Montgomery sighed when he received an affirmative answer from Eisenhower...... It was only then that he realized how ridiculous he was, that the Germans were perfectly capable of holding off the Allied offensive, and that he believed that Germany was about to collapse and could not wait to launch an ill-prepared, even risk-taking plan that went against his own command style.

"Your Excellency, Marshal!" Seeing that Montgomery didn't say a word, the staff officer asked, "What should we do now?" The situation in the Netherlands is getting worse! ”

"Retreat!" Montgomery said, "Do whatever it takes to get them out!" ”

"But...... How to retreat? The staff officer said.

It is impossible to retreat from the sea, and the coasts of Holland and Belgium are full of "Atlantic barriers", although it is still in an unfinished state, but it is not possible to break through if it wants to, unless there is another "Normandy" landing...... But it took a lot of preparation to succeed.

To the east was Germany, and it was impossible to withdraw in that direction unless it was to surrender.

So there is only Belgium to the south.

"Ardennes!" Montgomery pointed weakly at Belgium and said: "There is only one way, the forest can be used as a cover for them to avoid the pursuit of the Germans, our 2nd Army will continue to attack the Germans and drag them down, and at the same time, I will send an air force to meet them!" ”

The staff officer tried to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything, answered the "yes, sir" and left the headquarters.

Montgomery knew why the staff officer behaved the way he did.

Because this is not a good way to retreat, on the one hand, the British and American airborne troops are not familiar with the Ardennes Mountains, except for the 17th Airborne Division, which was originally used to flank the Ardennes Mountains.

Other troops, such as the British 1st Airborne Division and the US 11th Airborne Division, were all tasked with fighting in the Netherlands, and they did not have a map of the Ardennes Mountains at all.

However, this seems to be the only way, and the only way, so the staff officers cannot refute it.

The rest of the battle was exactly the same, the remnants of the British and American airborne divisions were ordered to withdraw to the Ardennes Mountains, but there were German ambushes everywhere along the way, and any of these ambushes were beyond the reach of the British and American forces...... The Germans had tanks in their hands, either "Tiger" or "Leopard", and there was nothing they could do if they went ahead with only small arms or even ammunition.

The British and American airborne divisions fought and walked all the way, which was a bit like plucking the feathers of a goose...... A few hairs were plucked at each ambush point, and then a few more, and by the time they finally reached the Ardennes, they were almost all plucked.

The airborne troops with a total strength of 34,600 were able to rush to the Ardennes with only a few more than 5,000 people.

Then the more than 5,000 people found out...... The Germans had long since built an even more terrifying line of defense in the Ardennes jungle and awaited them.

By "more terrifying" defense, we mean an invisible line of defense.

The 719th Infantry Division and the 84th Infantry Division, which have been stationed in the Ardennes Mountains for a long time, are actually equivalent to mountain divisions...... Strictly speaking, it cannot be regarded as a mountain division, because the altitude of the mountains here is not high, the average height is more than 400 meters, especially in the mountains of Belgium, about 200 meters above sea level is already the highest area in Belgium.

But more than half of the area is covered by forests, and it can almost be said that all but forests are forests.

It's easily reminiscent of jungle warfare in Vietnam.

The German 719th and 84th Infantry Divisions, which had been stationed here since the Germans broke through the Ardennes and captured the Maginot Line, knew everything about it, knew how to hide themselves in the jungle to track the enemy, and knew how to use what was available in the jungle to quickly make simple and practical traps......

As a result, the remnants of the British and American paratroopers who walked into the Ardennes Mountains were like walking into a labyrinth, into the mouths of man-eating beasts, and into the palms of giants...... Here, they were no longer plucked by geese, but were skewered on branches by the Germans and roasted on the fire.

In the end, only a few hundred British and American paratrooper divisions were able to get out of the forest and join the British 2nd Army.

These were not the only survivors, and there were several hundred others who did not follow the order to retreat to the Ardennes, including Colonel Sert, the commander of the 2nd Paratrooper Brigade.

Because Colonel Celt thought it was killing himself.

"We can't get to the Ardennes!" Colonel Sert said to his surviving men: "The Germans will hunt us down all the way, and then only one percent of us will survive!" Only one out of a hundred people can survive, and that's no different from the annihilation of the whole army! ”

Colonel Serter's estimate was wrong, and more than 10,000 remnants fled to the end of more than 200 men, which was not as bad as a single percent.

"But what else can we do?" The staff officer asked: "We have no other choice!" ”

"They said there would be air power to cover us!" A lieutenant colonel said: "There will be airdrops of supplies for us on the way, and I think we should do what is ordered!" ”

"That's the Ardennes!" Celt objected: "Look at this place where we are hiding, look at this ......"

Celt raised his head in all directions, then continued, "It's just a small jungle, and our planes won't be able to spot us even if they fly overhead. They don't know where we are, and we don't dare shout at them or flare them...... In such a place, air power does not play a role! We are on our own! ”

Serte's words left his subordinates speechless.

After a moment of silence, the staff officer asked: "So, Colonel, what are we going to do?" ”

"Yes, Colonel!" The soldiers followed suit and asked, "Where can we get out of this damn place?" ”

"We're not going to get out!" Sert replied.

"Not withdrawing?"

"Yes!" Sert nodded, "We'll stay here!" ”

"But...... It's a dead end! The staff officer objected: "There are Germans everywhere!" ”

"And we don't get supplies yet, we don't even have enough food!"

……

"Gentlemen!" Celt interrupted his men's argument and said, "When I say stay here, I don't mean staying in this jungle. You know, this is the Netherlands, there are many Dutch resistance groups here, that is, partisans, they can all survive here, why can't we? ”

Looking at his subordinates who nodded silently, Celt continued: "We can continue to play a role here, such as training Dutch guerrillas, directing them to fight, gathering intelligence, and so on...... But the most important thing is to find the Dutch partisans in time now! ”