Microsoft Close Combat manual Last Blitzkrieg The Battle of the Bulge

Scale of Area

The geographic area encompassed by the Normandy Campaign is minuscule compared to the Eastern Front. From Cherbourg to Caen is less than 80 kilometers by air, and it is less than 35 kilometers from Omaha Beach to Saint-Lôroughly the distance between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland.

At the height of the fighting between Germany and the Soviet Union, the Eastern Front stretched from Leningrad in the north to the Caucasus Mountains in the south. This distance approximately 1,900 kilometers is roughly the same as the distance between New York City and Bismarck, North Dakota.

Chapter 7 The Big Picture: A Short History of World War II 157

The Soviet campaigns of 1943−1944 have proved decisive. Russia regains most of the territory lost in 1941 and 1942; more importantly, the Soviets have destroyed entire German armies. Hitler contributes significantly to these losses, refusing to allow withdrawals that could have saved hundreds of thousands of soldiers for a final defense of Germany. Instead, the Red Army is now rolling inexorably toward Berlin.

The Last Blitzkrieg The Battle of the Bulge

Even as Germany reels from blows from the east and west, Hitler looks for an opportunity to counterattack. He orders garrisons in port cities in France to hold out, and he stations forces in the mouth of the River Scheldt. This latter move prevents the Allies from using the harbor at Antwerp, even though the Allies capture the city on September 4. Hitler also orders the formation of 25 new Volksgrenadier divisions to man his western defenses.

The planned counterattack, code-named Autumn Mist, is intended to drive an armored wedge through the Ardennes forests, across the River Meuse, all the way to Antwerp. This wedge will divide the British and Canadian forces in the north from the Americans in the south. Hitler believes Autumn Mist will create enough confusion and buy enough time to transfer German forces east to launch a similar blow against the Red Army.

Rundstedt and Model disagree with Hitler, but to no avail. Eight Panzer divisions are re-equipped and ready to spearhead the assault, aimed at four inexperienced or worn-out American divisions. The Germans maintain strict radio silence concerning Autumn Mist, so for once there is no warning from the Allied codebreakers. Even when forward units report

increased activity on their fronts, Allied com- manders discount the reports; they believe the Ardennes forests are far too difficult for the Germans to advance through them.

The weather plays a crucial role in the German attack. The winter of 1944 proves to be one of the coldest on record. More importantly, the spell of bad weather the Germans had been hoping for a heavy cloud cover to minimize Allied air power finally arrives in mid-December.

On December 16, the Germans launch their last blitzkrieg. The Americans in front of the assault are soon overrun, but their unexpectedly stiff defense slows the German time table. Eisenhower