Sublime

Of all of Germany’s senior commanders, including Rommel and von Rundstedt, few were more eager to attack than Kesselring, and none had his ability to combine air and ground operations.

General Heinz Guderian (1888–1954) was the true author of blitzkrieg as propounded in his book Achtung Panzer (1937).

It was thus a piece of writing, more than military acumen or martial genius, which secured Napoleon’s first exploit.

Model was the first to recognize that Hitler’s orders would lead to the destruction of the German Army in France.

Three weeks later he was promoted to lieutenant general, leapfrogging sixty-six major generals (including George Patton and Jacob Devers) who were considerably senior.

As a consequence, those troops who made it to shore found themselves pinned down and unable to move through the elaborate minefields the Germans had laid.

10 He learned the importance of training and discipline, and how to deploy airpower and massed armor, particularly when confronting Germany’s superior panzer formations.