Editing Battle of Maychew (section)

===Last attack===
By 1600 hours, it was apparent that the Imperial Guard was not going to be able to capture their objectives and Haile Selassie played his last card. He ordered an attack along the entire front. This last desperate action was again made by three columns, it was made under a heavily overcast sky, and it was made with little chance of success. The Ethiopians attacked everywhere and were driven back.<ref name=Barker97/> It was at this point that the [[Oromo people|Azebu Galla]], who had been on the sidelines, made their allegiance clear and attacked the withdrawing Ethiopians.<ref>Mockler, p. 118</ref>

Haile Selassie's order to retreat was to be late in coming. He placed ''Ras'' Getachew Abate as [[Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles|''Asmach'']].{{#tag:ref|Roughly equivalent to Commander of the Rear Guard.|group=nb}} But the Ethiopians had lost many front line commanders, the soldiers had not eaten since before dawn, and discipline had understandably broken down. To make matters even worse, as the Ethiopians fled from the battlefield, they were mercilessly bombed from above by the Italian Royal Air Force and harassed on the ground by the Azebu Galla.<ref name=Barker98>[[#Barker|Barker 1971]], 98.</ref>