Why The Battle Of The Bulge Was A Major German Offensive

The Battle of the Bulge, or Ardennes Offensive was a major German offensive. On December 16, 1944, towards the end of World War II, Adolf Hitler launched the German counteroffensive in an attempt to reverse the decrease in his fortunes that started on D-Day. He intended to accomplish this by trying to split Allied troops through an assault located within the Ardennes Forest of Belgium, destroying enemy troops located here. He believed it would ensure the Allies to form a peace treaty that would favor the Axis Powers. The attack in the Ardennes Forest did not result in Hitler’s predicted outcome. The Ardennes Forest, was a dense forest with only a few roads that stretched seventy-five miles. These roads were being held by four inexperienced
The units involved in this battle were the all African-American 969th Artillery Battalion, the 10th Armored Division, the 101st Airborne Division, in addition to the 3rd US Army led by General Patton, the 1st US Army, and the 9th US Army. Weapons used by the Allied Forces include M1 Rifles, M3 Submachine Guns, MTAT-49s, Browning M2HB, the Browning M11919A4 machine guns, as well the M-65 Rocket Launcher, and M7 Grenade Launcher. The types of tanks used by the US include M4 Sherman Tanks, M24 Chaffee Tanks, and artillery weapon
The German Army was more focused on long-range and bigger rounds with 107-mm and above, while the Americans concentrated on accuracy and massing fires. During the attack, enemy artillery positions were destroyed and enemy infantry assembled in the woods and were subject to accurate and destructive fires. Tanks, machine guns, and personnel of a well-equipped enemy were subjected to repeated artillery fire that was in most cases observed and known to be effective. To include interdiction fires that the American artillery maintained throughout the entire battle. In the first day a total of 3,272 rounds were fired. From this period of 1 January 1945 to 8 January 1945, was known as the greatest artillery battle.
Inside Bastogne conditions were harsh, almost all medical supplies and personnel were either gone, captured, or killed and the Soldiers were so low on ammunition that they were restricted to 10 rounds per day. Knowing that these Soldiers could not hold off the Germans much longer, General Patton was able to move his Army from Northeastern France to just outside of Bastogne in just two short days, to the disbelief of both the Allied and Axis