FOREWORD AND PREFACE
I. THE ORIGINS.....................................................1
Hitler's Perspective, September 1944............................3
How the Plan Was Born...........................................9
II. PLANNING THE COUNTEROFFENSIVE..................................19
Details of the Plan............................................19
The Big Solution...............................................27
A Double Envelopment?..........................................29
III. TROOPS AND TERRAIN.............................................33
The Order of Battle............................................33
The Allies Return to the Attack................................36
The Terrain....................................................39
IV. PREPARATIONS...................................................48
Deception and Camouflage.......................................48
The Western Front in Early December............................51
The Intelligence Failure.......................................56
The German Concentration.......................................63
V. THE SIXTH PANZER ARMY ATTACK...................................75
The 99th Division Sector.......................................77
The Initial Attack, 16 December................................80
The First Attacks in the Monschau-Hofen Sector Are Repulsed, 16 December..................................86
The German Effort Continues, 17-18 December....................90
Losheimergraben Is Lost........................................92
The German Attack Toward Rocherath and Krinkelt, 16-17 December.............................................95
The 395th Infantry Conforms to the Withdrawal.................101
The 2d Division Gives Up the Wahlerscheid Attack..............103
The 394th Infantry Abandons the Murringen Position............105
VI. THE GERMAN NORTHERN SHOULDER IS JAMMED.......................107
The 2d Division Withdraws.....................................107
The 1st Infantry Division Sends Reinforcements to
Butgenbach................................................112
The Defense of the Twin Villages, 18 December.................113
The Last Attack at Hofen Fails, 18 December...................119
The 2d Division Withdraws to the Elsenborn Line, 19 December...............................................120
The Enemy Tries the Western Flank, 19-23 December.............128
VII. BREAKTHROUGH AT THE SCHNEE EIFEL..............................136
Introductory Note.............................................136
Dispositions of the 106th Infantry Division...................137
Enemy Preparations for Another Cannae.........................142
The Attack in the Losheim Gap.................................145
The Attack Hits the 106th Division............................151
The 424th Infantry and CCB, 9th Armored.......................158
Cannae in the Schnee Eifel....................................161
The Question of Air Resupply..................................171
VIII. THE FIFTH PANZER ARMY ATTACKS THE 28TH INFANTRY DIVISION......173
The 110th Infantry Sector, 16-18 December.....................176
The 112th Infantry Sector, 16-20 December.....................193
The Fall of Wiltz.............................................205
IX. THE ATTACK BY THE GERMAN LEFT WING: 16-20 DECEMBER............212
The 109th Infantry Defense on the Sauer and Our Rivers, 16-20 December....................................214
Elements of the 9th Armored Division Battle at the Sauer, 16-20 December.....................................227
X. THE GERMAN SOUTHERN SHOULDER IS JAMMED........................238
The German Thrust Begins......................................240
Southern Flank-A Summing Up...................................258
XI. THE 1ST SS PANZER DIVISION'S DASH WESTWARD, AND OPERATION GREIF.......................................259
Kampfgruppe Peiper on the Move................................260
Operation Greif...............................................269
XII. THE FIRST ATTACKS AT ST. VITH.................................272
The 7th Armored Division Move to St. Vith.....................273
The Enemy Strikes at the St. Vith Perimeter...................280
XIII. VIII CORPS ATTEMPTS TO DELAY THE ENEMY........................294
CCR, 9th Armored Division, and the Road to Bastogne...........294
The Advance of the XLVII Panzer Corps.........................298
Team Cherry on the Longvilly Road.............................300
The 101st Airborne Division Moves Into Bastogne...............305
XIV. THE VIII CORPS BARRIER LINES..................................310
Middleton's First Moves.......................................311
The Gap North of Bastogne.....................................316
Defense Southwest of Bastogne.................................322
Renewed Drive Around Bastogne.................................323
XV. THE GERMAN SALIENT EXPANDS TO THE WEST........................330
The 30th Division Meets Peiper................................334
The West Flank of the XVIII Airborne Corps, 20 December.......352
Action in Front of the XVIII Airborne Corps Right Wing, 20 December...............................................354
The Net Closes on Peiper......................................359
XVI. ONE THREAT SUBSIDES; ANOTHER EMERGES..........................368
The Attempt To Relieve Peiper's Kampfgruppe...................368
The 3d Armored Division Is Checked, 21-23 December............377
The Fight at the Baraque de Fraiture Crossroads, 23 December...............................................388
XVII. ST. VITH IS LOST..............................................393
The Defenders of St. Vith Pass to the XVIII Airborne Corps....393
The Enemy Closes on the St. Vith Salient......................401
The Final Withdrawal From the St. Vith Sector.................407
XVIII. THE VII CORPS MOVES TO BLUNT THE SALIENT.....................423
Division of the Battlefield...................................423
The VII Corps Assembles.......................................427
German Armor Advances on the VII Corps........................435
The Main Battle Is Joined, 24 and 25 December.................438
XIX. THE BATTLE OF BASTOGNE........................................445
The Initial Deployment East of Bastogne.......................445
Bastogne Is Encircled.........................................459
The Enemy Begins a Concentric Attack..........................464
The Battle on Christmas Day...................................478
XX. THE XII CORPS ATTACKS THE SOUTHERN SHOULDER...................482
The End of the Defensive Battle, 22 December..................482
The XII Corps Moves to Luxembourg.............................485
The XII Corps' Counterattack..................................498
XXI. THE III CORPS' COUNTERATTACK TOWARD BASTOGNE..................509
Preparations for the Attack...................................509
The 80th Division Advance.....................................515
The 26th Infantry Division Attack.............................520
The 4th Armored Division Attack...............................523
The 80th Division Battle in the Woods, 25-26 December.........532
The 26th Division Fight for a Bridgehead on the Sure,
24-27 December............................................540
The 4th Armored Division Reaches Bastogne.....................547
XXII. THE BATTLE BEFORE THE MEUSE...................................556
The Meuse River Line..........................................556
The Meuse Seems Within Reach..................................562
The Celles Pocket.............................................565
The Fight at Humain...........................................570
The Fight at Verdenne.........................................574
XXIII. THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE SALM AND THE OUR: 24 DECEMBER-2 JANUARY.....................................578
The Battle at the Manhay Crossroads...........................583
The Fight in the Aisne Valley.................................593
The 2d SS Panzer Is Halted....................................595
The 82d Airborne Withdraws From the Salm River Line...........598
"The Sad Sack Affair".........................................601
The Elsenborn Shoulder........................................603
XXIV. THE THIRD ARMY OFFENSIVE......................................606
Widening the Bastogne Corridor................................606
The Opposing Grand Tactics....................................610
The Sibret-Villeroux Actions..................................615
The Two Attacks Collide.......................................617
The III Corps Joins the Attack................................627
The Lone Battle of the 26th Division..........................637
The VIII Corps' Attack Continues..............................643
XXV. EPILOGUE......................................................649
The Weather...................................................649
The Opposing Troop Strengths..................................650
The Opposing Weapons..........................................651
The Artillery Arm in the Ardennes.............................656
The Air Weapon................................................660
Logistics.....................................................663
The Turning Point in the Ardennes.............................668
The Place of the Ardennes Offensive in World War II...........673
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE................................................680