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Rommel's last ditch effort: How did he plan his strategy to siege the British army?
Between August 30 and September 5, 1942, the Battle of Alam al-Hafa broke out in the Western Desert Campaign of World War II. The German Panzer Corps Africa, commanded by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, intended to encircle the British Eighth Army. However, the British Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery successfully defused the attack with his wisdom and good intelligence. threats.
Rommel originally planned to launch a night attack on the weak British defense line, trying to break through the Eighth Army's defense before sunrise.
Rommel's plan mainly relied on the advantages of speed and time. He believed that the British army's defense in the southern section was not as strong as the northern section, so he chose to attack here. However, unlike previous battles, the British army was aware of it and gathered a large number of armored troops and artillery on the Alam Hafa Ridge and prepared for a counterattack. Lieutenant General Montgomery saw through Rommel's strategic layout in advance through the interpretation of "advantage signals", and cleverly laid out a line of defense to set a trap for Rommel.
The terrain in front of Rommel made the attack significantly more difficult. The British defenses were impenetrable, making it impossible for the Germans to launch an attack as expected.
The attack began on the night of the 30th. Rommel originally hoped to achieve a quick breakout with the help of moonlight cover. But they found that the British army's intelligence had been alerted in advance, and the British army's air cover once again disrupted the German army's offensive plan. Their vehicles were destroyed by wave after wave of air strikes, causing considerable damage. To make matters worse, what they thought was a weak minefield turned out to be heavily defended, preventing the Germans from successfully breaking through.
As the fighting continued, Rommel's plan encountered many difficulties. He had to readjust his strategy in the face of endless reinforcements and supply difficulties from the British army. The British mechanized troops reached the Alam Hafa Ridge, preparing to welcome the arrival of the German army. Montgomery ordered the tanks to be used as anti-tank weapons and held his position, silently waiting for the enemy to launch.
In the next few days, the British army once again proved their overwhelming firepower superiority and successfully drove the Germans back.
On September 2, after seeing that the German offensive was ineffective, Rommel ordered a retreat, which also announced that the German army had lost its dominance in the North African campaign. At the same time, although the British army suffered certain casualties, they firmly controlled the initiative on the battlefield. Afterwards, Montgomery began to calmly plan the next attack plan, preparing for the upcoming "Second Battle of Alamein."
Throughout the Battle of Alam al-Hafa, the British army's strategies and resources achieved obvious advantages. Although Rommel's command was not ineffective, as he said, the British army's air superiority became his final failure. key factors. He could not have imagined that reinforcements would arrive so quickly, which also proved the importance of intelligence.
The German army's defeat at Alam Haffa finally withdrew their strategic objectives and accelerated the Allied victory in North Africa.
Rommel's failure was not only a tactical misstep, but also showed the importance of quickly adapting and changing strategies after high technology and intelligence flooded into the battlefield. In today's war, can we still learn effective command and strategic response measures from it?
