He didn’t believe a word of it.
Instead he went to find Hauptmann László Almásy, the Hungarian born desert scout leading his long range desert patrol, the Sonderkommando. “Are your men out on the far southern flank as I ordered?”
“Yes, Herr General. The 300th Oasis Battalion is just east of Wadi Thiran watching that road.”
“Good, because I believe they are about to have visitors. It may take you all day, but get hold of a good radio and get down there. I think the British are looking to try and turn our flank again. There are three tracks leading west in that area, one through the wadi itself, and two more north of the wadi itself. I think they will use them, and they all lead to one place.”
“The lodgments of our 15th Panzer Division,” said Almásy.
“I see you have already been snooping around. Well, stop there on your way and tell Crüwell I want to see him at this hill, number 535, an hour before sunset, but be sure you tell him personally, not via radio.”
“Of course. Do you think this will be a feint or probe? It is very far south.”
Rommel pursed his lips. “I think you may soon find more of those odd vehicles you first discovered south of Bir el Khamsa. I’m relying on you, Hauptmann. If you do see evidence of those vehicles, then contact me at once. Use the code word Löwenbräu, the Lion’s brew. Understand?”
“I will see to it at once.” Almásy saluted stiffly, adjusted his eye goggles, and was on his motorcycle heading south in no time. That afternoon, as Rommel had directed, he was up on hill 535, a high rocky crag that thrust out from the edge of a shallow escarpment. It overlooked a tumble of broken stone and dry wadis, terrain that was mostly impassable for vehicles, and even tortuous work for infantry. Beyond that ground, to the northwest, was the encampment for Ravenstein’s 21st Panzer Division, well behind the front line manned by the 90th Light Division. Crüwell’s 15th held the southern flank, reinforced by troops freshly returned from Russia, the Hermann Goering Division, though only a single brigade had arrived. The last of the three panzer divisions, the 10th under Fischer, was due north of Ravenstein’s positions, astride the Trig el Abd leading to Tobruk.
“There’s a battle coming,” said Rommel. “I can smell it. So we gather here to make certain there is no freelancing this time. The enemy has apparently gone to great lengths to convince me he is going to put his main effort up the coast road in a drive to Derna. They have even gone so far as to recall Montgomery from the Pacific. We learned that from Berlin at noon today. Well, I don’t buy it. Instead I think they will make their main effort well south, possibly even as far south as your positions, General Crüwell.”
“There is nothing down there but empty desert,” said Crüwell. “Believe me, I’ve been standing watch over it for weeks.”
“That desert is about to get very busy,” said Rommel. “ I sent the Hungarian with 300th Oasis Battalion out to have a look. In the meantime, have a look at this map. These three tracks lead right to your lodgment with 15th Panzer Division. I believe they mean to hit us there, and attempt to cut off the entire Afrika Korps.”
That would leave their attacking force dangerously exposed,” said Crüwell. “We could simply move the other two panzer divisions through 90th Light and counterattack. Tit for tat, then they will be the ones cut off.”
“Not if my suspicions are correct.”
“Your suspicions? What was it this time, tea leaves, a twitch in your left eye?”
“Don’t be flippant, Herr General. I have been out here long enough to earn my keep. No. The last time they hit us in the center, and led with their 7th Armored Division. We stopped them.”
“Yes, thanks to my timely counterattack.”
“Which cost us months on the defense while I had to rebuild all three mobile divisions,” said Rommel. “So let me assume our enemy learns from his mishaps, just as I hope you do. If they lead with their older armor as before, we’ll stop them again. This time I think they will do the opposite. They will hit us with the best tanks they have, the same monsters we faced at Bir El Khamsa, and again when your fabled counterattack was nearly smashed south of Tobruk. Thank God I got there in time to get the men out, and the enemy was too unprepared to pursue us. So we have sat on our Gazala line for months, slowly receiving our new tanks from Germany. The Big Cats now flesh out all three of our panzer divisions, and we have the Pz-IVF2 as a good medium tank, and even a few of the new Panthers. That is a rare privilege. Ask anyone back in 2nd Panzer Army about it in Russia and they will wish they had such tanks. But, as good as they are, the enemy has something even better. I think we will see those heavy tanks deployed in force this time.”
“Then what do you intend to do?”
“At the first sign of trouble, Ravenstein will move by this track here, past the old fort and Hill 522. That maneuver covers the rear of our main infantry front, which they will most likely assault with their own infantry divisions.” He looked at Crüwell now. “Your job is to delay. Get your recon and pioneer battalions well forward, and dig in. Keep the armor and Panzergrenadiers back, and be prepared to move quickly on my orders. And general—follow those orders to the letter, in spite of any opinion you might have to the contrary. I will want you to execute a quick withdrawal maneuver, and then regroup for a counterattack here.” Rommel pointed at his map.
“Why not deploy the whole division on the line to stop this attack?”
“Because you won’t stop it,” said Rommel. “We couldn’t stop them at Bir el Khamsa, nor in the attack they made south of Tobruk. Steiner couldn’t stop them in Syria either, and he had two divisions on the line. So they will get through. The only question is at what cost to us? If I read my tea leaves correctly, the purpose of this attack will be to go all the way.”
“All the way?”
“To the Gulf of Sirte. Yes. If they do stack up east of Wadi Thiran as I suspect, then they will push hard for Agedabia. We cannot allow them to occupy that position in force. It would leave the entire army bottled up in Cyrenaica, with Benghazi our only supply source.”
“Then what do you propose to do? We either stop this attack here, at the outset, or they will get through to take that position.”
“Their spearhead will get through, but not the shaft of that spear. I intend to let this heavy leading force pass, with as little cost to our mobile divisions as possible. Then we hit the troops that must inevitably be following that spearhead, and we hit them with everything we have.”
“And what if this spearhead does not proceed as you suggest? What if their intention is to engage and destroy our panzers?” Crüwell was covering ever possibility.
“In that instance, the divisions will adopt the hedgehog defensive formation we have drilled on these last few months. In every engagement where you are faced with these new heavy tanks, the infantry is to make liberal use of the new Panzerfaust, and form the outer crust of your line. If they can get mines out in front of them, all the better. The panzers are to be held behind that front, and hull down wherever possible. They have a new main gun as good as our 88s, and with very long range. They were killing tanks well over a kilometer in range, so keep that in mind. Deploy your artillery and the infantry will call it in, but be ready to move it immediately. Their mastery of counter battery fire is demonic.”