The American people are concerned about Bastogne. After all, for most people, what they care about is just what others say.
For Eisenhower, the Allied commander-in-chief in the French battlefield, he is concerned about the entire war situation, not just Bastogne, nor limited to the Ardennes, but the entire Western Front.
At noon that day, after inspecting the battle line, Eisenhower had returned to Verdun in a command car. During the whole journey, he had been thinking about the Ardennes problem. This battle was too weird, and there were too many surprising things.
One of the most surprising things was the mysterious German commandos in American uniforms who suddenly appeared behind the US defense line. They randomly directed traffic, attacked logistics convoys and officers' vehicles, and shrouded the Allied rear in unprecedented fear.
This sense of fear has spread far to Paris. When he was about to leave the morning before yesterday, the colonel in charge of his safety insisted that he take a bulletproof car.
"I have accurate information, general," the colonel said excitedly.
"Otto Skorzeny has sent a special group of commandos in American uniforms to assassinate you."
Since the outbreak of the war, Skorzeny has sent commandos in American uniforms to create a lot of chaos in the rear of the US military and killed many officers. That is why there is such panic. After all, no one knows whether the US military in front of them is real or fake.
In this chaos, someone swore that he saw several German paratroopers somewhere. They are said to be running towards Paris now, with the purpose of assassinating the Allied commander.
But Skorzeny's commandos can only have a partial impact and cannot influence the overall situation. After repeatedly studying the situation in the Ardennes in his mind, Eisenhower's car drove into Verdun. At about 11 o'clock in the morning, he walked into a conference room. He looked at the people in the semicircle in front of him, all of whom had serious expressions.
"The current situation, although it seems a little impermeable, is no big deal."
Eisenhower said,
"We should take it as an opportunity, not a disaster."
He glanced at the participants again:
"There is no need to put on this expression. You know, our strength is three times that of the Germans."
General Patton immediately grinned, and his yellow-brown teeth from smoking were also exposed.
"Damn it,"
Patton said,
"We can let go and let those sons of bitches fight to Paris. We must cut off their retreat and then chew them up!"
The serious atmosphere was broken by Patton's vulgar words, and everyone smiled.
Eisenhower shook his head:
"No, we can't let the enemy cross the Meuse River at any cost. Hodges' situation is very serious, and this must be faced squarely. We must launch a diversionary attack immediately, otherwise, the 1st Army's defense line is likely to collapse completely. George,"
He said to Patton,
"I want you to take over Luxembourg, when can you go?"
"Now."
Patton answered neatly.
"You mean today?"
"I mean after the meeting."
"How long will it take to launch the attack, George?"
Omar Bradley asked.
"After forty-eight hours."
Eisenhower frowned. Patton, who was attacking the Germans in the Saar region, would have to let his troops make a 90-degree turn, and 48 hours was obviously unlikely.
"Is this enough time?"
"Don't worry about the time,"
Barton waved his hand generously,
"Al, don't worry, I will definitely arrive on time."