Rommel did not just move tanks faster than his opponents; he thought faster. In the desert, speed was not measured in miles per hour, but in decisions per minute.
Decades before John Boyd formalized the OODA Loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act), Rommel was practicing it intuitively. He commanded from the front, often risking capture, because the lag time between the front lines and headquarters was the difference between victory and defeat.
By being physically present at the decisive point (Schwerpunkt), he could bypass the traditional chain of command, issuing orders directly to tank commanders based on realtime visual data.
"A vigorous attack is always better than a defensive stand. Even if the attack fails, the enemy is forced to react, surrendering the initiative."
Momentum has a physical component (mass × velocity) and a psychological one. Rommel understood that a rapidly moving force creates panic. When the enemy cannot predict your location, their decision-making paralysis sets in.