Battle of the Bulge

In December 1944, Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Kiley conducts a recon flight over the Ardennes and photographs a German staff car and its occupants. The German driver abandons the vehicle under the low, ominous aircraft pass. Kiley radios in the find as Allied planners begin to sense a major German offensive.

Back at an underground base, General Kohler explains a top-secret plan to recapture Antwerp and assigns Hessler to command a brigade of King Tiger tanks. The briefing sets the strategic goal and signals a heavy push for a decisive battle. Hessler absorbs the orders with a mix of ambition and pressure.

Hessler reviews his brigade’s commanders, dismissing them as mere "boys" until they prove themselves. A group of English-speaking German paratroopers led by Lieutenant Schumacher prepares to parachute behind American lines disguised as MPs. The unit charts a deception-rich operation to disrupt Allied defenses.

A day after the briefing, Kiley travels to an outpost on the Siegfried Line to capture prisoners and interrogate them for insight into German offensive plans. He learns that the Germans may keep their best troops back for the assault. His findings heighten alarm among Allied command.

Major Wolenski’s patrol returns with a batch of inexperienced German replacements, confirming Kiley’s assessment that veteran troops are being held back. Weaver and Duquesne are involved in the patrol. Kiley’s warnings clash with skeptical higher-ups.

The Germans launch the offensive, and Hessler’s tanks overrun Wolenski’s unit in the Schnee Eifel. The encounter demonstrates the King Tiger’s formidable armor against Allied tanks. The initial advance sets the stage for the wider push toward the Meuse.

Allied tanks commanded by Sergeant Guffy engage the German advance and realize the King Tigers’ superiority, forcing a retreat toward Amblève. Guffy salvages black-market loot from a farmhouse and confesses love for his partner Louise. The fight underscores the imbalance of force on the battlefield.

Schumacher’s disguised MPs seize the Our River bridge and switch road signs at a crucial intersection, sowing confusion along Allied routes. U.S. engineers detect the ruse and realize their security details have been compromised. The deception foreshadows a spike in German activity behind American lines.

Wolenski’s unit, following the altered signs, is drawn into Malmedy where they are captured and massacred by SS troops. Weaver manages to escape the carnage. The incident demonstrates the ruthlessness of the German offensive and its ability to exploit confusion.

American engineers become suspicious of Schumacher’s fake MPs, but the Germans’ ruse proves deadly as the engineers are killed while undermining the depot. The attack reveals how deeply the deception has penetrated Allied security. The move worsens the crisis for American defenses.

Hessler’s tanks cross the Our and approach Amblève, where American defenders rally in strong fortifications. Kohler orders Hessler to bypass the town, but Hessler argues that a pitched battle will break Allied will and refuses to withdraw. The siege marks a pivotal clash in the Germans’ attempt to seize a strategic crossing.

In the final hours, a group of stragglers under Weaver and Guffy kills Schumacher and his fake MPs to secure the fuel depot. The Americans flood the road with gasoline and ignite it, immolating the German tanks; Hessler dies when a fuel drum hits his tank. The remaining German survivors withdraw, and Conrad, bringing up the rear, discards his weapons, done with the war.