 The from Tripoli to Benghazi was long, prone to flooding and attacks by the DAF now it was in range.Driving on desert tracks to avoid air attack increased vehicle wear and led to more accidents.The Babini Group had escaped destruction at Mechili on 24 January but the inferiority of the Italian tanks and that they were substantially outnumbered (possibly due to British attempts at deception with a dummy tank regiment) led to doubts that Derna was defensible.