Surprising them out of the Ardennes forest where the Allies believed no armored force could operate, the German spearhead quickly started running for the coast at Dunkirk. The first use of an armored spearhead was during World War II in the 1940 Battle of France, the German Army's invasion of the Low Countries, against the British and French armies. In order to avoid this the spearhead must move as fast as possible in order to keep the defense from re-organizing in this fashion. A determined enemy can counterattack against the infantry on the flanks, thereby cutting off the spearhead from resupply and quickly bringing it to a halt. As the spearhead moves forward, infantry units following in the gap behind them form up on either side of the line of advance in order to protect the flanks. The idea is to concentrate as much firepower into a small front as possible, so any defenders in front of them will be overwhelmed. JSTOR ( September 2014) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Īn armoured spearhead (American English: armored spearhead) is a formation of armoured fighting vehicles, mostly tanks, that form the front of an offensive thrust during a battle.Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.įind sources: 'Armoured spearhead' – news Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This article needs additional citations for verification.
