Patton Page #8

was hand-to-hand.

I had a dream last night.

In my dream it came to me...

...that right now the whole Nazi Reich

is mine for the taking.

Think about that, Cod.

I was nearly sent home in disgrace.

Now I have precisely

the right instrument...

...at precisely the right moment of

history and exactly the right place.

The Saar?

This will change too, very quickly.

Like a planet spinning off

into the universe.

A moment like this won't come again

for 1000 years.

All I need is a few

miserable gallons of gasoline.

Right now, the weak spot is here.

In 10 days, we could be in Berlin.

What about the fortifications

that were done in Metz?

Fixed fortifications, huh?

Monuments to the stupidity of man.

When mountain ranges and oceans

could be overcome...

...anything built by man

can be overcome.

You know how I'm sure

they're finished out there?

The carts.

They're using carts to move

their wounded and the supplies.

The carts came to me in my dream.

I couldn't figure it out.

Then I remembered...

...that nightmare in the snow.

The agonizing retreat from Moscow.

How cold it was.

They threw the wounded and what was

left of the supplies in the carts.

Napoleon was finished.

Not any color left.

Not even the red of blood.

Only the snow.

Look at this, Cod.

I love it.

God help me, I do love it so.

I love it more than my life.

Paris is liberated,

and French troops lead the way.

The Allies march into the city

after four years of Nazi occupation.

The hard-fighting French

2nd Armored Division...

...under Major General

Jacques Leclerc...

...gets an unforgettable welcome...

...as they enter their beloved Paris.

In a powerful drive to the north...

... General Montgomery cuts off and

bypasses the French coastal towns...

...of Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk.

Pushing on to capture the vital

Belgian port of Antwerp.

Meanwhile, the main body

of Patton 's army...

...resupplied now and rolling like a

juggernaut, slashes toward the Saar.

Nazi resistance appears to crumble.

It seems that nothing can stop our

troops from driving on into Germany.

- Sir, General Bradley on your line.

- Good, good.

Brad, listen, I've got a bridgehead

across the Saar.

I'm on my way to Germany.

Wait a minute, George.

There's a lot of trouble up north.

I want you to transfer tank armor

to Middleton's 8th Corps right away.

Brad, you can't do that.

George, listen.

I don't have time to argue.

There's a lot of enemy activity

up around Ardennes.

No, I don't know how serious it is...

...but Ike wants us to meet

with Bedell Smith tomorrow at Verdun.

Be there at 1100.

Yes, sir.

There's absolutely no reason

for us to assume...

...that the Germans are mounting

a major offense.

The weather is awful

and their supplies are low.

The Germans haven't mounted a winter

attack since Frederick the Great.

Therefore I believe that's exactly

what they're going to do.

I want you to start making

contingency plans...

...for pulling out

of our eastward attack.

Changing directions 90 degrees,

moving up to Luxembourg.

Don't look so stunned, gentlemen.

I want you to plan

for three possible axes of attack.

From Diekirch, due north.

From Orlans to Bastogne.

From Neufchteau against the German

left flank.

We've identified four German armies:

The 7th, the 5th Panzer,

6th SS Panzer and the 15th.

They've hit us with 26 divisions.

They've overran two regimens

of the 106th Division.

And 7500 of our men

were forced to surrender.

Our concern is that von Rundstedt...

...has the 101st Airborne trapped

here at Bastogne.

Bastogne, by the way, is the key

to this entire area.

lf we can hold it, we can break up

the entire German offensive.

lf they take it,

we're in serious trouble.

Ike wants to know if anybody can go...

...and relieve the 101st

before they're torn to pieces.

There's nothing Montgomery can do.

At any rate, not for some weeks.

What about you, George?

I can attack with three divisions

in 48 hours.

I'd give myself some leeway.

Ike wants a realistic estimate,

George.

You're in the middle of a fight now.

It's over a hundred miles to Bastogne.

My staff's already working

out the details.

Frankly, I don't see how

it's possible.

Not in this kind of weather.

I should have thought you'd want

to fall back and regroup.

Not me. I don't like to pay

for the same real estate twice.

But what about your men?

You can't cart them off 100 miles,

expecting them to attack without rest.

I trained these men.

They'll do what I tell them to do.

We hadn't realized you were

so popular with your troops, general.

I'm not. They'll do it

because they're good soldiers.

And because they realize, as I do,

that we can still lose this war.

Then I think I can speak

for Field Marshal Montgomery.

He'd say you're asking

the impossible of your men.

Of course he would.

Cause he's never realized that's

what we're in business for.

General McAuliffe refused

a German surrender demand.

You know what he said?

What?

He said, "Nuts. "

Keep them moving, colonel.

A man that eloquent has to be saved.

This is where it pays off.

The training and discipline.

No other outfit in the world.

Pulled out of a winter battle,

move a hundred miles.

Going to a major attack with no rest,

no sleep, no hot food.

God! God, I'm proud of these men!

Sir, von Rundstedt's thrown another

panzer division against Bastogne.

101st Airborne's barely holding on.

We need damned air cover. lf we had

decent weather, we might make it.

General Mason, sir.

Hello, Mase?

Listen, we're short on foot soldiers.

Cannibalize your antiaircraft units

and turn them into riflemen.

Yes, every last one you can find.

Good evening, general.

I just got the weather report

for tomorrow. More snow.

There goes our air cover.

We may have to wait

for better weather.

Brave men dying up there. I won't

wait, not an hour, not a minute.

Going to keep moving.

ls that clear?

We're going to attack all night

and attack tomorrow morning!

lf we're not victorious...

...let no one come back alive.

You know something, general?

Sometimes, they can't tell when

you're acting and when you're not.

It isn't important for them to know.

It's only important for me to know.

- You want to see me, general?

- Oh, yeah, chaplain.

I'm tired of 3rd Army

having to fight Germans...

...with supreme command,

no gasoline...

...and now this ungodly weather.

I want a prayer, a weather prayer.

A weather prayer, sir?

Yes, let's see if you can't get God

working with us.

Gonna take a thick rug

for that kind of praying.

I don't care if it

takes a flying carpet.

I don't know how this

will be received, general.

Praying for good weather

so we can kill our fellow man.

I assure you, because of

my relations with the Almighty...

...if you write a good prayer,

we'll have good weather.

And I expect that prayer

within an hour.

Yes, sir.

"Almighty and most merciful Father...

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