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How did the capture of Tobruk help Rommel’s advance into Egypt in 1942?

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Map showing the British and Axis military campaigns in North Africa during World War II, with labeled troop movements, key battles, and shifting front lines from Egypt across Libya to Tunisia along the Mediterranean coast. The map includes arrows and dates marking advances and retreats by both sides, and highlights major turning points and defensive lines. — North Africa campaigns Military drives, defensive lines, and key battles during the North Africa campaigns of World War II, 1940–43.

The capture of Tobruk on June 21, 1942, was a critical turning point that significantly bolstered Erwin Rommel’s advance into Egypt. By seizing the fortress, Rommel captured its 33,000-man garrison and an immense quantity of military stores, which provided his forces with essential supplies for their continued eastward push.12

Furthermore, the victory provided a vital logistical advantage: 80 percent of the transport Rommel used to pursue the retreating British Eighth Army consisted of captured British vehicles. This influx of equipment and supplies allowed his forces to maintain momentum, enabling an advance of more than 350 miles from the Gazala line to the British defensive positions at El-Alamein by June 30, 1942. The fall of the port was considered one of Britain's worst military disasters of the war, as it removed the last major obstacle to Rommel’s drive toward the Suez Canal.231