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When Rommel visits Hitler at his headquarters after beginning sick leave in March 1943, Rommel requests evacuation of Africa, OTL of course Hitler does not do this but continues to commit additional forces to Tunisia. What if Hitler agreed to the evacuation.

Would the extra forces evacuated or just not committed at that point be enough to seriously contest an Allied invasion of southern Europe for the rest of 1943????

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OTL until this point, the campaign in Tunisia wasn't so bad for the Germans, it kept the Allies piddling around in North Africa for months far away from anything terribly important to Germany.

Hitler underestimating the Allied build up, thought he could hold the place for a long time, keeping the Allies occupied for many more months, which of course didn't work out so well OTL.

So what could the Axis have gotten out if they tried evacuation???? The planes and Siebel ferries would only be bringing supplies in, and only taking troops out. At the very least you would have the extra troops and equipment not committed to Tunisia in April OTL now available for Sicily.

I am thinking though you could get about 50,000 men in April 43 out without heavy equipment, flying the transports at night, using destroyers on fast night runs, and using MFPs and Siebel ferries which were hard for the Allies to intercept generally due to their shallow drafts, flak protection, and decent quanity.
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