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The commander must be at constant pains to keep his troops abreast of all the latest tactical experience and developments, and must insist on their practical application. He must see to it that his subordinates are trained in accordance with the latest requirements. The best form of welfare for the troops is first-class training, for this saves unnecessary casualties.
Erwin Rommel -
In the absence of orders, go find something and kill it.
Erwin Rommel
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It is often possible to decide the issue of a battle merely by making an unexpected shift of one's main weight.
Erwin Rommel -
Sweat saves blood, blood saves lives, but brains saves both.
Erwin Rommel -
The enemy must be annihilated before he reaches our main battlefield. We must stop him in the water, destroying all his equipment while it is still afloat!
Erwin Rommel -
Good soldiers, bad officers; however don't forget that without them we would not have any Civilization.
Erwin Rommel -
Anyone who has to fight, even with the most modern weapons, against an enemy in complete command of the air, fights like a savage against modern European troops, under the same handicaps and with the same chances of success.
Erwin Rommel -
There is one unalterable difference between a soldier and a civilian: the civilian never does more than he is paid to do.
Erwin Rommel
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To every man of us, Tobruk was a symbol of British resistance and we were now going to finish with it for good.
Erwin Rommel -
Winning the men's confidence requires much of a commander. He must exercise care and caution, look after his men, live under the same hardships, and-above all- apply self discipline. But once he has their confidence, his men will follow him through hell and high water.
Erwin Rommel -
The future battle on the ground will be preceded by battle in the air. This will determine which of the contestants has to suffer operational and tactical disadvantages and be forced throughout the battle into adoption compromise solutions.
Erwin Rommel -
I would rather he had given me one more division.
Erwin Rommel -
When there's no clear option, it's better to do nothing.
Erwin Rommel -
The best form of welfare for the troops is first-rate training.
Erwin Rommel
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Don't fight a battle if you don't gain anything by winning.
Erwin Rommel -
In a man-to-man fight, the winner is he who has one more round in his magazine.
Erwin Rommel -
He Hitler seemed very depressed and upset about the Stalingrad disaster. He said that one is always liable to look on the black side of things after a defeat, a tendency which can lead one into dangerous and false conclusions.
Erwin Rommel -
The peril of the hour moved the British to tremendous exertions, just as always in a moment of extreme danger things can be done which had previously been thought impossible. Mortal danger is an effective antidote for fixed ideas.
Erwin Rommel -
The commander must establish personal and comradely contact with his men, but without giving away one inch of authority.
Erwin Rommel -
There are always times where the place of a commander isn't back with his Major State, but onward with his troops.
Erwin Rommel
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One of the most important factors, not only in military matters but in life as a whole, is ... the ability to direct one's whole energies towards the fulfillment of a particular task.
Erwin Rommel -
Always in a moment of extreme danger things can be done which had previously been thought impossible.
Erwin Rommel