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Hello, and thank you for listening to the History of World War II podcast.

Episode 381, The Battle at Casala, The Waiting Is All.

Last time, Rommel was able to bluff and bluster General Richie's Athe Army into backing up to the Casala line, just ahead or west of Tobruk.

Of course, Richie had to abandon the Cyrenech and Bulge, and now Axis Plains based there would harass Malta.

But the Allied response, that is Operation Acrobat, was forming up. Hopefully this would be the final push west for the British-Led forces in the desert.

And yet, what if Operation Acrobat or any other offensive was launched and failed?

If Rommel won a clash of tanks, then there was nothing stopping him from moving on to Egypt, and the new government there under Nahas Pasha, who seemed pro-Axis, or at least believed they would win in the end, indicated that the British-Auth Army may have adversaries on either side of them.

Caution was the watchword of the day.

On the other side, the Germans were arguing about the best way to win in this theater, as if it was already a foregone conclusion.

Grand Admiral Eric Raider wanted Malta taken. The British had already moved away their surface ships and submarines from the islands, as it was simply no longer safe due to the daily bombings.

But arguing against this was Kesselring and Rommel.

They wanted to brook. Why? If it fell, Rommel could use it as his base to invade Egypt. Supplies could come in from Crete, and Malta could be bombed, but ignored. No more supply headaches for the desert fox.

In the end, Hitler still thinking about his losses on Crete, sided with Rommel and Kesselring, much to the anger of the German Navy and the Italians.

To brook would fall and then on to Egypt. But as we have previously covered, Berlin wanted to brook to fall by June 20th, for that's when the second German Air Force had to return to the Eastern Front.

And Rommel was not to go beyond the port city, without direct permission from Defeer.

On the other side, a war was about to start, that would end with the end of Aachenleck as C and C middle east.

Back in February, Churchill wrote to the C and C that according to his calculations, 8th Army should already have a tank and plane superiority over Rommel. Why was he waiting to attack?

Aachenleck carefully and thoughtfully replied, explaining why he could not move out before June.

There was more to desert fighting than just the number of vehicles at once command. But when the eager Churchill read this note, the first actual atomic detonation occurred in his head.

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