As the Germans make a breakthrough, rear-echelon troops are ordered to prepare for battle. Never able to form into a fighting force, they become stragglers separated from any cohesive unit. Saunders and Caje are also separated and pick up several of the rear-echelon stragglers, now deep in German territory. While the rear-echelon troops have no combat experience, they each contribute in their own way in the effort to punch back and return to their lines.
