On 16 December, 1944, the German Wehrmacht launched Operation "Wacht am Rhein" (Watch on the Rhine). The objective of this counter-attack out of the Ardennes was to reach Antwerp and effectively split the Allied Forces in two. This overly ambitious plan took the Allied Armies totally by surprise. The rugged and mountainous Ardennes was thought to be a quiet sector of the front line and the defending American units were stretched quite thinly in places. In the west many felt that the Wehrmacht was a beaten Army. So it was with shock and confusion that the American defenders reeled before the might of the attacking Panzer Divisions.

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