Hitler had long seen the Mediterranean theater of war as a low priority on his list. To him North Africa was living space for the Italians so her held back on full German occupation and interference. With the Torch landing this all changed.  Hitler saw Torch as a precursor to the Allies cutting off his shorten supply routes and possibly mounting an attack from the Mediterranean as a base. Hitler quickly responded by putting pressure on the Vichy French to comply with the take over of German command on North African soil. He ordered the pouring in of German and Italian troops in Tunisia and a build up of supplies. By the time the Allies were to reach the western border of Tunisia, they would be out numbered and out manned by the Axis.

After Montgomery's Eighth Army chased Rommel's Afrika Group Army across the Libyan desert into Tunisia, the Axis was in a better position than the newly arrived Allied forces. Troops and supplies were being rushed into  Tunis, the Tunisian capital, and into Bizerte a major port just northwest of Tunis from Sicily and Sardinia beginning on November 9th. Field Marshall Albert Kesselring was able to bring three German divisions: the 10th Panzer( the Hermann Goring Division and the 334th Infantry) and two Italian divisions into Tunisia for reinforcements. By the end of the month  a total of 1,867 troops and officers, 12, 549 tons of supplies and 1,256 tanks, armored cars  and vehicles were amassed due to airlifts.

At this point Allied forces in Tunisia were out numbered. Due to prolonged negotiations with the Vichy French they were unable to cross the Tunisian boarder quick enough.  Almost two thirds of the over 107,000 Allied force was still in French Morocco.

Vichy French air fields remained opened to Axis use because its government was in disarray.  It was being pressured by both the Allies and the Germans to come to terms. In some instances there was both Allied resistance and Axis resistance and at others there was neutrality towards both. The neutrality and resistance helped the Axis more than it helped the Allies.

The Germans were not only able to build up forces in Tunis and Bizerte but the Germans were allowed to take control of the unoccupied French areas in North Africa. General Walther Nehring  was assigned on November 12th to take over a new unit to be formed in Tunisia.  Nehring flew to Tunisia on November 17th where he took command of XC Corps. While the Vichy French in Northwest Africa came to terms with the Allies under the North African Agreement, Nehring was trying to get Vichy leaders in Tunisia away from passive neutrality and into active collaboration. Instead it was decided the they would be made to removed their troops from positions or they would be seen as the enemy.

German strategy was to have Rommel's Army hold off the Eighth Army as long as possible making the advance take as long as possible to allow the German build up to take place. Because of the problems the Allies were having with negotiating with the French plans to send in Commandos and parachute troops ahead of the ground forces was scrapped. Instead Eastern Task Force had to enter Tunisia by ground force and by convoy on November 10th. As early as November 17 Allied Axis forces met at Djebel Abiod, Sidi Nsir on the 18th and the 21st, Medjez el Bab 19th-20th and near el Aroussa on the 23rd.  On November 21st and 22nd Eastern Task Force sent for reinforcements-- tanks, tank destroyers, artillery and armored infantry were sent along with several extra bomber and fighter squadrons  from Oran and Algiers after having under estimated the Axis build up.

November 25th saw the start of the Allied offensive. The earlier meeting were not full battles but Nehring trying to hold off or push back the Allied forces from getting close to Tunis and Bizerte. While the Allied attack was designed to drive back the Axis forces, separate the forces occupying Bizerte and Tunis and take Bizerte. Once Bizerte was taken Torch would come to an end.

The German Italian force including the 190th Panzer Battalion,  left the battle field at Medjez el Bab under cover of night after stifling Allied forces the previous day. The next morning the Luftwaffe took over the Axis defense for the next two days. Eastern Task Force( also known as the British First Army) moved steadily east following Nehring and his XC Corps to Djedeida.

On the coastal road near Djedeida on November 28th, the first Allied advance by Major General  Vivian Evelegh's 78th Division ended with 30 Allied men killed, 86 prisoners of war taken and the remaining men forced to retreat . The second part of the Allied attack was to take the village of Djedeida. But First Army was forced to pull back after losing five tanks to Axis field artillery and antitank guns within town. On December 1st Axis forces mounted a counter attack in and around Djedeida , lasting four days, that successfully pushed Allied forces back. On December 3rd, General Eisenhower gave the combined Chiefs of Staff a report on the situation in Tunisia. The top three items on his list were stating the inadequacy of air support for ground troops and the need for better coordination between ground troops and air forces.
 

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