Panzer Corps 2 Operation Crusader - Can this be won?
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 10:24 pm
I came out of BattleAxe in good shape - took me about 3 tries - and entered Crusader. Holy Cow, the British seem overpowered and the Italians melt faster than they did in Battle Axe. Hardly a comparison to the description of the true aftermath below:
Crusader had been partially successful with the Tobruk garrison relieved and Rommel’s forces forced back to western Cyrenaica. The operation had not, however, achieved the decisive victory the British had sought. They had been badly hit because their tank and anti-tank guns were inferior to the German panzers and flak guns and because Italian code breakers had allowed Rommel to preempt the Allied moves[3]and would continued to do so for the next six months. [4]The British Commonwealth forces still had much to learn about the need to concentrate and coordinate the use of armour, supporting infantry and artillery.
The battles had been very costly for all involved. Losses in the 2nd New Zealand Division were 4620, with 879 killed, 1699 wounded and 2042 POWs. The commander of the division, Major-General Bernard Freyberg, emphasized that of all the actions the New Zealanders undertook, none was more important than the advance towards Tobruk on 23 November 1941 in the early stages of the operation. ‘If we had not done so the battle of Alamein would have been fought a year earlier – and without the Sherman tank.’
And in the opinion of a noted British observer, "Crusader should also be remembered as the battle in which the Italian army can claim to have recovered its self-respect."[5]
I am not feeling like the British are inferior, their damned air force is incredibly powerful and I am waiting for an Italian unit that doesn't fold like Spaghetti!
Curious how any of you that have successfully conquered this part of the campaign did so.
Thanks in advance!
Crusader had been partially successful with the Tobruk garrison relieved and Rommel’s forces forced back to western Cyrenaica. The operation had not, however, achieved the decisive victory the British had sought. They had been badly hit because their tank and anti-tank guns were inferior to the German panzers and flak guns and because Italian code breakers had allowed Rommel to preempt the Allied moves[3]and would continued to do so for the next six months. [4]The British Commonwealth forces still had much to learn about the need to concentrate and coordinate the use of armour, supporting infantry and artillery.
The battles had been very costly for all involved. Losses in the 2nd New Zealand Division were 4620, with 879 killed, 1699 wounded and 2042 POWs. The commander of the division, Major-General Bernard Freyberg, emphasized that of all the actions the New Zealanders undertook, none was more important than the advance towards Tobruk on 23 November 1941 in the early stages of the operation. ‘If we had not done so the battle of Alamein would have been fought a year earlier – and without the Sherman tank.’
And in the opinion of a noted British observer, "Crusader should also be remembered as the battle in which the Italian army can claim to have recovered its self-respect."[5]
I am not feeling like the British are inferior, their damned air force is incredibly powerful and I am waiting for an Italian unit that doesn't fold like Spaghetti!
Curious how any of you that have successfully conquered this part of the campaign did so.
Thanks in advance!