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Given the scarcity of fuel available to Rommel, the Allies did not expect he would make any significant move towards the west and cross the mountain range that goes from north to south and separates Tunisia from Algeria, and cut in two the allied armies deployed in Algeria and Tunisia. The Allied commanders instead, expected Rommel to continue his retreat northwards to shorten the Axis supply line from  the port of Tunis. The Allies, therefore left the Kasserine Pass poorly defended, accumulating troops north of the pass, on both sides of the mountain range.

Given the scarcity of fuel available to Rommel, the Allies did not expect he would make any significant move towards the west and cross the mountain range that goes from north to south and separates Tunisia from Algeria, and cut in two the allied armies deployed in Algeria and Tunisia. The Allied commanders instead, expected Rommel to continue his retreat northwards to shorten the Axis supply line from  the port of Tunis. The Allies, therefore left the Kasserine Pass poorly defended, accumulating troops north of the pass, on both sides of the mountain range.

on 14 February, elements of the crack 10th and 21st Panzer divisions had launched an attack through Faid and Maizila passes.

on 14 February, elements of the 10th and 21st Panzer divisions (under the overall command of General Heinz Ziegler) launched an attack through Faid and Maizila passes. The German attack overran the American defenders and reached the Djebel Lessouda hill. While half the German force reached Djebel Lessouda, the other half headed for Djebel Ksaira and Bir el Hafey. By the end of the day, most of the American fighting vehicles had been driven west or destroyed, leaving isolated pockets of US infantrymen in the hills of Djebel Lessouda, Djebel Ksaira, and Djebel Garet Hadid with no support.  

Upon confirming the enemy weak spots, Rommel realized there was an opportunity to make an attack and a quick advance through kasserine Pass to Tebessa and capture the Allied supply deposits. He began deploying troops to contain the Allied forces located east of the mountains. DAK Kampfgruppe and 21st Panzer Division (General Fritz von Broich) fail in their attacks through Sbiba and Kasserine Pass, but the Italians in the form of the 131st Armored Division ''Centauro'' are successful with the Bersaglieri Corps overrunning the US 19th Combat Engineers Regiment (Colonel Anderson Moore).<ref>«Rommel returned to the railway station at Kasserine which briefly served as the combined command post of the German Africa Corps and the 10th Panzer Division, and ordered these two formations to take the Kasserine Pass. In the evening dusk Rommel observed, as he dictated for his diary, 'the exciting scene of the tank battle north of the pass'. He had special praise for the 7th Bersaglieri, who attacked fiercely and whose commander fell during the attack; they threw the American, British and French forces out of the pass ....» Stauffenberg: A Family History, 1905-1944, Peter Hoffman, p.171, McGill-Queen's Press, 2008</ref><ref>«With the available German troops exhausted and still waiting for German reinforcements to arrive, Rommel now ordered the two battalions of the 5th Bersaglieri Regiment (XIV & XXII Battalions, +-1,000 Infantry) forward to the attack. The Italians dismounted from their trucks and backed up by their mortars and the available artillery made a frontal assault on the surrounding ridges. The regimental assault companies and the heavy weapons platoons were sent forward, attacking at several suspected weak points in the Allied defensive lines. A successful breach was made about noon in the frontline minefields and defensive positions and some 800 Bersaglieri infantry stormed forward through the captured frontline strong points.» [http://home.earthlink.net/~frenchgreg/id2.html  5th Bersaglieri Regiment]</ref><ref>«The new commander of DAK Assault Group, General Bulowius, complimented them on their élan, which contributed significantly to Axis success. The Italian action was instrumental in breaking through the US positions and in opening up the road to Thala and Tebessa.» Iron Hulls, Iron Hearts: Mussolini's Elite Armoured Divisions in North Africa, Ian Walker, p.210, Crowood Press, 2006</ref>  

Upon confirming the enemy weak spots, Rommel realized there was an opportunity to also make an attack and a quick advance through kasserine Pass to Tebessa and capture the Allied supply deposits. He began deploying troops to contain the Allied forces located east of the mountains. DAK Kampfgruppe and 21st Panzer Division (General Fritz von Broich) fail in their attacks through Sbiba and Kasserine Pass, but the Italians in the form of the 131st Armored Division ''Centauro'' are successful with the Bersaglieri Corps overrunning the US 19th Combat Engineers Regiment (Colonel Anderson Moore).<ref>«Rommel returned to the railway station at Kasserine which briefly served as the combined command post of the German Africa Corps and the 10th Panzer Division, and ordered these two formations to take the Kasserine Pass. In the evening dusk Rommel observed, as he dictated for his diary, 'the exciting scene of the tank battle north of the pass'. He had special praise for the 7th Bersaglieri, who attacked fiercely and whose commander fell during the attack; they threw the American, British and French forces out of the pass ....» Stauffenberg: A Family History, 1905-1944, Peter Hoffman, p.171, McGill-Queen's Press, 2008</ref><ref>«With the available German troops exhausted and still waiting for German reinforcements to arrive, Rommel now ordered the two battalions of the 5th Bersaglieri Regiment (XIV & XXII Battalions, +-1,000 Infantry) forward to the attack. The Italians dismounted from their trucks and backed up by their mortars and the available artillery made a frontal assault on the surrounding ridges. The regimental assault companies and the heavy weapons platoons were sent forward, attacking at several suspected weak points in the Allied defensive lines. A successful breach was made about noon in the frontline minefields and defensive positions and some 800 Bersaglieri infantry stormed forward through the captured frontline strong points.» [http://home.earthlink.net/~frenchgreg/id2.html  5th Bersaglieri Regiment]</ref><ref>«The new commander of DAK Assault Group, General Bulowius, complimented them on their élan, which contributed significantly to Axis success. The Italian action was instrumental in breaking through the US positions and in opening up the road to Thala and Tebessa.» Iron Hulls, Iron Hearts: Mussolini's Elite Armoured Divisions in North Africa, Ian Walker, p.210, Crowood Press, 2006</ref>  

When an attacking tank battalion of the ''Centauro'' gains more ground in the fighting, a column of panzers of General von Broich follows up through the pass before turning north towards Thala.<ref>«At 4:30 P.M., 20 February, Axis troops rolled through Kasserine Pass. A battalion of the Centauro Division headed west on the road to Tebessa ... The battlegroup from the 10th Panzer Division under Fritz von Broich followed the Centauro battalion into the pass but headed north following the branch road toward Thala.» Exit Rommel: The Tunisian Campaign, 1942-43, Bruce Watson, p. 102, Stackpole Books, 2006</ref><ref>«Axis forces also made a breakthrough on Highway 13, where the Italians of the Centauro Division spearheaded the attack. In the early morning hours, the Italians pressed their offensive, broke through the remains of the American line, and continued up Highway 13.» [http://web.archive.org/web/20090131023222/http://www.americainwwii.com/stories/facingthefox.htm Facing The Fox]</ref>

When an attacking tank battalion of the ''Centauro'' gains more ground in the fighting, a column of panzers of General von Broich follows up through the pass before turning north towards Thala.<ref>«At 4:30 P.M., 20 February, Axis troops rolled through Kasserine Pass. A battalion of the Centauro Division headed west on the road to Tebessa ... The battlegroup from the 10th Panzer Division under Fritz von Broich followed the Centauro battalion into the pass but headed north following the branch road toward Thala.» Exit Rommel: The Tunisian Campaign, 1942-43, Bruce Watson, p. 102, Stackpole Books, 2006</ref><ref>«Axis forces also made a breakthrough on Highway 13, where the Italians of the Centauro Division spearheaded the attack. In the early morning hours, the Italians pressed their offensive, broke through the remains of the American line, and continued up Highway 13.» [http://web.archive.org/web/20090131023222/http://www.americainwwii.com/stories/facingthefox.htm Facing The Fox]</ref>