"The battle is fought and decided by the quartermasters before the shooting begins."
Rommel's greatest enemy was not the British Eighth Army, but the length of his own supply lines. Every mile he advanced east towards Cairo added a mile to the round-trip journey for his fuel trucks coming from Tripoli.
This created a deadly paradox: Success consumed resources faster than failure. As he won battles and advanced, his army grew weaker, while the retreating British fell back on their supply bases, growing stronger.
A Panzer division consumed 300 tons of fuel per day in combat. A supply truck burned its own cargo just to reach the front.
Tripoli was too far. Tobruk was too small. The failure to capture Malta meant 40% of his supplies were sunk at sea.
Rommel constantly gambled that he could achieve a decisive victory before his "operational reach" snapped. Often, he would raid British supply dumps just to keep his tanks moving.
In the simulation, you will face this exact dilemma: Do you push for victory knowing you might run out of fuel, or do you pause to resupply and lose the initiative?
Strategic genius cannot overcome logistical physics.
"Sales is vanity, profit is sanity, cash is reality."
In business, cash flow is fuel. Rapid expansion (advancing east) without securing cash reserves (supply lines) leads to bankruptcy, even if you are 'winning' market share.