40 kilometers. Marshal Petain gave the order to cease the fighting on 17 June. considered that the prestige and the honor of the National School of Cavalry obliged him, despite this order, to fight in Saumur and keep the Germans from crossing the Loire (even with extremely limited means). 790 vacant Aspirants of the Cavalry Reserve, trained in Saumur since May 1940 were deployed in 27 brigades on various strategic points. The night of 18 June, their first act of war was to explode the four strategic bridges on the Loire river, one in Montsoreau, two in Saumur and one in Gennes. For three days, about 2,000 men held three German Panzer divisions, with 40,000 men, in failure, with training material, without air support, without hope, but not without panache. To these inexperienced young fighters whom they themselves called (the Cadets), the German horsemen, soldiers of tradition, did not take them prisoner and released them paying tribute to their courage. This name remained thereafter. Geography Location Montsoreau is at the center of the Loire Valley, in north-western France, from the Atlantic Ocean, and approximately from Saumur, Chinon and Bourgueil. It is situated in southeastern Maine-et-Loire department, approximately halfway between Paris and Bordeaux. The village is at the crossroad of the three main administrative regions of, Pays de la Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, and Nouvelle-Aquitaine, and of the three departments of Maine-et-Loire, Indre-et-Loire, and Vienne. Montsoreau is part of the Metropolitan Area of Saumur Val de Loire and share borders with municipalities both in the Maine-et-Loire and Indre-et-Loire departments. These municipalities are: Candes-Saint-Martin, Chouzé-sur-Loire, Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, and Turquant. Hydrology The Loire river, nicknamed the last wild river in Europe, is the longest river in France (). It is one of the main tourist attraction in Montsoreau, it reaches here, at the confluence of the Vienne and the Loire rivers, its full width. Downstream, it has already been inflated with waters from the Indre and the Cher rivers. The river bed has considerably changed over centuries, before the great flood of January 1496 the confluence of the rivers Loire and Vienne was in Saumur. Climate The climate of Montsoreau, is characterized by the high sunshine of the Loire Valley, a favorable region for wine and cultivation of fruits. Important oceanic influences as well as the immediate proximity of the Loire river make Montsoreau benefit from a climate called (sweetness of Anjou). This climate