Evening star., 1941-12-06
Seesuw in Libyo

The military situation in Eastern
Llbya is extremely confused. The
British have been unable to restore
contact between their main forces
operating from Egypt and the re-
lnforced garrison at Tobruk. The
combined German and Italian pam
ger divisions, after having smashed
the British barrier by a headlcng
attack some days ago, sit firmly
astride the former British corridor
at ReZegh. General Rommel, the
Axis commander in chief, has thus
re-establiShed his line of communi-
cations with the rest OF Libya. At
the same time, he holds firmly onto
the fortified strongholds of Halfaya
Pass and Solum, on the Egyptian
border. He thus potentially menaceS
the main British line of communica-
tlons from Egypt, which runs about
twenty miles south of Halfaya and
the coastal road, entering Libya by
an inland route via Sidi Omar.
4llOCCo. IlC SSCUlS W lldFS q
force isolated on the coastline be-
tween Bardia and Gambut, both Of
which towns have again fallen into
Axis hands.
This confused situation is explain
able by the conditions under which
the campaign is being fought. The
entire battle-ground, region about
$50 miles square, is plateau land
rising in consecutive terraces from
the SeacoaSt. 1t is mostly hard
surfaced desert, with only blowing
sand. This means that tanks can
operate cross country without much
regard for roads, though motor
trucks are constrained to follow
regular travel routes and are subject
to continuous aerial attack from
which there is no concealment. This
combination of mobility in maneuver
and difficulty of supply was what the
captured German General Raven
stein had in mind when he described
the Libyan battle-ground as "a tao
tician's paradise but quartermas-
ter'S hell"
Winston Churchill has aptly COM
pared the Libyan combats OF tank
divisions with feet actions at sea.
That reinforces the importance OF
getting at the enemy tank forma-
tions and physically destroying them,
rather than merely outmaneuvering
them and gaining ground. Mere oc-
cupancy of q stretch Of desert is
hardly more valuable than steam
ing to and fro over a stretch OF
water. Except for blocking few
key roads over which supplies must
pass, the tactical fluidity in both
cases is about the same.
The fact that General Rommel
shows no disposition to evacuate his
positions on the Egyptian border in
dicates that he intends to fight 1t
out in the present battle area, rather
than retreat while the way is open
ana Hldke d llcW Stdlld III viz OyA~
naican hills which begin some fifty
miles west of Tobruk and where he
is supposed to have prepared posi-
tionS. This, in turn, presumably
means he feels himself measurably
the equal of the British invaders.
For the moment, driving winter rains
have begged the usually dry desert
terrain and have slowed up opera
tions on both sides, though aerial
activity goes on The British are
reportedly sending in heavy reserves
for a new drive.
Whatever the eventual outcome,
the Libyan campaign has proved to
be disagreeable surprise for Britain.
The initial dash with which 1t
started, widely publicized by the
British high command, raised hopes
of an early and decisive victory.
Those hopes are now seen to have
been premature. Whether due to
stronger Axis forces than were sus-
pected or to the gifted generalship
of Rommel, the British are tempo
rarily halted after nearly three weeks
of fighting, and fresh efforts on a
big scale will obviously be needed to
drive the Axis forces from this border