Who was the military commander of the German army in the African theater? Tell us about his life?

Rommel, the Desert Fox.

Among the brilliant generals of the Second World War, Rommel was the only one who could achieve great prominence during his lifetime and continue to be honored after his death, especially recognized by both hostile sides. The evaluation of it has gradually become polarized, and those who support it have called it the Nazi god of war, and his superb military qualities and excellent tactical talents have been respected and admired by many military enthusiasts and even famous military experts. Those who opposed it were called "tactical giants, strategic dwarfs" on the basis of their strategic mistakes, and because Rommel was once Hitler's favorite general and the Nazis' most effective instrument of aggression, he was called "World War II arsonist".

There are many comrades-in-arms in Iron Blood who worship him, and many people disdain it. This is actually not surprising, because Rommel himself was such a contradictory person.

Erwin Johannes Jurgen Rommel was Germany's most famous general in World War II and Hitler's favorite general. Anyone who knows a little about the military history of the world will know his famous nickname - "Desert Fox". As a result of his astonishing successes in the desert of North Africa (Rommel led 2 divisions of troops in North Africa in just 2 weeks to wipe out the previous 2 months of British gains) and the frenzied propaganda of the Germans and the Allies, he had become a legendary soldier and an idol of the Germans during his lifetime.

In November 1942, Rommel, with his only 50,000 troops and 550 tanks, fought against Montgomery's 10,000 troops and 1,029 tanks in the Alemán area, but was finally outnumbered and defeated. In March 1943, 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.

From December 1943 to July 1944, he led Army Group "B" to organize defenses in France and command the resistance to the Normandy landings. Subsequently, an attempted assassination of Hitler occurred in Germany, in which Rommel was involved. On October 14, 1944, due to Hitler's persecution, he committed suicide by poisoning himself in a small car, and the news announced to the public was that "Field Marshal Rommel died of a stroke on the way".

Rommel, known as the Desert Fox.

On February 11, 1940, the German 5th Light Panzer Division arrived in Libya as the first batch of troops to go to Africa. The next day, Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel flew to Tripoli, where he met with the commander-in-chief of the Italian army, General Garibordi. On the 18th, the German army officially named the unit sent to Libya the "German African Army", with Rommel as the commander.

In order to strengthen this African army, Hitler strengthened the tank regiment of the 5th Light Panzer Division and decided to form another 15th Panzer Division to go to North Africa.

The German Afrika Army pointed out that from 9 December 1940, the British forces were unstoppably defeated from Egypt. On 5 February 1941, the British split the retreating Italian army in two on the coastal road at Beda Fomm. Within two days, as the British approached Tripolitania, all but 7,000 demoralized remnants of the Italian army had been crushed along the way.

By this time, the British had destroyed four Italian legions, captured 130,000 men, 400 tanks, and about 1,300 artillery pieces, while 500 of them were killed, 1,373 wounded, and 55 missing. Adolph. Hitler was not blind to the situation on the battlefield in North Africa.

The defeat of the Italian army would not only seriously weaken the regime of the fascist alliance, but also have a negative impact on the cooperative relations between the Axis powers.

Operation Blitz in the desert earned Rommel the nickname "Desert Fox" and caused Britain to suffer heavy losses in the North African battlefield in just a few months. The German "Afrika Army" was a great success.

At this time, Rommel's reputation was also almost at its peak, and the radio stations repeated his name incessantly, and Nazi Germany regarded him as a "hero". Even British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once exclaimed in the House of Commons: "A brave and sophisticated adversary is fighting against us, and though we have fought each other in the devastation of war, let me say that he is a great general."

Hitler also showed a special affection for Rommel, proposing that Rommel be promoted to general. However, Hitler's proposal was firmly resisted by the General Staff, because Rommel had been promoted from lieutenant colonel to lieutenant general in just two years, however, as the situation in North Africa developed, there was a need to establish an armored corps there that was second only to Army Group in terms of formation, so there was no choice but to promote Rommel to general. Rommel was given the rank of general at the age of 49.