Bastogne: The Story of the First Eight Days - US Army Center Of ...

THE ENEMY STORY 183
he was constrained to worry about the security of his rear.
Because he now knew that there was American armor operating
along the Longvilly road between him and the German
main body, Bayerlein set up a road block in Mageret composed
of three tanks, some supporting infantry and a minefield covering
the road from the east-the same roadblock that split Team
Cherry and contributed so much to Ryerson's subsequent difficulties.
The Germans at Mageret were certain that they could
hear American armor moving around in their immediate vicinity
but so dark was the night and such the confusion made bJZ
the slow movement of the last of their own vehicles into Mageret
that they could not be sure where the sounds were coming from
and hesitated to open fire for fear of hitting their own. The
passage of this armored striking force onto the Longvilly road
with the object of capturing Bastogne was regarded by the
Americans who partially observed it at the time as only a
"strong patrol action." It was so reported to Colonel Cherry and
by him to Colonel Roberts. The Americans were still expecting
the main enemy thrust to come straight down the main road.
At about 0400 the German force in Mageret began to draw
fire from the near-by terrain. Though not greatly harassed,it
fought back for about an hour and a half. At 0530 Bayerlein
started his tanks On down the road to Neffe. As they worked
their way cautiously along toward that hamlet they drew considerable
fire from the high ground to right of the road. It is
probable that this resistance came from retreating elements of
the 9th Armored Division which had taken to the hills at the
approach of the German column. The German force kept moving.
The lead tank hit a mine at Team Cherry's roadblock just
east of Neffe and blew up; the Germans did not receive any fire
from the Americans who had been manning the block and saw
no signs of these men. So far not a shot had been fired and they
got the impression that Neffe was undefended.
While the remaining mines were being cleared away from
the road, one infantry company moved south of the tracks and
advanced toward the Neffe CMteau. The company had no close
tank support for the ground was still much too wet for armor.