Against ever-stiffening resistance by an enemy who thought an entire division had broken through the Main River defense line, Captain Baum's decimated column finally reached the stalag near dark on 27 March 1945. After a fierce fight, the prisoners were released, armed, and mounted on the back decks of Company C's tanks for the ride back to friendly lines. Captain Baum directed the remnants of his force northeastward, but by now the area was swarming with German infantry and armor. By morning of the 28th all the task force's vehicles had been knocked out. The force then broke into groups of four or five and attempted to exfiltrate back to American lines. Thirty-five men finally made it. The rest were killed or captured. Of the 313 officers and men of Task Force Baum, 9 were killed, 32 were wounded, the rest were prisoners at one time or another. Only a few made it back to the US lines, to tell what had happened.