Although the German Third Air Force preserved its strength in the air battles of the "Death Cross...... In fact, the Third Air Force also suffered heavy losses in this battle, with more than 70 German fighters shot down, while the US troops only lost more than 30 sorties, with a battle loss ratio of 2 to 1. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Had it not been for the fact that Colonel Miller finally sacrificed himself to allow the troops to retreat, the losses of the Third Air Force would have been at least doubled.

But even so, the Germans did not have a good time.

The defeat of the Third Air Force in air combat almost marked another change of hands in air supremacy in the Mediterranean, which the Germans could not tolerate at this time.

Immediately afterward, British and American fighters covered the bombers in all directions, and one transport ship after another loaded with supplies and troops was sunk by the British and American air forces...... At this time, the British and US air forces did not even need "super secret" to provide intelligence, because if nothing else, there would definitely be transport ships in the waters between Italy and Libya, and the fleet would definitely gain as long as it went out to go around.

On the other hand, US destroyers are equipped with sea-to-sea and anti-aircraft radars, which have greatly improved the efficiency of British and US air force sorties.

At this time, the German and Italian transport ships were even complaining about where their air forces had gone. They did not yet know that the Luftwaffe had been defeated and could no longer maintain air supremacy.

At the same time, British and American warplanes also protected their own transport ships, transporting fuel, ammunition, fighter parts and other materials to the island of Malta...... This was fatal for the Germans, as Malta was almost halfway through the German supply lines, and warplanes flying from here could quickly bomb transport ships and consume much less fuel.

The news soon reached Rommel.

Rommel froze in place for nearly a minute when he held the telegram...... If Hitler's previous order not to allow retreat was to push the African army into the fire pit, then the message on this telegram was undoubtedly a death sentence for the Afrika Korps.

Just like when Rommel later talked about this telegram, he said: "I was holding this telegram as if I were holding my own death certificate!" ”

It took a while for Rommel to come back to his senses and sit down at his desk.

After thinking about it, Rommel took out a pen and paper and wrote a letter to his wife Lucy: "I do not believe, and almost no longer believe, that we will end in victory. Our lives and deaths are in God's hands. Farewell, Lucy, farewell, my child......"

Then, Rommel silently put all his savings ...... 25,000 Italian lira (about $60 at the exchange rate at the time) was stuffed into an envelope and told Lieutenant Bernd, who was about to leave for Germany, that he must deliver the letter to Lucy.

It was only after this that Rommel sent a telegram to Hitler.

Colonel Thomas's actions at this time made Colonel Thomas a little surprised, because he thought that the military situation was more urgent, so Rommel should have sent a telegram to Hitler before writing to Lucy.

Then Thomas figured it out.

Rommel did this partly because he knew that even sending information to Hitler would not make much difference, and that the great Führer could not change the situation, and even that the Führer had created it.

On the other hand, Rommel was actually expressing his anger, helplessness and protest at this time.

In fact, Rommel was not alone in protesting against this order, and just yesterday, the chief of staff of the African Army, Colonel Baierlein, came to Rommel's headquarters to report that the commander of the African Army, General Thoma, had scolded in the command headquarters that it was "crazy" to stick to the order, and then General Thoma then "went crazy", hung up all his medals, and rushed to the area where the fighting was most intense by tank.

Everyone thought that General Thoma had died with the British, and it was not until last night that the British shouted to the African Army in German that they learned that General Thoma had not been killed, but had been captured by the British...... In fact, everyone suspected that General Thoma had been deliberately captured by the British, because everyone knew that it was not easy to be captured safely in a tank, and the tank was often destroyed from a distance.

But Rommel of course did not say this, because he was afraid that others would follow suit, so he still claimed that General Thoma was captured in battle, so Rommel even went to great lengths to disguise two German soldiers as two of General Thoma's men, and then made up a series of inspiring "stories" of how General Thoma fought bravely and was finally outnumbered, the tank was hit by the tracks and had to get out of the car, and finally captured.

However, all this was in vain.

After losing air supremacy in the Mediterranean, the fall of the Afrika Korps was only a matter of time.

Hitler's side soon got the information...... He received information even before Rommel, and Air Force Commander Kesselring reported the situation and situation to Hitler immediately after the "Death Cross" air battle, and asked for instructions.

Because Kesselring was in a dilemma at this time, he did not know whether to abandon the Mediterranean or continue to compete with the Allies for air supremacy.

Abandoning the Mediterranean was an easy task for the Air Force, and Kesselring only had to move the fighters away from the Italian coastal airfields.

But for the entire strategy of the Afrika Korps and even the Führer...... Undoubtedly, they are all fatal blows.

However, it is almost impossible to continue the struggle for air supremacy with the Allies.

"Our intelligence shows that the main force participating in the war is the US Air Force!" In his report, Kesselring said: "And their fighters are still flying into Africa, and we don't have enough fighters to seize air supremacy!" ”

Kesselring said this more tactfully, and another meaning of this was that if the air supremacy in the Mediterranean Sea was fought for in this way, then the two German air forces would only be completely annihilated, and in the end the battle would be useless.

"These despicable Americans!" Hitler couldn't help but curse when he received this information.

At this time, he finally realized that he had no choice but to give up Africa, so he sent a telegram to Rommel: "Now that the wood is done, I agree to your request to retreat!" ”

Rommel took the telegram and all that was left was a wry smile, if the telegram had been obtained a few days ago, it might have been useful, but now ...... What is the difference between retreating and garrisoning? Where can the Afrika Korps withdraw to?!

But even so, Rommel gave the order to retreat.

At this time, there were only more than 70,000 African troops left, and at the first order, they sorted out their equipment and withdrew to the Fuca Line.

Then Hitler gave an order to the German panzer forces that had already entered France: "Advance at full speed to the port of Toulon, and make sure that the Toulon fleet is firmly controlled!" ”

Hitler had already seen that the change of air supremacy in the Mediterranean would soon affect the French Toulon fleet.