The squad is captured by a German tank unit and taken to a POW camp where they're mistreated. Heavy shelling of the camp permits Rick & his men to escape, but Vic is left behind, his hands badly burned in a fire.
Altman moves back and forth between two stories, Vic's grim, difficult to watch struggle to survive on his own, while Rick and his men steal supplies from the Germans and try to evade capture,
It's an existential saga, especially during Vic's highly physical and Brando-influenced emotional solo turn, but too relentlessly negative to be entertaining -it's merely a relief when it's over. Just as the current overpraised German remake of "All Quiet on the Western Front" issued by Netflix was relentlessly downbeat and negative, this is a tough slog and does not measure up to the impact of "Combat!"s strongest suit: men battling against each other in a war of wills rather than battling against the forces of nature.
When finally rescued, the delirious Vic is met by Michael Murphy (billed in end credits as "Mike Murphy"), one of Altman's all-time favorite actors.