[Legbreaker]

The XI Corps, at least the Canadians, 50th AD and 2nd Marines, is still a very strong formation. Writing off that firepower isn't somethng ANYONE is going to do lightly, even if it's preventing large scale evacuation.
As I've proposed, some transportation is available between XI Corps and the remainder of Nato, which would allow the transfer of individuals between them. Some from XI may wish to go home, while, as we know from Going Home, many other US troops chose, for various reasons, to stay - these people may choose to move into XI Corps AO.

The thought may be that with approximately 1/4 of US manpower staying in Europe, a second evacuation may occur in the following months. While waiting for this to be organised, XI could have been distilling fuel for a breakout to the south and west, taking with them absolutely TRUCKLOADS of vehicles, ammunition and other stores, all vital to either the Germans, or US recovery.

I do agree that there should be a Pact blocking force in place. I agree that the lack of such is either an oversight, misprint, or misinformation. The players should NEVER know exactly where the enemy is unless they've personally laid eyes on them. Leaving an obvious gap on the BYB map (and in the other books) could be construed as a part of this vagueness.

It is my personal belief that the map of unit locations in the 2.x book, cannot be taken as gospel - a fair indication perhaps, but I believe that during writing of all versions, the developers were a little pressed for time and this is one of the things they overlooked.