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The battle
began under strong moonlight as a tremendous burst of artillery fire
shattered the silence. The commander of the German forces, Erwin
Rommel, was on sick leave in Germany for the first time in his
career. Since September, the commander of the British forces, Major
General Bernard Montgomery, had been amassing vast reserves along
the northern front, and on the southern side he constructed a
mammoth dummy stronghold. The ruse succeeded: He attained total
surprise when he attacked from the north and trapped the German
forces in a 40-mile corridor. At first, Rommel could move only
forward or backward. Nine days later, he knew he could move backward
only. He faced round-the-clock bombardments and attacks by infantry,
tanks, and artillery, in waves that seemed endless. Rommel fell into
Montgomery’s trap. Because Hitler had ordered him to fight to
victory or death, he also lost important parts of his forces. When
Rommel finally attempted to retreat, Montgomery outflanked him and
staunched the withdrawal. Thus, in one of the decisive battles of
the war, the Germans’ invasion of Africa was repelled and the tide
of battle turned. Rommel’s invincible German army was mauled and
the Allies began to drive the German forces into a lengthy
withdrawal. |
