#37 — Char B1 bis: France's Rolling Fortress That Terrified the Panzers
At the Battle of Stonne in May 1940, a single Char B1 bis named "Eure" destroyed 13 German tanks in a single engagement, taking 140 hits without a penetration. Captain Pierre Billotte drove his tank through the entire German position and back, and the mechanics could not find a single hole in the armor.
The Char B1 bis mounted two guns — a 75mm howitzer in the hull and a 47mm SA 35 in the turret — giving it more firepower than any German tank in 1940. Its 60mm frontal armor was impervious to the standard German 37mm anti-tank gun. France built 369 of them, and in almost every direct engagement, they mauled German armor. So why did France fall? Doctrine. The B1 bis was scattered in small packets across the front instead of concentrated for counterattack. Its 36-liter fuel consumption per 100 kilometers gave it a range of just 180 km, and the one-man turret overwhelmed the commander. The Char B1 bis proves that in armored warfare, the best military equipment in the world loses to superior strategy and tactics every time.
