Comments by "James the Other One" (@jamestheotherone742) on "ACCIDENTAL VICTORY | Operation Crusader Part 15 (the End)" video.

@sorsocksfake No. he was just a POS coward that didn't/couldn't bring himself to throw "his boys" into the battle. Yes he wiley persevered his force, but at the cost of a lot of blood to other units. If the Dash to the Wire had resulted in a British route, he would probably have been one of the principle malfactors blamed for the defeat. Luckily for him, his sandbagging was glossed over in the afterglow the Brit general staff felt after having finally "beaten" Rommel.
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Even when you know the outcome and have read many books on the subject, TIK's presentation is still very entertaining.
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I agree with your thesis. Given the circumstances, the British should have won the battle, mistakes and all, just on sheer weight of manpower and logistics. Rommel's dash was the only way he could have broken the offensive with an inferior force. Some battles you just can't win.
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Nein. The Dash was a classic envelopment maneuver. It was the only way he had to leverage his inferior forces to threaten the entire Allied advance and the only way he had to influence the outcome. That it didn't work does not diminish its tactical soundness.
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@L24-h8i Depends. If Rommel had been able to get more units moving sooner, having German armor and troops marauding around at the frontier and in British deep rear areas might have broken more than just Cunningham's nerve and forced them to react to being "encircled" and break off the Tobruk relief. Which is what Rommel wanted them to do. The funny thing is that, if you read other sources, its the very same communications lag and command paralysis that allowed Rommel to make his dash, also made it fail because the British didn't react before Rommel ran out of supplies and time.
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