The Americans abandoned the rubble of Rocherath-Krinkelt, and General Robertson ordered the remnants of 2nd Division to withdraw to defensive positions dug into the open terrain along the ridge. Troops from the remaining elements of 99th Infantry Division also used this time to withdraw to Elsenborn Ridge and fortify positions on it. They found it required dynamite to blow holes in the frozen ground. Elements of 741st Tank Battalion formed the rearguard to allow an orderly withdrawal from Rocherath-Krinkelt to positions behind Wirtzfeld to the west and northwest. By the afternoon the tankers had reported destroying twenty seven tanks, two Jagdpanzer IVs, two armored cars, and two half-tracks while losing eight of their own tanks. At the battalion level, units reported killing sixteen tanks; regimental 57mm guns claimed nineteen; and bazooka teams claimed to have killed seventeen more. While the numbers were undoubtedly exaggerated, they indicate the ferocity of the fighting. The German tank companies were rendered ineffective and played no significant role in later fighting.