 However , the Germans launched a counterattack at 03 : 15 on 16 December , throwing in men from the 6th Parachute Regiment , sent by Herr to the 26th Panzer Division to relieve the exhausted 9th Panzergrenadier Regiment . These troops had arrived late that evening after a long journey . <unk> by tanks , they attacked the right @-@ hand New Zealand positions held by the 21st NZ Battalion , but were held off and had retired by daylight . Meanwhile , even before the German counterattack had been repelled , the 20th Regiment had attacked toward Orsogna with two squadrons of Sherman tanks . Under intense artillery and anti @-@ tank fire , the tanks and infantry became separated and the tanks became a target rather than a threat . 
