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Blitzkrieg. Allied Campaign. Mission 4 "Lifting the Siege at Tobruk"

2,505 views · Published 25 September 2016 · 58:33 · Indexed 30 October 2026

Channel: GamePlayShare · 2016 · Gaming

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In September of 1940, Italian troops stationed in Libya began an offensive action to capture Egypt. Having six times the number of troops as the British, the Italians forced them to fall back from the border. In December the British "Nile" army mounted a counter-offensive. Bypassing the Italian positions located along the shore by traversing the desert, they forced the Italians to withdraw, capturing in the process the fortresses of Bardia, Tobruk, and Benghazi and pressed deep into Libyan territory. The offensive cost the British 500 dead and 1,200 wounded, while the Italians lost 130,000 troops as POW's, 400 tanks and 1,290 cannons. The Italians, faced with the possibility of losing their hold on Libya entirely, asked the Germans to intervene. 
In early 1941, the Germans started landing the "Afrika Corps" in Libya. The corps commander general, Rommel, decided to take advantage of the fact that the British were severely overstretched because of the swiftness of their advance against the Italians and without waiting for the rest of his forces to arrive, began a counter strike. Although he initially could only field a fifth of the number of troops that the British had, he took them on "piece-by-piece" and managed to throw them back 900 km (540 miles). Only the Tobruk garrison, which was able to defend itself from two German attacks and drew away a significant proportion of Rommel's available forces, saved the British by buying some time. The British realized that Tobruk wouldn't withstand the German strikes indefinitely and attempted to raise the blockade several times without success. Rommel believed the opposition would not be able to make another such attempt in the near future and was preparing to storm Tobruk yet another time. He had, however, underestimated the British. 
The operation to raise the blockade of Tobruk was named Crusader. It included 118,000 troops, 760 guns, 924 tanks, and 1,072 aircraft. 100,000 Italian and German troops, 520 guns, 552 tanks and 340 aircraft opposed the British. The offensive started on November 18, five days before the scheduled German onslaught. Bypassing the Italian and German forces, they then commenced the attack on their flank. Rommel mounted a counter-strike that seriously complicated the situation for the British. The German commander intended to build on his success and restore the lines of communication blocked by the British in order to bar the enemy's escape route. In 24 hours the German tank units covered almost 100 kilometers (60 miles) and reached the Egyptian border, but the British managed to stop the offensive and even pushed them back. The weakened Axis troops started to retreat and the blockade of Tobruk was lifted. The British pushed the enemy back to the Egyptian border and occupied northwestern Libya (Kirenaika), greatly improving their position. 
Meanwhile in Russia, the battle for Moscow was beginning...

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