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In August, Mussolini opts to escalate the campaign and orders the Libyan forces--led by General Rodolfo Graziani--to launch an attack into Egypt to take the Suez Canal, against the General's protests that his forces aren't properly equipped. Not long afterwards, the Italian army launches attacks along the borders they have with the British colonies of British Somaliland, Sudan and Egypt, pitting somewhere around 400,000 soldiers against less than 100,000 Allied troops. Outnumbering the British by around 6 to 1 on the Libya-Egypt front, Graziani drives deep into Egypt while the British commanders scramble to reorganize their forces in the face of generalized attacks against them stretching from the Western desert to the Sudan.\\\
Within a matter of days, Graziani reaches and stops at Sidi Barrani due to supply problems while his compatriots overrun British Somaliland[[note]]Notably, this is the only British colony in the European theater to completely fall into enemy hands, something even the Germans did not accomplish[[/note]] and seize sizeable chunks of Egyptian and Sudanese borderland--to the point where ''Il Duce'' engages in (possibly exaggerated) EvilGloating by claiming he has seized territory equal to the British "Home Islands" in the Horn of Africa. However, although horrendously outnumbered and initially outgunned, the Allied forces are able to [[CurbStompCushion engage in model fighting retreats that save the overwhelming majority of their forces and inflict far heavier losses than they take.]] When the overstretched and poorly tended Italian supply lines snap, it only gets worse. Unable to advance or withdraw, the Italians dig in to try and consolidate their gains. They establish a series of fortified camps, stockpiling supplies in anticipation of a renewed offensive to take Alexandria and the Suez.\\\
But before they get the chance to do so the British launch Operation '''Compass'''--which was meant to be a 5-day raid by some of the 40,000 Commonwealth troops to weaken the Italians' force of 130,000 soldiers before the latter launch their next offensive. It succeeds beyond their wildest expectations, due to the Italians' chronic lack of communications equipment and staff, and general disorganisation and command-confusion. The inferiority of Italian equipment [[note]]The heaviest tanks they had available at the time was the M11/39, which only had a hull-mounted 37mm gun. Even worse, most of their tanks were the even weaker L3/35 tankette, which only had machine guns[[/note]], their lack of motorized transports and the highly dispersed nature of their camps meant that individual force after individual force of Italians is surrounded by much bigger and better-equipped forces with its members required to choose between being massacred or surrendering. The British [[CurbStompBattle capture virtually all the camps, huge stockpiles of supplies, and tens of thousands of Italian soldiers for less than 700 casualties]]. The Italians execute a disorganized retreat back to Libya as the ever-advancing British vanguard leads '''Compass''' through a localized counteroffensive into a full-blown offensive that continues to drive the Italians westward.\\\
Within a matter of days, Graziani reaches and stops at Sidi Barrani due to supply problems while his compatriots overrun British Somaliland[[note]]Notably, this is the only British colony in the European theater to completely fall into enemy hands, something even the Germans did not accomplish[[/note]] and seize sizeable chunks of Egyptian and Sudanese borderland--to the point where ''Il Duce'' engages in (possibly exaggerated) EvilGloating by claiming he has seized territory equal to the British "Home Islands" in the Horn of Africa. However, although horrendously outnumbered and initially outgunned, the Allied forces are able to [[CurbStompCushion engage in model fighting retreats that save the overwhelming majority of their forces and inflict far heavier losses than they take.]] When the overstretched and poorly tended Italian supply lines snap, it only gets worse. Unable to advance or withdraw, the Italians dig in to try and consolidate their gains. They establish a series of fortified camps, stockpiling supplies in anticipation of a renewed offensive to take Alexandria and the Suez.\\\
But before they get the chance to do so the British launch Operation '''Compass'''--which was meant to be a 5-day raid by some of the 40,000 Commonwealth troops to weaken the Italians' force of 130,000 soldiers before the latter launch their next offensive. It succeeds beyond their wildest expectations, due to the Italians' chronic lack of communications equipment and staff, and general disorganisation and command-confusion. The inferiority of Italian equipment [[note]]The heaviest tanks they had available at the time was the M11/39, which only had a hull-mounted 37mm gun. Even worse, most of their tanks were the even weaker L3/35 tankette, which only had machine guns[[/note]], their lack of motorized transports and the highly dispersed nature of their camps meant that individual force after individual force of Italians is surrounded by much bigger and better-equipped forces with its members required to choose between being massacred or surrendering. The British [[CurbStompBattle capture virtually all the camps, huge stockpiles of supplies, and tens of thousands of Italian soldiers for less than 700 casualties]]. The Italians execute a disorganized retreat back to Libya as the ever-advancing British vanguard leads '''Compass''' through a localized counteroffensive into a full-blown offensive that continues to drive the Italians westward.\\\
to:
In August, Mussolini opts to escalate the campaign and orders the Libyan forces--led by General Rodolfo Graziani--to launch an attack into Egypt to take the Suez Canal, against the General's protests that his forces aren't properly equipped. Mussolini only insisted Graziani to only attack the British, disregarding any strategic or even operational objectives other than moving troops into British colonies. Not long afterwards, the Italian army launches attacks along the borders they have with the British colonies of British Somaliland, Sudan and Egypt, pitting somewhere around 400,000 soldiers against less than 100,000 Allied troops. Outnumbering the British by around 6 with 150,000 to 1 31,000 on the Libya-Egypt front, Graziani drives deep into Egypt while the British commanders scramble to reorganize their forces in the face of generalized attacks against them stretching from the Western desert to the Sudan.\\\
On the British side, Archibald Wavell was the head of the Middle East Operations of the area and Richard O'Connor was in charge of the Western Desert Force, with only the 4th Indian Division and the Western Desert Force to be ready for the Libyan front, Reade Godwin-Austen in charge of the British Somaliland defense, most of whom are African auxiliaries.
In the first days of the declaration of war, the 7th Hussars of the 4th Armored Brigade successfully launched a raid in Libya. Six days after the declaration, the first armored engagement of the North African front took place at Sidi Omar, where the Italian commander formed a ''defensive square''.[[note]] Needless to say, the British encircled them and won[[/note]] Within a matter of days, Graziani reaches and stops at Sidi Barrani due to supplyproblems problems[[note]] O'Connor had set up an effective counterattack at Matruh and was disappointed at how the Italians screwed so badly that they never engaged the British at Matruh[[/note]] while his compatriots overrun British Somaliland[[note]]Notably, this is the only British colony in the European theater to completely fall into enemy hands, something even the Germans did not accomplish[[/note]] and seize sizeable chunks of Egyptian and Sudanese borderland--to the point where ''Il Duce'' engages in (possibly exaggerated) EvilGloating by claiming he has seized territory equal to the British "Home Islands" in the Horn of Africa. However, although horrendously outnumbered and initially outgunned, the Allied forces are able to [[CurbStompCushion engage in model fighting retreats that save the overwhelming majority of their forces and inflict far heavier losses than they take.]] When the overstretched and poorly tended Italian supply lines snap, it only gets worse. Unable to advance or withdraw, the Italians dig in to try and consolidate their gains. They establish a series of fortified camps, stockpiling supplies in anticipation of a renewed offensive to take Alexandria and the Suez.\\\
But before they get the chance to doso the British launch so, O'Connor launched Operation '''Compass'''--which was originally meant to be a 5-day raid by some of the 40,000 Commonwealth troops to weaken the Italians' force of 130,000 soldiers Italian 10th Army before the latter launch their next offensive. It succeeds beyond their wildest expectations, due to the Italians' chronic lack of communications equipment and staff, and general disorganisation and command-confusion. The inferiority of Italian equipment [[note]]The heaviest tanks they had available at the time was the M11/39, which only had a hull-mounted 37mm gun. Even worse, most of their tanks were the even weaker L3/35 tankette, which only had machine guns[[/note]], their lack of motorized transports guns[[/note]] and the highly dispersed nature of their camps meant that individual force after individual force of Italians is surrounded by much bigger and better-equipped forces with its members required to choose between being massacred or surrendering. The British [[CurbStompBattle capture virtually all the camps, huge stockpiles of supplies, and tens of thousands of Italian soldiers for less than 700 casualties]]. The Italians execute a disorganized retreat back to Libya as the ever-advancing British vanguard leads '''Compass''' through a localized counteroffensive into a full-blown offensive that continues to drive the Italians westward.westward, eventually threatening to kick the Axis out of Benghazi.\\\
On the British side, Archibald Wavell was the head of the Middle East Operations of the area and Richard O'Connor was in charge of the Western Desert Force, with only the 4th Indian Division and the Western Desert Force to be ready for the Libyan front, Reade Godwin-Austen in charge of the British Somaliland defense, most of whom are African auxiliaries.
In the first days of the declaration of war, the 7th Hussars of the 4th Armored Brigade successfully launched a raid in Libya. Six days after the declaration, the first armored engagement of the North African front took place at Sidi Omar, where the Italian commander formed a ''defensive square''.[[note]] Needless to say, the British encircled them and won[[/note]] Within a matter of days, Graziani reaches and stops at Sidi Barrani due to supply
But before they get the chance to do
