Recently demoted from staff sergeant to private, Reese (Steve McQueen) is sent to join the war-weary unit positioned on the Siegfried Line in Belgium. He is soon persuading his sergeant (Harry Guardino) to make the Germans believe that the small unit is larger than it is. Reese (McQueen) knows that they can only fool the Germans for a short while and takes the decision to lead an attack, when the unit was informed to wait for reinforcements.