On 9 February, Churchill ordered the advance to stop and troops to be dispatched to Greece to take part in the Greco-Italian War; Unternehmen Marita, a German attack through Macedonia was thought imminent.

In 1936, General Alberto Pariani had been appointed Chief of Staff of the army and begun a reorganisation of divisions to fight wars of rapid decision, according to thinking that speed, mobility and new technology could revolutionise military operations.

[7] The Western Desert was about 240 mi (390 km) wide, from Mersa Matruh in Egypt to Gazala on the Libyan coast, along the Litoranea Balbo (Via Balbia), the only paved road.

[9] Bedouin tracks linked wells and the easier traversed ground; navigation was by sun, star, compass and "desert sense", good perception of the environment gained by experience.

[9] The Sirocco (Gibleh or Ghibli), a hot desert wind, blows clouds of fine sand, which reduces visibility to a few metres and coats eyes, lungs, machinery, food and equipment; motor vehicles and aircraft need special oil filters and the barren ground means that supplies for military operations, have to be transported from outside.

The British prolonged the operation to pursue the remnants of the 10th Army to Sollum, Bardia, Tobruk, Derna and Mechili, then advanced through and around the Jebel Akhdar (Green Mountain), to cut off the Italian retreat to Beda Fomm and El Agheila on the Gulf of Sirte.

)[15] On 23 January, Tellera ordered a counter-attack against the British as they approached Mechili Fort, to avoid an envelopment of the XX Motorised Corps from the south but communication within the Babini Group was slow, because only the tanks of senior commanders had wireless.

[17] On 25 January, the 2/11th Australian Battalion near the coast engaged the 60th Infantry Division "Sabratha" and Bersaglieri companies of the Babini Group at Derna airfield, making slow progress against determined resistance.

The Italians disengaged on the night of 28/29 January before the garrison could be trapped; Babini Group rearguards cratered roads, planted mines, set booby-traps and managed to conduct several skilful ambushes, which slowed the British pursuit.

Babini Group reports about the Hussars led Tellera to assume that the 7th Armoured Division was behind the Australians so did not assemble a big flank guard or expect an outflanking move through Msus.

The 7th Armoured Division was ordered on 4 February to intercept the remnants of the 10th Army, by moving inland 150 mi (240 km) from Mechili to Msus, to cut off the Italians between Soluch and Ghemines.

Italian wireless interception of 11th Hussars messages revealed Soluch as its objective and Tellera inferred that the British armoured forces would advance on Msus and Sceleidima.

Because the British tanks needed more time for maintenance, Creagh took a bold decision to send an improvised flying column of wheeled vehicles, south-west across the chord of the jebel, to block the Via Balbia between Benghazi and Agedabia as quickly as possible.

The journey was delayed by moving in single-file through a field of Thermos bombs and the brigade took until 4:00 p.m. to cover the 40 mi (64 km) to Antelat, where they came into the range of Combforce wireless transmissions.

Lorries carrying petrol caught fire and lit the dusk, illuminating targets for the British gunners and giving the tanks en route a mark to drive at.

A better organised and supported Italian breakthrough attempt had to be anticipated for the morning and the tanks disengaged and moved about 2 mi (3.2 km) east of the road to refuel and rearm.

Further south, a Rifle Brigade patrol escorting two RHA anti-tank guns moved along the column, firing from different points to give the impression of a larger force and to keep the Italians pinned down, as Combeforce dug in deeper and sowed more mines.

The breakthrough attempts to the south could not be fully reinforced and the Italians could not expect to be undisturbed for long by British attacks along the convoy or the Australian advance down the Via Balbia, towards the tail of the column.

[39] At 10:30 a.m. and in poor visibility, the 7th Hussars tried to find the rear of the Italian column and cut the road west of Beda Fomm, just as another big convoy arrived from the north.

The 1st RTR arrived from Antelat as night was falling and intercepted the Babini Group as it was breaking out just to the north but several Italian vehicles and thirty tanks got past the Pimple.

Bergonzoli abandoned attempts to hook round the eastern flank and sent the last of the Babini Group west through the dunes, just as the 2nd RTR had to rearm, which reported at 6:00 p.m. that it was incapable of stopping the main column, which had begun to move south, through the British artillery-fire.

Caunter ordered the 4th Armoured Brigade, which still had fifteen operational cruisers and 55 light tanks, to take up night positions closer to Combeforce; the 1st RTR was almost intact.

The Beda Fomm area had become a 15 mi (24 km) line of destroyed and abandoned lorries, about 100 guns, 100 knocked out or captured tanks and 25,000 prisoners, including Tellera (found mortally wounded in one of the M13s), Bergonzoli and the 10th Army staff.

The British had gambled with the provision of fuel and supplies, which were capable only of sustaining a short operation and narrowly succeeded but the pursuit could not continue beyond El Agheila, due to broken-down and worn out vehicles.

Due to the exiguous nature of supply and transport, conservation during lulls also encouraged the use of small jock columns, of a motorised infantry company, a field-gun battery and several armoured cars.

On 9 February, Churchill ordered the advance to stop and troops to be dispatched to Greece (Operation Lustre), to take part in the Greco-Italian War and forestall a German invasion.

On 11 February, Wavell made a lukewarm suggestion to the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) to continue the offensive, emphasising the opposition of the RAF and Navy.

On 8 February, the 11th Hussars patrolled westwards without air cover to the area 130 mi (210 km) east of Sirte, lifting prisoners and equipment and finding no organised Italian defences.

With the arrival of the DAK (Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel) the Axis rout ended and the British faced a better-equipped and led opponent, during a period of temporary weakness.

[56] Wavell made Wilson the Military Governor of Cyrenaica and disbanded the headquarters of XIII Corps (the renamed Western Desert Force), dispersing its skilled and experienced personnel.