Given the pat impossibility of actually carrying an offensive all the way to Suez with the logistical framework he had available, what should Rommel have done instead in 41 and 42?
>>273466
Gone back to germany. Shot Hitler in the face. Negotiated peace terms.
Followed orders to the best of his ability because that's the only virtuous thing to do in his position.
>>273515
That would involve listening to the Italians, which is a sure recipe for disaster.
>>273475
Dolchstoßlegende v. 2.0
>>273466
With the logistical framework he had available to him, he did everything that could be expected of him and more.
The only other thing he could have done was probably urge even harder for more troops. Anything. Whatever. Just send WHATEVER YOU HAVE I HAVE THE FUCKING BRITISH ON THE RUN HERE YOU MOOP
>>273545
>The only other thing he could have done was probably urge even harder for more troops.
But more troops are useless without the ability to get them fuel, ammo, repair parts, etc.
That's in fact the core problem with fighting something like the Western Desert campaign. Rommel's ability to project force is enormously higher around Tripoli than it is around Tobruk.
>>273475
>Italians
>Logistics
They were even worse at it than the Germans, and that was before their naval failures gave control of the Med to the British.
>>273576
>gave control of the Med to the British.
They never had control of the Med.
The Axis were fucking idiots. Japan going to war against the Commonwealth and USA while they are bogged down in China and meanwhile the Soviet Juggernaut lurked above them.
Germany going to war in the East against the Soviet Union after failing in the Battle of Britain and being required to occupy all of Europe from the Ukraine to France, Norway to Greece. Not to mention fighting against the USA.
Just stupid. A huge waste of lives, time, and money.
>>273591
People back then were retarded
>>273530
>Dolchstoßlegende
It'd be less stab in the back and more 'Rommel is Hailed as Savior of Nation, gives more clay to germany, wrecks enemies, kills communists.'
>>273562
Sorry, when I said troops I really meant supplies.
>>273609
In 1941-42 he would not have been hailed as a hero for killing Hitler. In 1944 yeah, but not 41-42.
>>273604
People now are just as retarded.
>>273591
They could at least CONTEST it at one point, and could still run convoys. They quickly lost that ability.
>>273620
But how are you going to get more supplies over? You have no railroads. Your only real port in the region is limited in how much capacity it can handle, and is literally thousands of kilometers away from any targets of strategic significance. Even if you can capture ports farther east, being further away from the air umbrella that is Italy makes it enormously difficult to actually ship anything over to them, and that's assuming the British don't blow up said ports before they retreat.
You were historically running up against a ground based version of the rocketry problem. To haul more supplies east, you need motorized assets, which themselves require significant amounts of supplies to keep running, which starts spiraling up and up forever.
>>273647
They had no oil, dude.
>>273653
Trust the Führer.
>>273662
They still did in 1941.
>>273678
What if I want something that will actually work?
>>273690
Then it's off to Dachau with you, communist.
>>273466
Urged Hitler to sue for peace. Germany literally controlled mainland Europe, while as >>273591 pointed out, other theaters were stacked against them. They should've withdrawn to the mainland and consolidated. Britain aside, Hitler had already won his people's homeland; what the fuck was he doing trying to take over the planet?
Why did Japan join the Axis powers anyways
>>273826
For the dank memes
>>273709
>Urge Hitler to sue for peace
That didn't work in 1944 when everything went to shit.
What makes you think it woudl work in 1941-42?
>>273709
The end game was most likely to batter the English enough that they would sue for peace, then focus on the Russians and kick the fuck out of the slavs to establish a Germanic superstate.
Unfortunately for them, Churchill had an asshole on him and refused to surrender long enough for the Americans to get in. Without being able to put their full focus on the east, they were quickly put produced by the soviets.
>>273826
Because Hitler wanted more people for his Anti-Communist alliance. The stupid part comes where he sold out his long-standing allies in the Chinese (who had been proven to be stupidly anti-Commie when it would have been in their best interests to ignore it) for the Japanese, who had already been kek'd hard by the Soviets when they tried to push into Mongolia.
It was possibly the first instance of the kind of "WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING" mistake that came out of the Third Reich. It was certainly not the first time Hitler stabbed an ally in the back for little gain, however.
>>273626
The plot to hitler wasn't even about killing Hitler really. It was thought that Hitler's death would mean the allys would negotiate with the new government.
Probably why Rommel was quite about it. He didn'tjoin but he also wanted Germany to have a chance.
>>273709
Holy shit you non /pol/ guys are really ignorant. Hitler sued for peace about 4 times while he was winning and it was generous peace too.
Churchill wanted NOTHING to do with it and the British Empire RIP in peace.
>>273466
Focused on destroying opposition cadre through a back and forth.
>>275720
Because the UK trained its people on Libyan battlefields?
>>275741
There's a difference between destroying 90% of a unit and destroying its cadre through envelopment. You can rebuild a shattered division through its cadre, you can't rebuild an eliminated division.
>>273466
defect to the West :^)
>>275797
No, you just build other divisions with your other training cadres, who have already been rotated back home for such duties.
>>275804
Which is weird, because the Germans didn't do that, nor did the British. Smash your American lenses and read with fresh eyes.
>>273475
What an ace answer.
>>275851
Are you seriously trying to claim that the Germans and British didn't raise fresh manpower and throw them into the cauldron?
Because that's what you seem to be claiming, and it's retarded. See the 6th Australian, 4th Indian, 297th infantry (German), and the 14th Panzer division (again German).
You do realize that front line units are very rarely called back for training duties, except as something for them to do when they rotate out of theater for other reasons (usually to rest and refit due to combat damage), right? That the complete destruction of any particular division as opposed to merely mauling 2 divisions down to half strength doesn't actually make all that much of a difference unless your opponent has for some inexplicable reason, completely lost the ability to build new formations.
>>275895
>New formations are of identical quality
…
You seem to have no appreciation for the development of cadre in military recruitment and training; or, for that matter, the purposes for which the cadre concept of officers and senior NCOs was produced in European warfare.
But please, continue prating, because the Chockos were just as effective as 6 Australian.
>>275911
You seem to grasp the rather simple concept that the training cadres will exist when you form new units, because when you raise those new troops, the cadres are already in place as they're being integrated to formations.
And that wiping out a relatively tiny force in a secondary front for all parties involved won't really slow this process down by one iota.
