On 24 March, Rommel launched his first offensive with the newly arrived Afrika Korps. By early April he had destroyed most of Major-General Michael Gambier-Parry's 2nd Armoured Division's tanks (British 3rd Armoured Brigade) and severely damaged its 2nd Support Group at Mersa Brega, leaving the road south of the Jebel Akhdar (Green Mountains) to Mechili open. He brought forward along the coast road, elements of the 17th Pavia and 27th Brescia Divisions while pushing his mechanized units across country towards Mechili. On 6 April the leading Bersaglieri columns of the Italian Ariete Division reached Mechili.