Plot
In May 1945, remnants of the German army continue to fight in the Harz mountains. The opening narration explains that the rapid advance of Allied forces into Germany left a widening gap between those Allied forces that advanced the furthest – the frontline spearhead – and the "critical rearguard" following them; and that this stretch of land, full of battle debris, is nicknamed "The Void" by American troops.
An American M18 Hellcat tank destroyer, "The Avenging Angel", fires on the watchtower of a German POW camp, allowing the Allied prisoners held there to flee, including a British lieutenant, Goss (Ben Urie). The next day the freed prisoners are to be transported to the rear by a convoy, with two of the trucks driven by Sergeant Jesse Owens, formerly 827th Tank Destroyer Battalion but now reassigned to a support role (K. Danor Gerald), and Private Perry (Alex Boyé). Owens is not respected by some of the white soldiers because he is African-American.
Captain Briton McConkie orders Sgt. John Atwood, commander of the Angel, and Sgt. Max Whitaker commanding another M18 nicknamed the Annie, to clear out an area still defended by Germans. Atwood's crew includes Corporal Carey Simms (Adam Gregory), Private Daniel Barlow (Matt Meese) and Rodney Mitchell (Michael Todd Behrens); there is some bickering between the latter two. Meanwhile, Owens' and Perry's trucks come across a fake body in the road, where a hidden German Panzer III tank fires, destroying Perry's truck, killing everyone inside. The Germans then open fire at Owens' truck, and only Owens and Goss survive and manage to escape.
After encountering a German family (and letting them go despite realizing that the man has been in the German army recently, and still had a loaded pistol in his belongings), the crews of the two M18 come across Owens and Goss who have evaded the pursuing Germans soldiers. The crews of the M18s now realize that there is at least one German tank waiting in ambush. Unable to contact the headquarters by radio, the crews of the M18s decide to take on the Germans. As it turns out, there are three German tanks. One of the M18s, the Annie, is destroyed with everyone except Whitaker being killed. The Angel escapes but Atwood is killed.
Owens and Simms argue about what to do next. Simms, who is white, says he will not take orders from a black man (Owens outranks him). When Owens suggests taking on the Germans again, Simms accuses him of trying to make a name for himself and needlessly risking their lives. Their argument is cut short by the arrival of a Panzer. Owens and Simms, together, use an artillery piece located nearby to fire on the German tank. They miss, but they manage to force the German tank to move, and the crew of the Angel – despite having to aim their gun by rotating the entire vehicle, rather than by rotating the turret, because the turret's jammed – destroys the Panzer. Owens and Simms escape, evading German infantry. They kill a team of Germans holed up in a house and obtain a Panzerfaust. Using an improvised antenna, the crew of the Angel radioes the HQ and learns that the Allied vehicles that are likely to drive into the German ambush include a jeep carrying an Allied general.
Owens' backstory is that he used to lead a group of mostly African-American soldiers in the Ardennes. They were caught drinking and, as a form of punishment, sent on a recon mission that turned out to be a suicide mission, with only Owens returning. Owens then assaulted a senior officer. Goss' backstory is that he once escaped the POW camp with two other soldiers, but one of the German officers, Shoenbeck, captured all three and forced the captives to play Russian roulette. Goss survived; the other two soldiers, one of whom refused to play and fired the revolver at his captors, did not. Shoenbeck was not only an officer at the POW camp; an old teacher at a tank training school, he came out of retirement and now commands the very Panzer unit that the Americans encountered.
On foot, Goss manages to take out a German tank by shooting the commander, climbing on top of the tank, and shooting the crew through the hatch. He then approaches Shoenbeck's soldiers and takes one of them hostage; in response, Shoenbeck shoots his own soldier. Shoenbeck is about to kill Goss, but is shot is the back by one of his soldiers who then surrenders to Goss.
The crew of the Angel draws the last German tank out and tricks the Germans into driving over a cellar; Owens, hidden in the cellar, fires a Panzerfaust at the underside of the tank, destroying it. Barlow and Mitchell reconcile from their previous arguments, and Simms and Owens befriend one another over the course of the conflict.
