After waiting for a full four hours, the vanguard combat group, including the 101st Experimental Heavy Armor Battalion, still had not spotted any signs of their allies. Several commanders finally grew impatient and immediately reestablished contact with the following troops, only to learn that the subsequent forces had encountered a massive traffic jam stretching 11 kilometers.
Ironically, it was the vanguard combat group that was to blame for this massive traffic jam.
In the first phase of the operation, the vanguard combat group was assigned the task of "overcoming all difficulties to capture Bastogne in the shortest possible time."
In other words, all other matters were secondary.
