Manstein, Rommel and guderian were later called the three famous Nazi Germans during World War II. Of course, from a political point of view, they are absolutely fascist accomplices who help others to kill, commit unforgivable war crimes against other countries and are Hitler killers who endanger the world. From the military point of view, their excellent military quality and excellent military command art have had a great influence on the world military history, which is really worth learning by future generations. Compared with those Nazi German politicians and SS leaders who made the Holocaust, they were innocent as regular outstanding generals of the German Defence Force. Although they planned and directed Hitler's war, they opposed the Nazi policy of slaughter and extermination and did not participate in the massacre atrocities. Perhaps it is precisely because of this, coupled with their amazing military achievements, that they won the respect of the enemy and the objective evaluation of historians and military scientists.
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". Because of his amazing achievements in the desert battlefield in North Africa and the crazy propaganda of German media and allied media, he became a legendary soldier and an idol worshipped by Germans when they were alive.
Erwin rommel (189 1- 1944) participated in the first world war. 19 18, 1 1 month During the German bourgeois revolution, he served as the security company commander. 19 19, successively served as company commander, tactical instructor of Dresden Infantry School, battalion commander of Gosla Hunting Cavalry Battalion, faculty member of Potsdam Military School, principal of Vienna New Town Military School and captain of Hitler's base camp. 1940 In February, he served as the commander of the 7th Tank Division and participated in the war against France. In World War II, he recorded a detailed battle diary and kept a large number of documents, which provided a basis for future generations to study World War II.
Rommel was born in a middle school principal's family in Hayden, southern Germany. 19 10 joined the army after graduating from high school and studied at the Royal Danzig Officers Preparatory School. During World War I, he served as a company commander and won three cross medals. After World War I, he successively served as a tactical instructor of Dresden Infantry School, a battalion commander of Gosla Hunting Cavalry Battalion, a teacher of Potsdam Military School, and a principal of Vienna New Town Military School. Because his book Infantry Attack caught Hitler's attention. 1938 was transferred to the guard captain of Hitler's base camp and accompanied Hitler to inspect Czechoslovakia.
After the outbreak of World War II, Rommel, as one of the commanders of the German high command, was highly valued by Hitler. 1940 In February, Hitler appointed him as the 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 charge ahead, first to Belgium, then to alastair and Somme, and finally to the west coast of France, and was called "the devil's division" by the French.
1941February, Hitler appointed Rommel as the commander of the "German African Army" and went to North Africa to rescue the defeated Italian army. After he arrived at the front line of Tripoli in North Africa, he immediately conducted a reconnaissance flight and came to the conclusion that "the best defense is attack". So he changed the order of "keeping the line" and commanded his armored forces to brave the desert storm and move at full speed. The British army was caught off guard and lost ground. The Germans advanced on Alexandria and Suez. Rommel became famous in World War I, won the reputation of "the fox in the desert" and was promoted to marshal. Later, the German main force was confined to the Soviet-German battlefield, and Hitler refused to deploy troops to help the front line in North Africa, forcing Rommel to stop attacking and defend in aleman.
1942, 1 1 month, Rommel fought Montgomery's 19500 troops and 1029 tanks in aleman with only 50,000 troops and 550 tanks, but he was defeated because he was outnumbered. 1943 In March, Rommel was recalled to the German base camp. In July of the same year, he was transferred to the commander of army group B in northern Italy. 1943 to 65438+February to1July 944, led the army "b" regiment to organize defense in France and command the Normandy landing campaign. Subsequently, the attempted assassination of Hitler occurred in Germany, and Rommel was implicated. 19441June14th, because Hitler sent someone to force him, he committed suicide in a car, and the news released to the public was "Marshal Rommel died of a stroke on the way".
Command personally at the front line
1May 940 10, Hitler finally launched a premeditated war of aggression. On the western front, the Germans used blitzkrieg tactics. It took only ten days to cross the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, and then invaded France. In the attack on France, Rommel served as the commander of the 7th Armored Division of the 4th Army, responsible for breaking through the Muse River and invading Cherbourg.
After crossing the French border, Rommel's avant-garde troops followed the retreating French army 1 and the 4th Cavalry Division and arrived at the Muse River on the afternoon of May 12. At this point, the two bridges in Nantes and Haux have been blown up by the French army, and Rommel's armored division is blocked from crossing the river.
13 In the early morning of May, Rommel came to the shore, regardless of the bombardment of French artillery, to understand the enemy's situation and find the place to cross the river. He found that the French army occupied the favorable hidden terrain in Hexi and blocked the Muse River with heavy artillery, so it was difficult for the Germans to find their exact location. Almost all the crossing tools here were destroyed by the French army. As soon as the Germans appeared, they were in danger of being annihilated. After on-the-spot reconnaissance, Rommel believed that only by suppressing all the areas suspected to be hidden by the enemy in the West Bank with powerful artillery fire could the Germans cross the Muse River.
So Rommel transferred the artillery, and before crossing the river, he ordered the burning of houses along the coast as a smoke screen. Then, under the cover of heavy artillery fire, we began to cross the river. When crossing the river, Rommel took the first ships and took direct command. After gaining a foothold in the West Bank, Rommel immediately returned to the East Bank and came to the border crossing point of the 2nd Infantry Regiment. An engineer from a company of the Second Infantry Regiment was building an eight-ton raft, and he immediately ordered it to be changed into a sixteen-ton raft. Rommel's order is to let some chariots cross the river as soon as possible, otherwise, the infantry who have arrived in the west bank will be attacked by French chariots and artillery. As expected, the French army had launched a counterattack before the floating raft carrying the chariot reached the shore. The next morning, the first batch of fifteen chariots landed on the west bank. Rommel commanded the Germans on the west bank of the river to attack the French army in the forest and cover the follow-up troops to cross the river.
The Germans broke through the Muse River defense line, posing a serious threat to the French army, so the French army gave up the Muse River defense line and retreated.
gain the upper hand by acting first
Rommel led the vanguard troops to pursue the French army retreating from the Muse River. With the chariot regiment as the pioneer and the artillery as the cover, he advanced rapidly, leaving the neighboring troops far behind.
From June 5, Rommel's armored division began to attack from the north bank of the Somme River to the south bank. The highway bridge on the somme river was blown up when the French army retreated, and only two railway bridges and two dry bridges were not damaged. Rommel first blocked these bridges with powerful artillery fire before attacking the south bank of the somme river. After occupying these four bridges, even chariots, other vehicles and infantry passed quickly. On the morning of June 6, Rommel's armored division had been on the south bank of the Somme like a feint, advancing off-road with sparse battle sequences. Armored vehicles take the lead, fighting while walking, and the speed of progress is just enough for infantry to keep up. The Germans advanced twelve miles this day and thirty miles the next day. Rommel's armored division attacked Cherbourg on June 20th and defeated the French army.
In the six-week battle, Rommel's armored division only killed or injured more than 2,000 people and captured more than 97,000 enemy troops. Because of the victory of this attack, Rommel won a knight's cross.
Rommel summed up an experience in the battle against France: in the battle between the two armies, whoever suppresses the other side with fire first often wins; People who are still waiting for the development of the war situation are often defeated by the other side. Therefore, even if you don't find the exact goal of the other party, you must strike first.
Speed first
1in June, 940, while the fascist Germans attacked France, Italy declared war on Britain and France, and at the same time 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 passage from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean. In 65438+February, the British army began to counterattack. Italian troops were forced to retreat to Libya. 194 1 At the beginning of the year, the British army landed in Libya in a bloody sand and attacked the Italian army retreating from Egypt. After two months of fierce fighting, the Italian army was wiped out by ten divisions. 1941February 6, the Germans decided to send a light division and an armored division to rescue the Italian army. Rommel was appointed commander of the German African Army to save the Italian army.
From February 1 1, Rommel began to understand the battlefield situation in Africa, and found that the British army had occupied Benhaiqi and was ready to attack Tipolitania. Therefore, Rommel first ordered the Italian army to stick to the Tiberitania line in the Selti Gulf region. Because this line of defense can not only prevent the British army from going further, but also give the German Air Force the necessary space to fight in Africa in order to launch a lightning attack on the British army. However, the problem is the shortage of troops. If two German divisions 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 Tibury City was greatly reduced, and most officers packed their bags, hoping to withdraw to Italy as soon as possible. In order to prevent the British from continuing to attack, Rommel decided to use the existing forces, including the first batch of German reinforcements that will arrive soon, and has asked the Air Force to launch an air strike on the port of Benhaiqi, blow up the transportation route from the British to Benhaiqi and destroy the British reinforcements. Rommel's plan was opposed by Italy, and some Italian military and political officials owned industries in the Haizi area and were unwilling to bomb there. The Italian army did not believe that they could hold the Serti area and stop the British attack. At Rommel's insistence, the Italian army bombed the British transportation line to Benhaiqi, and sent a division to reinforce Serti on February 14. On the same day, the German vanguard troops-the third reconnaissance battalion and a campaign defense artillery battalion-also arrived in Tibori Port, and they left for the front 26 hours later. 16, Rommel officially took over the front command.
At the end of February, Rommel got new information from the enemy, and the 7th Armored Division of the British ace withdrew to Egypt for rest and supplement. Its war zone was taken over by half the troops of the Second Armored Division who had just been transferred from Britain. They were all recruits. The 6th Division of the Australian Army has also been replaced by the 9th Division, and some divisions have not yet opened to the front because of supply difficulties. The British dare to do this because they think that Germany has few troops and dare not make a move. Contrary to what the British thought, Rommel did not wait until all the Germans arrived, so he took advantage of the favorable opportunity and conditions for the British to adjust and underestimate the enemy and took bold offensive actions. At this point, the German 5th Chariot Regiment and a division of the Italian army have already started to the front. On March 15, Rommel formed a mixed column of Germany and Italy, attacked Murzuh from Selti, and quickly advanced 450 miles to the south. This action gave the British an unexpected blow, and gained experience in how to equip and March long distances in Africa, laying the foundation for future attacks.
On the morning of March 24th, Rommel commanded the German army to capture the fortress, water source and airport of Egahira, and the British army retreated to Aji Dabier. After the British troops retreated to Aji Dabier, they occupied the Mersa Pass, which can control the highlands in this area, and the highlands south of Bill Salt Marsh, where they built fortifications and prepared to hold on. The problem Rommel faced at this moment was whether to wait for the troops to arrive at the end of May before attacking, or to act immediately. If the follow-up troops arrive, it is urgent to solve the water problem, because the water source in the occupied area has dried up. At the same time, it will also enable the British to use this time to build strong fortifications, and the result will make the Germans pay a greater price. Otherwise, we can only use the existing forces to attack Mershaguan, in order to smash the enemy in one fell swoop. Rommel decided not to give the British a chance to breathe and attack the enemy as quickly as possible, turning passivity into initiative.
On the morning of March 3 1, the British army failed to gain a foothold and the Germans began to attack the Mosha Pass. After a day of fierce fighting between the two sides, the Germans occupied the pass in the evening. The next day, the Germans attacked Aji Dabier and occupied the surrounding area of Aji Dabier in one day. In this battle, in order not to let the enemy know his own strength, Rommel converted his car into many fake chariots to confuse the enemy and received good results. Because Rommel used mechanized troops flexibly and didn't give the enemy a chance to breathe, in less than a week, the British army retreated more than 200 miles from the western position of cyrenaica. In less than two weeks, the British army retreated 400 miles from the eastern border of cyrenaica, leaving only a besieged army in the bloody sand. Rommel summed up the main reason for winning the battlefield in North Africa as: "Speed comes first." The best defense is attack. The British called Rommel "the fox of the desert" because he was flexible in commanding operations, able to use troops according to the desert terrain and climate characteristics, and often used less to win more, turning passive into active.
After the British army withdrew its bloody sand rampage, Churchill pointed out in a secret consultation with the Committee of Chiefs of Staff: "It seems incredible to give up the bloody sand rampart." As a result, a large number of reinforcements were sent here to strengthen the defense, and the two sides formed a seesaw battle. 1June, 942, the Germans occupied the bloody sand fortress. Hitler promoted Rommel to marshal in order to reward him for this victory. Rommel is only 49 years old.
Soon, the Germans were defeated on the African battlefield. 1March 943, Rommel was transferred back to the base camp. He once told his son Manfred that he had fallen out of favor and thought that he could not hope to get any important position at present. So he began to write memoirs. In July, he served as commander of the "B" army group in northern Italy, and in June+February, 5438, he served as military inspector of the Danish high command. 1943 65438+February-65438+July 0944 served as commander of "B" army group in France. 19, on July 20th, 44, after the anti-Hitler clique was exposed, Hitler arrested some officers. Among the arrested officers were Rommel's old comrades-in-arms and subordinates, and Rommel personally asked Hitler for important people. Therefore, he also became the target of Hitler's assassination. 194410 June 14, Rommel, who invaded everywhere for fascist Germany, was finally forced by Hitler to commit suicide by taking poison.
The death of Rommel, the fox of the desert
The death penalty without trial
Erwin rommel was a legend before his death, and there were more books about him than any general in the German Defence Force. Soldiers of the German African Corps called their leader "the fox in the desert". His motto is: "Rommel should be at the forefront wherever he goes." Hitler's propaganda minister Josef Goebbels shaped him into a "people's marshal"; British Prime Minister Winston Churchill spoke highly of Rommel and said, "You are a calm and cunning enemy and a great general."
Rommel's image in history has always been radiant. In the early days of the Third Reich, he also warmly praised Hitler's "outstanding achievements". However, from 65438 to 0943, he became one of the few senior officers in the German Defence Force who dared to talk frankly about the deteriorating situation to the Fuehrer. 1June 6, 944, after the Allied invasion of France, Rommel became Hitler's most dangerous opponent.
1944 At the end of September, martin bormann, Hitler's most trusted confidant, sent a report with the words "imperial confidential affairs" from the Fuehrer's base camp, saying that Rommel had said that "after the assassination, he would lead the new government". This document means that Hitler's favorite general Rommel was sentenced to death. Because Bowman framed Rommel,1On July 20, 944, those who tried to blow up the dictator with bombs had nothing to do with Rommel, but Rommel's humiliation of Bowman a few years ago made him bear a grudge.
A few days after borman's report, two generals came to Rommel's residence in Hellingen, forcing the marshal who was badly wounded by the British security machine to swallow poison pills.
Even Hitler did not dare to sue and hang the winner of the highest medal of honor in the people's court as he did with the "July 20 conspirators."
Considering his wife Lucy and 16-year-old son Manfred, Rommel obeyed-for the last time in his life.
Hitler falsely expressed his condolences to Rommel's widow and arranged a state funeral for Rommel. Marshal Gerd von Leendert spoke highly of this in his eulogy: "His heart belongs to the Fuhrer."