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==Aftermath==
==Aftermath==
Among the Italian reinforcements were the 17th Pavia Infantry Division, the 25th Bologna Infantry Division and the 102nd Trento Motorised Division, making available about 150,000 Italian soldiers for the defence of Libya. The scene was set for protracted fighting. Also, on 10 January 1941, the British aircraft-carrier HMS Illustrious was disabled in a dive-bomber attack from German and Italian Stukas (with the former mainly equipped with smaller bombs) and haevy bombs from 96° Gruppo (under captain Ercolano Ercolani) hit the aft-lift, forcing the British carrier to limp back to Malta for repairs and allowing the German Afrika Korps to begin arriving in Tripoli (Operation Sonnenblume) unmolested.
On 25 March 1941, General Italo Gariboldi formally replaced Marshal Rodolfo Graziani. Graziani had earlier on requested to be relieved of hsi command. In the last week of April, the Italian divisional commanders reviewed the Axis forces assembled at Benghazi with a TIME magazine correspondant reporting that a German officer harrangued the assembled officers and otsher ranks: ''"At the beginning of Italian-German cooperation on African soil, we swear to make the greatest effort for a joint victory for Great Germany and Great Italy. Long live Great Italy! Long live Great Germany!"'' The assembled troops were reported to have answered: ''"We swear it!"''
On 25 March 1941, General Italo Gariboldi formally replaced Marshal Rodolfo Graziani. Graziani had earlier on requested to be relieved of hsi command. In the last week of April, the Italian divisional commanders reviewed the Axis forces assembled at Benghazi with a TIME magazine correspondant reporting that a German officer harrangued the assembled officers and otsher ranks: ''"At the beginning of Italian-German cooperation on African soil, we swear to make the greatest effort for a joint victory for Great Germany and Great Italy. Long live Great Italy! Long live Great Germany!"'' The assembled troops were reported to have answered: ''"We swear it!"''