There will be another battle around Ras Lanouf and Bin Jawad. The rebels are regrouping there after running into more serious government firepower around Bin Jawad. It's interesting how this war in North Africa bears similarities to the great battles of WWII that were fought in the same area. The rebels went on a tear across eastern Libya, scattering the government forces in the cities and then making a 150 mile run across the desert to Bin Jawad. These same huge, fast advances were a common feature of the desert war so long ago, too. It's the terrain. There's no clear defensive positions sometimes for hundreds of miles in the open desert, and one breakthrough can lead to a huge advance. But there's a sort of backlash to this in desert fighting. Logistics are very difficult for several reasons that would be familiar to Rommel, Montgomery and Wavell. There's only one road along the coast, so it's vulnerable to attack from the air. The desert offers unique challenges; vehicles break down easily and water is used up very fast. Most importantly though is the speed of the advance itself. In WWII, the Germans and British both outran their own logistics and used up gas and ammunition.
A similar sort of thing seems to have happened to the rebels. They quickly advanced west from Benghazi and handled the smaller isolated government garrisons they encountered. But the speed of their advance meant that they were necessarily leaving men and heavy equipment behind, while getting deeper into territory where resistance was likely to be stronger. They "paid the piper" with the defeat at Bin Jawad. The rebels haven't had to retreat more than 20 miles though, because the government forces haven't truly counterattacked against the rebels in the east. They just turned the rebels back temporarily.
If Qaddafi does truly counterattack with his T-72s and Mi-24s, the blow will probably come along the coast road and fall at what is now the westernmost rebel outpost, Ras Lanouf. Alternatively, the rebels might beat Qaddafi to the punch, bring up some tanks and MLRS and have another try at continuing westward. Or perhaps outside forces will intervene before either side gets a chance for their next move. We'll have to just wait and see, because I sure don't know what's going to happen.
For now, Qaddafi seems to be muddling. His attempts to deal with isolated rebel cities in the west, closer to Tripoli, seem to have been only partially effective, at best, It might be better for him to concentrate his best forces to crush the enemy in the open desert, where his force's superior firepower will have the biggest advantage, and there are less civilians to get in the way, and more international news crews to witness the battle and hyperbolically proclaim a crushing defeat for the insurrection, as they often do.
PS: You can tell that the rebels are complete amateurs, because in photographs and videos, they're all standing around in the open desert. Professionals would dig in because there's no natural cover and at any time they could get artillery or an airstrike. But instead they scatter. That's not a bad idea, but if you have to stay in one place for a while, well, dig a hole in the ground and get in it!
