The Battles of El Alamein were a series of battles fought in Egypt between Axis and Commonwealth forces between July and November 1942.

The terrain of El Alamein, close to the Qattara Depression, was chosen by the British after the Tobruk rout because it was the only geographical segment that could offer a defense in depth capable of protecting the Nile Delta and the Suez Canal.

Since the beginning of the Second World War, the Axis had been able to count on a series of dazzling victories, both in Europe and in the Pacific.

In 1942, the Axis found itself in a position of strategic advantage obtained through the use of aggressive tactics for which the Allied armies were not prepared.

But, from a logistical point of view, the Axis was not able to sustain such an effort over time, which required an extensive use of resources - fuel and petroleum derivatives first and foremost - unless it managed to conquer the rich oil basins of the Caucasus, Iran and Iraq in Europe and the Middle East, as Japan had managed to do for the Dutch East Indies.

In Europe, therefore, the Axis had a very specific strategic objective for 1942.

The secret strategic directives that emerged in a recent research work have allowed us to document that Rommel intended to reach Alexandria and Cairo and then cross the Suez Canal and from Palestine continue towards Iraq to take the British Iran between two fires, as soon as Kleist had managed to cross the Azeri ridge near Machakalla.

The plan had to be carried out with extreme speed, because after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the employment of the immense military and economic arsenal of the United States could have given an irreversible direction to the conflict.

The first clashes in July and August saw Rommel forced to act with a series of bold offensives but limited by desperately incongruous logistics.

The first offensive conducted in July was intended to bypass the main bastion of el Alamein through the Bab el Qattara redoubt.

After an initial success that allowed the Axis to secure most of the objectives and pivot the southern flank on the Qattara depression, the limited resources at his disposal forced Rommel to stop.

On August 30, strengthened by the arrival, albeit limited, of fuel from Italy, Rommel intended to resume the offensive to take advantage of the full moon. The plan was to bypass the stronghold of El Alamein via the ridge of Alam el Halfa to reach the British rear near El Imayid.

After an initial success that allowed the capture of the stronghold of Qaret el Himeimat, the deep mobile defense organized by Montgomery, the dense minefields, the air superiority of the Western Desert Air Force, and the determination transmitted to the British by their new commander, put an end to the last Axis attempt to reach the Delta.

Recent historical research has discovered that as early as September 14, Montgomery had begun to transmit orders for Operation Lightfoot and Supercharge, the latter to be implemented on October 23 with the first full moon.

According to Montgomery's predictions, the battle would last 12 days and would have been divided into two phases: Lightfoot was the initial phase to wear down and then annihilate the Axis infantry, but without giving the impression that there was an intention to launch an offensive in depth.

In this way, the orderly retreat of enemy forces to the rear of Fuka would have been averted, which instead were to be completely annihilated in the open field by the tanks during Supercharge.

The plan included careful preparation through the accumulation of large supplies of ammunition and fuel, the complete re-equipment of infantry brigades, training in hand-to-hand combat, the mass use of 25-ounce artillery, the creation of a new armor corps capable of exploiting the breakthrough at the right time, and finally a clever plan of disinformation, deception and misdirection with the use of classic intelligence and counter intelligence, but also of innovative systems such as cannibals and sunshields.

The final outcome was dictated by the logistical supremacy achieved by Montgomery to overcome the tactical superiority of the enemy tank units and the determination of the elite Axis formations.

On November 8, when the retreat had already begun, the American landings in Morocco and Algeria distracted the new Axis armored formations in the west that were about to intervene to help on the Fuka line.

On November 19, the Soviets launched Operation Uranus and surrounded Paulus and the Sixth Army in Stalingrad, extinguishing the Axis ambitions in the Caucasus.

Paradoxically, in December, it will be the Panzer Army Africa in Tunisia that will have to face a threat on two fronts.

Like History? Then stay tuned... And more details will follow!

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