In the course of his search on bus and train rides, in guest houses and taverns, and in military convoys braving Allied air raids, Happy encounters Germans with differing attitudes towards the war, some still defiant, such as Waffen-SS courier Scholtz (Wilfried Seyferth), and some resigned, like the young war widow turned hooker Hilde (Hildegard Knef). Happy locates the 11th Panzer by stroke of luck. Posing as a medic returning to his unit, he is commandeered to treat Oberst von Ecker (O.E. Hasse), its commander, at his castle headquarters. Choosing military discipline over sentiment, Von Ecker orders the execution of a loyal officer who had deserted to help his bombed-out family. Von Ecker has a heart attack, and Happy has the opportunity to inject him with a lethal overdose of medicine, but refrains from doing so.