The first of Rundstedt’s armored columns to reach the Meuse was the one that did not go through that complex of forests that is generally called the Ardennes. The T. Pz. Div commanded by General Rommel skirted the forest’s northern edge.
The T. Pz. Div had been what the German tank forces called a “light division,” but this experiment had proved unsuccessful. Now Czech tanks had been added to the division to make it up to normal Panzer-division configuration. In fact its strength in the better tanks made it one of the most powerful tank divisions on the field. Not only was the division thus re-formed, but its commander, who was newly appointed, had never before commanded a tank unit.
At the age of forty-eight, Rommel had had to learn the complexities of his new command in scarcely three months. Now he was to be put to the test. Rommel was an outsider, lacking the sort of military antecedents that so many of the Prussian generals enjoyed and lacking the staff training and staff experience that might have compensated for his being the son of a schoolmaster.
Rommel’s devotion to Hitler and his enthusiasm for the Nazis made his fellow generals uneasy. Having heard the Fiihrer flay his senior commanders on 23 November, Rommel noted that it was no more than they deserved. Even more disturbing for his fellow generals was Rommel’s publicity seeking. From his neck there usually hung a Leica camera given to him by Josef Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda. Often the camera was handed to a subordinate so that Rommel could be included in the picture. Soon his photographs would be used to portray blitzkrieg from the victors’ point of view and make Rommel the most famous general in Germany. Eventually he would become the most famous general in the world.
World History
