A belligerent hermit is the only one who can guide Saunders through a treacherous mountain route, so Hanley's company can follow. The Frenchman claims his family was ripped apart in World War I, so he's sitting World War II out at the top of a mountain. The huge Francois is very itchy on the trigger toward Saunders and his troops. Is Francois a Nazi collaborator leading the dog-faces into a trap, or a dangerous misanthrope?

When it appears Lt. Hanley and his men are about to be overrun by attacking Germans, they are miraculously saved by a squadron of fast moving jeeps with mounted machine guns. The squadron of jeeps is commanded by a Greek Colonel named Kapsalis, a gung-ho, no-holds-barred soldier fighting a personal vendetta against the Germans. He orders Lt. Hanley and his men to join him and they attack a heavily-guarded German depot.

Sergeant Saunders faces court martial, charged with a reckless decision costing two machine gunner's lives. The gunners' NCO O'Neill accuses Saunders of forgetting to check if the combined squads had ammo for their bazooka, before a panzer attack. Instead of retreating prudently, Saunders ran down the hill they were defending to not only lug the ammo back up, but drag his wounded squad member who carried it, to safety. That allowed the tank time to get close, and blow up the 2 machine gunners.

Sgt. Saunders tries to harass a Nazi tank with small arms fire before it discovers a GI trying to repair a large supply truck.

Kirby is sent back to town to recuperate from injuries. There, he meets Harry White, a truck driver who uses dirty dice to cheat other GIs. Harry has been running his dirty dice game when Kirby spots the dirty dice and tells the other players. Harry manages to skip out just as the town is hit with an artillery barrage. Kirby manages to get out of town and later comes across Harry White whose truck has run out of gas. Harry takes up with Kirby to get back to their own lines, but he insists on car

The Germans are entering a French Village, driving the Americans out before them. The squad is in retreat as Sgt. Saunders enters a building and discovers a member of his squad, a private named Kogan, cowering in a corner. As he drives Kogan out of the building, an artillery shell lands nearby and a roof-beam falls on Saunder's legs, pinning him to the floor. Pvt. Kogan flees from the town in terror, and informs Lt. Hanley that Saunders was killed.

A German captain warns Saunders that "a reckless hunter who sets a trap often becomes its first victim" when Saunders uses him as bait to attract a deadly Nazi Colonel. The infantry NCO battles not only the wily captain, but a cynical, fellow Sergeant, on loan for his German capability. Sgt. Meider doubts Saunders' every move, needling Saunders that his improvisation risks their lives, especially their wounded medic, solely for his own glory.

The Americans liberate a French village, and a young French girl follows Sgt. Saunders squad. She wants to be a nurse, but Saunders tells her to go away. However, her bravery wins even Saunders hardened heart.

Sgt. Saunders and his squad have been ordered to escort a Sgt. Keeley behind enemy lines with his trained pigeons. The birds have small cameras on their legs to photograph the enemy, but Keeley is belligerent and surly.

Lt. Hanley must flush out a Nazi spy among the soldiers he's leading on a dangerous intelligence mission, before the German sabotages the plan.

Hanley captures a clever demolitions expert in a French spa town after the officer has booby-trapped the entire village. When Hanley is advised by a nun that the elderly citizens of the town will soon return, Hanley enlists Karl's aid to remove each of the traps. The German welcomes the opportunity as a chance to escape. He turns the table on Hanley, catching him in one of his traps.

When their jeep hits a land mine, Saunders, a tank captain, and private Gavin attempt to maneuver an abandoned German tank through enemy territory.

To clear the way for 5000 troops through a mountain pass, Hanley must blow up a German observation post. To succeed, a cocky sculptor who's now a demolition man is added to the mission, in place of Hanley's sleep-deprived full squad. Lt. Hanley and the arty rock-hound Velasquez immediately clash, because the Corporal can't stop examining the local geology or expounding about the ancient rock fortress which became a famed museum, and is now the forbidding, mountain-top post.