November 30th. Heavy snow once again blanketed the Ardennes. Because the snow hampered transportation, the search teams scattered throughout the mountains withdrew quickly—especially since they also had to haul the artillery they'd collected in the mountains, and even damaged or abandoned tanks.
In short, retreating took time.
On a mountain road, Zhao Chang'an, with a carbine slung over his shoulder, kept blowing into his palms for warmth. Born in Suzhou, he'd never experienced such a harsh winter. Even during the winter when the war broke out, when he and his parents walked all the way to Anhui, then Hubei, then Sichuan… after traveling so far, he'd never seen snow this heavy or weather this cold.
