It’s 1893 and gold is being smuggled out of the country. Instead of stealing gold bars, the outlaws are stealing high grade ore, having it smelted, and then having it plated to look like lead. The Government sends agents Bret and Larry who arrive in Cripple Creek posing as Texas gunfighters. Bret finds the smelting operation and Larry learns of the payoff. But the crooked town Marshal is suspicious of the two men and the reply of his inquiry to Texas exposes them putting their lives in danger.

The film concentrates on the camaraderie and the divisions between the troops as they ready for the big offensive. Told in a taut narrative, the men of the 101st, led by Van Johnson, wait out the winter in the Ardennes forest to confront the German army in what would be the last major offensive of World War II. The men are demoralized and trapped, with no hope of support from the Allies.