The Australian 20th Brigade took control of the "northern sector". They also took over the 2/23rd Battalion. The brigade commander, Brigadier Windeyer, heard that the 26th Brigade was planned to attack on the night of 30-31 October. In response, her told the 2/23rd Battalion to move forward a thousand yards during the night of 29-30 October. This happened and had the effect of "linking" 2/15th Battalion with the 2/13th Battalion. The state of the enemy forces was such that the move was accomplished without any trouble.
Rommel's army had endured extensive losses. By the end of 28 October, the 15th Armored Division had just 21 medium tanks. The 21st Armored Division had 45 medium tanks. The Italian divisions still had 196 tanks. The Germans had lost 1,994 men missing since the start of the 2nd El Alamein battle while the Italians had 1,660 men missing. The German 164th Division had taken heavy losses. The 382nd Regiment had three battalions at the start. They had only one left by the end of 28 October. The one left had lost about one-quarter of its men. One of the battalions of the 115th Regiment was reduced to forty men.
The German 90th Light Division was holding an area near Trig 29. There were two battalions of the 125th Regiment "holding the original front from Thompson's Post across the railway and road to the sea". The II/125th Regiment was sitting in an area that was behind the original "front line" positions.
When the Australians had attacked on the night of 28-29 October, they had broken the German line "between the II/125th Battalion and a battle group from the 90th Light Division. They had also overrun an Italian bersaglieri unit. Rommel responded to the attack by moving armor forward including part of the 15th Armored Division and the Italian Littorio Division. He intended to stage a counter-attack with the armor. This is based on the account in Vol.III of the Australian Official History.
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