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

THE ENEMY STORY 193
he was temporarily defeated. His chief subordinates, too, with
the exception of Kokott, believed that the enforced continuation
of the advance of the mechanized divisions to the westward, leaving
the Bastogne assignment to Kokott's division, dimmed the
prospect for.a final victory. They had been impressed by the
strength of the Bastogne forces and they felt that the task required
unremitting pressure from the entire Corps.
In the course of December 21, Kokott's reconnaissance battalion
got almost to the highway near Mande-St.-£.tienne before
being stopped by Colonel Harper's forces. The day was
given over largely to the shifting of regiments as Kokott's division
took over the general assignment which the day previous
had been a Corps responsibility. Panzer Lehr was bound for
Morhet. Bayerlein's 902d Regiment was replaced on the Bastogne
line by Kokott's 77th, and his 78th Regiment took over
the sector which had been held by the 2d Panzer Division. One
regiment, the 901st, and some of the special elements of the Panzer
Lehr Division were left behind, passing into Kokott's command.
On that day, also, the reconnaissance group of the 2d Panzer
Division got only as far as Tenneville. Liittwitz by now was devoting
his entire attention to the progress of the 2d Panzer. He
had wanted the reconnaissance group to move fast through the
Bois de Bande and reach Bande by nightfall, but for some reason
he couldn't get his lead forces rolling and the division strung
out all the way from Tenneville to Bourcy. He found. out later
that the head of his column had been stopped by "strong enemy
forces" maintaining a roadblock at a crossing southeast of T enneville.
This was, of course, the block maintained by Company B
of Allen's battalion of the 327th Glider Infantry. It held up the
progress of the 2d Panzer Division for one whole day, and of
this delay much resulted subsequently. On December 22 and 23
the division pushed on only a little way; it was for the 2d Panzer
Division a day of endless stopping, starting and turning, the
sounds of which gave the defending forces within the Bastogne
perimeter the impression that a tremendous enemy build-up was
taking place to the north of them. [The patrols into Rouette led