In June 1942, the commander of the German "African Army", Rommel, marched at a rapid pace, forced 35,000 British defenders in the important town of Tobruk, and took advantage of the victory to enter Egypt, advancing more than 500 kilometers in one go, capturing nearly 10,000 British troops and capturing a large amount of military supplies, and reaching the Alamein region, only 100 kilometers from Alexandria, the base of the British Mediterranean Fleet. Hitler greatly rewarded Rommel and immediately promoted him to field marshal. And Rommel's brilliant achievements also made the British feel frightened, and fearfully called him "Desert Fox". Even British Prime Minister Winston Churchill exclaimed in the House of Commons: "A brave and sophisticated opponent is fighting against us, although our two sides have attacked each other in the catastrophe of war, let me say that he is a great general." ”
If Rommel's offensive was allowed to continue, the Germans would have captured Egypt, swept through the Middle East, encircled the Soviet Union from the south, and finally joined the Japanese forces in the Indian Ocean. If so, then the British Empire would have to surrender on its knees. Churchill hastily drew a large number of reinforcements and supplies from the British mainland and colonies to quickly reinforce the El Alamein front. Soon, the British army in El Alamein grew to 230,000 men and 1,440 tanks, including 300 new Sherman medium tanks and more than 1,500 aircraft provided by the United States. Churchill replaced the Commander-in-Chief of the Middle East Forces, ordered General Alexander to take over, and appointed General Montgomery as the new Commander of the 8th Army.
Compared with the British army, the German-Italian commanded by Rommel was much weaker, although it won consecutive battles. The total strength of the army is only 82,000 people, of which more than 10,000 people have lost their combat effectiveness due to illness, and only about 70,000 people can fight. There were only 540 tanks, of which 280 were old thin-skinned tanks of the Italian army and only 350 combat aircraft. By this time, although the German-Italian army was fierce on the surface, it was actually the end of the crossbow.
The reason was simple: German and Italian troops, ammunition, food, and especially important tank fuel were transported across the Mediterranean. However, the main German naval and air forces in the Mediterranean were transferred to the soviet war, relying only on the less effective Italian navy and air force to maintain transportation. In the Mediterranean, the British army firmly controlled the strategic center of Malta, and was able to continuously send naval and air forces from here to attack the German supply lines. The British Air Force seized air supremacy in the Mediterranean, and with the navy repeatedly damaged the Italian Navy, almost completely annihilating it, and finally completely cutting off the African Army's sea supply line. Rommel's troops advanced too fast, and the transport line was stretched to 1800 km. However, air supremacy was in the hands of the British, and the war materiel shipped from Libya was often bombed indiscriminately, and only a small part of it could reach the German army. For a time, the Germans could only survive on captured British supplies, but this was not sustainable. Before the Battle of El Alamein began, the Germans were almost exhausted, especially the tank fuel was extremely scarce, and they were unable to launch another large-scale attack. The British army had air supremacy, and behind it was Alexandria, and the energy was constantly replenished with abundant supplies and troops. At this time, the situation was very clear in Rommel's mind. He was already contemplating how to consolidate the existing gains and turn the whole army into defensive operations.
Montgomery, the newly appointed commander of the British 8th Army, was also an extraordinary figure, with a strong will, a cautious and skillful use of troops, and could be said to be a fierce enemy of Rommel. As soon as Montgomery took office, he began to straighten out the low morale of the British army, and he reorganized his troops on a large scale, replacing a number of weak-willed commanders. Montgomery went deep into the middle of the troops, talked to officers and soldiers at all levels, encouraged them not to fear Rommel, and raised the loud slogan of "fight El Alamein, catch the old fox alive", and ask the officers and men to "attack the enemy and annihilate them!" Montgomery carefully analyzed the lessons learned from the British operations in North Africa and adjusted the deployment in time. He concentrated scattered armored units and formed a joint command to coordinate the operations of the various services. Montgomery also judged that Rommel's main offensive would be halfa Heights, and organized a strong anti-tank fire network. Montgomery was determined to give full play to the superiority of the British army in terms of troops and weapons, and to fight steadily and steadily, dragging down the weak German and Italian troops.
On August 31, 1942, Rommel launched an attack on the Halfa Heights. The British had been prepared, and the Germans crashed headlong into the fire net, and were attacked on all sides. Montgomery immediately dispatched his air force to bomb German positions and rear transport lines, making it difficult for the Germans to move and firmly grasping the initiative on the battlefield. After more than 2 days of fighting, the Germans suffered heavy losses, but could not break through the British defenses, Rommel had to stop the offensive, and the British and German armies formed a confrontation from the southwest of El Alamein along the Mediterranean Sea to the Katara Basin. This was Rommel's last offensive in Africa, and due to his lack of strength, the genius warrior would forever lose the opportunity to win the Battle of El Alamein.
In order to block the attack of the superior British army, Rommel planted more than 440,000 mines in the direction of the British possible attack, and there were numerous anti-tank traps around it. These mines are enough to blow up tank tracks and destroy trucks, and some mines will explode and shoot countless steel balls in all directions, which can kill and injure infantry in large quantities. Anti-tank traps are hidden, and once the tank is trapped, it is difficult to start again. Behind this mine trap array, Rommel also deployed large anti-tank artillery positions and infantry defensive positions in depth, while also forming a mobile army with armored divisions and motorized divisions, which could plug the gaps in the defense line at any time.
On the British side, Churchill has been urging Montgomery to attack, but Montgomery believes that he cannot rush to attack until there is no certainty of victory, because the opponent is after all Rommel, who is good at defensive counterattack. Montgomery carefully planned a counter-offensive plan code-named "Lightness", preparing to launch a simultaneous attack from the north and south flanks, mainly on the north flank, opening two passages in the German defensive line and the minefield, and then deeply annihilating the main force of the German armored forces. The southern flank was a feint attack, with the aim of convincing the Germans and Italians that the main direction of the British attack was in the south, and to cover the main attack from the north. The key to the success of this plan was the successful camouflage of the campaign, so that the German army could not understand the main direction of the British attack. Montgomery then carried out a series of deceptive operations: on the northern flank to minimize the number of assembled troops, concealing real intentions and actual actions, and setting up a large number of fake transport trucks to make the Germans think that this was nothing more than a gathering place for military supplies; on the south flank, it consciously showed that a large number of army groups were being assembled, and a large number of simulated tanks, artillery and military supplies were installed, and a fake oil pipeline and a parallel simulated railway were laid, showing the progress of the project to be completed in early November. This misled the Germans into believing that the British would launch an offensive in November. This series of illusions really deceived Rommel, who judged that the British would not attack for the time being. Chronically strained by the war, Rommel suffered from hypotension from overwork, and he handed over command to his deputy, General Stumm, who flew back to Germany at the end of September to recuperate.
At 10 p.m. on 23 October, more than 1,000 British artillery pieces fired simultaneously on the artillery positions of the German and Italian forces. Twenty minutes later, the 30th and 13th Armies of the British 8th Army attacked in both the north and south directions, and the Battle of El Alamein began. On the northern flank, the British soon broke through the German outpost line and advanced deeper. In the middle of the night, British armored units rushed into the German minefield, and in the earth-shattering explosion, the British tanks were seriously damaged. The German and Italian armies concentrated their firepower to block the attack, and the British offensive was temporarily stopped. On the southern flank, the British launched successive feints, although they did not break through the German defensive line, but the German commander Stumm made a mistake in judgment, and transferred some of the elite troops to the southern wing, reducing the pressure on the British army in the northern wing.
The melee continued until dawn on the 24th, and the German command was still confused about the actual situation on the battlefield. Stern boarded an armored vehicle and rushed to the front to observe the situation, but on the way he was ambushed by the British, fell from the car, and died of a heart attack, and the German army was temporarily in a leaderless chaos. On the evening of the 25th, Rommel hurriedly flew from Germany back to the command post on the El Alamein front. He quickly judged that Montgomery's main attack was on the north wing, worthy of the "Desert Fox"! Rommel quickly adjusted the deployment, transferring the most effective troops and a large number of artillery from the southern defensive line to stubbornly block the attack of the main British army. The British attacked the German positions continuously, and the Germans repelled the British army again and again with their strong positions, and the two armies could not hold each other on the front for a while. On the afternoon of the 27th, the main force of Rommel's concentrated armored forces began to launch a counterattack on the Flank positions of the British Northern Front. Montgomery hurriedly mobilized his air force to block the attack, and the Germans were bombarded by British aircraft and could not advance for a while.
Montgomery seized on the weakness of the German army's undermanning strength and transferred the main force of the armored forces to the northern front, preparing for a decisive attack, encircling Rommel's main force in one fell swoop. Rommel also saw the intentions of his opponents and transferred more German troops to the north, leaving only the Italians and a small number of Germans on the southern flank. On the night of the 28th, the British launched a fierce attack on the German army, Rommel personally commanded the front line, in time to make up for the loopholes in the defense line, and called in the 88 mm anti-aircraft gun to block the British tanks, after a night of fierce fighting, the German army finally stopped the British attack.
The fierce fighting was carried out by the 29th, and the situation on the battlefield was unfavorable to the German army. Rommel judged the situation, the German casualties were already quite serious, and the ammunition began to be lacking, and worse, there were only 90 tanks left, and there was not much fuel. If his troops held where they were, once the British broke through the defensive line, they would be encircled, and it was very likely that the entire army would be destroyed. Rommel had to consider retreating backwards and establishing a new defensive line. On the afternoon of the 29th, Rommel ordered all non-combat troops to withdraw first to the Matru area west of the Fuka Line, and quietly began a full-scale retreat.
The British attacked for a week, but only opened a small gap in the northern flank and did not make much progress. Montgomery then changed the original plan, taking advantage of the large number of British troops, while the north and south flanks insisted on attacking, he concentrated the reserves on the junction of the north and south flanks of the German and Italian armies, preparing to launch an attack to cut off the german and Italian armies in one fell swoop. The new offensive was named "Supercharging Operations".
At 10:00 p.m. on November 1, the British "supercharging operation" began. 200 cannons simultaneously began to bombard the Junction of the German-Italian Lines, and hordes of bombers also flooded the area and rear targets indiscriminately. British armored units then rushed to the German-Italian lines. The Germans were well trained and immediately put up strong resistance. The Italian army could not resist the British offensive, and soon the defensive line was torn open. By the early morning of 2 November, the British had formed a breakthrough in the 1 km wide defensive line, and a large number of armored troops advanced deeper. Rommel mobilized all the tanks here to block it, and he personally led the artillery to assist in the battle. The tanks of the British and German armies fought a great battle in the desert, and Rommel concentrated his fire to block the breakthrough at any time. The battle was extremely fierce, and the German officers and men showed amazing heroism, causing huge casualties to the British army. However, the British army had too many tanks and troops, and they kept going to the battlefield. To Rommel's horror, hundreds of British American Sherman tanks could fire at a distance of 1,000 meters, and the German general anti-tank guns were helpless. The British also had planes coming to help, and the Luftwaffe had long since been driven out of the sky. The fierce fighting lasted for a whole day, and the Germans resisted desperately, and finally held the defensive line, so that the British army that had made a breakthrough could not drive straight in. However, the German tanks have been lost, only more than 20 remain, and the two German armored divisions have been reduced from 9,000 to more than 2,000, and finally they are unable to fight again.
Rommel realized that he had to retreat. He ordered the infantry to retreat first, while the armored forces held their positions to cover the infantry. On the morning of 3 November, Rommel sent a telegram asking Hitler for permission to retreat. Hitler quickly called back and ordered Rommel to hold his ground and not to retreat. Rommel had no choice but to order the retreat to stop and continue to hold. Montgomery commanded the British to launch a full-scale offensive. By the afternoon of November 4, the British had opened a gap of more than 20 kilometers in the German-Italian defense line, and all four Italian divisions surrendered, and the German army was already on the back of the enemy. In order not to destroy the entire army, Rommel categorically discarded Hitler's orders and ordered the troops to retreat. At 8:50 p.m., Hitler finally agreed to retreat. Rommel then led the remnants of the exhausted German-Italian army to retreat westward. At this time, Rommel had no reserves in his hands and lacked fuel, and he was in a very dangerous situation. Montgomery urged the army to pursue from behind, and he organized several sieges in a row, but was escaped by the alert Rommel. But Rommel was also chased without respite and unable to build a new defensive line. In this way, Rommel led his army through hundreds of miles of desert, endured hunger and thirst, fought alternately with the British pursuing troops all the way, withdrew more than 1,000 kilometers west in two months, and finally got rid of the pursuing British army and returned to Tunisia.
In the Battle of El Alamein, the German-Italian army lost more than 10,000 people, wounded 15,000 people, captured more than 30,000 people (including 10,000 German troops), lost more than 55,000 people, and lost all heavy equipment. In contrast, the British suffered more than 13,000 casualties and lost more than 500 tanks, which was far less than the Losses of the Germans. The battle became a turning point in the North African theater, and the German and Italian armies went downhill until they were completely expelled from Africa.