ABSTRACT
Arnim had the substantial forces of two panzer divisions gathered in the coastal area of southern Tunisia — the 21st, detached from Rommel’s army and now near Gabes, and the 10th, behind the passes of Pichon and Fondouk — when Comando Supremo, on January 28, approved a cautious push through the defiles of Pichon in the north and Faid in the center and an advance to Gafsa in the south. In a characteristic action, Arnim decided to execute only part of the instruction. As Anderson sent British troops from the north to buttress the French, he asked Fredendall to send Americans from the south. Anderson was profoundly disturbed. Seeing Arnim’s attacks as having been provoked by Fredendall’s dispersed dispositions, he began to feel that the scattered forces in the south would continue to invite German thrusts.
