Capt. Rohrstock shook his head in shock and disbelief as him men trudged back past him off the field of battle. Benghazi had been within his grasp but instead of victory fate had dealt him a stinging defeat.
The battle had started well enough with his advance guard seeming catching the enemy unaware and short of men, though well dug in. He decided to concentrate his efforts on one side of the enemy perimeter and try to use superior German firepower to blow them out of their defences.
His men had poured a withering fire into the enemy but their deep defences had protected them from any serious harm and the fire coming back from the enemy lines had been unusually accurate. So accurate in fact that the machine gun team of no. 3 section was cut down to the man.
But the assault pressed ahead and no. 2 section braved the fire of a newly arrived Sikh 6pdr to launch a bayonet charge which sent one defending team flying backwards. This however exposed them to a withering return fire from the defenders.
His battle hardened men kept at their task even though the enemy Vickers was causing havoc in their ranks and indedd the rest of no. 3 section eventually gave their lives trying to oust the enemy from his position.
The concentrated fire of the two remaining sections did eventually cause a second Sikh unit to abandon it's defences but it was all too late. His own men had largely become exhausted from their efforts and Capt. Rohrstock reluctantly called off the attack rather than push them over the edge. He would need to think of a better way to oust the defenders of Benghazi, or come back with overwhelming force.
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