 The new tanks needed ten days to be made battle worthy and a three-day journey to reach Mechili but in the crisis, tanks had been rushed forward, which reduced the serviceability of the vehicles.A defensive position was established by the 60th Infantry Division "Sabratha" on a line from Derna along Wadi Derna, with the Babini Group concentrating at Mechili Fort inland and slightly south-west of Derna where several desert tracks converged, Giovanni Berta and Chaulan, to guard the flank and rear of the infantry.On 22 January, the British advanced towards Derna with the 19th Australian Brigade (Brigadier Horace Robertson) and sent another Australian brigade to reinforce the 4th Armoured Brigade (Brigadier John Caunter) of the 7th Armoured Division (Major-General Michael O'Moore Creagh), south of the Jebel Akhdar, for an advance on Mechili.