![]() Task Force Riley sent tanks carrying infantry into the edge of Echternach on the morning of 19 December. ![]() American intelligence officers estimated on 17 December that the enemy had a superiority in numbers of three to one by the end of 18 December the balance was somewhat restored. Two tanks and two squads of riflemen continued along the main road to the hat factory at the southwestern edge of Echternach where Company E, 12th Infantry, had established itself. The following night all three regiments assembled behind a single battalion which acted as a screen along the Sauer between Bollendorf and Ralingen, the prospective zone of attack. This ambulance convoy was en route to Consdorf, in the late afternoon, when a radio message reported that the Germans had cut the road north of Consdorf and bazooka'd two tanks on their way back from Berdorf for ammunition. Finally, the Americans halted near the T in the gorge road just south of Mllerthal. About an hour after dark a message from the 3d Battalion reached the 12th Infantry command post: "Situation desperate. Morris had already dispatched one of his armored infantry battalions to help the 9th Armored in an attack intended to retake Waldbillig. Infantry replacements were particularly hard to obtain and many rifle companies remained at no better than half strength. ![]() The replacements received, mostly from upper Bavaria, were judged better than the average although there. Finally, a little after dark, Companies B and F (12th Infantry), ten engineers, and four squads of armored infantry loaded onto. As before, the maneuver was a flanking movement designed to seize the high ground overlooking Mllerthal. Soldiers of each army grappled with knives and bayonets in the open streets as machine gun fire and mortars rained down around them. ![]() The tank commander offered to cover the withdrawal of Company E from the city, but Capt. After two hours, and some casualties, a patrol bearing a white flag worked its way in close enough for recognition. ![]()
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