"M" arrived and joined in. Three British tanks were knocked out and the British retired, leaving behind several prisoners. The III Battalion then repulsed another attack by twelve British tanks on the 10th Army column between Beda Fomm and the sea. After being ambushed by twenty British Cruiser tanks, all but four of the M13/40s of the VI Tank Battalion "M" were knocked out, only 24 days after arriving in Libya. The Italian rearguard arrived in the afternoon and the concentration of tanks and artillery enabled the Italians to recapture the Pimple, open the road south and continue the outflanking move to the east. The XXI Tank Battalion "M" arrived late, found itself obstructed by a mine field and was unable attack as more British tanks arrived as night fell and intercepted the column as several Italian vehicles and thirty tanks got past the Pimple. Bergonzoli abandoned attempts to hook round the eastern flank and sent the last of the Babini Group west through the dunes, just as the British tanks had to rearm. Several British tanks pursued the Italians, firing into the convoy, setting vehicles alight, forcing drivers to abandon their vehicles or leave the road for the dunes to the west, where they dodged British artillery-fire and attacks by light tanks, which took 7 February The Babini Group had only about thirty tanks left and Bergonzoli planned to us them to force a passage through Combeforce at dawn, before the British could attack the flanks and rear of the column. The Babini Group was supported by artillery-fire, as soon as it became light enough to see movement by the British anti-tank guns portée. British infantry stayed under cover as they were overrun by the M13s, which concentrated their fire on the British anti-tank guns and British artillery fired on the infantry positions as the Babini Group passed through. After the tanks had moved on, the British infantry resumed fire on Italian infantry following the tanks, to pin them down. The M13s knocked out all but one anti-tank gun and kept going; the last anti-gun was driven to a flank and fired as the last M13s advanced and knocked out the last tank. On the road, the Italians could hear British tank engines on the flanks, to the rear; in the north the British surrounded another Italian group, just before the 10th Army surrendered. The Beda Fomm area had