Prestige or orders, at Kassala

At the beginning of 1941, the Italian general Luigi Frusci commands the Eritrea sector in Italian East Africa, the empire that Mussolini carved out around Ethiopia. His troops occupy Kassala, a frontier town taken from Sudan in 1940.

On paper, Frusci dominates: he fields three divisions and three brigades against the two Indian divisions of the British Lieutenant-General William Platt, an advantage close to two to one. But the real ratio is misleading. As the historian Andrew Stewart writes, the Commonwealth forces are better prepared and equipped for a war of movement, while Frusci, devoid of serious anti-tank weapons, dreads terrain that favours mechanised columns. The British dominate in the sky, in intelligence and in morale.

After the catastrophe in Libya, the role assigned to the East African empire is no longer anything but to endure: to delay as long as possible the transfer of British reinforcements to Egypt. But views diverge on the course to take, and Platt's offensive is imminent. Frusci, for his part, argues that abandoning territory too freely would deal a blow to Italy's prestige. The general must choose between the honour of the flag and the preservation of his forces.