Late Feb–early Mar 1941: Convoys from Naples build up 5th Light as MG Battalion 8 and artillery arrive; Rommel wins deployments and edges the line from Nofilia toward Arco dei Fileni. Luftwaffe raids batter Malta, mines choke Suez, RAF assets drain to Greece, and Axis forward probes tighten the noose around El Agheila while Britain improvises under strain.