The war that took place in Russia ended

At this time, in the African theater, Rommel, who had failed in the offensive, realized the defeat and ordered the German army to retreat in the direction of Gazala. Finding that there was no effective line of defense to defend on, he soon ordered a retreat to Sirte Bay again, where he attempted to halt the westward advance of the British army. Eventually, the British "Crusaders" operation, known to the Germans as the "Winter Campaign", finally ended in the desolate desert terrain around Argera, and the Germans suffered a crushing defeat. And just nine months ago, it was here that Rommel commanded his "Afrika Korps" to launch the first massive offensive against the British.

History seems to repeat the same scene: more than a year ago, the invincible British army arrived in the Argeira area after a long pursuit, exhausted and loosely organized, only to be attacked by the Axis ** and lose a large amount of territory. Now, this situation will soon be repeated: the Afrika Korps is like a spring, which by January 1942 has been squeezed to the limit and could bounce back again at any time.

By this time, the Indra tug-of-war, jokingly dubbed the "Benghazi Steeplechase," was far from over. While directing the troops to retreat westward, Rommel was always thinking about how to seize the favorable opportunity to launch a counteroffensive.

Rommel had a wealth of valuable information by reconnoitring and deciphering the British radio communications. In January 1942, he realized that a very precious time for a counteroffensive had arrived. At that time, the British, while also preparing for a new offensive, believed that the Axis forces were incapable of launching an offensive immediately after the recent setbacks and retreats.

In contrast to the intricate chain of command within the British 8th Army, the German commander Rommel had considerable autonomy. Theoretically, Rommel should have accepted the restraint of the German Army's South-West Command and the Italian High Command, but he simply ignored it. He paid no attention to his German superiors, and likewise his Italian superiors were only informed of Rommel's next battle plan when they discovered that the Italian troops had begun to advance.

At this time, Germany sent more than 100 new Mark IV tanks to the North African theater, and their artillery systems were upgraded to be more advanced than any British tank. Rommel was a commander who could seize all the planes, and if he found a valuable opportunity to attack, he would never leave his troops and equipment idle, but would resolutely and decisively throw them into battle. On January 21, 1942, the Axis ** team suddenly launched a counteroffensive, which caught the British by surprise and forced the British army to retreat hastily.

By 10 February, the exhausted, thirsty, dusty but successful Afrika Korps had once again returned to Melmoriga, under the command of their brilliant commander Rommel, only 56 kilometers from the long-cherished Tubrug.

At this moment, Rommel's German superior, Field Marshal Kesselring, reminded Rommel that he should not continue his rash march in any case, and that he should at least wait until sufficient personnel, armoured troops, ammunition, and especially fuel were fully available before considering the next move. Of course, Rommel himself recognized the rationality in the proposal. Only his reconnaissance force advanced to Temimi, where they soon discovered that the Commonwealth army had amassed a large number of troops along the line from Ghazala Bay to Bir Hakem, that strong fortifications were being built in the northern and central sectors, and that a large number of mines had been laid in the vicinity. Obviously, the Afrika Korps had to rack their brains to break through or bypass these lines from the flanks.

Both sides are trying to amass large quantities of logistical supplies in preparation for the next battle. Due to the strong blockade of the Mediterranean route by the British Royal Navy fleet, it was difficult for the supplies of the Axis ** to reach the North African battlefield. On the contrary, in the spring of 1942, the first shipments of war materials from the United States arrived in Egypt, including a large number of M3 medium tanks. The M3 tank was equipped with a 37 mm gun on the turret and a 75 mm gun on the hull, and its armor protection was much better than that of the British tank. …,

In mid-May, Rommel's battlefield reconnaissance unit reported signs of an imminent British attack. At this time, Rommel's strength was still inferior to the British, so he suggested that Field Marshal Kesselring hope to reinforce some of the air forces in the Maltese field, including dive bombers and "Messerschmitt" Bf 109F fighters, the latter of which was more advanced than any RAF fighter in North Africa at the time.

The British defensive line consisted of a series of reinforced barracks, which contained infantry brigades supported by artillery fire, surrounded by dense barbed wire, and more than 500,000 mines were planted behind the barbed wire to prevent German breakthroughs

Behind these lines, British armored divisions were deployed.

Theoretically, they would be ready to strike a fatal blow at the Germans, but in reality, due to the chaotic command structure within the British army, they would be fighting on their own in the desert!

Rommel was sure that his British opponents did not understand the basic laws of war, but this was not the case. The British understood these theories, but the "obedience to the commission" syndrome that prevailed within the 8th Army prevented them from being implemented.

The previous month, in March, Rommel had met with Hitler alone and received permission from him to launch a new offensive. According to Hitler's idea, Rommel's offensive target would be Tubrug, and after reaching it, he would not continue to advance, and he would return the Luftwaffe squadron that had supported the operation to the battlefield in Sicily within one month. However, Rommel revealed much greater ambition in his personal letters, and even before the Battle of Ghazala, he had planned to fight all the way to Egypt and the Suez Canal, turning a partial victory into a strategic victory.

Rommel went on the offensive. However, neither his battle plan nor the British's battle plan was executed in its entirety after the first meeting between the two sides. First, his feint attack on the middle of the British line did not attract the opposing reserves; Second, his manoeuvres on the wide flanks were not met with the expected interception of the British Panzer Division, and the British tanks stood still, allowing their commanders to quarrel.

As soon as the battle began, the light plane of the Afrika Korps commander, General Kluwer, was shot by the British, and he himself was captured. At that time, Kesselring happened to go to the Afrika Korps command for an inspection. As the highest-ranking officer present, the air marshal personally took command and spent a very pleasant afternoon.

Eventually, Rommel arrived to take over the job.

During the course of the battle, Rommel, who was often accused of not paying attention to logistics, did something "earth-shattering" by personally organizing a night supply operation for the 15th Panzer Division, which stunned the British. At that time, the 15th Panzer Division broke through the British lines, and unexpectedly found itself surrounded. The British commander was sure that Rommel had fallen into the trap.

There is such a military adage: a commander can never be defeated unless he himself first admits defeat.

This maxim was most vividly and accurately verified in Rommel. According to a captured British officer, at that time, he had witnessed the scene of Rommel's operational command. After being surrounded by the British army, Rommel did not panic, on the contrary, he stood calmly on the command car, wearing headphones, and gave countless orders while studying the combat map in front of him. In that battle, Rommel's unparalleled self-confidence, unhurried command and control, and mastery of the battle situation contrasted sharply with the panic, confusion, and recklessness of his opponents, the British.

At this time in the battle, there was no real front on the battlefield, and the armies of the enemy and us were glued together. There is no doubt that in this case, victory will go to the one who is convinced that he will win, and defeat will come to the commander who thinks he is inferior and unskilled. Subsequent facts have proven this result. In the wrestling between the two sides, the advantage gradually shifted to the side of the Germans. At the southernmost end of the Allied front, at Bir Hakem, the Free French troops were stationed, and after an epic week-long resistance under heavy German attack, they were finally forced to retreat and Bir Hakem was lost. Immediately afterwards, the British army also began to retreat. Rommel then gave full force to the pursuit. …,

Almost instantly, Tubrug was in extreme danger. Rommel launched a fierce attack on the southeastern sector of the Tubrug Line. Unfortunately for the British, they had been mistakenly believing that the enemy would attack from the southwest, so they deployed most of their artillery and the entire 2nd South African Division in the south-west sector, and transferred most of the mines originally deployed in the south-east sector to other sectors, which greatly weakened the defense capability of the south-east sector. The German offensive proceeded in an orderly manner like a pre-set clock, and three hours after Marshal Kesselring's bombers opened the offensive, the 15th Panzer Division broke through the British lines, and the Italian divisions of Alette and Trieste followed closely and made every effort to expand the breach. At this time, after breaking through the British ring line, the Axis ** team can destroy the enemy's entire defense through a real "blitzkrieg".

The next day, just as the British and Commonwealth forces at the Tubrug Fortress continued their stubborn resistance, they were shocked and outraged to find a huge white flag raised over their headquarters. As the first morning breeze of the day blew slowly, the white flag symbolizing surrender waved slightly in the air, and a very strong atmosphere of pain, grief, and disappointment permeated the entire position. At any time, defeat is extremely painful!

But for the thousands of British soldiers here who had just experienced the pain of defeat, they also had to endure the great humiliation of surrender. On that very day, more than 30,000 Allied officers and soldiers were taken prisoners of war, and when they marched past Rommel, perhaps most did not know the victor who was complacent. The British suffered extremely heavy losses, with more than 2,000 vehicles, 4,335 tons of supplies and 1,814 tons of fuel captured by the Germans. Now, the ambitious Rommel is even beginning to think that final victory is within reach.

The capture of Tubrug was a source of ecstasy for the German Panzer Army, and it also brought Rommel himself a field marshal's scepter. However, this is far from the end of the matter.

When Rommel was promoted to field marshal, the staff officers congratulated him, but he replied with detachment: "All troops must be assembled and prepared for further attacks." ”

He has set his sights on the Egyptian border, the Nile Delta, the Suez Canal and beyond, dreaming of greater glory. To the disagreement from his superior, Field Marshal Kesselring, and from the Italian commanders, Rommel replied that the enemy was now in disarray, and that he was powerless to resist the rapid and powerful assault he was about to launch. He added that now with the huge reserve base of supplies in Tubrug, it will no longer be fatally limited by a shortage of supplies when launching an offensive. This claim was supported by Mussolini and Hitler, who hoped that Rommel would bring himself a landslide victory.

By the evening of 22 June, the 90th Light Panzer Division had arrived at Baierdi, and the 21st Panzer Division was on its way here. By the next day, the 15th Panzer Division and the Alett Division had begun a flanking attack on the southern section of the Egyptian border, pursuing the remnants of the retreating 8th Army in front. At the same time, Rommel himself inspected a supply warehouse that had just been captured by the 90th Light Panzer Division, located at Fort Capuzzo, where a huge amount of fuel was kept.

On the part of the British, the military "dance of death" continued: military orders were not smooth, intelligence was delayed and inaccurate, the front-line troops no longer believed in their superiors and support units, the infantry no longer believed in the armored units, and the artillery and engineering units fled for their lives. Those who were willing to give their lives for a just cause no longer show loyalty and obedience to their commanders. Because in their opinion, those people are not trustworthy at all, and their efforts and even their lives will be buried in vain due to the incompetence of the military command. …,

A British plan to hold off the German Panzer Army south of Port Matrux ended in a crushing failure.

It was only then that Auchinleck took what many believed, including Prime Minister Churchill, to take a long time coming: to order the removal of General Ritchie from his post and to take his own command of the war. In doing so, he easily shifted the blame for his previous defeat onto Ritchie.

Rommel seemed to have gained the upper hand, but in reality it was the Allied side that won the logistical battle. Due to the fact that the British Royal Navy blew up the port facilities during the retreat, the port of Tubrug, although it fell into the hands of the Axis **, was unusable. As a result, they had to spend up to three weeks transporting supplies overland from the port of Tripoli to the front line.

At that time, the island of Malta was bombed indiscriminately by German and Italian troops. In order to rescue the island of Malta, six Allied cargo ships loaded with war materiel set off from Gibraltar.

A further 11 cargo ships departed from Alexandria and headed for Malta under the escort of 1 battleship, 2 escort aircraft carriers, 12 cruisers and a large number of small ships. In the end, only 2 cargo ships of the convoy arrived safely, 6 were sunk and 3 were seriously injured. Of the escort ships, 5 cruisers were heavily damaged, 4 destroyers were sunk.

At the same time that Rommel was attempting to attack Cairo, the Allies were making their last fuel and material replenishment effort on the island of Malta - Operation "Mount". Under the escort of 2 battleships, 3 escort aircraft carriers, 1 sunk, 7 cruisers, 2 sunk, 33 destroyers and 1 sunk, 14 merchant ships sailed to the island of Malta, 9 were sunk on the way, and only 5 finally reached their destination, including the seriously damaged oil tanker "Ohio". By this time, reinforcements from the Allied air forces had relieved the enormous pressure on the island of Malta

Under the joint attack of the Allied naval and air forces, the third round of efforts by sea transportation and replenishment of the Axis fleet from Italy to the North African theater finally ended with the death of the Mediterranean Sea!

By this time, the Allied air forces had built up a large force of fighters, fighter-bombers, and bombers. In the air, despite Joachim. Ace pilots such as Messele had a golden opportunity to make a difference, but this never-ending air battle also inevitably drained Germany's fuel and skilled pilots.

In front of the modern fighters of the Allied air forces, Rommel's "flying artillery car" -- the "Junker" Type 87 fighter -- was also ruthlessly expelled from the air battlefield.

However, the air superiority of the British was not yet fully manifested for the time being. The Axis Team had crossed the port of Matruo and advanced along the coastal road to Fuquet, heading towards its next target, Eldaba.

Two German panzer divisions and the Italian Arlette division advanced to Gussel in the southwest. Directly in front of them was a small railway station in El Alamein, whose name had been almost unheard of until then.

Rommel's order was concise and to the point. Rommel was not convinced that the British lines in front of him would be more difficult to break through than any of the lines he had encountered before, and so, although his troops were exhausted after four weeks of assault, he asked them to take their spirits together and make a final charge. However, for the Axis forces at this time, the iron will of Rommel himself was not enough. On the march, they were heavily bombarded by Allied air power, but they were unable to fight back.

The officers and men of the 90th Light Panzer Division were suddenly under overwhelming artillery fire from the Allied side, and they had never experienced such heavy fire. Allied heavy artillery, howitzers, light and medium field guns, mortars, anti-tank guns. They all fired together, forming an impenetrable and terrifying barrage. Such a scene alarmed even Rommel himself, who hurried to the forward positions in armored vehicles to command. This tactic had a very noticeable effect, and Auchinleck finally found a way to hold back the Germans. …,

The fierce battle lasted 3 weeks, however, Rommel was eventually repulsed only 1 mile. This campaign once again exposed serious problems within the British 8th Army in terms of coordinated operations, whose tactical and operational level was simply a world away from that of the Germans, and which had to be thoroughly reorganized and fully trained. In the First Battle of El Alamein, both sides had their own gains and losses. Auchinleck held Rommel back from reaching the Nile - but the Axis Panzer Army was still there, and no one knew when they would attack again and if they would succeed.

Here and now, both sides had to pause for a moment to catch their breath. When the resupply is completed, there will undoubtedly be another fierce battle. The exhausted soldiers finally had the opportunity to lie down in the trenches and rest, read the letters of their relatives back home, and taste the long-lost affection on the cruel and merciless battlefield. However, everyone knows that this calm will not last long.

Rommel attacked Alemhalfa again, and the next four days of fighting would determine the outcome of the desert war. This time, Rommel began to face a new opponent - Bernard Brown, who had just been appointed commander of the 8th Army by Auchinleck. General L. Montgomery.

The RAF seized complete air supremacy and launched a reckless and fierce bombardment of the Germans' material reserves and command units. At this time, Rommel was sick from a long period of fighting, and his 17,000 veterans were also suffering from various diseases, after you know, they had been fighting in the deserts of North Africa for a year.

With Montgomery taking office, the British refused to play the old game with the Germans, and their armored forces no longer carried out "suicidal" initiatives, as they had done in the past, but waited patiently for the Germans to arrive, supported by artillery and air force.

As a result, they never had the same relaxed and panicked scene that Rommel had seen that summer. At the moment, Rommel's "Eastern Plan" has been forced to postpone.

The "Vostok Plan" was an extremely ambitious battle plan, which was approved by the Chancellery of the Third Reich, and planned a huge pincer offensive from the Wehrmacht in the direction of the Caucasus and the German Afrika Korps in the direction of the Suez Canal. After the two armies converged, they would continue to advance eastward until they joined forces with the Japanese, who were advancing from west to east. However, due to the delay of advantageous fighters, the "Vostok Project" was ultimately aborted!