Speaking of the elite German troops in World War II, people often think of the divisions of the Waffen-SS, such as the First Panzer Division of the Waffen-SS, also known as the Adolf Hitler Division, the Second Panzer Division of the Waffen-SS, also known as the Reich Division, the Waffen-SS Third Panzer Division, also known as the Skeleton Division, which performed very strongly on the battlefield, and one division could fight the combat effectiveness of an army.
Speeding Panzer III
There was also a well-known unit in the Wehrmacht, which had traversed the desert under Rommel and left some classic examples in the history of World War II, which was the 21st Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht. The Twenty-first Panzer Division was a relatively junior, short-lived army that was not among the best in the German army at the time, and it began with Italy, Germany's pit ally.
During World War II, Germany had a complicit, complicit, adulterous, and smelly italian, and the country turned such a cruel thing into a comedy because of its performance in the war. Italy was a country whose ambitions and strength did not match, and it was very hungry and jealous to see Germany attacking the city all the way in Europe, and in 1940, in order to show its strength and gain more benefits, Italy increased its expansion.
Daily operations of the Italian army
Italy attacked the small southern European country of Greece, only to be beaten up by fat, and Germany had to divide its troops to attack Greece, and the Italian army in Africa was also in action. In mid-September of the same year, the Italian Tenth Army in Libya crossed the border to attack British troops in Egypt. The British army was only 100,000 people, not even a third of the Italian army, and the disparity in strength seemed to be very critical, and the British could be driven out of Africa, but the opponent was Italy. In human history, the number of troops directly affects the victory or defeat of wars, but in the face of the Italian army, it is absolutely impossible to measure the strength of both sides by numbers.
Wavell
What kind of army is the Italian army, it is a team that "if the enemy does not accept my surrender, I will defeat the enemy and force them to accept my surrender." This large-scale Italian offensive also resulted in a British general, Marshal Archibald Wavell, who was also a general at the time, serving in Egypt as commander-in-chief of the British Command in the Middle East. In the Middle East, Wavell defeated the Italian army of 300,000 with 50,000 British troops, eliminated nine divisions, captured 130,000 men, captured more than 400 tanks, and the Losses of the British Army were not even 2,000 people.
Italy's shortcomings of liking to fight but always unable to win make the Germans very bad, every time they have to divide a part of the troops to save the field, clean up the defeat, if Italy did not fight a war with Greece, Germany's plan to invade the Soviet Union would be ahead of schedule, if it were not for Italy's chaotic fight in Africa, Germany would not have divided the limited troops so scattered, Europe and North Africa across the Mediterranean, maintaining a large army in Africa to fight, logistics support is also a burden.
Hitler certainly did not want Italy to be defeated like this, after all, it was an important ally, and it was not good to let it fend for itself, and after some difficult consideration, decided to divide its troops to help Italy. In fact, from the perspective of the overall war situation, this is not only a matter of whether to help Italy, if Italy's power in Africa is eliminated by the British army, then the entire Africa, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, from the Suez Canal to the Strait of Gibraltar, this important sea route is not under the control of the Allies. This is not the most terrible, the most terrible thing is that the whole of southern Europe is exposed to the Allies, at this time a large number of German troops on the western front, the east to attack the Soviet Union, also need more resources and strength, the southern front handed over to Italy to defend is a joke. Once Italy was defeated by the Allies, it could push through Italy to Germany itself.
Germany had to save Italy
After deciding to divide his forces in support of Italy, Hitler sent the famous German Field Marshal Elvin Eugene Rommel, who was still a lieutenant general at the time, to command the newly formed Fifth Light Division of Germany to North Africa. Judging from the situation of the Fifth Light Division at that time, its combat effectiveness was not much stronger, first of all, the formation time was short, then it was pieced together, and finally it was a lack of personnel and weapons, its composition was the Thirty-ninth Anti-Tank Battalion, the Fifth Armored Regiment, the Second Hundred Rifle Regiment, the artillery came from the Seventy-fifth Artillery Regiment, the entire division had only one hundred and fifty tanks, not even half of a fully armored division of the German army, and there were twenty command vehicles and reconnaissance vehicles, and only one hundred and thirty could go to the battlefield to fight.
Just as the so-called "soldiers are not many, in the dispatch of people", with a commander with rich combat experience, the situation in the North African battlefield has changed, and the Italian army is not so crotched. At the end of February 1941, Rommel commanded the German-Italian coalition to launch an offensive, and from these three offensive forces it can be seen that Rommel was very good at using troops, and he divided the Fifth Light Division into three parts, each with a German army, so that the Italian army would not be so easy to rout. Soon the German-Italian coalition conquered the libyan city of Benghazi and seized all the land in Cyrenaica except for the Fortress of Tobruk.
Matilda tank
In the face of the German-Italian attack, the British launched a counterattack in mid-June, code-named "Tomahawk", in which the British Matilda II tank made the German Fifth Light Division feel a great threat, because the Thirty-seven mm main gun of the German Panzer III was a bit difficult on the twenty-six-ton Matilda II tank, and the shell hit the thick armor and was bounced back. Thus, Rommel famously attacked British tanks with eighty-eight millimeter anti-aircraft guns, and the British were repulsed.
On August 1, 1941, the Fifth Light Division was renamed the Twenty-first Panzer Division, and the German Afrika Korps already had three divisions, in addition to the Twenty-first Panzer Division, there were also the Ninetieth Infantry Division and the Fifteenth Panzer Division, but the situation was not optimistic for the Afrika Korps at this time, just a month ago Hitler invaded the Soviet Union with a large army, and there was not so much energy and resources to spend on the Afrika Korps. Due to the previous defeat in North Africa, the British Commander-in-Chief of the Middle East was also changed from Wavell to Oginlake.
Churchill made a judgment on the situation at that time, Germany was deeply trapped in the Soviet-German battlefield and could not take into account the Middle East, should take the opportunity to launch a counterattack, Auchinleck launched a counterattack code-named "Crusader", the two sides fought shells, darkness, the sun and the moon, the Twenty-first Panzer Division and the British Seventh Panzer Division both severely damaged each other. The Twenty-first Panzer Division had only twenty or thirty tanks left, and division commander Ravenstein was captured, but it was in this situation that the British advance was prevented, and the main force of the Afrika Korps was able to retreat.
In early 1942, after replenishment and recuperation, the Afrika Korps gradually regained its fighting strength, and Rommel implemented a counter-offensive plan that had been brewing for a long time, counterattacking with 130,000 troops in ten divisions, with the 21st Panzer Division acting as the forward. The attack not only captured the port of Tobruck, but also captured thirty thousand British troops and countless supplies, the Twenty-first Panzer Division played a huge role, and Rommel was promoted to field marshal for this victory. The war was brutal, and behind the great victory was a terrible price, and the two armored divisions of the Afrika Korps combined had only forty-four tanks, thirty-seven anti-tank guns and more than six hundred soldiers.
Both the British and the German Afrika Korps suffered heavy losses, and neither of them completely destroyed each other's ability with a single blow, but only stopped, made small fights, and pushed and shoved, until later the British army changed generals, the British commander-in-chief in the Middle East was replaced by Alexander, and the commander of the Eighth Army was replaced by Montgomery. In fact, on the African battlefield, the victory or defeat of both sides, the commander is an important factor, and more importantly, the rear supply, because it is unlikely to obtain supplies in situ in the vast desert of North Africa. Whoever can control the lines of communication in the Mediterranean will be able to obtain a steady stream of troops and material replenishment, otherwise it will be difficult for a woman to cook without rice, and even the best military ability will not be able to win a huge victory.
Rommel
Rommel's great victory was due to adequate supplies, and the British victory in the second half of 1942 also recaptured the sea lines of communication and destroyed German supplies. Rommel decided to gamble in the absence of supplies, and if he did not gamble, there would be no chance, Hitler did not allow him to retreat casually, and he launched an attack from the south with the Twenty-first Panzer Division as the main force. At this time, the Germans were not sufficiently replenished, did not have air superiority, and were very passive in the face of the strong British defenses. The Twenty-first Panzer Division rushed forward next to the shelling in the British mine formation, losing many tanks, and the division commander was blown up by a mine.
After the War, Rommel returned to His country for medical treatment, Montgomery took the opportunity to launch an attack, and on the day of the war, Stenm, who had replaced Rommel's command, had a heart attack, and in desperation, Rommel was forced by Hitler to return to the hot North Africa. Rommel once again encountered his old rival Montgomery, the German Twenty-first Panzer Division once again encountered his old rival, the British Seventh Panzer Division, countless tanks galloping in the desert, raising the yellow sand, British tanks could not defeat German tanks, but by virtue of numerical superiority almost exhausted German tanks.
The roof leaked in the overnight rain, and there was a little hail, Italy was the hail, the Italian army's defense line was beaten by the British Seventeenth Panzer Army, and finally the Twenty-first Panzer Division took on the task of covering the main force's retreat. The Germans retreated to Tunis, and when the hail had fallen and a hailstorm had fallen, Eisenhower commanded more than 200,000 men ashore in Morocco and Algeria, appearing behind the Afrika Korps, inflicting their bellies and backs on their backs.
The blind American soldiers left the German Twenty-first Panzer Division with one last victory in North Africa. In February 1943, the 21st Panzer Division, supported by the Air Force, marched toward the Kasselring Pass, a battle that not only encircled and captured thousands of American troops, but also taught a lesson to American armored soldiers who had advanced tanks but no combat experience. The battle was a great victory for the Twenty-first Panzer Division, and for the entire AFR could not change the current situation at all, and after a series of defeats, more than 200,000 German-Italian troops surrendered, Germany lost North Africa, and the Twenty-first Panzer Division was destroyed.
Although the Twenty-first Panzer Division was destroyed, it was not over, because two months later the Germans rebuilt the Second Panzer Division in France, and due to the lack of weapons, they were equipped with captured French tanks. The rebuilt Twenty-first Panzer Division was no longer the twenty-first Panzer Division of the past, but had become a tiger without sharp teeth and claws, and due to the shortage of troops, Hitler could only give it a large number of new recruits, and performed very badly in the ensuing battles.
Especially at the time of the Normandy landing, the division headquarters of the Twenty-first Panzer Division was in Caen, France, the only anti-landing unit in this area, and the commander of the Twenty-first Panzer Division, Fehidinger, thought that the weather would not be good in the next few days, and he played, leaving only the chief of staff at the division headquarters on duty. After a long time of landing, he returned to the battlefield and launched a counterattack between Sword Beach and Juno Beach, which was the weakness of the Allies and would bring huge losses to the Allies under the strong attack. At this moment, five hundred Allied transport planes airdropped supplies for the landing troops, and Fihidinger mistakenly believed that the Allies were cutting off their own rear roads by airdropping airborne troops, smearing oil on the soles of their feet, and slipping away.
North African battlefield
The results of the Twenty-first Panzer Division can be brushed over, after the Normandy landings, it took part in Hitler's final struggle, and finally in the Battle of Berlin, which was eliminated by the Soviets in April 1945.
In fact, the history of the German Twenty-first Panzer Division should have come to an end after the collapse of the North African Legion, before the Twenty-first Panzer Division fought many fierce battles in the case of insufficient supplies, performed well, and then the Twenty-first Panzer Division had nothing worth mentioning, and it was a bit of a crotch. From a military point of view, it was definitely an elite armored division, but as a tool of German aggression at that time, its downfall was inevitable.