Therefore, some people evaluate Rommel as "a tactical giant, a strategic dwarf".

What this means is that Rommel was only interested in his immediate interests and completely ignored the importance of the island of Malta...... They believe that the island of Malta is the key to long-term interests and the outcome of the entire battlefield.

But objectively speaking, it is biased to evaluate Rommel in this way.

Because Rommel also considered a strategy, not only but also a larger strategy...... As said before, Rommel was thinking about the support of the United States as an industrial machine for the British army.

In other words, if we do not make a quick decision and let it develop, even if the German occupation of Malta Island completely improves the supply conditions of the Afrika Korps, we will still face a situation where the German army will replenish one tank while the British army will replenish two, three, or even four tanks, and the tanks replenished by the British army will be more advanced than the German "No. 3" tank.

Rommel's fears were justified, as Rommel was ultimately unable to achieve a quick victory, and the Afrika Korps was blocked by the British at the El Alamein Line, which turned the war in North Africa into a protracted stalemate...... With the passage of time, Britain received a large amount of American-style equipment, including "Bazooka" rocket launchers, self-propelled guns, anti-tank guns, and various types of tanks, the most noteworthy of which is the "Sherman" tank, which has just left the factory and has not even been in a hurry to install by the US military.

The total combat weight of the "Sherman" tank is 33.6 tons, which far exceeds the German "No. 3" tank, which weighs only 20 tons, and only the new "No. 4" tank can match it, while the "No. 4" tank in the hands of the Afrika Korps has only a dozen tanks.

It also shows how badly the British army fought in North Africa...... In fact, the British army in North Africa had always had an advantage in troops and equipment, but it was still defeated again and again, until the equipment and strength could be described as "against the sky" before the victory was achieved.

The British, on the other hand, cheered at such a victory and called the commander Montgomery, who knew only a head-on push, a "military genius."

In fact, this can also reflect the mentality of the British people at that time...... So far, they are still recognized as the number one power in the world, and they are unwilling to come down from this altar, and they cannot accept it psychologically, so they do everything possible to magnify their victory in public opinion and deliberately ignore those objective conditions that are enough to determine victory or defeat.

As the saying goes, "history is written by the victors", this is the case in England, and the same is true in the case of Rommel.

Rommel decided to take a gamble on the African battlefield, and he lost, so he became "a tactical giant, a strategic dwarf".

At this time, Rommel had Hitler's support, and his ideas and plans quickly became a reality.

Kesselring was able to settle there, and Hitler sent a telegram to him to immediately stop all operations on the island of Malta and to fully support the Afrika Korps attack on Egypt.

Kesselring called back several times to object, but the telegram was lost without reply...... Kesselring soon understood that he had to accept this order, and that Hitler did not give him any opportunity to discuss it at all, that is, there was no room for negotiation.

On the other hand, the Afrika Korps also had to be supported by the Italian army, after all, Italy was the "logistics defender" of the Afrika Korps, and it would be difficult for the Germans to launch an offensive without their coordination.

(Note: The Italian commander Garibal's admiral was also opposed to attacking Egypt, but Rommel did not take his opposition seriously at all.)

Hitler's approach was to send a telegram to Mussolini: "Honorable Prime Minister, the last hour has come, if you can give absolute support to the Afrika Korps, then Cairo is just around the corner, everything depends on you!" ”

Mussolini himself was a careerist, but he was helpless because he was "the life of the young lady's heart", and several attempts to expand the Italian territory were frustrated because the strength was too weak, and now a great opportunity is in front of him, where is he willing to let it go easily......

Mussolini immediately ordered all Italian troops to cooperate with the German army, and instructed the Italian General Staff to postpone the capture of Malta until two months later...... Mussolini estimated that the battle would take two months.

This is a reflection of the romantic character of the Italians, who always have a bright future in their minds, and even the Germans did not know when they would win, and Mussolini thought about it for them.

What's more, Mussolini was also anxious to airlift a white horse to Tobruk by plane, so that he could ride the white horse into Cairo with great triumph......

The British also realized that the German army would launch a full-scale counteroffensive.

In fact, it was the "super-secret" decryption of the telegram between Rommel and Hitler that served as a warning that the entire Eighth Army and even Britain were busy.

Churchill could not believe that Operation "Crusades" had failed in this way, and this defeat not only had a serious military impact, but more importantly, greatly damaged the reputation of the British army...... You must know that the United States fully supported the British Eighth Army, and it was evident that they handed over so many tanks and supplies to the British in a short period of time, but these tanks were destroyed by the Germans even before they landed, and what was worse was that the battle loss ratio reached an unimaginable 20 to 1, that is, the Germans lost one tank and the British lost 20 or more tanks.

Roosevelt was very upset about this, and when he heard of this result, he sent a telegram to Churchill: "Your Excellency, I don't know why this battle was lost, I only know that people all over the world think that American tanks are coffins, and that they are vulnerable to German tanks!" ”

The United States made its fortune on arms, so of course it cares a lot about the performance of its equipment, which is directly related to their economy, but this signboard almost smashed the British Eighth Army.

"I'm sorry, Mr. President!" Churchill hurriedly replied: "I believe this is the reason why the soldiers have not yet adapted to the speed and operation of American-made tanks, your tanks are very good, they rarely break down in the desert, this is the unanimous reaction of the front-line soldiers, and they want to continue to use your equipment." ”

After a pause, Churchill sent another telegram: "So I hope to get more equipment, more help......"

Churchill panicked.

Churchill could not calm down, because it was no longer a question of replacing the commander of the Eighth Army as last time, but of the distrust of the United States and even the question of whether the British House of Commons doubted whether Churchill was suitable to be prime minister and whether to remove him.