It sounded at first like a thunderstorm, distant, rumbling. Then the ground began to shake as grinding columns of tanks and tracked transports finally emerged from the dense woods. It was December 16, 1944, and what the Germans named operation Watch on the Rhine, and what the Americans would later call the Battle of the Bulge, had just exploded along three roads across an 85-mile front in Belgium’s Ardennes Forest. Caught by complete surprise, a thin defense of poorly equipped, exhausted Americans was quickly overwhelmed.
Hitler, against his general’s best advice, had ordered the offensive, smashing through the dense woods of the Ardennes, the objective Antwerp, the Allies supply port on the Belgian coast. His design was to quickly overwhelm the weary American troops and secure the port, cutting the allies off from their line of supply. That accomplished, he then hoped to end the war on negotiated terms. To accomplish this, the Germans hurled 30 full infantry and armored divisions at the Americans, 200,000 troops, all told. Twelve elite panzer divisions led the way, instantly heading for the Flemish towns of Houffalize, Sankt Vith, Stavelot, and Bastogne.
