November 3rd, 1942...The Nazis continue to deport Jews from France and Holland to Auschwitz and Treblinka. 4,000 Jews are deported from Radoszcye in Poland to Treblinka.

Trains leaving Paris for Auschwitz contain 135 Jews from Bordeaux, 617 from Poitiers, 36 from Rennes, and 37 from St. Quentin. Among them is Berthe Francfort, 48, from Texarkana, Texas; Robert Schillio, 48, from Chicago; Rose Heymann, 71, from San Francisco; and Erna Abelson, 24, of Port Chester, New York. These American citizens go to their deaths at Auschwitz.

Lumsden orders his tanks to "feel their way" forward. British tanks and South African armored cars drive forward just before dawn and run into minefields and anti-tank guns.

British communications break down in the chaos of battle. Lumsden believes his tanks are on their objectives. The Germans seem to be retreating. But Monty doesn't know where. He chooses to press on with his offensive.

At the Saucer, Australian troops crawl out of their positions to discover they can move about freely. Diggers walk into the nearest German positions to find them abandoned. They ransack them for souvenirs. The stubborn Australian defense of this position has been vital, tying down German troops while 8th Army maintains its attacks.

Montgomery orders his divisions to resume the attack at nightfall. First they must re-supply their guns and repair damaged vehicles.

Overhead, Allied aircraft fly hundreds of sorties against the Axis. American B-25s bomb tanks, motor transport, and supply dumps around the Rahman Track American P-40s fly escort and fighter-bomber missions.

On the other side of the line, Rommel takes grim stock. He is down to 30 tanks in the Afrika Korps. His infantry is slowly withdrawing as his anti-tank guns provide a defensive screen. At 9 a.m., he drives up to the coast and watches Italian supply and administrative units drive west along the Coast Road. At 10 a.m., he learns that British armor is still facing his anti-tank guns in the north, but not attacking. The British are apparently re-supplying their forces.

Now, Rommel believes, is the moment to withdraw. At 10:30, he makes the decision. The Italians will continue to withdraw, chasing their administrative tail. Ariete Division will come north. 15th and 21st Panzer will pull out when darkness falls, followed by 90th Light, 164th Infantry, and lastly, the Ramcke Parachute Brigade and the Italian Folgore Parachute Division. The Luftwaffe must cover this with every available plane.

He drives back to HQ and fires off a signal to OKW directly. He tells Berlin that the enemy has attacked with 400 tanks and driven 15 kilometers. Rommel's forces cannot hold a coherent defensive front. The Italian troops are no longer battleworthy and their infantry are giving up positions without orders. Rommel has enough fuel to retreat to Fuka. That's what he wants to do.

German Lt. Ralph Ringler, commanding 10th Company of 104th Panzer Grenadier Regiment, diaries, "On the Telegraph road, the desert road from Sidi Abd el Rahman. It is morning again. I'm hungry and cold. Corporal Franken was blown to bits. It is growing lighter. The sun is piercing the smoke. The cold has passed but hunger remains. And now in addition comes thirst. We are here, a few grenadiers in our foxholes. Every 20 yards and in places at about 50 lie a few men. Two anti-tank guns, that is all. No. 9 Company must be somewhere to the left. Eight miles away is the sea, and behind us, nothing! And to the south, nothing! And facing us an armada of tanks. Will it be the end for me today too?"

Shortly before noon, Hitler's message arrives at Panzerarmee Afrika headquarters.

"It is with trusting confidence in your leadership and the courage of the German-Italian troops under your command that the German people and I are following your heroic struggle in Egypt. In the situation in which you find yourself there can be no other thought but to stand fast, yield not a yard of ground and throw every gun and every man into the battle. Considerable air force reinforcements are also being sent to C-in-C South. The Duce and the Comando Supremo are also making the utmost efforts to send you the means to continue the fight. Your enemy, despite his superiority, must also be at the end of his strength. It would not be the first time in history that a strong will has triumphed over the big battalions. As to your troops, you can show them no other road than that to victory or death."

The message is signed: Adolf Hitler.

Captain von Helldorf gets the message at Panzerarmee Afrika HQ and takes it through a maze of petrol cans and tents to Rommel's aide, Col. Siegfried Westphal. Von Helldorf bursts in and says, "An order form the Fuhrer, Herr Oberst."

"What does it say, Helldorf?"

"It's the death warrant of the army, Herr Oberst."

"What?" gasps Westphal. He seizes the message, reads it, and flings it on his map table. "Now they've gone completely mad back there."

At that moment, a dust-covered Rommel arrives in his command tank. Westphal hands the telegram to the Desert Fox. "An order from the Fuhrer," Westphal says.

Rommel reads the order. Everyone stares at the field marshal in silence. Rommel's face muscles twitch. Then he places the telegram on the table, and stares out the window. The staff officers now read the message. Rommel goes on staring.

After a long silence, Westphal suggests an answer, "Retreat already under way." Rommel shakes his head.

"It's just a pep talk to keep up morale," says Westphal. "Who knows how many days ago the damned thing was worded?"

Someone points out the date and time groupings on the message. It's fresh. Westphal suggests Rommel ignore the order.

"So far I have always insisted upon unqualified obedience from my men...Even if they do not understand my orders or consider them to be wrong. Personally I cannot depart from this principle and I must submit to it," Rommel says.

"That means the end of the army," says Westphal.

"I am a soldier," replies Rommel. If he obeys, the Panzerarmee must stand in place. And be utterly crushed by Montgomery's forces. Rommel has already given orders to start the retreat. Rommel rings Von Thoma, who reports the Afrika Korps is down to 24 panzers, and must withdraw to regroup.

Rommel tells Von Thoma the Fuhrer order is to stand fast.

Von Thoma suggests temporizing, saying that "minor withdrawals or tactical adjustments" do not constitute disobedience.

Rommel says this is not practical. He has insisted on meticulous obedience from his own subordinates. To disobey the Fuhrer would set a bad example.

Wearily, Rommel reaches for a signal pad and starts drafting a reply to Hitler. He points out that German infantry losses are 50 percent, artillery 40 percent, and the Littorio and Trieste Divisions have been pretty much annihilated. Panzerarmee Afrika must have permission to retreat before it is destroyed. This message will not travel by radio. Rommel hands it to Capt. Ingmar Berndt, his trusted aide, to personally deliver to Hitler.

Berndt is an unusual figure in all of World War II. He is an SS officer assigned to North Africa. He is not there to murder Jews - or anyone else. Berndt has been sent by the Propaganda Ministry to handle Rommel's public relations, making sure that the German media has plenty of flattering stories and film clips of the Desert Fox leading victorious troops from the front. In doing so, Berndt has become a useful and trusted aide to Rommel, showing unflagging loyalty to the Desert Fox.

"Make our position quite clear to the Fuhrer and suggest that the African theater of war is presumably lost for us. Try and get full freedom of action for our armored divisions," Rommel tells Berndt.

Next, Rommel starts firing off orders to his subordinates to halt the retreat. "I demand all possible efforts to be made to retain possession of the present battlefield, so that operations now in progress may be brought to a victorious conclusion." Rommel knows this order will have little impact on his exhausted Italians, but might inspire his German troops.

Across the Axis area, order and counter-order reigns. Units that have not received the new orders continue to retreat. Road convoys are on the move. Dumps are being burned. The RAF continues to bomb Axis forces. Italian infantrymen ignore Rommel's new order, and continue to retreat.

As darkness falls, the Axis forces are unbalanced. German troops are uncertain of their roles, and rightly fear annihilation. Italian troops, demoralized and exhausted, seek to flee. German troops of the 164th Division move into their positions to support Italian infantry and fine them vanished. The line is too wide to hold. The 164th Division's commander decides to pull back to better positions.

For Rommel, it is a dreadful evening. He walks up and down the desert sand, wretched and devastated. He has been loyal to Hitler for years - serving as commander of the Fuhrer's headquarters unit, enjoying Hitler's trust and support. Now the Fuhrer has ordered Rommel and his men to die in place. Westphal sends a staff officer to keep Rommel company.

"The Fuhrer must be a complete lunatic," Rommel tells the aide. "He is determined from sheer obstinacy on a course that will lead to the loss of the last German soldier and one day, to the total destruction of Germany."

Rommel scribbles in his diary, "What we needed was guns, fuel, and planes; what we did not need were orders to hold fast." He adds, "I finally compelled myself (to obey Hitler's order), because I myself have always demanded unconditional obedience from my soldiers and I therefore wished to accept this principle for myself. If I had known then what I later learned my decision would have been different: in the months to come we were repeatedly compelled to circumvent orders from the Fuhrer and the Duce to save the army."

It is a sea change in Rommel's view of Hitler and Germany.

As the afternoon wears on, British, Australian, South African, and American bombers continue to harass German and Italian ground unit. The Luftwaffe sends in Me 109s and Me 110s to counterattack, and these run into British Hurricanes and Spitfires.

That afternoon, Bernard Freyberg goes on a personal reconnaissance of the land ahead of his 2 NZ Division, to find a route for their advance. Finding such a route, he orders 6 NZ Brigade and 5 NZ Brigade to advance, followed by 4th Light Armoured Brigade.

That evening, the 51st Highland Division prepares its new attack, designed to relieve 8th Armoured Brigade. Because of the proximity of the tanks, there is no artillery cover.

The Highlanders ride into battle on Valentine tanks of 8th Royal Tank Regiment and run smack into anti-tank guns and machine-gun fire. 20 tanks blaze, and 27 tankers die. Wimberley learns that he could have provided artillery cover after all. 8th Armoured is not where it is believed to be. He is devastated and says so to his corps commander, Leese.

Leese rallies Wimberley, saying, "Surely now you, Douglas, of all people are not going to lose heart!" Wimberley rallies, and makes sure his next two attacks have artillery cover.

2nd New Zealand Division also gets some help, the tanks of 4th Light Armoured Division. Freyberg prepares to resume the attack at dawn.

Before dawn, all hands fold their blankets, tidy up the hut, and move out. The snow turns out to be softer than expected, and the cold is horrible. Their ears harden, noses freeze, and all lack gloves. Evans is exhausted, Kalve dragging one leg. But they keep pressing on. "One more effort," says Larsen. "We shall soon come into a valley, and that will be Sweden."

In the evening, they reach the village of Brenna, and again ask to find a hut or barn to spend the night. This time, the local Norwegians prove unfriendly - one woman hurls abuse at Larsen. They are near the frontier, and the Norwegians here are afraid of the omnipresent Gestapo.

The evaders walk down the main road, and come to a derelict hut. A German soldier and Norwegian "Hirdman" - a soldier in the Quisling army - appear from behind the hut. The German carries a sub-machine gun (probably a 1934 Bergmann) and the Norwegian a Luger.

The Norwegian Quisling does the talking, in a frightened voice, ordering the escapers to put up their hands. The escapers do so, and the two march the whole team off to the German post in Brenna. Ahead lies the certainty of interrogation and execution for the Norwegians.

As the escapers march off, Larsen regrets having given away his revolver earlier. But the British still have theirs. Billy Tebb says, "I'm having a go at these square-heads."

"Good idea," answers Larsen.

"As soon as we turn this next corner, all of you go flat on your faces." They turn a corner, and hit the deck. Tebb whips out his pistol and fires. Unlike the movies, Tebb's shot goes wide. The German opens up and shoots Evans. Tebb returns fire, killing the German guard. The Norwegian flees. In the chaos, so does Kalve, leaving Larsen, Craig, and Tebb.

With the skirmish over, the three men decide to leave Evans behind, deciding that the wounded Sailor has a better chance of survival as a PoW, than in climbing across the rugged terrain. They make sure Evans has his identity disks clearly visible, and continue walking east, into the dark.

While the Tassafaronga landing is uneventful, the Koli landing is not. As the Otsu Detachment's boats move inshore, Hanneken's Marines see Japanese boats and signal lights, and hear voices and noises. The Otsu Detachment, consisting of 300 men of the 230th Infantry Regiment and a two-gun battery of mountain artillery, shuffle ashore.

At dawn, the 230th sends an eight-man patrol up the each and runs into Marines, who cut down half the Japanese. The Japanese react predictably - they send in a skirmish line to attack the Americans. Hanneken, who is himself preparing to attack, greets the Japanese with machine gun and mortar fire. The Japanese return fire with their mountain guns and mortars. In a short time, Hanneken runs short of ammunition, so he withdraws across the Nalimbiu River at 2:45 p.m.

Meanwhile, at Point Cruz, five Marine rifle companies of 2nd/5th and 3rd/5th spend a busy morning attacking Japanese defenses at Point Cruz, shredding the Japanese 2nd Anti-tank Gun Battalion and the 4th Infantry Regiment. The Marines capture a dozen 37mm guns, a field piece, and 34 Nambu machine guns from the 4th Infantry Regiment. The Americans also count 239 dead Japanese.

With this victory in hand, the Americans resume moving westward, believing the Japanese resistance is finally crumbling.

However, as the Americans will learn in battle after battle, the Japanese aren't finished yet. Nakaguma's 4th Infantry Regiment has only 500 men, but it receives some reinforcements. That's the good news. The bad news is that they're 70 survivors of the decimated Ichiki detachment, and 100 equally exhausted members of the original Navy garrison. All are malarial, hungry, tired, and poorly equipped. These ragged men line up to stand against the equally ragged US Marines, and the Americans drive through them.

That evening, Tsuji, Miyazaki, Nakaguma, and Col. Ichiji Sugita confer. Sugita is having trouble breathing due to malaria, and his face is flushed. Sugita sketches out the situation: the front is breached, and if the Americans continue to attack, they will cut off the 2nd Infantry Division's retreat and defeat will become catastrophe. Sugita is in despair, and talks about rallying the few survivors of 4th Regiment about making one last Banzai charge with the regimental colors. Tsuji shouts, "Do not let them charge. If they attack all will be lost! Put the regimental colors in the center and have the men dig around them. The enemy will never charge. Besides, in the jungle out there, artillery and bombing isn't too effective. It's merely a question of holding out another day or two." After this powwow, Sugita hobbles off on his cane.

Tsuji, on the other hand, gets a message from Rabaul - instead of being allowed to stay with 17th Army on Guadalcanal, he has to go home.

General Hattori, who has been disdainful of the dreadful messages he has received back at base from Hyakutake, now gets a grim first-hand education on the situation at Guadalcanal. He hears shellfire decimate Japanese battalions, and sees starving, ragged soldiers and officers. Losing his disdain, Hattori signals Tokyo, "The actual situation here is beyond imagination." It does not admit conventional solutions. Hattori winds up agreeing with 17th Army's assessment of the situation, which calls for more troops and more air power, and more time.

The Americans have also given up relying on orthodox solutions to their operational and tactical dilemmas. The same day, Vandegrift and his assistant operations officer, Lt. Col. Merrill Twining, study their maps, which show red spots of Japanese troops speckling coastline positions, and surrounding the Americans. "What would the staff schools think of this!" Twining exclaims.

Vandegrift does not have the troops to simultaneously push the attack to the west, defend the main perimeter, and attack the Otsu Detachment to the East. However, the 8th Marine Regiment is scheduled to arrive the following day.

Nonetheless, Vandegrift has to take action. He sends Chesty Puller's 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, to move by boat to support Hanneken's battalion. Two Marine tank companies will move up by land, along with the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the Army's 164th Regiment, making this a joint service expedition. Backing up the move is Lt. Col. Manley T. Curry's 3rd Battalion, 10th Marines, with its 75mm pack howitzers, and 31 aircraft.

This miscellaneous force catches the Shoji Detachment near Koli Point. American firepower is superior to Japanese Bushido code, and the Americans cause about 100 casualties. However, some of the American shells and bombs land among Hanneken's battalion, adding to the American casualty bill. Shoji's weary men struggle up to Koli Point, and find 131 fever-ridden survivors of Ichiki's and Kawaguchi's attacks. They occupy a large grass clearing, surrounded by the wrecks of crash-landed aircraft of both sides.

The Straits of Gibraltar are 32 miles long and 8 to 23 miles wide, and go directly past neutral Spain and Spanish Morocco. Lt. Karl Redl and other German and Italian spies ashore see the dreadnoughts pass, and pass the information to Berlin and Rome. Redl radios a message to his forwarding station in Dax, on the French side of the Pyrenees. They send it on to Berlin. Redl reports one battleship, three carriers, four or five cruisers, 15 destroyers, 28 steamers, 13 tankers, other small ships, and 149 airplanes jamming Gibraltar.

In the Western Task Force, Maj. Gen. George S. Patton writes a proclamation for his troops: "When the great day of battle comes, remember your training...you must succeed, for to retreat is as cowardly as it is fatal. Americans do not surrender. During the first days and nights ashore you must work unceasingly, regardless of sleep, regardless of food. A pint of sweat will save a gallon of blood. The eyes of the world are watching us. The heart of America beats for us. God is with us. On our victory depends the freedom or slavery of the human race. We shall surely win."