Rommel in conversation with Maj-Gen Boettcher, North Africa, January 1942
In the Libyan desert the British were apparently making good progress since the launch of Operation CRUSADER. They had relieved Tobruk and had pushed on further west to re-occupy Benghazi, one of the major ports which allowed the supply of frontline forces without extended road journeys. They looked set to make even more territorial gains soon.
Erwin Rommel, commanding the Afrika Korps, did not see it like that at all. He was dismissive of his critics in Germany who were commenting on his retreat. Territory was less important to him than keeping his forces intact. He knew that, with the Royal Navy seriously weakened in the Mediterranean, he was now getting re-supplied with whole convoy loads of new tanks and munitions.