When the Sherman tank appeared on the defensive line, everyone cheered. They finally waited for this day, and every day in Bastone was an ordeal!

"Sherman, I love it to death!" Malaki shouted at the Sherman tank.

"Welcome to Bastone, shit of the 4th Panzer Division!" Gunnery shouted at the Sherman tank without curiosity, and it was clear that he was not happy with the armored forces that had only come to relieve the siege until now.

But despite what Goneri thought, the vanguard of the 4th Panzer Division was warmly welcomed by the other brothers of Company E. After all, it means they're going to get out of this damn place and go back to Momion to recuperate for a while. This is what the brothers want most right now. They feel like they're going to mold.

Standing on the snow, Parks smiled at the ecstatic look of the GIs, watching them throw their helmets into the air, whistling loudly, everyone enthusiastically hugging the men at the head of the armored division, and then the brothers hugging each other in a congratulatory way, he couldn't bear to spoil them. The joy was short-lived, and after a short rest, they were to be placed in the forward line of defense in Foy, and some of them would stay with Company D, and some of them would be preparing for a final assault on the Germans in Foy. And he can't talk about all this with his brothers now.

Captains Winters and Nickerson came from the line of F Company, and with the help of the Panzer Division, they routed the Germans and drove them to their original line. Thus relieving the pressure on F Company. The Germans were now unable to attack any more. After confirming the arrival of the American armored forces, they took the initiative to withdraw from their original positions and retreated, knowing that they had set up a defensive line in Foytown.

The siege of Bastone was broken. General Taylor was thus able to join up with the 101st Airborne Division, and he took command of General McAuliffe before heading to the front in a jeep.

The first company General Taylor went to was Company E, which had made such a contribution during the siege that Colonel Sink had applied for a second Medal of Honor for him.

"Didn't Zink know that the Medal of Honor can only be issued once?" Despite General Taylor's doubts, he understood that this was a deliberate mistake made by Colonel Zinke in order to achieve the greatest honor. If you can't give the Medal of Honor, then you'll have to pay somewhere else. This is the bargaining weight. Despite this, General Taylor was tormented, but he still felt that no one could erase the excellence of Parks' company in defense.

When General Taylor came to inspect the site, the brothers were completely unprepared, and of course they did not need to prepare anything. They had built piles of bonfires on the defensive line, they were constantly supplied, and now they could make fires and use them to cook something hot to eat, or something hot to eat, or something like that.

"Oh, men, are you cooking stinky beans? I'm not on the line these days and really miss this kind of thing! General Taylor jumped out of the car and walked towards his brothers, followed by Colonel Zinke. His face was full of warm smiles, trying to use this warmth to impress these soldiers who had struggled to survive in the ice and snow.

"General!" Captain Parks greeted him, raised his hand lightly on the brim of his hat, and saluted him, "Brothers, they have long hoped for hot food, and now their wish has been granted." ”

At this time, Colonel Zink beckoned to Captain Winters, who was standing by and watching his brothers cook, "Dick, is there anything you want to say to the general?" ”

Captain Winters walked over, then nodded at Colonel Zinke, then saluted General Taylor, "Welcome to Bastogne, General!" "He said it casually.

"Captain Winters?" General Taylor nodded at him, then patted him on the shoulder and said, "Go on, Captain!" As he spoke, he turned to his brothers, who had already stood up and looked at him, "GIs, the most difficult time is over now. We've had the hardest of days, and I'm so proud of you every moment! ”

"Thank you very much, General!" There were a few people in the line answering him.

General Taylor nodded, and then shouted to his brothers: "All right, brothers, go ahead with your meal, God bless you!" With that, he jumped into the car and left with Colonel Zink.

As soon as Colonel Zinke was gone, the brothers all sat down again, apparently not interested in General Taylor's speech, but felt that he had disturbed them.

"We've had the hardest time, and I'm proud of you all the time!" Lutz listened to General Taylor's speech and made the brothers laugh. His tone was very similar, and even added a mimicry of General Taylor's expression on his face.

"Beware of General Taylor making you his orderly, so you can feel his pride every day! Lutz! Christenson smiled at Lutz, "I'll let you cook stinky beans!" ”

Captain Winters looked at the gang and shook his head with a smile, then walked aside and waved his head at Parks, motioning to walk with him! And Parks was looking for a chance to talk to Winters.

"Aren't you afraid of offending General Taylor?" Parks approached Captain Winters and couldn't help but smile and said, "General Taylor is proud of us, and you still don't have a good face for him." ”

"He's just coming back from Christmas break!" Winters shrugged his shoulders, "We endured German attacks and shelling in Bastogne to make General Taylor happy!" That's why we're here for the European battlefield! ”

Parks couldn't help but laugh, he knew that Captain Winters had an opinion about General Taylor, so he wasn't going to continue on the topic any longer. The two walked a few steps, and Winters stopped, he looked at Parks and said, "I've always had an idea, and I think I'm sure I'm going to tell you." And want to hear your opinion. ”

"What?" Parks looked at him, puzzled.

Winters pulled his hand into a fist, put it to his mouth, coughed dryly, and said, "Lacey, I know that you are a very good officer and can lead troops on the battlefield!" But if you can go further, how about going to the battalion? ”

Parks couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Dick, you know, I can lead the army, but if you let me do administrative work, I'm afraid I'll be disappointed, that's not my forte." Besides, the brothers of E-Company still need someone to lead, at least they need an experienced person. Of course, I'm not saying that the others weren't up to the task, Lieutenant Haliger would be a good choice, and Lieutenant Spear would be a good choice, but—" Parks didn't say anything, he knew that Winters was looking out for him.

"What if—you command a battalion?" Captain Winters looked at him suddenly, "If you were to take command of this battalion, I'm sure you'd impress everyone, wouldn't you?" ”

Parks suddenly looked at Captain Winters dumbfounded, and suddenly understood what he meant, and couldn't help but shake his head, "No, no, Dick, you can't do that, I can't let you do those administrative jobs again, to be honest, that's not what I want." Besides, if you're at the battalion headquarters and I'm in Company E, we can still establish a lot of tacit understanding, but once you get to the battalion headquarters, I have to deal with those people at the regimental headquarters, and I don't want to do that! Parks felt that this was not enough, and couldn't help but add, "To be honest, Dick, your position in the hearts of your brothers is irreplaceable, especially E-Company. Although the brothers and I have a good relationship, the brothers are very clear, Captain Winters is Captain Winters, and Parks is Parks! ”

Winters smiled slightly, "I'm just asking for your opinion, well, let's put this matter aside for the time being, unless you want to, or General Taylor and Colonel Zinke insist." Now, about the brothers! ”

Parks nodded, and that was exactly what he was going to say to Winters. He pondered for a moment, and then spoke: "The brothers are in a more stable mood now, but I'm still a little worried. As we had foreseen, Bastone's experience took a mental toll on the brothers, and even veterans could not have been in the same state as they had been. Everyone didn't like to stay here, and everyone hated fighting, even though they were not afraid to face the Germans. ”

Winters nodded. This is the status quo that needs to be faced now, and in this situation where the spirit is highly tense every day, it is already a good performance that there is no collapse.

"Also, I don't think we're going to retreat, let alone return to the Momion barracks. We might just be a short break in the town of Bastogne. The entire campaign of the Germans was already showing a tendency to lose. If I were Field Marshal Eisenhower, I would not have missed such an opportunity for a counteroffensive. And the assembly point of the entire counteroffensive will be in the salient. The salient was a bayonet inserted into the German army, ready to break through and bury the Germans. "But we have a problem with manpower, so we have to be redeployed to make final preparations for an attack on the Germans. ”

Parks said this, and suddenly sighed deeply and said, "To be honest, Dick, I hope that after our battle, no one will deploy us at the forefront again, and the brothers need more time to adjust!" ”

"I hope so!" This kind of thing doesn't count if Parks says it, and Winters doesn't count if he says it. But Parks knew that after Bastone, the brothers of Company E really didn't fight any more big battles.

On 27 December, at 2.20 p.m., the brothers of Company E were ordered to retreat to Bastone for rest and await further orders, while the defensive line of Company E was taken over by the reserve battalion of the 506th Regiment.

(To be continued)