“What was that man doing galloping off into Egypt with only one division like that? The 15th Panzers only reached him a few weeks ago!”
“It seems he believed he had a promise to fulfill, my Fuhrer.”
“You mean his boast about taking the Suez Canal? I knew that was not likely.”
“He might have done exactly that, were it not for this new force that appeared on the southern flank.”
“I have read the reports,” said Hitler. “What do you know of these new British tanks that seem to be impervious to our guns? Have you seen this, Paulus?”
“Not personally. I know only what was reported to me by the officers I interviewed. From all descriptions the British must have been building on the success of their Matilda heavy tank, and they have delivered another model with considerably more power. Troops say it is twice the size of the Matilda, and with a gun on it that is as big as a 25 pound artillery piece. Yet in spite of its size it was very fast-very agile. The troops say it could fire on the move, and hit with amazing accuracy. And nothing they used against it was able to harm it in any way.”
“How many of these new tanks do the British have?”
“This we do not yet know, and our operatives in Cairo have been unable to even confirm the existence of this new unit. How it came to reach its position south of the main battle area is somewhat of a mystery. Halder suggested it must have deployed by rail here, to the railhead north of the Al Farafrah Oasis, and then moved by road to Siwa.”
“That is a long march. Why not simply deploy it in the north, along the coast?”
“We do not know. Perhaps they meant to achieve surprise by this maneuver.”
“It seems they have done that well enough!” Hitler folded his arms, an elbow in each hand in the guarded posture he often took when unhappy.
“Reports indicate that no more than ten or fifteen of these new tanks were actually engaged,” said Paulus, “so this may be a special Schwere Panzer unit that is only recently arrived. Donitz should see that no more arrive, because this new tank could unhinge the balance of power in a mobile battle, just as it did at Bir el Khamsa.”
Hitler frowned at the mention of the name. “Our first major setback,” he scowled. “I can see the British kicking the Italians out of Egypt, but not German troops!”
“Yet we had just two divisions there, my Fuhrer. That is hardly a force capable of driving all the way to Cairo and beyond. Unless Rommel is strongly reinforced, you should expect he can do nothing more than hold on defense.”
“At Benghazi? We will need that port.”
“It will be held, but not by German troops.”
“Then by who? You do not expect the Italians to hold it for very long!”
“That will be up to Mussolini. Yes, Rommel has posted six Italian divisions, largely infantry, in positions all along this line. Granted, these are not reliable troops, but there are 50,000 men there now, and if the British want Benghazi, they will have to commit several divisions to invest it and take the time to plan an offensive. At present they do not have sufficient forces in theater to do this while also building up a strong front opposite Rommel at Mersa Brega.”
The delicate moment had come, for Paulus knew Hitler had ordered Benghazi held, and nothing had been said about any further withdrawal to the west. He folded his arms behind his back, with an almost casual air, as if the dispositions he was describing now were contemplated all along.
“Mersa Brega?” said Hitler. “That far west? What about Agedabia?”
“It is also occupied by the Italian armor and motorized divisions. They will form a kind of trip-wire to delay any move by the British into Tripolitania. Our forces will stage here, just where you ordered Rommel to take up his blocking position before he ran off into Egypt. I have finally talked some sense into the man, and he now sees the wisdom of your earlier orders. He told me personally that he would obey his Fuhrer’s instructions and build a strong defensive position.”
There, Paulus had couched the decision to withdraw to Mersa Brega as something that was in accord with Hitler’s own wishes. The bird was out of the oven, and now he only needed to baste it well.
“You have an uncanny eye for good defensive ground, my Fuhrer. How you managed to determine this from a simple map like this is astounding, but I saw that ground personally when I was there, and it is one of the best defensive positions in North Africa. Rommel has posted both his divisions there, and they will soon be joined by a third, the 90th Light Motorized Division. The delivery of 1200 trucks from the French at Tripoli allowed us to deploy this unit much sooner than we might have otherwise. So now the other troops you have scheduled for this buildup are staging at Toulon and Naples.”
