To speed the battle there along, the Germans decided to send a single regiment of the 1st Mountain Division, which landed at the small fishing ports in the north between Gozo and Malta. From there they quickly moved south to join the Fallschirmjagers, which were building up to near division strength on the island by nightfall on January 28th when Rommel made the decision to cross into Egypt. That was the day Fedorov had organized his rescue mission for General O’Connor with Popski, and the fleet put to sea on the 29th.
The following day, while Fedorov’s group hunkered down in the desert sandstorm, Rommel was pushing his two divisions east with the two Italian motorized units. 1st Battalion, 61st Motorized of the Trento division were the first troops to reach Bardia, jubilantly reclaiming that coastal fortress for El Duce. The Armored cars of the 7th Bersaglieri Battalion pushed on ahead and swept into Sollum by mid day on the 29th of January. They still had 23 operational Autoblinda 41 armored cars out of the 30 they had started with way back at Agheila on the Gulf of Sirte, a maintenance feat that was seldom equaled in this harsh terrain.
On their right, the tanks of the Ariete Division pushed quickly through the undefended fort at Capuzzo, and reached Halfaya Pass. There they stopped to refuel and repair while they waited for the divisional artillery to come up. A reconnaissance had shown them the Australian Brigade digging in just beyond the pass, and they knew that they would need those guns before any attempt could be made to storm the narrow defile.
And so, positions that might have proved very difficult to take if adequately defended were all in hand by the morning of the 30th when Fedorov made his fateful encounter with Lieutenant Reeves of the 12th Royal Lancers. They would take that whole day to sort the situation through, but Brigadier Kinlan finally decided to take Fedorov up on his offer to use the KA-40 to have a look around. If nothing else, he would either prove or disprove the impossible premise he had been led to believe. Fedorov had one final trump card to play in that game. He thought they could have a quick look at Giarabub Oasis. If it was held by the Italians, that would run the table. The evidence of a hostile force there with old WWII equipment would be incontrovertible, but what they saw there was far more than Fedorov expected.
O’Connor had been steaming like dry ice where he waited with one of the command vehicles. The men posted with him were respectful, and followed full military protocols as per Brigadier Kinlan’s instructions. He did not want the man any more ruffled than he already was, and knew one question would quickly become three then five, then seven. So he assigned a staff adjutant to see to the General’s needs, serving tea and other refreshment, which O’Connor found most welcome. The Earl Grey went a long way towards soothing his temper, and he felt like a civilized man again for the first time in what seemed like many long weeks.
Then the weariness of the hour, the long desert trek and fatigue overcame him, and he drifted off to some much needed sleep on a cot set beside a large tracked vehicle. Some hours later he awoke, finding a Sergeant Major in attendance and ready with boiled eggs, muffins and jam, and more tea. It was very near dawn, or so he came to feel, his instincts well honed after months in the desert. He was grateful for the warm woolen blanket he found draped over him, as the mornings were quite cold before the sun was up to heat the day.
He seemed a bit groggy for a time, yet soon remembered where he was, blinking, bleary eyed. In spite of that, his mind was taking in everything he saw around him, with a mixed feeling of suspicion and wonderment. He had never seen a vehicle like this one behind him, let alone the Scimitar tanks he had encountered earlier. Kinlan had discretely ordered the two HQ Challengers to be moved during the night so, when O’Connor got up to stretch his legs, they were no longer there to be seen.
Now he was in a circle of odd looking new vehicles, two FV432s, and a pair of Sultan Armored Command Vehicles, which looked much like oversized light Mark VI tankettes. One had a large vertically displayed map next to a retractable side desk, where three men sat on a bench making notations on the map board, their heads and ears covered with headsets that were obviously for local area radio communications. There was other odd looking equipment about, which was actually a battery of the 16th Regiment, Royal Artillery, a Rapier air defense system protecting the headquarters.
“See here,” he said to the Sergeant Major standing by for security. “You chaps seem to have things well wired here. Has there been any word from Alexandria?”
