Why The German Army Failed To Prevent The Double Front War?
On 16th December 1944, the seemingly defeated German army launched the deadliest and most desperate battle of World War II. More than a quarter-million battle hardened troopers, including the whole SS Panzer Division drove into the Allied line, like a spear. Attempting to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by means of a surprise blitzkrieg thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp. The tactic was designed to create shock and disorder in enemy forces through the use of surprise, speed and firepower. The German supply lines was weaken from fighting a double front war and constant bombing of supply depots. Engineers distinguished themselves in close and vicious fighting. Making the axis pay for every inch of road, by push them to go
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Against the advice of his generals Hitler ordered a last ditch offensive, Operation Watch on the Rhine. German Field Marshals Gerd von Rundstedt and Walther Model both cautioned against such an unreasonable plan. Writing protests and alternative strategies to no avail. On the evening of December 12th 1944 a meeting was called for the commanders who would direct the tactical operations, only hours before the tactical operation actually took place. On December 15th, the allies received information of a great assemblage of tanks and troopers. However allied intelligence was overconfident and was simply asleep on the job. The morning of December 16th, the German attack caught the allies completely by surprise. The tactic known as blitzkrieg, “lightning war,” was successfully employed by Germany in Poland in 1939 and again in the invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands and France in 1940. Speed and locally concentrated firepower is the key to successfully when using this tactic. After a day of hard fighting, the Germans broke through the American front line. The battle took place in severe winter weather from December 16th of 1944 to January 25th of 1945. Weather grounded the allies’ air support allowing German army to focus only on weaken ground troops. Equipment and tanks had to be broken out of ice after freezing to the ground overnight. Many wounded soldiers froze to their deaths and thousands of U.S. Soldiers were eventually treated for cases of frostbite and trench foot. The temperatures were bitterly cold as the battle raged, blizzards and freezing rain often reduced visibility to almost zero. All these factors worked in favor of Operation Watch on the Rhine, but it was short lived. Hitler’s gamble with over 200,000 German troops and nearly 1,000 tanks failed to reach the objective goals (Giles, 1985, p. 280). Operation Watch on the Rhine was a failure due in part to the
Against the advice of his generals Hitler ordered a last ditch offensive, Operation Watch on the Rhine. German Field Marshals Gerd von Rundstedt and Walther Model both cautioned against such an unreasonable plan. Writing protests and alternative strategies to no avail. On the evening of December 12th 1944 a meeting was called for the commanders who would direct the tactical operations, only hours before the tactical operation actually took place. On December 15th, the allies received information of a great assemblage of tanks and troopers. However allied intelligence was overconfident and was simply asleep on the job. The morning of December 16th, the German attack caught the allies completely by surprise. The tactic known as blitzkrieg, “lightning war,” was successfully employed by Germany in Poland in 1939 and again in the invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands and France in 1940. Speed and locally concentrated firepower is the key to successfully when using this tactic. After a day of hard fighting, the Germans broke through the American front line. The battle took place in severe winter weather from December 16th of 1944 to January 25th of 1945. Weather grounded the allies’ air support allowing German army to focus only on weaken ground troops. Equipment and tanks had to be broken out of ice after freezing to the ground overnight. Many wounded soldiers froze to their deaths and thousands of U.S. Soldiers were eventually treated for cases of frostbite and trench foot. The temperatures were bitterly cold as the battle raged, blizzards and freezing rain often reduced visibility to almost zero. All these factors worked in favor of Operation Watch on the Rhine, but it was short lived. Hitler’s gamble with over 200,000 German troops and nearly 1,000 tanks failed to reach the objective goals (Giles, 1985, p. 280). Operation Watch on the Rhine was a failure due in part to the