advance to Alamein and as predicted, supply difficulties limited the attacking potential of the Axis forces. According to Maurice Remy (2002), Hitler and Mussolini put pressure on Rommel to advance. Rommel had been very pessimistic, especially after the First Battle of El Alamein and knew that as US supplies were en route to Africa and Axis ships were being sunk in the Mediterranean, the Axis was losing a race against time. On 27 August, Kesselring promised Rommel that supplies would arrive in time but Siegfried Westphal pointed out that such an expectation would be unrealistic and the offensive should not begin until they had arrived. After a conversation with Kesselring on 30 August, Rommel decided to attack, "the hardest [decision] in my life". Casualties In 2005, Niall Barr wrote that the casualties, was an estimate because of the chaos of the Axis retreat. British figures, based on Ultra intercepts, gave German casualties as and captured. Italian losses were and captured. By 11 November, the number of Axis prisoners had risen to In a note to The Rommel Papers, Fritz Bayerlein (quoting figures obtained from ) instead estimated German losses in the battle as 1,100 killed, 3,900 wounded and 7,900 prisoners and Italian losses as 1,200 killed, 1,600 wounded and 20,000 prisoners. According to the Italian official history, Axis losses during the battle were 4,000 to 5,000 killed or missing, 7,000 to 8,000 wounded and 17,000 prisoners; during the retreat the losses rose to 9,000 killed or missing, 15,000 wounded and 35,000 prisoners. According to General Giuseppe Rizzo, total Axis casualties included 25,000 men killed or wounded (including 5,920 Italians killed) and 30,000 prisoners (20,000 Italians and 10,724 Germans), 510 tanks and 2,000 field guns, anti-tank guns, anti-aircraft guns. Axis tank losses were on 4 November, only tanks were left out of the the beginning of the battle. About half of the tanks had been lost and most of the remainder were knocked out on the next day by the 7th Armoured Division. About guns were lost, along with and aircraft. The Eighth Army had of whom had been killed, and missing; of the casualties were British, Australian, New Zealanders, South African, Indian and other nationalities. The Eighth Army lost from tanks, although by the end of the battle, had been repaired. The artillery lost and the DAF lost and aircraft. Subsequent operations The Eighth Army was surprised by the Axis