Aisne
Aisne ( , ; ; ) is a French departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne (river), Aisne. In 2020, it had a population of 529,374.
Geography
The department borders No ...
Hauts-de-France
Hauts-de-France (; ; ), also referred to in English as Upper France, is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. ...
in northern
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
Battle of Montcornet
On 14 May 1940,
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...
was given command of the new
4e Division cuirassée
The 4th Armored Division () was a short-lived armoured unit of the French Army. Formed on 10 May 1940 on the battlefield, it comprised mainly tank battalions. It fought without interruption for forty days and was initially commanded by Charles d ...
and ordered to execute a counterattack toward Montcornet, with the objective of slowing the German advance. This was one of the only counterattacks of the French campaign that succeeded in repulsing the German troops.