January 1945 to rest and refit and bring the battalion back up to strength before it went back on the offensive. End of war in Germany In late January 1945 the 70th Tank Battalion was alerted that they would soon be on the move again. On 4 February, the battalion once again crossed into Germany to the west of Buchet. The battalion made steady progress eastward against sometimes spirited defense supporting the infantry regiments of the 4th Infantry Division to the outskirts of Prüm until ordered to go on the defensive on 12 February. Virtually out of contact with the enemy, the battalion used the time to train new replacements and catch up on administrative actions. On 1 March, the battalion went back on the offensive, supporting the infantry attach on Prüm. The break had given the Germans an opportunity to stiffen their defenses, and the battalion suffered 9 killed and 18 wounded in just two days of action. On 8–9 March, the battalion (minus Company C), participated in a raid as part of Task Force Rhino, and advanced 30 km northeast to the town of Reifferscheid—nearly half of the remaining distance to the Rhine River. Signaling that German defense was on the verge of collapsing, resistance was light, disorganized and dispirited, with over 1,500 prisoners taken by the task force in just over 24 hours. After this successful deep penetration into German territory, the battalion unexpectedly received orders attaching them to the Seventh Army, far to the south in France, and to prepare for a long road march. The battalion covered 120 km on 12 March, and an additional 175 km on 13 March, closing on the town of St.-Jean-Rohrbach, France. Here, the battalion was attached to the 63rd Infantry Division, with the mission of assisting the division to breach the Siegfried Line—the third time for the 70th Tank Battalion. The battalion advanced as far as Ensheim (Saarbrücken) before they were relieved in place by the 740th Tank Battalion and reattached to the 4th Infantry Division on 18 March. The battalion then withdrew back into bivouacs in the vicinity of Hochfelden, France, then beginning on 27 March moved in a series of road marches back into Germany, crossing the Rhine at Worms on 29–30 March. The next day the battalion was back in contact with the Germans, though the sporadic and ineffective nature of the combat indicated organized German