ljadw wrote: ↑04 Aug 2021, 12:16
1 Axis forces and German PzD are two different things .
Up to a point, but beyond that the logistical requirements are very much the same. A tanker from the 15th Pz division ate the same food, drank the same water and used the same fuel as his infantry comrades.
2 Italian army in September 1940 :245000. Axis ground forces in June 1942 : 1940000 Thus : no increase .
Where are you getting your figures? The oft repeated figures of the Italian army involved in Op Compass was around 150K, and this included units stationed at Bardia and Sidi Omar.
The truth is that there were only TWO German PzD in Libya .The reason was the terrain : mountains, no roads, distance, no decent harbor .
No, the reason was logistics. Had the Axis committed to improving the harbors of Benghazi and Tobruk - admittedly a
huge undertaking - the other reasons you listed would disappear. Logistics was, and still is, the deciding factor for how big a military force can be deployed and maintained in the field.
4 The Axis did not support 2 PzD, the Italians /or the Germans did it .
Um, the Italians and Germans were the Axis in North Africa.
And the fact that there were 12 Italian and German divisions at Alamein,does not mean that the Axis could have more operational tank divisions at Alamein,because the supply demands of a PzD were much higher than those for an ID .
So now it's supplies that decide how many Pz divisions could operate in NA.
Now why didn't I think of that...
The gods do not deduct from a man's allotted span the hours spent in fishing.
~Babylonian Proverb