Bastogne encircled
During the course of the 20th, the battle for the city increased in intensity with simultaneous attacks by Panzer Le, of the 26th Volksgrenadier Division. None of them succeeded, but their increase in power hinted at what was to follow. At the evening, the two Div. Enemies had surrounded the city, the Panzer Lehr principle to the southeast of an imaginary line pouring the city from southwest to northeast, Volksgrenadier to the northwest of the m line. The struggle continued on the 21st, then on the 22nd the Germans committed a major blunder.
enemy side, thought that the position of the Americans was hopeless and, around noon, sent four parliamentarians to them. Came by the lines of the 2' Bn. of the 327th, the Germans gave the Americans the following ultimatum:if the encircled American garrison did not consent to an honorable surrender within two hours, it would be destroyed by massive German artillery fire. McAuliffe's response to this ultimatum earned him fame in military history:“Nuts! Lt. Col. Ralph Harper, commanding the 327th, could not find an idiomatic translation of McAuliffe's response; he therefore contented himself with saying to the Germans:"Go to the devil!" »