Evaluating the characterization of movie characters is not my strong point, and I generally can't say anything in this regard. For this film, I can only say that the actors are very good at acting, the music is great, and the director's choreography is very powerful.
The film reflects a duel between Patton and Rommel. Patton longed for the place where Carthage fought against Rome. He dreamed of making an agreement with Rommel and then fighting one-on-one to determine the outcome of the war. I'm sure that Patton was thinking about the Battle of Zama thousands of years ago, and Hannibal and Scipio negotiated to resolve the dispute by peaceful means before the battle. As the Steiger in the film said, Patton is a 16th-century knight who lived in the 20th century. This may be his sorrow. Whether it is threatening others by making a finger pistol or slapped in the face, it gives people a kind of "crazy" energy. However, I believe that every bloody person can understand Patton. It was not him who was wrong, he was only born in an age that advocated insincere words. Barton is crazy, but at least he is alive. He can imagine those great battles in history, while writing verses, and commanding life-and-death battles. How can his free and easy politicians who are trembling all day compare to it!
Back to the topic. The battle in the film was the battle of El Guettar, which was pointed out directly in the film, and it was also said that Rommel was not present at the time. In fact it is. Let me introduce the general course of this battle.
In the spring of 1943, the German African Army was in a dilemma of fighting on two sides. In the west, there was the American army that had just landed, and to the east was Montgomery's 8th Army. The British army was slow to progress in front of the Mareth line of defense. Rommel then took advantage of the inside and used the last reserve resources to launch an inside offensive. First of all, Rommel's judgment that the US army has just landed, has an unstable foothold and lacks combat experience, is a soft persimmon. Therefore, he decided to take the lead in inflicting a devastating blow on the US army, and then turning around to deal with the British army. In February, the German Army launched the "Spring Breeze" operation, which severely damaged the US Second Army in the Battle of Catherine Pass. Rommel estimated that the fighting spirit of the US army had been destroyed, so he focused his attention on the British army.
On March 6, Patton took over as commander of the Second Army. At this time, the main German forces have concentrated on the Mareth line of defense against the 8th Army. Button thinks this is a good time to launch an offense. On March 17, the US 1st Infantry Division occupied Gafsa and established a supply base for operations. From March 18th to 20th, the US 1st Ranger Battalion defeated the Italian army defending El Guettar in a night attack and established the starting point of the attack.
However, this series of infantry offensives attracted the attention of the Germans. Rommel had to fly back to Germany for treatment due to illness. General Anim, who took over command, ordered the 10th Panzer Division to counterattack westward, defeating the American infantry force.
The 10th Armored Division led by Braurich led the battle with 50 tanks, with the Weasel tank destroyer and armored grenadier as the second echelon, advanced to the bottom of the El Guettar valley, and easily defeated the US infantry line of defense. Unexpectedly, the U.S. Army was well prepared. The 10th Armored Division was blocked by the minefield during the assault and had to stop and clear the mines. The terrain of El Guettar is not conducive to mobile operations. In the process of mine clearance, the 10th Armored Division became the target of US anti-tank guns and M10 tank destroyers. After only an hour, all 30 tanks of the 10th Armored Division were destroyed. The 10th Armored Division had to retreat.
This is the first stage of this battle. In the movie, the battle is more detailed. Except for some errors in the props, the basic process is well reflected.
On March 30, Patton began to counterattack eastward. The US 1st, 9th Infantry Division, and 1st Armored Division launched an offensive on the 369 and 772 heights. However, the stubborn Italian defense caused heavy losses to the US army. However, because the 8th Army has broken through the front of the 21st Armored Division, this forced the German command to adjust the Italian troops defending the high ground to alleviate the urgent need, and the US and Italian troops formed a stalemate for a while.
On April 6, the Eighth Army began a full-scale assault, and the Axis forces were on the verge of defeat. The U.S. Army broke through the line of defense and joined forces with the British Army on April 7, declaring the end of the battle. Judging from the number of casualties, the two sides reached a tie, and the US military's losses in tanks were more serious.
By the way, in the movie, Patton read a book called "Tank Attack" before he commanded the battle. The book said that the author was Rommel. This is a relatively low-level historical error. In fact, the book Rommel wrote was called "Infantry Attack", which was written for mountain divisions.
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