How did Hitler’s order to hold El-Alamein delay Erwin Rommel’s retreat?

By early November 1942, during the Second Battle of El-Alamein, Erwin Rommel had depleted his resources and decided to initiate a two-step withdrawal to Fūka to save his remaining forces.1

However, this retreat was delayed and compromised when Adolf Hitler issued an overriding order on November 3, 1942, insisting that El-Alamein be held at all costs. This command forced a "turnabout" that doomed any chance Rommel had of conducting an effective, organized defense. By forcing his troops to remain in a position that was already militarily untenable, Hitler’s order prevented an orderly withdrawal and left the Axis forces vulnerable to the subsequent British infantry and armored breakthrough on November 4, which effectively shattered the remaining cohesion of the Afrika Korps.12