The next objective of the 45th was to fight German and Italian forces en route to the north coast of Sicily. The plan was to use Highway 124, one of Sicily's four major highways. This highway, originally in the American sector, had been usurped by Montgomery, with no word of the change of boundaries given to Middleton. Word eventually came down from Alexander that the boundaries had been changed, which meant that when the 45th reached the highway, they became frozen in place with no opportunity to advance. Middleton, not willing to sit out the remainder of the battle, moved his division from the right of II Corps to the left, traveling ninety miles out of the way through back areas of the other American divisions, to get in position for the march north. On 23 July the first elements of the 45th reached the north coast of the island at Station Cerda, five miles east of Termini Imerese, taking thirteen days to move from south coast to north coast. The division then moved east along the coast, reaching its objective of Santo Stefano on 30 July. Here they were stormed by the Germans, but fought back, forcing the German rear guard out of the area by the following morning. This was the end of active fighting for the 45th in Sicily, where the division endured 1,156 casualties while taking nearly 11,000 prisoners.