Battle of the Bulge Page #7

Diepel!

Return this officer

to the prisoners' compound, alive.

Come.

Major, I'm relying on you

to reassure your men...

...I have no time

for troublesome prisoners.

Tiger to Standard O-bay,

General Kohler.

Your usual ration, sir.

General Kohler. Hessler.

General, is it true that American

prisoners were executed at Malmedy?

There are SS units

in the Malmedy sector.

I can't assume responsibility

for every soldier on this front.

Do you realize the consequences

of this act?

I have lost 17 tanks and a battalion

of men leveling Ambleve...

...for the sole purpose of reducing

the enemy's will to fight.

This massacre will stiffen resistance

to us everywhere.

It will turn a demoralized mob

into avenging soldiers.

You are being insolent, colonel.

Concern yourself with your mission.

You are to reach Saint-Michel

by 1600 tomorrow.

- Be there.

- Yes, sir.

They've taken a beating,

and they look it.

They're not a rabble.

They're retreating like soldiers.

There's still fight in them.

Where are we gonna stop

and put up the fight?

At our last line of defense,

the River Meuse.

We'll cross it

and dig in on the west bank.

At least we'll get the Germans wet.

Still sore I pulled you out of Ambleve?

I was contributing

to the war effort there, sir.

Try to keep your feet from freezing

while we figure a way to stop them.

They've made mistakes before.

Where have they made one this time?

Well, they got me mad at them.

Shut up. We'll get there.

Come on. Come on.

Keep moving! Keep moving!

- What's holding you up?

- I'm out of gas.

I reported low about an hour ago.

Where's the fuel truck?

Get off the road and wait for it.

Keep moving.

- Pull it over.

- Move it!

Come on!

Keep moving.

Keep moving. Move it.

Where are you going?

Will you wait a minute?

I need gas.

Oh, get down.

Why, you ugly jerk!

Here, use your big mouth on that.

Hey, come on, let's get with it.

What are you laughing at?

Come and move this thing.

- You're all wet, sarge.

- Now get it up.

- What are you gonna do with this?

- "What are you gonna do with this?"

Siphon with it, idiot. Put it in.

- What are you thinking?

- Same thing you are.

Those prisoners you brought

had rubber hoses on them.

They've been carrying those

to siphon gas?

At the Our River,

I saw a German fuel truck...

...drop oil drums in the water,

they floated.

- What the hell are you talking about?

- Gasoline, sir.

Empty fuel drums and men carrying

siphon hoses add up to one thing.

The Germans are low on gas.

They have to forage for it.

That's their weakness.

- Get this off to headquarters.

- Sir.

A, what is the fuel consumption

of a Tiger tank?

B, the exact distance from the

Siegfried Line to the Meuse River.

C, what is the estimate of fuel reserves

in the German army?

- That's it.

- Yes, sir, right away.

What are you laughing at, you idiot?

What is the situation in Bastogne?

Our forces have completely

encircled the Americans.

Their situation is hopeless. They have

no recourse but to surrender.

Hey, look what's coming. Lieutenant!

Halt!

The German commander wishes

to communicate...

...with the American commander

of the encircled town of Bastogne.

He's a little busy right now.

What's on your mind?

"From the German commanding general

to the commander of American troops...

...fighting in Bastogne.

With the changing fortunes of war...

...the U.S.A. Forces

in and around Bastogne...

...have become completely surrounded

by superior German armored units.

The only possibility

to spare the American troops...

...from total annihilation

is their honorable surrender...

...which will also prevent the slaughter

of helpless civilians."

You have one hour of truce to reply.

Blindfold him.

Take him up to the command post.

Repeat, please.

Is that all?

Sir, I have a message from Bastogne.

What is it?

I don't understand it.

"From the American commander of

Bastogne to the German commander.

Nuts."

Nuts.

Hey, over there.

Hey, it's an officer.

Boy, are we glad to see you.

- I haven't eaten in 12 hours.

- We got lost.

Hold it. Wait a minute.

Do you think we should surrender,

lieutenant?

Surrender?

No.

Just stay loose, all of you. Stay loose.

Now, give me that light.

All right, spread out.

Get some rest.

We'll get started when it's light.

General Grey.

Sir, this just came in.

- Move along.

- Any of you guys been to Ambleve?

Wait a minute.

Will you wait a minute?

- Any of you guys been to Ambleve?

- Come on, Guffy, we'll get in trouble.

I gotta know.

I've been to Ambleve.

- You know Ambleve inn?

- Yeah.

Well, it's okay, isn't it?

There's nothing left of it.

Guffy, come on.

When are they gonna let us fight?

Let's go.

It's here, sir, the information

you requested from headquarters.

That's it.

They're running out of gas.

Where's the spearhead of

the German advance right now?

We place it four miles past Ambleve,

moving west.

Where will they be at daybreak?

If they travel all night, they should be

nine miles due east of the fuel depot.

We'll be there to meet them.

I'm committing my tanks.

We'll use plan F.

- Get me Blue Code 301.

- 301.

All right, mount up. Crank them up.

Let's go. Let's go.

Let's go. Crank them up,

crank them up.

Look at that fog.

If it stays, we won't find them

and we won't fight.

If it lifts, they'll find us.

And that will be the end of our men

and our tanks.

And I'm praying that it lifts.

What does that make me, Dan?

A general.

Is that so, general?

It's very interesting.

Thank you, general.

Our column has made

the farthest advance.

We have outrun the other panzers.

The eyes of Germany are on us.

The Fuhrer himself will decorate me.

We have done it, Conrad.

We have done it.

Then I was wrong.

We have won the war.

No.

You mean we have lost?

No.

I don't understand. If we have not won

and we have not lost...

...then what's happening?

The best thing possible is happening.

The war will go on.

- For how long?

- Indefinitely.

On and on and on.

- But it must come to an end.

- You're a fool, Conrad.

Those of us who understood

knew, in 1941, we could never win.

You mean, colonel, for three years,

we have been fighting...

...without any hope of victory?

- There are many kinds of victory.

For the German army to survive,

for us to remain in uniform...

...that is our victory.

Conrad, the world is not going

to get rid of us after all.

But when do we go home?

This is our home.

And my sons? When do I see them?

What will become of them?

They will become German soldiers,

and you will be proud of them.

Conrad.

You still have any of those delicacies left

you offered me at Ambleve?

Yes, sir.

Prepare them for me, will you?

I'm in very good appetite.

- See anything?

- Nothing.

It's like they disappeared.

- They been spotted yet?

- No, sir.

They must have changed course

during the night.

Call our scouts again.

- See anything?

- Nothing.

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