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they plunged into the immobile lines that hemmed them in. And all the while
the artillery loaded and fired, loaded and fired, pausing only to allow the
tubes to cool. In the meantime, the infantry was by no means idle.
Against do or die resistance the doughboys advanced toward Chambois, closing
the bottleneck, strangling the escape route with an iron noose. One after
another the objectives fell... Hill 137, Hill 129, Sainte-Eugénie, Bon Ménil,
Fougy ; the road leading out of Chambois was cut, and the trap was sealed.
Prisoners poured into the 90th's cages. Equipment, guns, vehicles
beyond number littered the floor of the Valley. The once mighty cream of the
German armies found itself being cut to bloody ribbons with no chance for
escape. And still the artillery, eleven battalions, lashed the valley with
high explosives, time and white phosphorous fire. Mercilessly they raked the
valley, inflicting casualties, disrupting counterattacks, pouring a hail of
steel into the milling remnants of the invincible conquerors of Europe.
An aerial observer, annoyed by the necessary time lapse between his
reporting a target and the actual firing of the mission, shouted excitedly
into his radio "Stop computin', and start shooting".
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Falaise Gap
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