Rommel, one of the three famous German generals in World War II, is known as the Fox of the Desert and is invincible on the battlefield of North Africa. Usually there are not many people who can stop Rommel's cunning desert fox, although it is said that Montgomery blocked and defeated Rommel, but in fact Montgomery just picked up a bargain. The person who really beat Rommel was actually the famous Oginlake. But why was Auchinlake removed by Churchill at the last minute before the victory?
First, the mess in North Africa
In fact, when Auchinleck came to North Africa, North Africa was in a state of chicken feathers
。 After welcoming the desert fox Rommel in 1941, the British front was already in jeopardy.
The British army had been torn apart by Rommel, and the morale of the troops was low and the morale of the army was seriously scattered.
The elite troops were even more beaten and scattered.
To put it bluntly, this was a remnant of defeated generals who depended on them to protect Egypt, and Auchinlake thought with his toes what would happen.
As for the former commander-in-chief of the British army and the British Commonwealth armed forces in North Africa
Archibald Percival Wavell
The veteran has been mentally weakened by the beating. The veteran general, who had defeated italy's 300,000-strong army with fewer victories and more victories with only 50,000 men, was now completely dead.
He suffered an unprecedented defeat and was defeated by Rommel twice in a row.
Of course, this is also the same as "
Crappy soldier among politicians, crappy politician among soldiers
—The old fat man of England
Winston churchill
out of the interference related,
Because Churchill transferred Wavell's elite army and sent them to Greece to die, it caused Wavell to lack major generals
。 But there is no denying that Wavell has failed twice, and the laurels he has just won have been torn off by Rommel and smashed.
Now Wavell is no longer able to do it, as if he had aged ten years overnight.
More importantly, the defeat in North Africa had already created instability in Egypt, and once Egypt was captured, the entire Allied sea route from the Mediterranean to India would be cut off.
The situation was so dire that Churchill had to immediately shirk the blame for his failure.
So Churchill, the old manatee, transferred Wavell to India to command the three brothers of India and became the commander-in-chief of the British Army in India.
But the mess always had to be dealt with, and Churchill thought of it
Claude John Okinlake
。 Because Auchinleck was a very capable officer and fought in World War I. Not only did he have extensive combat experience, but he also served as chief of staff of the Anglo-Indian forces.
It's great to have him clean up the mess now.
Churchill now needed him to succeed, otherwise Churchill would be impeached, so in order to keep his position, Churchill sought out Oginlek, hoping that Oginlake could defeat Rommel and save the game.
2. Rommel vs Oginlake
But when he arrived in North Africa, Auchin laker immediately thought he had been pitted. Because he found that the British army was now a mess. Fortunately, the rear sent him enough equipment and troops, otherwise he really didn't know how to clean up the mess.
And fortunately he found Rommel in a bad situation either, as the hapless Rommel had thrown most of his troops into order to attack Tobruk.
O'Kinglake realized this was a good opportunity and ordered his troops to launch an offensive, known as Operation Crusader.
In the early hours of November 18, 1941, the British 30th Army quietly rushed directly to the Area of Tobruk and captured the Sidi Rajg Airfield, which was only 12 miles from Tobruk.
Rommel also saw that the British goal was to try to crush his troops in one fell swoop and join the British defenders in Tobruk, so he immediately ordered the German 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions to rush to the British at the sidi Rajg airfield.
At this time, the British 13th Army was also ordered to attack, and part of the army entered the sidi Rajg airfield and joined the British 30th Army, and engaged in a fierce battle with the Germans.
By the 23rd, Rommel's African Army Command was forced to abandon it under attack from a New Zealand division of the 13th Army.
Unfortunately, most of the British troops themselves were defeated and divided by the Germans at sidi Rajg airfield.
But at this time the commander of the British First Army
Alain Gordon Cunningham
But he thought he had failed, that he was about to be annihilated by Rommel,
He must play the British Empire's tradition of "fleeing when the enemy meets", prepare to "turn into the wind" and withdraw to Egypt in a straight line.
However, God doomed him to be unable to run, because his boss, the commander-in-chief of the British Army in the Middle East, the big man Okinlake, flew to him from Cairo.
Okinlake got off the plane and gave Cunningham a scolding, believing that since Tobruk was still holding behind Rommel, Rommel was in just as bad a situation and had to continue the attack until Rommel was defeated.
And Rommel was indeed in a daze, given the "genius" German General Staff and the damn logistical dispatch. Once again, Rommel was short of supplies.
The counterattack scheduled for the 24th ended in failure, as the 15th Panzer Division could not keep up, the 21st Panzer Division ran out of supplies, and as for the Italian Mobile Army? They were also beaten by the British on the ground.
Considering that he was now instead rounded back by the British and in danger of being encircled, Rommel had to order his troops to turn around and retreat on November 26, abandoning the attack on the Egyptian border.
Auchinleck ordered his troops to pursue, and on the evening of the 26th the New Zealand Division successfully joined the British defenders of Tobruk.
However, the pursuit of Rommel was a crushing defeat, and on December 1, the British army was defeated by the German army at Beylehamed, which at first glance seemed to be the German army taking the initiative again, and the British army was once again floating in the hearts of the people.
But Auchinlake once again flew to the headquarters of the British Eighth Army, and he analyzed the situation.
At first glance, it became clear that Rommel was actually making a suspicious plan to scare the British army.
The Anglo-Indian Fourth and Seventh Panzer Divisions were sent to the flank of Rommel, with plans to cut off Rommel's supply routes.
At this point Rommel could no longer return to heaven and could only withdraw his starting point, the port of Plega.
3. The dismissed Auchinlake
This battle Ofkinlake became famous in the first battle, and the old manatee Churchill praised him as "
Saved the battle and proved himself to have outstanding qualities as a good field commander.
"But if you look at it this way, the old manatee Churchill should have admired Oginlek, so why should Oginlake be removed afterwards?" Is there any irreconcilable contradiction behind the two people?
In fact, the reason is very simple, that is, Auchinlake won too brilliantly, and the glory was a bit excessive.
Churchill was already in a state of disrepair, and his defeats in Greece and the Mediterranean put him under enormous domestic pressure.
He must score a series of victories to gain a foothold at home.
Operation Crusade was a good victory, but it was not enough. The old English manatee believes that there must be more victories before he can boost morale and morale at home.
And, of course, the prime minister's throne under his ass.
In Aukinlake's eyes, there was no difference between attacking and sending people to death, and he repeatedly stated that the British army needed sufficient time to complete its own reorganization and training, and needed to further strengthen the technical equipment of the troops before attacking.
Churchill, on the other hand, had run out of patience, and the old English manatee, who smoked a box of cigars and drank two bottles of wine every day, was bent on attacking.
However, Auchinlake ignored Churchill's orders and only cared about building a defensive line in Jazara, which made Churchill very dissatisfied in his heart, and simply issued an order in May 1942.
If Auchinleck could not attack by June 1, he would be considered disobedient and removed.
Fortunately, Rommel attacked first on May 26, which avoided Auchinlake's disobedience.
This battle was the historical Battle of Jazara, in which Rommel himself lost more than a third of his tanks and suffered heavy losses.
However, the British army was also beaten miserably, several British troops were defeated, not to mention, Tobruk was also captured by the German army on June 14, and the situation was once again unfavorable to the British army.
Auchinleck had no choice but to order his troops to retreat to El Alamein on 25 June to meet the Germans there.
On 30 June, Rommel approached El Alamein with his army, and the First Battle of El Alamein broke out. After that, the two sides fought an unprecedented battle around El Alamein, and the German army was finally defeated.
At the end of July, the Germans stabilized the front after receiving a large number of reinforcements from the rear. The British could only stop the offensive, and the El Alamein front fell into calm.
Although Auchinlake had already accumulated considerable strength by this time, he forced Rommel and his Afrika Korps into trouble. However, Churchill was very dissatisfied with this, and he believed that the British should intensify their attack and defeat the German army in one fell swoop. But Auchin lake's delay in attacking made Churchill furious.
Churchill arrived in Cairo on 4 August and demanded that Oginlake continue his attack.
But Auchinlake, as a good general, realized that if Rommel, whose offensive strength was now strengthened, he would inevitably suffer defeat, so he refused to attack.
He also pointed out that it was impossible to defeat the Germans now, and it would not be until September that they were ready to launch an attack. Churchill was furious and dismissed Oginlake from his post.
epilogue
O'Kinlake was removed from his post, a decision made purely by England's incompetent old manatee Churchill in order to cover up his incompetence and failure, for his own good deeds and so-called dignity. But in fact, even if O'Kinlake was revoked, the British army was still able to fight according to the battle plan formulated by O'Kinlake. Because only this plan could defeat Rommel and the Afrika Korps. Montgomery won the Second Battle of El Alamein according to Auchinlake's plan, which became the famous general of World War II, and this also proved Ochinlake's vision and excellent ability.
Reference: "Ten Generals of the British Army in World War II"
Battlefields of North Africa
Third Reich Series: Afrika Korps