![]() ![]() ![]() The failure of the Sixth Panzer Army on the northern wing of the German attack doomed the operation within the first week of fighting Initial delays proved very costly, and Kampfgruppe Peiper was quickly bottled up around La Gleize as fresh U.S. ![]() To its left, the 1st SS Panzer Division launched its main force, Kampfgruppe Peiper, which pushed through a very weak American cavalry screen into the Losheim gap. As a result, the 12th SS Panzer Division became entangled in a brutal series of close-range battles at Krinkelt-Rocherath and then Dom Butgenbach without securing a breakthrough. In desperation, the panzer exploitation force was committed prematurely instead of waiting until the infantry had secured a breakthrough. The initial attacks by the Sixth Panzer Army proceeded poorly, and the infantry failed to make much purchase into American defenses. The surprise attack began on 16 December 1944. tank force in the sector was very weak at the start of the campaign, consisting of scattered tank and tank destroyer battalions. ![]() It was manned by four American infantry divisions-two newly arrived green divisions and two other divisions battered in the Hiirtgen Forest and recuperating in the Ardennes. Primarily an infantry force and had less substantial objectives.įor his attack, Hitler chose a sector of the Ardennes dubbed "the Ghost Front" by the U.S. The Seventh Army on the far left near Luxembourg was On its left was the Fifth Panzer Army with the rest of the panzer force, including the regular-army panzer divisions. This army contained the majority of the panzer force, including two entire SS panzer corps. The focus of the attack was the Sixth Panzer Army, which would attack toward the Elsenborn ridge and then press on to Antwerp. Chapter 11 The Battle of the Bulge Begins ![]()
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