Hitler the Infallible
The legend of German invincibility and military prescience has suffered severe blows in the last three weeks. Confident of its ability to hold its own in Egypt, the Axis army was outmanoeuvred and outfought, and the name of Rommel has lost its magic. More than that, the reputation of the German High Command for superior strategy on the grand scale is dissolving as one major mistake after another becomes palpable. Criticism in neutral countries is active. From Ankara are heard comments on the complete failure of the German High Command to grasp the situation during the last six months. In Stockholm there have been scathing criticisms of the German strategy in Russia, which is described as that, not of a military expert, but a civilian—Hitler. Why is German still throw- ing away troops in vain efforts to push on in the Caucasus and at Stalingrad, and imposing on herself a 3,000-mile front to defend against Russian armies already preparing their winter offensive? Her High Command not only underestimated the power of the Eighth Army in Egypt, but failed to prepare against the contingency of Anglo-American forces descending on French Africa. It is making hurried last-minute dispositions to deal with a threat it might have foreseen, and has locked up big reserves on a fighting front where they cannot easily or safely be withdrawn. German military might will not henceforward be regarded with superstitious awe. Hitler the infallible, himself a victim of the superstition, has blundered and blundered again. He has thrown caution to the winds in Russia, he has disastrously miscalculated his strength in Egypt, he has been outwitted in French Africa, and there are no signs of an adequate plan to counter the initiative seized by the Allies. It was time the legend of German invincibility was exploded, and it has been.
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