Close Combat Wacht Am Rhein Patch

Situation on the Western Front as of 15 December 1944On 16 December 1944 at 05:30, the Germans began the assault with a massive, 90-minute artillery barrage using 1,600 artillery pieces across a 130-kilometer (80 mi) front on the Allied troops facing the 6th Panzer Army. The Americans' initial impression was that this was the anticipated, localized counterattack resulting from the Allies' recent attack in the sector to the north, where the 2nd Division had knocked a sizable dent in the Siegfried Line. Heavy snowstorms engulfed parts of the Ardennes area.

While having the effect of keeping the Allied aircraft grounded, the weather also proved troublesome for the Germans because poor road conditions hampered their advance. Poor traffic control led to massive traffic jams and fuel shortages in forward units.In the center, von Manteuffel's Fifth Panzer Army attacked towards and, both road junctions of great strategic importance. In the south, Brandenberger's Seventh Army pushed towards in its efforts to secure the flank from Allied attacks.Units involved in initial assault Forces deployed North to SouthNorthern Sector: Monschau to Krewinkel. Sepp Dietrich led the Sixth Panzer Army in the northernmost attack route.The attacks by the Sixth Panzer Army's infantry units in the north fared badly because of unexpectedly fierce resistance by the U.S. 2nd and 99th Infantry Divisions. Kampfgruppe Peiper, at the head of the Sepp Dietrich's Sixth Panzer Army, had been designated to take the Losheim-Losheimergraben road, a key route through the, but it was closed by two collapsed overpasses that German engineers failed to repair during the first day.

Peiper's forces were rerouted through.To preserve the quantity of armor available, the infantry of the 9th Fallschirmjaeger Regiment, had been ordered to clear the village first. A single 18-man from the along with four Forward Air Controllers held up the battalion of about 500 German paratroopers until sunset, about 16:00, causing 92 casualties among the Germans.This created a bottleneck in the German advance. Kampfgruppe Peiper did not begin his advance until nearly 16:00, more than 16 hours behind schedule and didn't reach Bucholz Station until the early morning of 17 December.

Their intention was to control the twin villages of Rocherath-Krinkelt which would clear a path to the high ground of Elsenborn Ridge. Occupation of this dominating terrain would allow control of the roads to the south and west and ensure supply to Kampfgruppe Peiper's armored task force.Malmedy massacre. American soldiers of the 3rd Battalion are taken prisoner by members of Kampfgruppe Peiper in, Belgium on 19 December 1944.By the evening the spearhead had pushed north to engage the U.S. 99th Infantry Division and Kampfgruppe Peiper arrived in front of. Peiper's forces were already behind his timetable because of the stiff American resistance and because when the Americans fell back, their engineers blew up bridges and emptied fuel dumps. Peiper's unit was delayed and his vehicles denied critically needed fuel. They took 36 hours to advance from the region to Stavelot, while the same advance required nine hours in 1940.

Kampfgruppe Peiper attacked Stavelot on 18 December but was unable to capture the town before the Americans evacuated a large fuel depot. Three tanks attempted to take the bridge, but the lead vehicle was disabled by a mine.

Following this, 60 grenadiers advanced forward but were stopped by concentrated American defensive fire. After a fierce tank battle the next day, the Germans finally entered the town when U.S. Engineers failed to blow the bridge.

Led Fifth Panzer Army in the middle attack route.The Germans fared better in the center (the 32 km (20 mi) Schnee Eifel sector) as the Fifth Panzer Army attacked positions held by the U.S. 28th and 106th Infantry Divisions. The Germans lacked the overwhelming strength that had been deployed in the north, but still possessed a marked numerical and material superiority over the very thinly spread 28th and 106th divisions. They succeeded in surrounding two largely intact regiments (422nd and 423rd) of the 106th Division in a and forced their surrender, a tribute to the way Manteuffel's new tactics had been applied. One of those wounded and captured was Lieutenant of the Anti-Tank Company of the 422nd Infantry, 106th Division. The official U.S.

Army history states: 'At least seven thousand men were lost here and the figure probably is closer to eight or nine thousand. The amount lost in arms and equipment, of course, was very substantial. The Schnee Eifel battle, therefore, represents the most serious reverse suffered by American arms during the operations of 1944–45 in the European theater.'

: 170 Battle for St. Main article:In the center, the town of St. Vith, a vital road junction, presented the main challenge for both von Manteuffel's and Dietrich's forces. The defenders, led by the, included the remaining regiment of the 106th U.S. Infantry Division, with elements of the and 28th U.S. Infantry Division. These units, which operated under the command of Generals Robert W.

Hasbrouck (7th Armored) and (106th Infantry), successfully resisted the German attacks, significantly slowing the German advance. At Montgomery's orders, St.

Vith was evacuated on 21 December; U.S. Troops fell back to entrenched positions in the area, presenting an imposing obstacle to a successful German advance.

By 23 December, as the Germans shattered their flanks, the defenders' position became untenable and U.S. Troops were ordered to retreat west of the. Since the German plan called for the capture of St. Vith by 18:00 on 17 December, the prolonged action in and around it dealt a major setback to their timetable.: 407 Meuse River bridges.

Led Seventh Army in the southernmost attack route.Further south on Manteuffel's front, the main thrust was delivered by all attacking divisions crossing the, then increasing the pressure on the key road centers of St. Vith and Bastogne. The more experienced U.S. 28th Infantry Division put up a much more dogged defense than the inexperienced soldiers of the 106th Infantry Division. The (the most northerly of the 28th Division's regiments), holding a continuous front east of the Our, kept German troops from seizing and using the Our River bridges around for two days, before withdrawing progressively westwards. Belgian civilians killed by German units during the offensiveThe 109th and 110th Regiments of the 28th Division fared worse, as they were spread so thinly that their positions were easily bypassed.

Both offered stubborn resistance in the face of superior forces and threw the German schedule off by several days. The 110th's situation was by far the worst, as it was responsible for an 18-kilometer (11 mi) front while its 2nd Battalion was withheld as the divisional reserve. Panzer columns took the outlying villages and widely separated strong points in bitter fighting, and advanced to points near Bastogne within four days.

The struggle for the villages and American strong points, plus transport confusion on the German side, slowed the attack sufficiently to allow the (reinforced by elements from the and ) to reach Bastogne by truck on the morning of 19 December. The fierce defense of Bastogne, in which American paratroopers particularly distinguished themselves, made it impossible for the Germans to take the town with its important road junctions. The panzer columns swung past on either side, cutting off Bastogne on 20 December but failing to secure the vital crossroads.In the extreme south, Brandenberger's three infantry divisions were checked by divisions of the after an advance of 6.4 km (4 mi); that front was then firmly held. Only the of Brandenberger's command was able to thrust forward 19 km (12 mi) on the inner flank to partially fulfill its assigned role.

Eisenhower and his principal commanders realized by 17 December that the fighting in the was a major offensive and not a local counterattack, and they ordered vast reinforcements to the area. Within a week 250,000 troops had been sent. General Gavin of the arrived on the scene first and ordered the 101st to hold Bastogne while the 82nd would take the more difficult task of facing the SS Panzer Divisions; it was also thrown into the battle north of the bulge, near Elsenborn Ridge. Siege of Bastogne. Letter to 101st soldiers, containing Gen.

McAuliffe's 'Nuts!' Response to the GermansSenior Allied commanders met in a bunker in on 19 December. By this time, the town of Bastogne and its network of 11 hard-topped roads leading through the widely forested mountainous terrain with deep river valleys and boggy mud of the Ardennes region was under severe threat. Bastogne had previously been the site of the headquarters. Two separate westbound German columns that were to have bypassed the town to the south and north, the and of XLVII Panzer Corps, as well as the Corps' infantry , coming due west had been engaged and much slowed and frustrated in outlying battles at defensive positions up to 16 kilometers (10 mi) from the town proper, but these defensive positions were gradually being forced back onto and into the hasty defenses built within the municipality. Moreover, the sole corridor that was open (to the southeast) was threatened and it had been sporadically closed as the front shifted, and there was expectation that it would be completely closed sooner than later, given the strong likelihood that the town would soon be surrounded.

Eisenhower, realizing that the Allies could destroy German forces much more easily when they were out in the open and on the offensive than if they were on the defensive, told his generals, 'The present situation is to be regarded as one of opportunity for us and not of disaster. There will be only cheerful faces at this table.' Patton, realizing what Eisenhower implied, responded, 'Hell, let's have the guts to let the bastards go all the way to Paris. Then, we'll really cut 'em off and chew 'em up.' Eisenhower, after saying he was not that optimistic, asked Patton how long it would take to turn his Third Army, located in northeastern France, north to counterattack.

To the disbelief of the other generals present, Patton replied that he could attack with two divisions within 48 hours. Unknown to the other officers present, before he left Patton had ordered his staff to prepare three contingency plans for a northward turn in at least corps strength. By the time Eisenhower asked him how long it would take, the movement was already underway. On 20 December, Eisenhower removed the First and Ninth U.S. Armies from Gen. Bradley's and placed them under Montgomery's.

A German machine gunner marching through the Ardennes in December 1944By 21 December the Germans had surrounded, which was defended by the, the all African American, and Combat Command B of the. Conditions inside the perimeter were tough—most of the medical supplies and medical personnel had been captured. Food was scarce, and by 22 December artillery ammunition was restricted to 10 rounds per gun per day. The weather cleared the next day and supplies (primarily ammunition) were dropped over four of the next five days.Despite determined German attacks the perimeter held. The German commander, Generalleutnant (Lt.

Gen.), requested Bastogne's surrender. Gen., acting commander of the 101st, was told of the Nazi demand to surrender, in frustration he responded, 'Nuts!' After turning to other pressing issues, his staff reminded him that they should reply to the German demand. One officer, Lt. Col., noted that McAuliffe's initial reply would be 'tough to beat.' Thus McAuliffe wrote on the paper, which was typed up and delivered to the Germans, the line he made famous and a morale booster to his troops: 'NUTS!' That reply had to be explained, both to the Germans and to non-American Allies.Both 2nd Panzer and Panzer-Lehr division moved forward from Bastogne after 21 December, leaving only Panzer-Lehr division's 901st Regiment to assist the 26th Volksgrenadier-Division in attempting to capture the crossroads.

The 26th VG received one Panzergrenadier Regiment from the on Christmas Eve for its main assault the next day. Because it lacked sufficient troops and those of the 26th VG Division were near exhaustion, the XLVII Panzerkorps concentrated its assault on several individual locations on the west side of the perimeter in sequence rather than launching one simultaneous attack on all sides. The assault, despite initial success by its tanks in penetrating the American line, was defeated and all the tanks destroyed. On the following day of 26 December the spearhead of Gen.

Patton's 4th Armored Division, supplemented by the 26th (Yankee) Infantry Division, broke through and opened a corridor to Bastogne. Allied counteroffensive. The original objectives are outlined in red dashed lines.

The orange line indicates their furthest advance.On 23 December the weather conditions started improving, allowing the Allied air forces to attack. They launched devastating bombing raids on the German supply points in their rear, and started attacking the German troops on the roads.

Allied air forces also helped the defenders of Bastogne, dropping much-needed supplies—medicine, food, blankets, and ammunition. A team of volunteer surgeons flew in by and began operating in a tool room.By 24 December the German advance was effectively stalled short of the Meuse. Units of the were holding the bridges at Dinant, Givet, and Namur and U.S. Units were about to take over. The Germans had outrun their supply lines, and shortages of fuel and ammunition were becoming critical. Up to this point the German losses had been light, notably in armor, with the exception of Peiper's losses. On the evening of 24 December, General recommended to Hitler's Military Adjutant a halt to all offensive operations and a withdrawal back to the Westwall (literally Western Rampart).

Hitler rejected this.Disagreement and confusion at the Allied command prevented a strong response, throwing away the opportunity for a decisive action. In the center, on Christmas Eve, the attempted to attack and cut off the spearheads of the 2nd Panzer Division at the Meuse, while the units from the kept the 9th Panzer Division at Marche busy. As result, parts of the 2nd Panzer Division were cut off. The Panzer-Lehr division tried to relieve them, but was only partially successful, as the perimeter held.

For the next two days the perimeter was strengthened. On 26 and 27 December the trapped units of 2nd Panzer Division made two break-out attempts, again only with partial success, as major quantities of equipment fell into Allied hands. Further Allied pressure out of Marche finally led the German command to the conclusion that no further offensive action towards the Meuse was possible.In the south, Patton's Third Army was battling to relieve Bastogne.

At 16:50 on 26 December, the lead element, of the, reached Bastogne, ending the siege.German counterattack. P-47s destroyed at Y-34 Metz-Frescaty airfield during Operation BodenplatteOn 1 January, in an attempt to keep the offensive going, the Germans launched two new operations. At 09:15, the Luftwaffe launched (Operation Baseplate), a major campaign against Allied airfields in the. Hundreds of planes attacked Allied airfields, destroying or severely damaging some 465 aircraft. The Luftwaffe lost 277 planes, 62 to Allied fighters and 172 mostly because of an unexpectedly high number of Allied guns, set up to protect against German /missile attacks and using shells, but also by from the German flak guns that were uninformed of the pending large-scale German air operation. The Germans suffered heavy losses at an airfield named, losing 40 of their own planes while damaging only four American planes.

While the Allies recovered from their losses within days, the operation left the Luftwaffe ineffective for the remainder of the war.On the same day, German ( Heeresgruppe G) and ( Heeresgruppe Oberrhein) launched a major offensive against the thinly-stretched, 110 kilometers (70 mi) line of the Seventh U.S. This offensive, known as Unternehmen Nordwind , was the last major German offensive of the war on the Western Front. The weakened Seventh Army had, at Eisenhower's orders, sent troops, equipment, and supplies north to reinforce the American armies in the Ardennes, and the offensive left it in dire straits.By 15 January Seventh Army's was fighting on three sides in. With casualties mounting, and running short on replacements, tanks, ammunition, and supplies, Seventh Army was forced to withdraw to defensive positions on the south bank of the Moder River on 21 January.

The German offensive drew to a close on 25 January. In the bitter, desperate fighting of Operation Nordwind, VI Corps, which had borne the brunt of the fighting, suffered a total of 14,716 casualties. The total for Seventh Army for January was 11,609. Total casualties included at least 9,000 wounded. First, Third, and Seventh Armies suffered a total of 17,000 hospitalized from the cold. Allies prevail.

Erasing the Bulge—The Allied counterattack, 26 December – 25 JanuaryWhile the German offensive had ground to a halt during January 1945, they still controlled a dangerous salient in the Allied line. Patton's Third Army in the south, centered around Bastogne, would attack north, Montgomery's forces in the north would strike south, and the two forces planned to meet at.The temperature during that January was extremely low, which required weapons to be maintained and truck engines run every half-hour to prevent their oil from congealing.

The offensive went forward regardless.Eisenhower wanted Montgomery to go on the counter offensive on 1 January, with the aim of meeting up with Patton's advancing Third Army and cutting off most of the attacking Germans, trapping them in a pocket. Montgomery, refusing to risk underprepared infantry in a snowstorm for a strategically unimportant area, did not launch the attack until 3 January, by which time substantial numbers of German troops had already managed to fall back successfully, but at the cost of losing most of their heavy equipment.At the start of the offensive, the First and Third U.S. Armies were separated by about 40 km (25 mi). American progress in the south was also restricted to about a kilometer or a little over half a mile per day.

On 2 January, the Tiger IIs of German Heavy Tank Battalion 506 supported an attack by the 12th SS Hitlerjugend division against U.S. Positions near Wardin and knocked out 15 Sherman tanks. The majority of the German force executed a successful fighting withdrawal and escaped the battle area, although the fuel situation had become so dire that most of the German armor had to be abandoned.On 7 January 1945 agreed to withdraw all forces from the Ardennes, including the SS-Panzer divisions, thus ending all offensive operations. On January 14, Hitler granted permission to carry out a fairly drastic retreat in the Ardennes region. And the Bastogne front would be abandoned. Considerable fighting went on for another 3 weeks; St. Vith was recaptured by the Americans on 23 January, and the last German units participating in the offensive did not return to their start line until 25 January., addressing the House of Commons following the Battle of the Bulge said, 'This is undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever-famous American victory.'

GeneralOne of the fault lines between the British and American high commands was General 's commitment to a broad front advance. This view was opposed by the British Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Field Marshal, as well as Field Marshal Montgomery, who promoted a rapid advance on a narrow front, with the other allied armies in reserve.: 91 Montgomery's actions British Field Marshal differed from the U.S. Command in how to respond to the German attack and his public statements to that effect caused tension in the American high command.

Major General, Chief of Staff of Montgomery's 21st Army Group, rose to the occasion, and personally smoothed over the disagreements on 30 December.: 489–90As the Ardennes crisis developed, the U.S. First Army and U.S. Ninth Army on the northern shoulder of the German penetration lost communications with adjacent armies, as well as with Bradley's headquarters in Luxembourg City to the south of the 'bulge'. Consequently, at 10:30 a.m. On 20 December, Eisenhower transferred the command of the U.S.

First and Ninth Armies temporarily from Bradley to Montgomery. Command of the U.S. First Army reverted to the U.S. 12th Army Group on 17 January 1945, and command of the U.S.

Ninth Army reverted to the U.S. 12th Army Group on 4 April 1945.Montgomery wrote about the situation he found on 20 December:The First Army was fighting desperately. Having given orders to and, who arrived for a conference at 11 am, I left at noon for the H.Q. Of the First Army, where I had instructed Simpson to meet me. I found the northern flank of the bulge was very disorganized. Ninth Army had two corps and three divisions; First Army had three corps and fifteen divisions.

Neither Army Commander had seen Bradley or any senior member of his staff since the battle began, and they had no directive on which to work. The first thing to do was to see the battle on the northern flank as one whole, to ensure the vital areas were held securely, and to create reserves for counter-attack. I embarked on these measures: I put British troops under command of the Ninth Army to fight alongside American soldiers, and made that Army take over some of the First Army Front. I positioned British troops as reserves behind the First and Ninth Armies until such time as American reserves could be created. Slowly but surely the situation was held, and then finally restored. The near, BelgiumCasualty estimates for the battle vary widely.

According to the, American forces suffered 89,500 casualties including 19,000 killed, 47,500 wounded and 23,000 missing. An official report by the lists 105,102 casualties, including 19,246 killed, 62,489 wounded, and 26,612 captured or missing, though this incorporates losses suffered during the German offensive in Alsace,: 92 A preliminary Army report restricted to the First and Third U.S. Armies listed 75,000 casualties (8,400 killed, 46,000 wounded and 21,000 missing).

The Battle of the Bulge was the bloodiest battle for U.S. Forces in World War II. British casualties totaled 1,400 with 200 deaths. The German High Command estimated that they lost between 81,834 and 98,024 men in the Bulge between 16 December 1944 and 28 January 1945; the accepted figure was 81,834, of which 12,652 were killed, 38,600 were wounded, and 30,582 were missing. Allied estimates on German casualties range from 81,000 to 103,000. Some authors have estimated German casualties as high as 125,000.

German historian Hermann Jung lists 67,675 casualties from 16 December 1944 to late January 1945 for the three German armies that participated in the offensive. The German casualty reports for the involved armies count 63,222 losses from 10 December 1944 to 31 January 1945. The 's official numbers are 75,000 American casualties and 100,000 German casualties.German armored losses to all causes were between 527 and 554, with 324 tanks being lost in combat. Of the German write-offs, 16–20 were Tigers, 191–194 Panthers, 141–158 Panzer IVs, and 179–182 were tank destroyers and assault guns. The Germans lost an additional 5,000 soft-skinned and armored vehicles. Losses alone over the same period were similarly heavy, totaling 733 tanks and tank destroyers. The outcome of the Ardennes Offensive demonstrated that the Allied armored forces were capable of taking on the Panzerwaffe on equal terms.

Result Although the Germans managed to begin their offensive with complete surprise and enjoyed some initial successes, they were not able to seize the initiative on the. While the German command did not reach its goals, the Ardennes operation inflicted heavy losses and set back the Allied invasion of Germany by several weeks.

The High Command of the Allied forces had planned to resume the offensive by early January 1945, after the wet season rains and severe frosts, but those plans had to be postponed until 29 January 1945 in connection with the unexpected changes in the front. The Allies pressed their advantage following the battle. By the beginning of February 1945, the lines were roughly where they had been in December 1944.

In early February, the Allies launched an attack all along the Western front: in the north under Montgomery toward Aachen; in the center, under; and in the south, under Patton.The German losses in the battle were especially critical: their last reserves were now gone, the had been shattered, and remaining forces throughout the West were being pushed back to defend the. In response to the early success of the offensive, on 6 January Churchill contacted Stalin to request that the Soviets put pressure on the Germans on the Eastern Front. On 12 January, the Soviets began the massive, originally planned for 20 January.: 39 It had been brought forward from 20 January to 12 January because meteorological reports warned of a thaw later in the month, and the tanks needed hard ground for the offensive (and the advance of the Red Army was assisted by two Panzer Armies (5th and 6th) being redeployed for the Ardennes attack).Churchill was elated at Stalin's offer of help, thanking Stalin for the thrilling news.During World War II, most U.S. Black soldiers still served only in maintenance or service positions, or in segregated units. Because of troop shortages during the Battle of the Bulge, Eisenhower decided to integrate the service for the first time.: 127 This was an important step toward a desegregated United States military. More than 2,000 black soldiers had volunteered to go to the front.: 534 A total of 708 black Americans were killed in combat during World War II.The Germans officially referred to the offensive as Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein ('Operation '), while the Allies designated it the Ardennes Counteroffensive. The phrase 'Battle of the Bulge' was coined by contemporary press to describe the in German front lines on wartime news maps, and it became the most widely used name for the battle.

The offensive was planned by the German forces with utmost secrecy, with minimal radio traffic and movements of troops and equipment under cover of darkness. German communications indicating a substantial German offensive preparation were not acted upon by the Allies. Media attention.

Includes two parachute divisions. 19,000 killed, 47,500 wounded and 23,000 missing/captured. 10,749 dead; 34,225 wounded; 22,487 captured. Operation Overlord planned for an advance to the line of the Seine by D+90 (i.e., the 90th day following ) and an advance to the German frontier sometime after D+120. The Ardennes offensive was also named Rundstedt-Offensive, but von Rundstedt strongly objected 'to the fact that this stupid operation in the Ardennes is sometimes called the 'Rundstedt-Offensive'.

This is a complete misnomer. I had nothing to do with it.

It came to me as an order complete to the last detail. Hitler had even written on the plan in his own handwriting 'not to be altered'. ( Jablonsky, David (1994), Churchill and Hitler: Essays on the Political-Military Direction of Total War, Taylor & Francis, p. 194, ). Wacht am Rhein was renamed Herbstnebel after the operation was given the go-ahead in early December, although its original name remains much better known (, pp. 95–100;, p. 38;, pp. 329–334). Although the German word unternehmen is often used for the English word 'Operation' this is an incorrect translation of the word. Unternehmen literally means sub-unit or a substandard unit (i.e. A unit that is no longer combat effective).

The Wehrmacht used the German word 'Fall' which literally means 'Case' such as a case study for a plan of operations. Therefore the German for this operation is Fall Wacht am Rhine.

Close Combat Cross Of Iron Manual

Only two battalions. Hitler Jugend.

Close Combat Wacht Am Rhein Patch Online

Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. Private, later a noted author, was captured while serving in this unit. 186. can mean several things in slang. In this case it signified rejection, and was explained to the Germans as meaning 'Go to Hell!'

. A footnote to the U.S. Army's official history volume 'Riviera to the Rhine' makes the following note on U.S. Seventh Army casualties: 'As elsewhere, casualty figures are only rough estimates, and the figures presented are based on the postwar 'Seventh Army Operational Report, Alsace Campaign and Battle Participation, 1 June 1945' (copy CMH), which notes 11,609 Seventh Army battle casualties for the period, plus 2,836 cases of trench foot and 380 cases of frostbite, and estimates about 17,000 Germans killed or wounded with 5,985 processed prisoners of war. But the VI Corps AAR for January 1945 puts its total losses at 14,716 (773 killed, 4,838 wounded, 3,657 missing, and 5,448 nonbattle casualties); and Albert E. Cowdrey and Graham A. Cosmas, The Medical Department: The War Against Germany, draft CMH MS (1988), pp.

54–55, a forthcoming volume in the United States Army in World War II series, reports Seventh Army hospitals processing about 9,000 wounded and 17,000 'sick and injured' during the period. Many of these may have been returned to their units, and others may have come from American units operating in the Colmar area but still supported by Seventh Army medical services.' Infantrymen fire at German troops in the advance to relieve the surrounded paratroopers in Bastogne.

In foreground a platoon leader indicates the target to a rifleman by actually firing on the target. In Bastogne the defenders were badly in need of relief, they were attacked nightly by German aircraft, supplies were critically low in spite of the airdrops, and the wounded could not be given proper attention because of the shortage of medical supplies. After an advance which had been slow, U. Relief troops entered Bastogne at 1645 on 26 December 1944.' . 'Initial' is the sum total of all unit rosters of the respective combatants at the point at which those units entered the battle, while 'Final' reflects the state of those units on 16 January 1945.

For the strength of the opposing sides at any one time, see table above. cites the official name as Ardennes-Alsace campaign; David Eggenberger describes this battle as the 'Second Battle of the Ardennes'.References.

Close Combat is a pausable real-time wargame series, heavily focused on historical accuracy and realistic soldier psychological profiles. Team management is crucial as every man in your teams matter. In Close Combat: Wacht am Rhein, you take command of US or German forces and either retrace the last steps of Hitler’s army in one desperate attempt to turn the tide of the impending allied victory or ride to the rescue with General Patton and push back the German offensive to reclaim Bastogne.Winter 1944, the Last Blitzkrieg. This is Close Combat, you are in Command!Based on Atomic Games’ award-winning Close Combat series, Close Combat: Wacht am Rhein brings together the classic top-down tactical gameplay from the original series and plenty of new features, expansions, and improvements! This remake based on Close Combat: Battle of the Bulge gives newcomers and veterans to the series alike a vastly improved and expanded version of the original experience.