failed to knock it out. An 8.8 cm FlaK dual purpose gun (88 mm) was brought in to do the job. It succeeded, but the following crossing failed as machine gun fire came from another flanking position that had not been spotted. Once this was dealt with by the 2nd Battalion, the remainder of the regiment crossed the river. Throughout the rest of the day, the regiment moved up and into the French defences, the 2nd Battalion's 6th, 7th and 8th Companies gradually knocking out each bunker. Despite the other two battalions being held up further south, by 20:00 the central Hill 247 had been taken. The "Großdeutschland" Regiment had now penetrated into the French defences.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: On Hill 301, further west, the First Rifle Regiment under Col. Hermann Balck had helped take the position by nightfall. With help from two platoons of the 3rd Company of the 34th Assault Engineer Battalion, it had succeeded in knocking out the bunker positions. The regiment inched westward and was able to see the 2nd Panzer Division on the extreme west flank of the 1st Panzer, attacking the bunker position near Donchery. Several Panzers were knocked out. The First Rifle Regiment, 1st Panzer, had crossed the boundary into the 2nd Panzer's territory. They eased the 2nd Panzer's passage by knocking out several bunkers on their eastern flank and succeeded in cutting the Donchery-Sedan road. The infantry also succeeded in knocking out most of the casemates in the area using flamethrower teams to destroy the bunkers whose infantry failed to surrender quickly. The last bunker to surrender did so at 22:40 hours on 13 May. By that time, elements of the 1st and 2nd Panzer Divisions had negotiated the Meuse river.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The 2nd Panzer had been given the most difficult job. Its advance through the Ardennes trapped and delayed it in nearly of traffic. Consequently, it arrived late at Donchery, after the 1st and 10th Panzer Divisions had initiated their assaults across the Meuse. Due to a combination of its being late and the attacks of its sister units, the enemy defences were alerted in advance of the 2nd Panzer's offensive. Crossing at the extreme western end of the Sedan sector on the Donchery axis, it was forced to advance across open terrain for the last 3 km before reaching the bridgehead. This subjected the division to fire from Donchery and the Bellevue Castle's 75mm artillery casemates, located slightly to the east of the town. Several boats were tied to the Panzers and dragged across, but the tanks were knocked out. The bulk of the 174 artillery pieces available to the French at Sedan were concentrated on the 2nd Panzer Division's front. Most were located in the bunkers on the south side of the river Meuse-Donchery sector. Some of the French 102nd Infantry division's batteries also joined in from the north west, at Charleville. The only way to respond was with howitzers but the 2nd Panzer Division had handed its heavy howitzers over to the 1st Panzer. Only 24 guns remained and they did not arrive on the battlefield until 17:00. When they arrived, they had only had a couple of shells per gun owing to the logistical tailback in the Ardennes.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: All attempts to land on the southern side of the Meuse failed. Fortunately for Guderian, the 1st Panzer Division succeeded in crossing the Meuse in the centre (see above). Once completed, it headed into the right (eastern) flank of the French at Donchery. Some of its units cleared the Meuse bend. Assault Engineers and 1st Panzer Division neutralised the guns at Bellevue Castle, and cleared the bunker positions along the Meuse from the rear. The artillery falling on the 2nd Panzer Division's eastern flank was stopped. With the threat of artillery fire on its right flank removed, the units on the 2nd Panzer's left flank crossed the river and infiltrated the French positions opposite Donchery at 20:00. Heavy French fire continued from the bunkers in front of Donchery on the south side of the Meuse. It was not until 22:20, in darkness, that regular ferrying missions enabled the reinforcement of the German bridgehead.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The 10th Panzer Division, like the 2nd Panzer Division, had detached its heavy artillery batteries to support neighbouring units. It was left with just 24 light 105 mm howitzers. Moreover, the batteries were short of ammunition. The "Luftwaffe" had not helped the 10th Panzer Division as most of the air attacks were in support of the 1st Panzer Division in the central sector. This meant all of the French artillery and machine gun positions in the area of Wadelincourt were undisturbed. Added to this, the newly inserted 71st Infantry Division and French X Corps in the Remilly-Aillicourt area prevented the 10th Panzer Division making any quick progress. The Division also had to advance down to the river on open flat terrain of some .


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: Near the town of Bazeilles, the Engineers and assault infantry had gathered to prepare the boats for the crossing of the Meuse at Wadelincourt when an artillery barrage from the French positions destroyed 81 out of 96 rubber boats. The plan of attack had included an assault by both the 69th and 89th Infantry Regiments, but the loss of so many boats meant that only the 86th Infantry Regiment was able to conduct the crossing. The 69th Infantry Regiment was kept in reserve to follow the 86th as reinforcements.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The 10th Panzer Division's assaults failed all along the Meuse front. The only success came from a small 11-man team (five engineers and six infantrymen) of the 2nd Company, "Panzerpionier-Batailion 49" (49th Panzer Engineer Battalion) placed under the 1st Battalion, 86th Infantry Regiment. Unsupported and acting on their own initiative, this small force led by "Feldwebel" Walter Rubarth opened a decisive breach by knocking out seven bunker positions. Follow-up units from the 1st Battalion 86th Rifle Regiment had crossed over by 21:00 and stormed the remaining bunkers on Hill 246, where the main French defence positions were located. By the end of the day, the bridgehead had been consolidated and the objective taken.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: In the central sector, at Gaulier, the Germans began moving 3.7 cm Pak 36 light infantry field artillery across the Meuse to provide support to infantry across the river. By 01:00 on 14 May, a pontoon bridge had been erected over which Sd.Kfz. 222, Sd.Kfz. 232 and Sd.Kfz. 264 armoured cars began to dismount in the bridgeheads. French reports spoke of German tanks crossing the bridges. Such reports were in error, as the first Panzers only crossed at 07:20 on 14 May. Prior to this, masses of lorries, armoured cars and other traffic had passed through, but not tanks.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The capture of Sedan and the expansion of the bridgeheads alarmed the French who called for a total effort against the bridgeheads at Sedan, to isolate the three Panzer Divisions. General Gaston-Henri Billotte, commander of the First French Army Group, whose right flank pivoted on Sedan, urged that the bridges across the Meuse be destroyed by air attack, convinced that "over them will pass either victory or defeat!". General Marcel Têtu, commander of the Allied Tactical Air Forces ordered: "Concentrate everything on Sedan. Priority between Sedan and Houx is at 1,000,000 to 1".


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: No. 103 Squadron and No. 150 Squadron RAF of the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force (AASF) flew 10 sorties against the targets in the early morning. In the process they suffered only one loss in a forced landing. Between 15:00–16:00, 71 RAF bombers took off escorted by Allied fighters. The impressive escort was offset by the presence of German fighter units that outnumbered the Allied escort fighters by 3:1. No. 71 Wing RAF lost 10 Fairey Battles and five Bristol Blenheims. No. 75 Wing RAF lost 14–18 Battles and No. 76 Wing RAF lost 11 Battles. Out of 71 bombers dispatched, 40–44 bombers were lost, meaning a loss rate of 56–62 percent. The AASF lost a further five Hawker Hurricanes. The AASF flew 81 sorties and lost 52 percent of its strength. No 2 Group RAF also contributed with 28 sorties. The bombing results were poor, with three bridges damaged and one possibly destroyed.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: French Air Forces under the command of "Commandant des Forces" (Commander of Forces) Marcel Têtu "Aeriennes de Cooperation du Front Nord-Est" (Airborne Cooperation Front North East, or FACNE) rarely supported the British efforts despite substantial reinforcements. They flew only an average of one sortie per day, including strategic defensive missions. One reason for this was heavy French bomber losses on the previous two days. During the Battle of Maastricht in the Netherlands, the "Groupement de Bombardement" (Bomber Groups, or GB) had its squadrons reduced. GB I/12 and II/12 had only 13 LeO 451s between them. "Groupement de Bombardement d'Assaut 18" (GBA 18) had only 12 of 25 Breguet 693s left. GB I/34 and II/34 could muster eight aircraft out of 22 Amiot 143s, I/38 seven out of 12, and II/38 six out of 11. All of these groups were sent to Sedan on 14 May. Escort was given from "Groupement de Chasse" (Fighter Groups, or GC). GC III/7 with 12 Morane 406s, 12 Bloch 152s of I/8 and nine Dewoitine D.520s of I/3 took part. GBA 18 was escorted by 15 Bloch 152s of GC I/8. The missions cost the French five bombers, two from ground fire. After this date, the French bomber forces were eliminated from the fight over Sedan. The major efforts were now made by the AASF.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The Allied bombers received mostly poor protection. Only 93 fighter sorties, (60 by the French) were flown. The French lost 21 fighters in the operation. The German air defence was soon reinforced by "Jagdgeschwader 26" and "Jagdgeschwader 27" (Fighter Wings 26 and 27). One of the premier German fighter units responsible for the heavy loss rate was "Jagdgeschwader 53" (Fighter Wing 53), who later engaged French bombers who tried to succeed where the AASF failed. The attacks failed as they were uncoordinated. Along with fighter aircraft, the Germans had assembled powerful flak concentrations in Sedan. The FlaK battalions of the 1st, 2nd and 10th Panzer Divisions numbered 303 anti-aircraft guns. This force was built around the 102nd FlaK Regiment with its 88 mm, 37 mm, and rapid fire 20 mm weapons. So heavy was the defensive fire that the Allied bombers could not concentrate over the target. Allied bomber pilots called it "hell along the Meuse". On 14 May, the Allies flew 250 sorties, the French losing 30 (another source states 21) and the RAF losing 20 fighter aircraft. Another 65 were heavily damaged. Out of 109 RAF bombers dispatched, 47 were shot down. This meant 167 aircraft had been lost against one target. Loerzer called 14 May "the day of the fighter".


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The German Generals, in particular Guderian, were relieved that the "Luftwaffe" had prevented the Allied bombers from knocking out their supply bridges. By nightfall, at least 600 tanks, including those of the 2nd Panzer Division which had to use the 1st Panzer Division's bridge at Gaulier (owing to theirs not having yet been constructed), were across the Meuse. The German victory in the air battle had been decisive.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: Huntziger, commanding the Second Army, was unconcerned by the capture of Sedan or of the collapse of French defences in the face of air attack. He expected considerable French reserves, particularly X Corps, to stabilise the front. The forces at Huntziger's disposal were formidable. Guderian's decision to strike westwards left the 10th Panzer Division protecting the bridgehead alone. Against this force was the XXI Corps (3d Armoured Division, 3d Motorised Infantry Division, 5th Light Cavalry Division, 1st Cavalry Brigade) under Flavigny. A second group, consisting of the 2d Light Cavalry Division and 3d Tank Division reinforced Flavigny. X Corps, with the 12th and 64th Reconnaissance Battalions, elements of the 71st Infantry Division, 205th Infantry Regiment, the 4th Tank Battalion were also to join the attack. The French had nearly 300 tanks, with 138 main battle tanks consisting of Hotchkiss and Char B1-Bis.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The French tanks had heavier armour and armament than the Panzers. The Panzer IV had 30 mm of armour, while the Hotchkiss had 45 mm, and the Char B1 had 60 mm of protection. Moreover, the Char B1's main armament, one 47 mm and one 75 mm gun, outmatched all the German tanks. In an open field engagement, Guderian's armour stood little chance. Two-thirds of his units were equipped with Panzer I and IIs. Just 30 of the Panzer IVs were on his order of battle. However, one crucial disadvantage of the French tanks, considered as a broad whole, was their low endurance. They needed refuelling after just two hours. They were also slow in speed, complicating high tempo operations.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: During 14 May, General Lafontaine had moved the 55th Infantry Division's command post from its position on the Marfee heights to Bulson, south of Sedan. The French had prepared, to an extent, for a German breakthrough at Sedan, and accordingly placed X Corps available for a counter-attack. It was to occupy the Bulson position on the Chéhéry–Bulson–Haraucourt axis and strike at the Meuse bridgeheads. The terrain included heavily wooded areas, and the units left behind convinced General Charles Huntziger, commander of the French Second Army, that they would be able to hold Bulson, and the Germans would not be able to exploit their tactical victory at Sedan on 14 May.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The Germans suffered a seven-hour delay in getting their armour across the bridge from 01:20-07:30, which could have been disastrous for the Panzer divisions. The French had already initiated plans for counter-attacks with armour on the German-held bridgehead during the night but delays in bringing up forces and hesitation on the part of local overall French command at large, made worse by mistaken intelligence reports and by the resulting confusion from the panic and retreat of the infantry who had also abandoned their positions and artillery as part of the "panic of Bulson", made an attack possible only in the morning of 14 May. The commander of X Corps' artillery, Colonel Poncelet, had tried to keep his units where they were, but had reluctantly ordered a retreat. This decision resulted in the Corps artillery battalions abandoning many heavy artillery pieces and caused the collapse of the 55th Infantry Division ("panic of Bulson") and a partial collapse of the 71st Infantry Division. Poncelet killed himself a few days later.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: On 13–14 May, the Germans were vulnerable. A strong attack at this point by the French armoured units could have prevented Guderian from breaking out of the Meuse bridgeheads and changed the outcome of the campaign. However, the French commanders, deeply schooled and versed in the defensively-focused doctrine of methodological warfare, were located far to the rear, which meant they lacked a real-time picture of the battle. The French forces in the area were also hindered by mistaken intelligence reports which suggested that German tanks had already crossed the Meuse river, several hours before the first German tank actually did so. When intelligence did filter through, it was outdated. This was to prove fatal, especially coupled with the fact that the French generalship at large was expecting a considerably more prolonged process of initial German assault phase and overall attack effort as a whole.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The race to Bulson ridge began at 16:00 on 13 May. At 07:30 on 14 May, French armour advanced to Bulson ridge with a view to seizing the high ground vacated by the infantry of the 55th Infantry Division on 13 May and, more importantly, to destroy the German bridgeheads. While that may have been possible on 13 May, the odds had shifted against the French.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The X Corps' attack involved a strike on the left flank by the 213th Infantry Regiment and 7th Tank Battalion, and on the right flank by the 205th Infantry Regiment and 4th Tank Battalion. The right flanking force arrived late, so the 213th Infantry and the 7th Tank Battalion advanced alone on the north axis. It was thought that the 213th could reach an area in between Chéhéry and Bulson in one hour fifty minutes and the 7th Tank Battalion in two hours. Yet it was not until 17 hours after the original order to advance to Bulson that the lead French tanks reached the Bulson ridge. They found the Germans had beaten them there by a few minutes.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: Lafontaine had hesitated over the 24 hours since the afternoon of 13 May. He spent hours reconnoitring the terrain, sometimes trying to contain and reason with fleeing, routing scores of French infantrymen and artillerymen of the 55th and 71st Infantry Divisions, and travelling around the area to various regimental headquarters, looking for his Corps commander, General Gransard (who was deliberately reconnoitring the terrain, for some time, at that relative point in time), for an order to attack, and, in the meantime, extemporarily assessing and conferring with some local command personnel. Owing to this, Lafontaine also delayed issuing orders to the tactical attack units until 05:00 on 14 May, by which time the Germans had consolidated their bridgehead and the Panzer divisions' combined arms infantry teams were already advancing inland to Bulson. Lafontaine had had a mission plan since 20:00 on 13 May to defeat the Germans and retake the Meuse bridgeheads, but he waited for an order to proceed. Lafontaine's need for an order was contrary to the unit actions of the Germans, who operated the tactically more efficient "Auftragstaktik" (Mission Command) system. Ultimately, Lafontaine had squandered valuable hours essential for a potentially decisive counter-attack effort.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The French had an opportunity to throw the Germans back into the Meuse but they missed their chance owing to poor staff-work. The 1st Panzer Division had struggled to advance as quickly as it would have liked, and was jammed on the roads leading out of Gaulier and Sedan. Moreover, the German soldiers were exhausted after a five-day advance. A quick counter thrust by just two infantry regiments and two tank battalions would have "plunged the Germans into crisis". Even a failed attack, and the holding of Bulson, would have allowed it to be used by formations of the Second French Army and the tank units, including the French 3rd Armoured Division, of General Jean Adolphe Louis Robert Flavigny's powerful French XXI Corps which were moving up from the Maginot line area in the south.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: Contributing to their problems, the French lacked mobile tanks and offensively-intended tanks. French military doctrine dictated that the tanks, mostly FCM 36s intended as defensive-oriented infantry support units, were to advance with the infantry. The speed of the FCM 36 was not designed to go any faster for this reason, so its top speed was only 24 km/h (15 mph). It took from 07:30 to 08:45 on 14 May for the French armour to traverse the last to the ridge. Lead elements of the 1st and 2nd Panzer Divisions had reached the ridge just minutes before, having travelled in less time. But the initial clash was not in the Germans' favour. Instead of making sure the medium Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks had priority in crossing the Meuse, the Germans had sent few across, and the van of the advance contained mostly lightly armed and lightly armoured although faster Panzer Is and Panzer IIs.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The initial encounters took place as the Battle of Hannut was being fought in Belgium. The results were much the same. On the southern face of Bulson, Kirchner, commander of the 1st Panzer Division, suffered several tactical reverses and saw the 37 mm shells from his 3.7 cm PaK 36 anti-tank guns and Panzer IIIs bounce off the more heavily armoured French tanks. A number of the German tanks were knocked out in rapid succession. The Germans had to hold the French at the ridge. Kirchner was forced to send in his tanks in dribs and drabs, tactics which Guderian hated, but which he himself decided there was no other recourse. It was once again the German tanks' radio equipment that enabled them to move around quickly and communicate with one another, to change the point of defence or attack quickly. The speed of the German tanks also enabled them to offset their inferiority in combat power to the French tanks. Often, the Panzer IIIs and IVs could speed into the rear of French formations, closing quickly and knocking out the French armour from the rear. The Germans noted the particular weakness between the chassis and turret of the French tanks, which were vulnerable to their fire.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The French artillery concealed in wooded areas proved more potent than the tanks. The German 1st Panzer Company was wiped out by French artillery, and pulled back with just one battleworthy tank. The Company retreated under the cover of part of the ridge, and moved its single tank back and forth, simulating the presence of many German tanks. Diverted from their success at Gaulier, near Sedan, the 2nd Panzer Company was rushed to the spot and managed to delay the French armoured advance. The Großdeutschland Infantry Regiment's late arrival tilted the scales. They managed to eliminate the anti-tank lines and entrenched French infantry.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: On the left side of the Bulson ridge, the Germans encountered 13 French tanks with support from infantry near Chéhéry. The Germans' advance intended to strike at Connage to the south of the town of Chéhéry, to outflank the French. Kirchner reacted quickly, ordering two anti-tank platoons to be set up at Connage. The 37 mm guns struggled to halt the French armour which then outflanked the position at Connage by moving to the west while the infantry advanced from the south east on the German right flank. The 43rd Assault Engineer Battalion and the 8th Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Panzer Regiment arrived and pushed the French back to the town of Chémery-sur-Bar, some south west of Bulson, and due south of Connage.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: At 10:45, Lafontaine ordered a retreat and Guderian finally got heavy artillery from the Großdeutschland Infantry Regiment. The 88 mm dual role artillery guns and the heavier Panzer III and IVs reached the area of the battle. By this time, the French 7th Tank Battalion had been wiped out and the 213th Infantry Regiment had been devastated. Only 10 French tanks, out of 40, remained. In the two pitched battles the 7th Tank Battalion fought that day they lost 10 from 13. Delays on the right flank meant the 205th Infantry Regiment and 4th Tank Battalion did not reach their starting line until 10:45, by which time the battle on the left wing had been lost and further attacks on the right would have made little sense. The 1st Panzer Division's victory parade was held in Chemery at 12:00, but it was cut short when the "Luftwaffe" bombed the square by mistake inflicting a few casualties.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The German High Command did not want to exploit the victory at Sedan and Bulson until the German infantry divisions had caught up with the three Panzer divisions. To Guderian, this was madness and would throw away the victory at Sedan and allow the enemy time to recover and reorganise its still formidable armoured units. Guderian decided to push for the Channel, even if it meant ignoring the High Command and Hitler himself. Guderian ordered the 10th Panzer Division and Infantry Regiment "Großdeutschland" to hold the Sedan bridgehead, while the 1st and 2nd Panzer Divisions struck north west, towards the Channel. Now that they were pushing largely at an 'open door', the 1st and 2nd Panzer Divisions advanced into the undefended French rear with speed.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The Sedan bridgeheads were not securely under German control, though, and French forces were massing to the south. Guderian decided it was better to mount an aggressive defence given the lack of any suitable anti-tank weapons for a defensive battle. The better option would be to attack rather than defend. The advance of the 1st and 2nd Panzer Divisions had assisted his progress. They ran into and defeated elements of X Corps near Chémery-sur-Bar. The French Corps was heading towards Sedan, but withdrew southward after the engagement. Any potential threat on the German western flank had been removed.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: Part of Guderian's original plan had called for a feint south towards and behind the Maginot Line, to mask the intention to thrust to the channel. General Franz Halder had dropped this from "Fall Gelb", but Guderian resurrected it and ordered the 10th Panzer Division and Großdeutschland Infantry Regiment to attack across the Stonne plateau. In this innocuous town, a vicious two-day battle took place in which the Germans came face to face with the premier French tank, the Char B1-Bis, for the only time. One of these tanks, commanded by Pierre Billotte, proved invulnerable to German anti-tank fire and took 140 hits, and knocked out 13 German tanks (two Panzer IV and eleven Panzer III) and a number of anti-tank guns. It transpired that the French had concentrated their own armour there to mount another attack on the Sedan bridgeheads. The battle of Stonne took place between 15 and 17 May, and the town changed hands 17 times. Ultimately the failure of the French to hold it meant the final failure to eliminate the Sedan bridgeheads.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The French offensive at Stonne was of vital importance. The town remained a base situated on high ground overlooking Sedan. The French could use it as a base from which to launch long-term attacks on Sedan. On 15 May, the battle began. The French committed the 3d Company, 49th Tank Battalion; 1st Company, 45th Tank Battalion; and the 2d Company, 4th Tank Battalion; the 1st Battalion, 67th Infantry Regiment; and the 1st Company, 51st Infantry Regiment. The French infantry were slow in their advance, which meant the armour outran them. Alone, the tanks tried to attack and failed. At this time, Stonne was held only by the 1st Battalion Großdeutschland supported by only nine of the Regiment's 12 anti-tank artillery guns. As the French pressed forward, the weak German defence struggled to hold its ground. However, when one German platoon managed to knock out three French Char B1s, the French tank crews panicked and drove away to the south. It was a psychological victory for the Germans which encouraged their continued defence of the position. In the next attacks, they held their positions and fought. The town would fall to each side over the next 48 hours, as offensive followed counter-attack. The 10th Panzer sent its 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment to support the hard-pressed Großdeutschland. The Germans retook the town at 17:00 on 17 May, for the fourth time in nine hours.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The Germans reinforced their defences on the night of 16 May with the VI Corps, consisting of the 16th Division under Heinrich Krampf, and 24th Infantry Division. It was a timely deployment. By this time the Großdeutschland had lost 570 men and were in need of rest and the "Panzerjägerkompanie 14" (14th Panzer Anti-tank Company) had lost six of its 12 guns. It had also lost 12 dead and 65 wounded. Stonne was destroyed. Around 33 French tanks and 24 German Panzers were knocked out. With the IV Corps now supporting the German defence and counter-attacks, the town was captured for the 17th and final time at 17:45 on 17 May.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The French defeat at Sedan left the Allies in Belgium with sparse flank protection. The limited and relatively meager Allied flank protection that there existed was swiftly, rapidly, and handily defeated by the German forces in their driving and pressing offensive attack-thrust from their breakout at Sedan. The breakout was so fast that there was little fighting. Many French soldiers were taken prisoner before they could offer resistance, which also explains the low number of casualties suffered both sides. The two assault engineer battalions under Günther Korthals achieved the most important success. By eliminating the bunkers in the Bellevue sector, they made the breakthroughs of the 1st and 2nd Panzer Divisions possible and this was achieved without loss. Military historians agree that the Battle at Sedan sealed the fate of Belgium and France. On 14 May, the Allied forces had been wrong-footed and through their failures in deployment forfeited the campaign.


title: Battle of Sedan (1940)

text: The German advance to the Channel trapped 1,700,000 Allied soldiers and resulted in the expulsion of the Allies from the mainland of Western Europe. The bulk of the British Army escaped from the port of Dunkirk but the Allies left behind large amounts of equipment. The German encirclement destroyed the best units of the French Army, resulting in 40,000 soldiers taken prisoner of war, but 139,732 British and 139,037 French troops escaped. French and British forces were dispatched from England and participated in the battles of June 1940, but the French armed forces ceased fighting on 25 June 1940, when the Armistice of 22 June took effect.


title: K.V.C. Westerlo

text: Koninklijke Voetbal Club Westerlo (; often simply called Westerlo) is a Belgian professional football club located in the municipality of Westerlo in the province of Antwerp. Since 1997–98, Westerlo has been mostly playing in the Belgian Pro League, save for a short stint in the Belgian Second Division between 2012 and 2014. Their highest finish is a 6th place in 1999–00, 2003–04 and 2008–09. They have won one Belgian Cup. The only player who has ever been called up for the Belgium national football team while at Westerlo is Toni Brogno (7 caps, all of them while at Westerlo).


title: K.V.C. Westerlo

text: The club was founded in 1933, receiving the matricule number 2024. Their colours are yellow and blue. They play their home matches at the Het Kuipje.


title: K.V.C. Westerlo

text: K.V.C. Westerlo was founded in the city of Westerlo by students in 1917, and it was named Sportkring De Bist Westerlo. After five years of existence, the club retired. The club Bist Sport was created in 1931 and it changed its name to Sportkring Westerlo two years later. At that time. some players left the club to found Westerlo Sport, the ancestor of K.V.C. Westerlo. In 1939, the club won its league for the first time. Five years later, Sportkring Westerlo and dissident Westerlo Sport decided to merge in spite of the rivalry between the teams, and the new club was called V.C. Westerlo.


title: K.V.C. Westerlo

text: It became champion of the Antwerp second division in 1960. Eight years later it played its first season at the national level in Promotion and it won its league to play the third division in 1969. At the end of the season, Westerlo missed a third title in a row, finishing second behind Eupen. The next year, the club was relegated after the playoff and it stayed in the Promotion for ten seasons. The club then underwent two relegations in a row and thus played in the Antwerp second division in 1982–83. Westerlo was then promoted for three consecutive years to qualify for the third division once again. In 1993, the club promoted to the second division and then to the first division in 1997. In 1996, the club added the prefix "Koninklijke" (meaning "Royal" in Dutch) to its name.


title: K.V.C. Westerlo

text: On 18 June 2019 it was officially announced that the club was taken over by Turkish businessman Oktay Ercan. He immediately made it clear that KVC Westerlo will remain a regional family club, and that more attention will be paid to the social dimension and sporting ambitions. Ercin expressed his commitment in 2019 to a year-long plan called 'KVC Westerlo 2024'.


title: K.V.C. Westerlo

text: Westerlo plays its home matches at Het Kuipje, which is Dutch for "The Small Tank". It is believed to be reference to the Feijenoord Stadion that is nicknamed "De Kuip" ("The Tank"). Its capacity is 8,035.


title: Nafisa Joseph

text: Nafisa Joseph (28 March 1978 – 29 July 2004) was an Indian model and MTV video jockey. She was the winner of Femina Miss India Universe 1997 and was a finalist in the Miss Universe 1997 pageant in Miami Beach.


title: Nafisa Joseph

text: Nafisa Joseph was born on 28 March 1978 in Delhi, and was brought up in Bangalore, Karnataka. She was the younger of two daughters born to father Nirmal Joseph, and mother Usha Joseph, a Bengali, who was a descendant of Tagore. Nafisa studied at Bishop Cotton Girls' School and St. Joseph's College, both at Bangalore. She owed her Islamic first name to the fact that her paternal grandmother may have been Muslim.


title: Nafisa Joseph

text: Joseph started modelling at age 12 when her neighbour got her an opportunity to model for a Wearhouse ad. She was groomed as a model by Prasad Bidapa. Joseph was the youngest participant at the Miss India pageant in 1997, which she won.


title: Nafisa Joseph

text: Joseph participated in the Miss Universe Pageant in Miami Beach, Florida on 16 May 1997, and was among the 10 semifinalists in the pageant.


title: Nafisa Joseph

text: In 1999, she was a judge for the MTV India VJ Hunt and was also a VJ for MTV. A week later she was called for a screen test to host a show on MTV . She ran the "MTV House Full" show for close to five years. She also acted in a television series "C.A.T.S.", an Indian version of "Charlie's Angels" for Sony Entertainment Television. In 2004, she hosted a show "Style" on Star World. She also launched a television programming unit "2's Company" with the help of her fiancé, Gautam Khanduja. She edited a magazine called "Gurlz". She also had a brief cameo in the Subhash Ghai film "Taal".


title: Nafisa Joseph

text: In addition to modeling and hosting duties, Joseph was a lover of animals and campaigned for Welfare of Stray Dogs (WSD), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and People for Animals (PFA), organizations for animal protection, and wrote a weekly column called "Nafisa for Animals" in the Bangalore edition of the "Times of India".


title: Nafisa Joseph

text: Joseph hanged herself in her flat in Versova on 29 July 2004. She was to marry businessman Gautam Khanduja in a few weeks' time. According to her parents, Joseph took the step because her marriage was called off. This was due to Joseph having discovered that Khanduja was still married, although having told her he had been divorced for two years. When confronted, Khanduja refused to answer questions about his marital life or produce divorce papers that he had previously claimed he had filed. Instead, press reports at the time mention that he then threatened her with blackmail, probably after she threatened to confront his wife.


title: Nafisa Joseph

text: Joseph's parents filed a police report accusing her fiancé for her death, claiming that Khanduja had been desperate to get out of the wedding for some time, and sought his custodial interrogation. In November 2005, the trial against Khanduja was stayed by the Bombay High Court until January 2006. Khanduja claimed that there was no evidence to prove that breaking off the engagement had led to Joseph's suicide.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: "Double Dragon" introduced several additions to the "Kunio-kun" belt scroll beat 'em up formula, such as a continuous side-scrolling world adding a sense of progression, two-player cooperative gameplay, the ability to arm oneself with an enemy's weapon after disarming them, and the use of cut scenes to give it a cinematic look and feel. The game's title is a reference to the two-player gameplay and Bruce Lee's martial arts film "Enter the Dragon" (1973), which was a major inspiration behind "Kunio-kun" and "Double Dragon", while the game's art style and setting were influenced by the "Mad Max" films and "Fist of the North Star" manga and anime series.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: "Double Dragon" was one of the first successful beat 'em up games, becoming Japan's third highest-grossing table arcade game of 1987 before becoming America's highest-grossing dedicated arcade game for two years in a row, in 1988 and 1989. It also received critical acclaim, with "Electronic Gaming Monthly" awarding it 1988 Game of the Year. Its success resulted in the creation of the "Double Dragon" franchise, including two arcade sequels and several spinoffs, and it ushered in a "Golden Age" for the beat 'em up genre, establishing the conventions for a wave of beat 'em ups from other companies during the late 1980s to 1990s. Originally an arcade game, home versions were released for the NES, Master System, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari ST, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Game Boy, Genesis/Mega Drive and Atari Lynx, among other platforms during the series's height of popularity. A remake titled "Double Dragon Advance" was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: The game is displayed in a belt scroll format, like "Kunio-kun". In contrast to the arena-like levels in "Kunio-kun", "Double Dragon" takes place in a continuously side-scrolling world.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: The player takes control of martial artist Billy Lee, or his twin brother Jimmy (also known as Hammer and Spike in the supplementary materials for the American arcade release), as they fight their way into the turf of the Black Warriors gang in order to rescue Billy's girlfriend, Marian. The player character has a repertoire of martial arts techniques which they can perform by using the joystick and three action buttons (kick, jump, and punch) individually or in combination. Techniques range from basic punches and kicks to more elaborate attacks such as throws and elbow strikes. When playing with another player, one can grab an opponent from behind, allowing the other to attack unimpeded; some enemies are able to do the same thing to the players. The player begins the game with a certain number of extra lives and a life gauge which depletes as the player takes hits, and must complete each stage within a time limit. One life is lost if either the life gauge or timer reaches zero, or if the player character falls off the bottom of the screen or into a hole, river, or bed of spikes.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: Certain enemies carry melee weapons, which can be knocked out of their hands and picked up to use against them. Available weapons include baseball bats, whips, throwing knives, and dynamite; in addition, rocks, oil drums, and boxes can be found in certain places.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: The Black Warriors gang consists of six recurring members and their gang leader. Williams and Rowper serves as the common bad guys throughout the game. Williams wears a tank top, while Rowper wears a shirtless vest matching the color of his pants. The two will occasionally appear wielding a weapon such as a baseball bat, a throwing knife or a dynamite stick, with Rowper also having the ability to lift and throw heavy objects such as oil drums and boxes. Linda is the sole female member of the gang and wears a purple leotard. Sometimes she will appear armed with a whip. There are two types of tall strongman enemies: a bald strongman who appears as a recurring sub-boss and a mohawked strongman who serves as end-boss of Mission 1 (with dark skin) and Mission 3 (with green skin). At the time of the arcade version's release, the bald strongman version was named Zack, while the dark mohawked version was named Jack, with Abobo being the green version, although these names felt into disuse in later console versions that only include the bald strongman (who would end up being renamed Abobo). Jeff is a head swap of the Lee brothers who first appears as the end-boss of the second stage and later appears as a recurring underling in the final two stages. Willy is the gang's leader and final boss of the game. He is armed with a machine gun that is capable dealing great damage to the player.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: The game is divided into four different stages or "missions", which consist of a city slum, a factory, a forest, and the gang's hideout. The first three levels takes place in a single long map, with the change in background music indicating the presence of a boss character. When a boss is defeated, the remaining underlings will retreat and the player character will enter an automatic transition sequence where he will walk into the next stage. There's also another transmission sequence near the end of the third stage just as the player reaches the entrance of the gang's hideout. The fourth and final stage is set inside the hideout on a separate map as the player fight their way through numerous traps until reaching the main hall where Willy awaits. The "Double Dragon" title theme plays during this period. The game normally ends if Willy is defeated by a single player, but if both Lee brothers manage to complete the game together, they will be forced to fight each other in order to determine who will win Marian's affections. Both life gauges are refilled, any extra lives are taken away, and the timer is reset for this fight.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: The game's development was led by Yoshihisa Kishimoto, who had previously created the 1986 arcade beat 'em up "Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun", which was a semi-autobiographical game based on his own high school years and was localized as "Renegade" in the West. Following its release, he was asked by his seniors at Technōs Japan to create a follow-up, which they suggested should be two-player as that could earn more money in video arcades. He originally envisioned what would become "Double Dragon" as a "Kunio-kun" game, a direct sequel to "Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun", before his seniors asked him to design an art style that would appeal to international audiences. This led to Kishimoto changing it to a spiritual successor with a new cast and setting, rather than a direct sequel. He came up with a new title, "Double Dragon", with the "Double" referencing the two-player gameplay and the "Dragon" a homage to Bruce Lee's martial arts film "Enter the Dragon" (1973), which was a major inspiration behind "Kunio-kun" and "Double Dragon". For the game's setting and art style, he replaced the high-school-themed setting of "Kunio-kun" with a disaster-ridden city inspired by the "Mad Max" films and the manga and anime series "Fist of the North Star". Kishimoto also expanded the game world to make it a continuously side-scrolling world, adding a sense of progression to the game. This, along with the use of cut scenes, also gave it a cinematic look and feel.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: The original arcade version displayed 384 colors on the screen, out of a 4096 (12-bit) color palette. The hardware used several 8-bit microprocessors running in parallel. Along with the multiple Hitachi HD6309 based processors, multiple processors were dedicated to sound, such as the Yamaha YM2151 FM synthesis sound chip.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: "Double Dragon" was ported to the Family Computer by Technōs Japan in 1988. The game was published for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America by Tradewest, who was given the license to produce other home versions of the game as well, and by Nintendo in Europe. The NES version of "Double Dragon" was released for the Wii's Virtual Console service in April 2008 in Europe and North America. It was also released in North America on December 12, 2013, for the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U although in Europe, the former was released on December 5, while the latter was released on March 13, 2014.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: The most notable difference the NES version has from the arcade game is the omission of the arcade's two players cooperative game mode in favor of alternating play. The plot was altered as a result of this changeinstead of having both Lee brothers as protagonists, the NES version has players controlling Billy Lee as the lone protagonist, with Jimmy Lee serving as the antagonist and true leader of the Black Warriors.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: Due to technical limitations of the NES that were not worked around, the game can only generate up to two enemies on-screen to confront the player and always as identical pairs. Additionally, any weapon on-screen (including the one carried by the player) will disappear when a wave of enemies has been defeated. A level-up system was also implemented. The player begins the game with only a limited repertoire of basic attacks and earns experience points by defeating enemies, gaining the ability to use more powerful techniques at specific thresholds. The player can achieve up to seven levels throughout the game.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: The level designs are very different, with some stages featuring new areas (notably the cavern section in Mission 3) that feature greater emphasis on jumping over platforms or evading traps. Most of the enemies from the arcade version also appear, with the exception of Jeff and the mohawked variant of Abobo. A new enemy character, a Chinese martial arts master named Chin Taimei (shortened to Chintai in the localized version) serves as the boss of the second stage and appears as a recurring minor enemy for the rest of the game.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: The NES version features a bonus game mode (dubbed "Mode B") where the player can choose between Billy or one of five enemy characters (Will, Rowper, Linda, Chin, and Abobo) from the main game and compete against a double of their character controlled by the computer or a second player in a one-on-one match. Matches against the computer are handicapped in favor of the computer-controlled character, while certain characters will get a chance to wield a weapon in the 2-Players matches. The mode features larger sprites different from the main game itself.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: "Double Dragon" was only the second game that Technōs developed for the NES, and the two-player mode was reputedly omitted because of the programmers' inexperience with the hardware. This also accounts for the game's large number of bugs and glitches.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: Shortly after the release of the NES version, Sega acquired the rights to develop its own port of the game for the Sega Mark III and Master System with the Master System version being developed by Arc System Works (who would eventually gain the rights for the franchise as part of their Intellectual Property portfolio). The game supports the optional FM Sound Unit sold separately for the Mark III and which is already integrated into the Japanese Master System models.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: This version featured brighter colors and displaying up to three different enemies on-screen, although weapons are limited to only one per screen. The game retains the two-player co-op mode (including the final face off between both players) and has level designs that were closer to the arcade game (aside from missing ladders in some areas). This version retains the Mission 2 end-boss, a head swap of the Lee brothers (who is given the name Jeff in this version). Like the NES version, the mohawked variant of Abobo is also missing in this version, with the end-boss of Mission 1 and 3 being a palette swap of the bald version.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: The Master System version allows for unlimited continues until the final stage. However, if a player performs 10 backward jump kicks at the start of the final stage, they retain their unlimited continues.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: In 1990, Technōs Japan produced a Game Boy version of "Double Dragon", which was also released in North America and Europe by Tradewest. This version features gameplay similar to the NES version, but with completely different level designs and all of the main character's moves available from the start. The enemies are the same as the NES version, but some of the characters such as Abobo and Chin were given new techniques. The main game mode is still single player, although the game ends after the fight with Willy, with Jimmy not appearing in the main game. A two-player Versus Mode is also included like in the NES version, but the only characters available to play as are the Lee brothers. This version has also been re-released on the Virtual Console for the Nintendo 3DS in 2011.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: Versions of "Double Dragon" have been produced for various other platforms as well. In 1988, Activision released versions of "Double Dragon" for the Atari 2600 and Atari 7800. In addition, home computer versions of the game were released for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and PC compatibles. Most were developed by UK-based Binary Designs aside from the PC port, which was developed by Arcadia Software.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: Two different Amstrad CPC versions were produced: one was released for the CPC6128 (128 kB RAM) based on the Amiga version, while the other was released for the CPC464 (tape and 64 kB RAM) and was ported from the Sinclair version. In 1991, a second Commodore 64 version was released by Ocean Software unrelated to the earlier Binary Designs port. It came on a special 32k bank-switched cartridge and did not support two-player mode.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: The original Binary Design port of "Double Dragon" for the Commodore 64 was heavily criticized for its poor quality and is often considered one of the worst commercially released C64 games and one of the worst arcade conversions of all time. After a previous porting attempt had led the original programmers to abandon the team, Virgin Mastertronic (who had the rights to the Commodore 64 version) handed the task of salvaging the conversion to otherwise well-regarded programmer pair Ash and Dave. However, they were given only six weeks to port the entire game, resulting in a fatally rushed port that lacked almost all of the gameplay elements of the arcade game. Knowing the futility of their effort, they did not add their credits and only recently revealed their role in the port. Only two weapons (the whip and baseball bat) are available and backgrounds are static; the player cannot climb or jump on or interact with them, and the battle with the final boss at the end is absent. The game also featured a visible gap between the characters' upper and lower bodies due to a poorly coded sprite multiplexer routine; the instruction manual included an apology message from the programming team for this visual artifact.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: In 1992, Accolade released a Mega Drive/Genesis port of the game in North America and Europe under the Ballistic Software label. This version was released as an unlicensed third-party cartridge. Although the Mega Drive/Genesis has a smaller color palette than the arcade original, due to the more powerful 16-bit hardware it actually fixes all of the slow down problems from the original arcade game. In contrast, it had a number of deficiencies (especially in sound quality) because Ballistic Software were forced to use a small 512 Kilobyte (4 Megabit) cartridge ROM for cost reasons. This version came closest to the arcade game at the time.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: An Atari Lynx version was released in 1993, developed by Knight Technologies and published by Telegames.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: In 2003, a remake of the original arcade game titled "Double Dragon Advance" was released for the Game Boy Advance. This version features four additional stages interspersed between the four original stages, as a new set of moves and enemy characters, some of which are lifted or inspired by other games in the series. It was published by Atlus under license from Million Corporation, the company which held the IP to the series at the time. In 2006, a mobile phone game based on "Double Dragon Advance" was released titled "Double Dragon EX". It was developed by Korean-based Eolith.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: An Xbox Live Arcade version of "Double Dragon" was released on May 9, for the Xbox 360 in 2007. This version features an emulation of the original arcade game, as well as an optional game mode featuring redrawn high definition graphics and a remixed soundtrack. It also features support for online multiplayer. It was delisted on July 1, 2009, due to the closure of its publisher, Empire Interactive.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: 2011 saw the release of a new version of "Double Dragon" for iOS and Android devices. It was again developed by Brizo Interactive under license from Million, in collaboration with Aksys Games, and published by Bow Mobile Corp. It employs brand new artwork and sprites, Bluetooth multiplayer connectivity, online score ranking, and a host of other new and unique features, new to the franchise.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: The arcade version of "Double Dragon" was re-released in 2013 alongside its two sequels in a compilation titled "Double Dragon Trilogy" produced by DotEmu, which was released on iOS, Android, and Steam platforms.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: The arcade game was a blockbuster hit. In Japan, "Game Machine" listed "Double Dragon" on their July 1, 1987 issue as being the most-successful table arcade cabinet of the month. It went on to be the third highest-grossing table arcade game of 1987 in Japan. In Europe, it was the top-grossing arcade game on the UK's Deith Leisure arcade charts for two months in 1987, from July to August. In the United States, it became the highest-grossing arcade video game of 1988, and again the highest-grossing dedicated arcade game for a second year in 1989. In 1988, Taito America had sold over 10,000 dedicated arcade cabinets in the United States, where it was purchased by over 80% of arcade operators. However, Taito America's earnings were negatively impacted by illegal "Double Dragon" printed circuit board (PCB) sales, which led to a successful lawsuit from Taito America in 1989.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: Toys "R" Us reported that the NES version of "Double Dragon" sold out in its first two weeks on sale in the United States, becoming America's top-selling game by July 1988. Demand continued into Christmas 1988, when it was among the most in-demand games, along with "Super Mario Bros. 2" and "Zelda II". Activision's Atari 2600 version also sold nearly 500,000 cartridges, making it one of the most popular games on the Atari 2600 towards the end of its lifespan. In the United Kingdom, Melbourne House's ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 ports topped the software sales chart in late 1988, Mastertronic's Amiga port topped the Amiga chart in early 1990, and Mastertronic's budget C64 release was the third top-selling C64 game in June 1991. Mastertronic's home computer game ports went on to sell 289,510 units in the UK.


title: Double Dragon (video game)

text: The original arcade version was well-received upon release. In the August 1987 issue of "Commodore User", Ferdy Hamilton gave it ratings of 9 for graphics, 7 for sound, 9 for toughness, 10 for endurance, and 9 for value, with an overall score of 9 out of 10. He noted the game's popularity, stating that it took him "about half an hour to get near it in my local arcade" and "a brief glance around West End arcades confirmed" that ""Double Dragon" is set to be a massive coin-op hit". He said that it "isn't an easy game to play initially" and requires "both brain and brawn", described the graphics as "superb, the handling likewise", and stated "the variety of actions, locations and enemies make this a true state of the art Beat 'Em Up, centuries beyond those old Kung Fu games which still litter the arcades". He concluded it to be "a strong contender for hottest beat 'em up yet". In the July 1987 issue of "Computer and Video Games", Clare Edgeley described the "sordid street fights" as "great fun when you've got the guts" and "if you manage to get hang of the controls". She concluded that "all the ingredients are there for a really addictive, martial arts style kick 'em to bits".