Background and Movement To Battle
“We gamble everything!” were the words used by Gerd von Rundstedt, commander-in-chief of the German Western Front, to describe operation “Watch on the Rhine”. Adolf Hitler’s surprise counter-offensive in the west was first officially outlined on September 16, 1944. This assault's goal was to pierce the thinly held lines of the U.S. First Army between Monschau and Wasserbillig with Army Group B (Model), cross the Meuse between Liege and Dinant, seize Antwerp and the western bank of the Schelde estuary. The Germans had designated two rollbahns through the sector near Elsenborn which would give them direct access to the road network leading to the valuable port of Antwerp, splitting the allied American and British armies and inflaming rivalries between them.
Read more about this topic: Elsenborn Ridge
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