On 20 December, the remnants of the 1st Battalion of the 506th Regiment were evacuated from Noville, where they dragged the German 2nd Panzer Division with the De Saubery detachment of the 10th Panzer Division to Noville, northeast of Foy. The 1st Battalion withdrew to the rear of Foy on the 20th of 600 men [***], with thirteen officers and one hundred and ninety-nine soldiers killed. Together, the 1st Battalion and the De Sobury detachment annihilated at least 30 enemy tanks and suffered 400 to 700 enemy casualties. Most importantly, during the construction of fortifications around Bastogne, they held the enemy for forty-eight hours.

Despite the blows inflicted on the Germans, they continued to increase their forces in Novel, which made the 1st Battalion and De Saubery more difficult, and in the absence of aid they withdrew from the line while the Germans advanced towards the line of the 2nd Battalion, the first of which was the line of Company E.

"The only advantage we have is that the German tanks are inconvenient in the woods, so we are facing a very small number of German tanks, but the large number of infantry is really something we have to guard against!" Winters, Nickerson, and Parks stood at the very edge of the woods, where there was a company of outposts, from which they could see the entire kilometer of clearing.

"Our only support is this bunker invented by Reis. Hopefully, it will play an important role in the German offensive. Winters picked up the binoculars and looked ahead, and could faintly see the Germans behind the clearing. They seemed to be preparing, and then launching a massive assault on the E-Company line.

As they were watching, Parks suddenly saw what appeared to be a flash of fire ahead, followed by a sharp whistle and the sound of cannonballs.

"Shelling, enemy artillery fire!" Parks shouted, and the three of them lay on the snow almost at the same time, and a huge explosion sounded in the woods, and the trunk of a large tree was blown off by a cannonball, and the trunk of the big tree shook and smashed towards Parks and the others. Parks was startled, got up, grabbed Winters and Nickerson by the collar in one hand, and pulled them back a few meters. The tree creaked and fell to the ground with a bang.

"Hidden!" Captain Winters got up and shouted at Parks and Nickerson, "Let's go back, the German offensive may begin!" As he spoke, he patted Parks on the shoulder and ran towards the back at a rapid pace. From the outpost to the company headquarters, there is still some distance. The three of them ran as fast as they could, and throughout the woods, the soldiers of Company E were constantly running through the snow, and they let out bursts of shouts and curses.

The shells rained down, and the explosions in the woods came one after another. There are constantly blown up broken branches flying in the air, and then falling down one after another, even the smallest branches can make the face cut a small blood groove.

"Stay in bunker, stay in bunker and don't come out!" Sergeant Lipp kept moving from cover to cover.

"Lip, come here! Come to me! Hubler watched Lip keep coming, and he yelled at Lip, "Come here, you're in danger now." As soon as he finished speaking, a cannonball exploded near his bunker, and a wave of air lifted a dense lump of dirt into the observation port of the bunker, and the wave of air pushed Hubl down from the observation port.

Not far away, Lip watched Hubler disappear from the observation port after one of the shells exploded near the bunker, and couldn't help but be surprised and shouted: "Hubler! He rushed over quickly, ignoring the branches and branches that had been knocked down by the shells, and jumped into the bunker. Hubl was reclining in the bunker, leaning against the dirt wall of the bunker, coughing incessantly. Next to him was Mook, who was busy groping around his body, muttering, "No blood, no blood!" Hubler, you've just been pushed down by a wave of air. ”

Li Pu looked at Hubler's grinning expression, and couldn't help but shake his head and said, "I thought you were hanging." I didn't expect you to be so fatal, and in such a close-range explosion, I haven't hurt you in the slightest, it's really shit luck! ”

"You just want to see me hurt so much? It's not enough friends! Hubler grinned, struggled to his feet, and said to Mook, "Leave me alone, I'm sure I'm okay." It's not covered, it's great, I love it! ”

"Well, that's good news. I don't want to spend all day facing a guy with missing arms and legs! Muck smiled and said to Lip, "Sergeant, are the Germans finally holding back?" They were badly injured by the brothers of the first battalion, and they even thought of making trouble with our E Company, and I don't think they can benefit this time! ”

"Shut up!" Lip lay on the side of the bunker and observed the situation around him, the German artillery bombardment was still continuing, and there was a tremor on the ground from time to time, and he couldn't help but sigh and said, "It really looks like the end of the world has arrived!" The Germans were so generous and set off fireworks for us with so many shells! ”

"Doctor! Doctor-" I vaguely heard someone screaming for the doctor. Someone was wounded by a shell.

A large chunk of Yin Hong's blood on the snow, an American soldier lying on the snow, he screamed a little hoarsely, like a sound from hell, which made people panic when they heard it.

Dr. Luo braved the whistling of shells overhead, as well as the constant sound of explosions around him, and ran towards the place where he was calling for help. From a distance, he saw a man lying on his back in the snow, groaning and crying for help. His leg was blown off, and the broken leg hung on the branch of a large tree four or five meters away. The dripping blood stained the white snow beneath red.

"Who was hurt?" Someone screamed from a nearby bunker, and it sounded like Goneri. He yelled at Doctor Luo's side, as if he was about to rush out.

"Stay there, Sergeant!" Doctor Luo shouted at Goneri, who was trying to climb out, "I'll just be alone, don't come here, I'm still shelling!" "According to the regulations, there is indeed only one person who needs Medical Officer Luo here!

But Gurnelli crawled out anyway, and he followed behind Doctor Luo, and ran quickly towards the injured fellow. Lying on the ground and groaning, it was the recruit Soth, who watched Doctor Luo rush over, and couldn't help but cry out in pain and hatred, "Damn, I've been lying here long enough." My leg is broken, my leg is broken, damn it - God, how do I get back? ”

"We'll let you go back safely, brother!" Goneri crouched down and lowered his rifle as he stretched out his hand to soothe Soth, the sight was a little too miserable for him to take to heart the blame and angry scolding of Soth.

"Morphine!" Doctor Law pulled morphine out of his pocket and injected it into Soth's other leg, and he quickly cut open the leg of Soth's trousers, revealing the wound, where the flesh was blurred, and the flesh and bones hung in pieces. Doctor Luo skillfully wrapped his leg in bandages and said to Guernere, "When the shelling stops, we must immediately transfer him to the medical station in Bastogne, and then transport him to the rear, we must send this guy out before he is completely surrounded!" ”

"Listen to you!" As he spoke, he was about to carry Soth on his shoulder, but as soon as he touched it, he heard a loud explosion, and a cannonball exploded not far from them, pushing the three of them down to the snow. Soth let out a terrible scream, and his thigh was blown off as he fell.

"Oh my God, it hurts me, damn it, it's better to blow me up with a shell, I'm so tortured, God, what's going on!" Soth yelled and vented his dissatisfaction, and despite using morphine, he was still in pain to death, and couldn't help but curse in the direction of the German army.

"Boom-" Another loud explosion rang out. Gunessey, who was about to get up, was suddenly pushed to the ground by the air wave again, as if there was a thin puff of liquid coming to his face, spraying all over his face.

"Oh, again!" Goneri scolded, "What a damn one! He got up again and shouted at Doctor Luo, who was also getting up, "Are you okay?" Doctor. This damn German! ”

"It's fine!" Doctor Law shouted at Guaerry, gesturing at Guness, "Let's go see Sabins, we need to get him out or he'll die here!" As he spoke, the two of them bent down very low and crawled towards Soth.

Soth lay on the ground, and he didn't moan, he didn't mumble or curse. His body was twitching, and his mouth kept coughing, but every time he coughed, a lot of blood would gush out of his mouth, and his eyes were slowly dissipating, and one hand was clutching at the snow, as if he wanted to grasp something.

"Soth!" Goneri screamed, and he began to examine his body, and ripped off the heavy military coat, revealing the ** inside, but a deep wound could be clearly seen on Thos's chest, which was bleeding outward.

Doctor Luo kept wiping the blood from the wound on his body with a bandage, trying to bandage him, but Gernerui stopped him, patted his hand lightly and said, "Doctor Luo, it's useless, he's dead!" When Goneri held out two fingers and pressed against Soth's carotid artery, there was no beating anymore.

Doctor Luo's hand shook, and then he turned his head to look at Soth, his eyes were dead gray. There was not even a slight hesitation in his body. Apparently Guonerey was right - he was dead!

"Ahh You devils, murderers, filthy clowns......" he cursed almost every expletives he knew.

Goneri squatted down, gently patted his knee with his hand, and said, "You have done your best, doctor, he is a soldier, and he should be ready to die at any time!" As he spoke, he put his hand on Soth's chest, ripped off his military card, then looked at his hand, patted Doctor Luo's shoulder and said, "Hold on, we all have to hold on, brothers still need you!" With that, he walked straight to his cover.

By this time, the German artillery fire had stopped. The woods were unusually quiet after a cloud of smoke and explosions. At this time, the brothers could faintly hear each other's shouts: "Is anyone hurt?" ”

"Are you still alive?"

"Alive, Lutz, thank you for your concern, you can protect your own balls, cannonballs don't have eyes!" With a listless joke from Lutz, Goneri jumped into the bunker, and with one slap in the bunker, he raised the card again with both hands and looked at it carefully.

"Whose is this? Soth? Toy looked at the badge and couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart.

"Yes!" Goneri muttered, it was obvious that if it was in normal times, he would not want to mention who Soth was, and he might not even know such a recruit. But on the way into Bastogne, Gurnery already liked this soldier, not just because of his two packs of cigarettes, but in the ice and snow of Bastogne, every brother would make Gurneir feel at ease, and feel that their existence was the existence of E-Company.

The woods were littered with broken branches and some bare tree trunks, making the white snow a little harsh. The Germans did not carry out an infantry attack, except for an artillery accident. The Germans stopped unexpectedly. It was clear that they were gathering strength and waiting for reinforcements, after all, after being heavily damaged by the 1st Battalion and the De Sobury detachment of the 10th Panzer Division, they were no longer capable of continuous attacks. Subsequent German reinforcements would be gathered here, and they would strike at the Americans here, believing that they had defeated the 1st Battalion and De Saubery's defenses.

The sky was getting darker. At this time, the German infantry had not yet attacked. If it had been nightfall, the German offensive would have to take place tomorrow. And tomorrow, German reinforcements may also arrive. They can unleash a full blow.

Night envelops the woods. Parkes looked quietly ahead, then looked at Wales, who was a little tired next to him, and said: "The Germans may attack tomorrow, and what we have to do is to prevent the infiltration of the German army tonight." Otherwise, it will appear very passive! ”

"I believe in our defensive bunkers!" Wales turned his head to Parks and smiled, "Look at the German shelling during the day today, we are basically unharmed, we are well protected!" God, Reis, the Germans used 88-mm guns. There were also 105-mm cannons, their shells were like rain, but we resisted! ”

"Good bunker can't beat good soldiers!" Parks shook his head at Wales and said in a low voice, "We still lost a soldier, Private South. A recruit, but died in the shelling of Bastone on the first day. ”

"Coming in from the barracks of Momion or after the Market Garden?" Wales looked at Parks, suddenly shook his head and said, "I'm not very familiar with those soldiers, they are new recruits, they have a lot of shortcomings, and they are not very good at some of the rules on the battlefield. But the veterans are not willing to stay with them, and their combat experience is all up to them to experience again and again! ”

"They're experiencing a very brutal battle right now!" Parks nodded, "Harry, tomorrow is going to be a tough battle, but our only option is not to retreat, but to stick this German unit firmly here, so that they can't occupy it, this is a strategic location." Perhaps the victory or defeat of the whole battle lies in Bastone! ”

"I hope you're not right!" Wales shook his head and smiled, "I'd rather this be a place that the Germans neglect than a place that they focus on, hell, our luck is always the best." We always fight the hardest battles in the hardest places! ”

Parks didn't say anything more, his eyes fixed on the front. Even though he couldn't see anything but some tree trunks, he was a little distracted.

In the wee hours of the morning, the air was even colder. Many of the brothers hiding in the bunker were hunching their necks, their hands in their sleeves, and their eyes staring out. The night was quiet and only the sound of breathing could be heard.

Countless shrill whistles suddenly sounded in the air, followed by violent explosions and tremors of the ground. The Germans chose to launch another shelling in the early hours of the morning. They want to harass the defending American troops with artillery fire, so that they are exhausted and then have no energy to deal with the battle that is coming tomorrow.

"Boom-" A cannonball hit the trunk of the tree, making an explosion sound, and the fire appeared more dazzling in the night, just like Christmas fireworks, gorgeous and dazzling at the same time, but also painful!

"German shelling, pay attention to concealment!" Sergeant Tybert's voice came faintly, and then there were many voices alerting the brothers who were defending around them. The role played by non-commissioned officers is very important at the most critical time. The shouts of Sergeant Tybert and other non-commissioned officers made many people's hearts feel the tranquility in the raging sea.

This time the German shelling lasted ten minutes, but these ten minutes were the most difficult to endure. It feels like a long time. The artillery fire was even more intense than during the day, and all the brothers were lying tightly in the bunker, unable to raise their heads at all. Even Sergeant Major Tybert didn't dare stick his head out and yell at his brothers. He lay in the bunker and cursed, "Damn, damn! ”

"Are the Germans going to attack at night?" Wales's body and neck were covered with mud, but he lay on his stomach tightly, not daring to move for a while, the artillery fire was too fierce, he looked at Parkes, who was also lying beside him, and said loudly, "The Germans seem to be going to fight their old roots!" ”

Parks nodded, and shouted at Wales as well: "I don't know what will happen to the Germans, but I do know that if the Germans attack tomorrow, their artillery fire will be even more fierce than this!" ”

The fireworks-like shelling gradually stopped, and when everything around them fell silent again, the surrounding scenery gradually became clearer and clearer - the sky gradually brightened.

A new day has finally arrived.

(To be continued)