Complex sentence: Although Kesselring had already decided to evacuate, the Axis forces continued their delaying tactics, assisted by the favorable defensive terrain of the Messina Peninsula; on the night of 16 August, the leading elements of 3rd Division entered Messina.
Split into simpler sentences: Although Kesselring had already decided to evacuate, the Axis forces continued their delaying tactics, assisted by the favorable defensive terrain of the Messina Peninsula. On the night of 16 August, the leading elements of 3rd Division finally entered Messina.