Madawaska, a small town in northern Maine. Yet it had become the headquarters of the encircled US forces. Nearly a million US troops were surrounded here by the German military, unable to advance or retreat.
The entire town had now become a field of ruins. Since the encirclement began, the German bombardment and air raids had never ceased. Even at night, German artillerymen launched attacks, not only sending US casualties soaring but also preventing the US forces within the encirclement from resting. Many US officers and soldiers now had heavy dark circles beneath their eyes and had lost considerable weight. Some had even become neurotic.
Whenever night fell, some US soldiers did not dare sleep. They feared being struck by German shells in their dreams and going to meet God. No one could endure such conditions for long.
Inside an underground command post in Madawaska, several Army Group Commanders sat around the conference table with furrowed brows. These generals looked like defeated roosters, utterly bedraggled.
Originally, Germany's landing on the North American continent had certainly worried them. But they had also believed that the US forces still had the strength to contend with the German military. At the very least, whether in manpower or weapons and equipment, they were no worse than the German military.
But after one great battle, they had been beaten by the German military until they fled in disarray, suffering devastating losses. This also showed them just how vast the gap between them and the German military was. Now that they had been surrounded by the German military, their final fate was all too easy to imagine.
"Wasn't it said that reinforcements would be sent to rescue us? We've been fighting for so many days—why haven't they arrived yet?" a US Army general said unhappily. The