The full name of the standard photo of Field Marshal Rommel holding a scepter: Johannes Erwin Eugene Rommel (erwin·rommel), later generations referred to him as Erwin Rommel.
Rommel was a famous German general during World War II and was highly regarded by Hitler. He came from an ordinary middle school principal's family. He participated in World War I and served as a military school instructor and Hitler's bodyguard. Commanders of troops, commanders of armored divisions, commanders of armies and army groups. When Germany invaded France, the 7th Armored Division under his command made rapid progress and advanced the furthest, and was known as the "Devil's Division"; on the North African battlefield, he commanded the German Afrika Korps in a situation where there was a huge disparity in strength and the battlefield environment was harsh. He repeatedly defeated the British army, and once reached El Alamein and approached the Egyptian city of Cairo. During the large-scale Allied counterattack, he presided over the construction of the famous Atlantic Fortress and commanded the Normandy anti-landing operations. As Hitler's confidant, he worked tirelessly for Nazi Germany, made great military exploits, and became one of the twenty-six marshals of the German Wehrmacht. Later, because he lost confidence in Germany's political and military future, he had political and strategic differences with Hitler. In the end, he was unintentionally involved in anti-Hitler secret activities and was forced to commit suicide by taking poison in October 1944.
In a sense, Rommel is a lucky man in history. Not only was he famous throughout Germany during his lifetime, and was well known to all women and children, but after the fall of Hitler's Nazi regime and other fascist accomplices became notorious and despised by the world, Rommel's reputation soared. However, due to his narrow vision and lack of understanding of strategy, his military achievements were only at the tactical level. In the end, he could only be regarded as a famous general and could not be classified as a military master. Due to the constant war in Germany, there have been many military greats, such as Gneisenau, Clausewitz, Moltke, Stephen, etc., but Rommel could not stand side by side with them.
[1] Manstein, Rommel and Guderian are collectively known as the three famous generals of Nazi Germany during World War II. Of course, from a political perspective, they are definitely accomplices of fascism, who have committed unforgivable war crimes against other countries, and are Hitler's killers who brought harm to the world. From a military perspective, their extraordinary military qualities and excellent military command art have had a significant impact on world military history and are indeed worthy of study by future generations. Compared with the Nazi German politicians and SS leaders who caused the massacre, they were relatively innocent as regular outstanding generals of the German Wehrmacht. Although they planned and commanded Hitler's war, they opposed the Nazi's policy of massacre and extermination. He did not participate in the massacre. Perhaps it is because of this, coupled with their amazing military attainments, that they have won the respect of enemy countries and the objective evaluation of historians and military scientists. The Second World War was the last and largest war of the 20th century. Although it happened 50 years ago, its experience is still a very memorable memory to this day. Although Germany finally failed in the war, the performance of its soldiers on the battlefield was truly remarkable, and the personnel of all other belligerent countries were also ashamed of themselves. At least, at the combat level, the German army can be said to be unparalleled. Therefore, they were indeed proud of their defeat, and could even say with a clear conscience that it was not a crime of war.
Rommel was the most famous German general in World War II. Anyone with a little knowledge of world military history will know his famous nickname-"Desert Fox". Due to his series of amazing achievements in the desert battlefields of North Africa and the crazy publicity by the German and allied media, he had become a legendary soldier and an idol worshiped by the Germans during his lifetime.
Erwin Rommel (1891.11.15-1944.10.14) participated in the First World War. In 1918, during the November bourgeois revolution in Germany, he served as the commander of the guard company. Since 1919, he has served as company commander, tactics instructor at the Dresden Infantry School, commander of the Chasseur Battalion in Goslar, instructor at the Potsdam Military School, principal of the Wiener Neustadt Military School, and guard captain of Hitler's base camp. In February 1940, he was appointed commander of the 7th Tank Division and participated in the war against France.
During the Second World War, he kept a detailed diary of the battle and preserved a large amount of documentation, which provided a basis for future generations to study the Second World War.
Rommel was born in the family of a middle school principal in Heidenm, southern Germany. After graduating from high school in 1910, he joined the army and studied at the Royal Officer Candidate School in Danzig. During World War I, he served as company commander and received three Crosses. After World War I, he successively served as a tactics instructor at the Dresden Infantry School, commander of the Chasseur Battalion in Goslar, instructor at the Potsdam Military School, and principal of the Vienna Neustadt Military School. His book "Infantry Offensive" aroused Hitler's interest. Pay attention to. In 1938, he was transferred to the guard captain of Hitler's base camp and accompanied Hitler on his tour of Czechoslovakia.
After the outbreak of World War II, Rommel, as one of the commanders of the German High Command, was highly regarded by Hitler. In February 1940, Hitler appointed him commander of the 7th Armored Division and presented him with the book "Mein Kampf". From May to June, during the German invasion of Western Europe, Rommel commanded the 7th Armored Division to rush to the front, conquering Belgium first, then Arras, the Somme, and finally the west coast of France, which the French called "The Devil's Master".
In February 1941, Hitler appointed Rommel as the commander of the "German Afrika Korps" and went to North Africa to rescue the Italian army that had been completely defeated by the British army. After arriving at the front line in Tripoli, North Africa, he immediately made a reconnaissance flight and came to the conclusion that "the best defense is offense." So he changed the order of "holding the defense line" and directed his armored troops to brave the desert storm and move forward at full speed. The British army was caught off guard and retreated steadily. The German army advanced towards Alexandria and Suez. Rommel became famous as a result, earning the nickname "Desert Fox" and being promoted to field marshal. Later, the main force of the German army was contained on the Soviet-German battlefield, and Hitler refused to send troops to assist the North African front. As a result, Rommel had to stop the offensive and conduct passive defense at El Alamein.
In November 1942, Rommel used his only 50,000 troops and 550 tanks to fight against Montgomery (known as the "Desert Fox's nemesis")'s 195,000 troops and 550 tanks in the Aleman area. 1,029 tanks were ultimately defeated due to being outnumbered and forced to withdraw. In March 1943, Rommel was ordered to recall the German base camp. In July of the same year, he was transferred to the commander of Army Group "B" of the Army in North Italy. From December 1943 to July 1944, he led Army Group "B" to organize defense in France and commanded the resistance to the Normandy landing campaign. Subsequently, an attempted assassination of Hitler occurred in Germany, and Rommel was implicated. On October 14, 1944, due to persecution by Hitler, he committed suicide by taking poison in a car. The news announced to the public was that "Field Marshal Rommel died of a stroke on the way."
Visit the front-line command
On May 10, 1940, Hitler finally launched the long-prepared war of aggression. On the Western Front, the German army adopted blitz tactics and crossed the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg in just a dozen days, and then invaded France. During the attack on France, Rommel served as the commander of the 7th Armored Division of the 4th Army, responsible for the task of breaking through the Meuse River and invading Cherbourg.
After crossing the French border, Rommel's vanguard troops followed the retreating French 1st and 4th Cavalry Divisions and reached the Meuse River on the afternoon of May 12. At this time, the two bridges at Dinant and Haukes had been blown up by the French army, and Rommel's armored division was blocked from crossing the river.
In the early morning of May 13, Rommel ignored the bombardment of French artillery fire and came to the shore to understand the enemy's situation and find a location to cross the river. He found that the French army occupied a favorable concealed terrain west of the river and blocked the Meuse River with heavy artillery, making it difficult for the German army to find their exact position. Almost all the river crossing tools here were destroyed by the French army. As soon as the German army appeared, they would be destroyed. The danger of annihilation. After on-site reconnaissance, Rommel believed that only by using powerful artillery fire to suppress all areas on the west bank where enemy troops were suspected to be hiding, could the German army cross the Meuse River.
So Rommel called in artillery and ordered the houses along the coast to be burned as a smoke screen before crossing the river. Then, under the cover of fierce artillery fire, the forced crossing began.
During the forced crossing, Rommel took the first batch of ships and took direct command. After establishing a foothold on the west bank, Rommel immediately returned to the east bank and reached the river crossing point of the 2nd Infantry Regiment. A company of engineers in the 2nd Infantry Regiment was setting up an eight-ton floating raft, and he immediately ordered it to be changed to a 16-ton raft. Rommel's purpose in issuing this order was to allow some tanks to cross the river as soon as possible. Otherwise, the infantry who had reached the west bank would be attacked by French tanks and artillery. As expected, the French army had already launched a counterattack before the raft carrying the chariot reached the wave shore. The next morning, the first batch of fifteen tanks landed on the west bank. Rommel immediately commanded the German troops on the west bank of the river to attack the French troops hiding in the forest, and covered the follow-up troops to cross the river.
The German army broke through the Meuse River defense line and posed a serious threat to the French army. The French army abandoned the Meuse River defense line and retreated.
Pre-emptive strike
Rommel led the leading troops to pursue the French army retreating from the Meuse River. He took the tank regiment as the vanguard and used artillery as a cover to advance quickly and capture the enemy. The neighboring troops were far behind.
Since June 5, Rommel's armored division has begun to attack from the north bank of the Somme River to the south bank. The road bridge on the Somou River had been blown up when the French army retreated, and only two railway bridges and two dry bridges were not damaged. Before launching an attack on the south bank of the Somme River, Rommel first used powerful artillery fire to blockade several bridges. After occupying these four bridges, he ordered tanks, other vehicles and infantry to pass quickly. On June 6 In the morning, Rommel's armored division had been performing a feint on the south bank of the Somou River to spread out the battle order and advance cross-country. The armored vehicles took the lead, fighting as they marched, advancing at just the right speed for the infantry to keep up. On this day the Germans advanced twelve miles, and on the next day thirty miles. Rommel's Panzer Division attacked Cherbourg on June 20 and defeated the French army.
In the six weeks of fighting, Rommel's armored division suffered only more than 2,000 casualties, and captured a total of more than 97,000 enemy troops. Due to the victory of this attack , Rommel was awarded a Knight's Cross.
Rommel summed up an experience in the battle against France: In a battle between two armies, whoever suppresses the opponent with firepower first will often win; those who wait for the development of the battle situation during the standstill often win. Will always be defeated by the opponent. Therefore, even if the opponent's exact target is not discovered, it is still necessary to strike first.
Speed ??first
In June 1940, when the fascist German army was attacking France, Italy declared war on Britain and France and took the opportunity to send troops to North Africa to attack British Egypt and Somalia in an attempt to Seize the Suez Canal and control the direct passage from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean. In December, the British army began to counterattack. Italian troops were forced to retreat into Libya. In early 1941, the British army landed in Tobruk, Libya, and launched a pincer attack on the Italian army retreating from Egypt. After two months of fierce fighting, ten Italian divisions were annihilated. On February 6, 1941, the German army decided to send a light division and an armored division to rescue the Italian army. Rommel was appointed commander of the German Afrika Korps that rescued the Italian army.
From February 11, Rommel began to go to the African battlefield to learn about the situation, and found that the British army had occupied Benhaici and was preparing to attack Tiberitania. Therefore, Rommel first ordered the Italian army to hold on to the Tibertanian defense line in the Serti Gulf area. Because this line of defense can not only prevent the British army from continuing to penetrate deeper, but also allow the German Air Force to have the necessary space to operate in Africa in order to launch a lightning attack on the British army. However, the problem faced was insufficient troops. If we wait for all two German divisions to arrive, it will be too late to stop the British attack. But now there is only one regiment. After the defeat, the morale of the Italian army in Tipoli has been greatly reduced. Most of the officers have already been tied up. In order to prevent the British army from continuing to attack, Rommel decided to use existing forces, including the first batch of German reinforcements that were about to arrive, and asked the air force to launch an air attack on the port of Benhaize. Blow up the British army's transportation route to Benhaiqi and destroy the British army's reinforcements. Rommel's plan was opposed by the Italian side. Some Italian military and political officials owned properties in the Benhaiqi area and were unwilling to bomb there.
The Italian army did not believe that it could hold the Certi area and prevent the British attack. Under Rommel's insistence, the Italian army bombed the British transportation line to Benheqi, and sent a division to reinforce Selti on February 14. On the same day, the German army's leading force, the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion and a combat artillery battalion, also arrived at the Port of Tipoli, and moved to the front line twenty-six hours later. On the 16th, Rommel officially took over the overall command of the front line.
At the end of February, Rommel learned a new situation about the enemy. The British ace 7th Armored Division withdrew to Egypt for rest and replenishment; Half the armored division's strength came to take over. The Australian 6th Division also replaced the 9th Division, but part of the division had not yet reached the front line due to supply difficulties. The British army dared to do this because they believed that Germany had very few troops to support them and did not dare to act rashly. Contrary to what the British army thought, Rommel did not wait for all the German troops to arrive. Instead, he took advantage of the favorable opportunity and conditions when the British army adjusted their defenses and underestimated the enemy, and took bold offensive actions. At this time, the German 5th Tank Regiment and an Italian Division had already arrived at the front line. On March 15, Rommel formed a mixed column of German and Italian troops and launched an attack from Selti to Murzuhe, quickly advancing 450 miles south. This operation gave the British army an unexpected blow. At the same time, it also gained experience in how to equip and march long distances for combat under African conditions, laying the foundation for future attacks.
In the early morning of March 24, Rommel commanded the German troops to capture the fortresses, water sources and airports in the Ayaghela area, and the British troops withdrew to the Ajtabia area. After the British troops withdrew to the Ajitabiya area, they occupied the Mersha Pass, which could control the highlands in this area, and the highlands south of the Bir Salt Swamp, and built fortifications there in preparation for holding on. At this time, the question faced by Rommel was whether to wait for the troops to arrive at the end of May before attacking, or to act immediately. If we wait for the follow-up troops to arrive before taking action, we will urgently need to solve the water source problem, because the water source in the occupied area has dried up. At the same time, the British army will use this time to build strong fortifications, which will result in the German army paying a greater price. Otherwise, we can only use the existing troops to attack the Mersha Pass in order to defeat the enemy in one blow. Rommel decided not to give the British army a chance to breathe, and to attack the enemy as quickly as possible, changing from passive to active.
On the morning of March 31, when the British army was not yet stable, the German army began to attack the Mersha Pass. After a day of fierce fighting between the two sides, the German army occupied the pass in the evening. The next day, the German army launched an attack on Ajdabiya, and it also took one day to occupy the area around Ajdabiya. In this battle, in order to prevent the enemy from knowing his strength, Rommel used cars to transform into many fake tanks to confuse the enemy, which achieved good results. Because Rommel used mechanized troops flexibly and did not give the enemy a chance to breathe, in less than a week, the British army retreated more than 200 miles from the western boundary position of Cyrenaica; in less than two weeks, the British army retreated from the western border position of Cyrenaica; The eastern frontier of Cyrenaica was pushed back four hundred miles, leaving only a besieged force at Tobruk. Rommel summarized the main reason for victory in the North African battlefield as: "Speed ??comes first." He believed that "the best defense is offense." The British army called Rommel the "Desert Fox" because of his flexibility in commanding operations and his ability to use troops according to the desert terrain, climate and other characteristics. He often defeated more with less and changed from passive to active.
After the British troops withdrew to Tobruk, Churchill pointed out in secret discussions with the Chiefs of Staff Committee: "It seems unbelievable to abandon Tobruk Fortress." Therefore, a large number of troops were sent here Reinforcements were sent to strengthen the defense, and the two sides formed a tug-of-war. In June 1942, the German army captured Tobruk Fortress. In order to reward Rommel for this victory, Hitler promoted him to field marshal. Rommel was only 49 years old at the time.
Soon, the German army suffered a defeat in the African battlefield. In March 1943, Rommel was transferred back to the base camp. He told his son Manfried that he had fallen out of favor and that he could no longer hope for any important position at the present time. So he started writing his memoirs.
In July, he was appointed commander of the "B" Army Group in North Italy, and in December he served as the military inspector of the High Command Headquarters in Denmark. From December 1943 to July 1944, he served as commander of Army Group "B" in France. On July 20, 1944, after the anti-Hitler group was exposed, Hitler arrested some military officers. Among the arrested officers were Rommel's old comrades and subordinates. Rommel had personally asked Hitler for help. Therefore, he also became the target of Hitler's assassination. On October 14, 1944, Rommel, who had invaded everywhere for fascist Germany, was finally forced by Hitler to commit suicide by taking poison.