Although it had been agreed that Tobruk would no longer be "held at all costs" in the event of an Axis attack, it formed a critical forward base to protect the Gazala Line from air, land or sea attack. Auchinleck recommended to Ritchie that the forthcoming battle was to be fought west of Tobruk, and not on the frontier. For this reason, 2nd Brigade was also moved forward to support the 1st. By 10 February, the Gazala defences were organised on a two division basis, with the left (southern) sector occupied by the 4th Indian Division and the 1st SA Division taking responsibility for the right sector, reaching down to the sea. On 10 March, Brink injured his back and was evacuated back to South Africa he was replaced by Dan Pienaar from the 1st Brigade, who had now been promoted to Maj-General.