THE ALLIES PUSH BACK
“IF HITLER MOVED DIVISIONS FROM THE EASTERN FRONT TO THE WEST, THE WEAKENED ALLIED FORCES COULD BE VULNERABLE”
By early January 1945 the Ardennes Offensive had ground to a halt. The 2nd Panzer Division had been stopped short of the Meuse; Kampfgruppe Peiper had halted on the north shoulder; and key German objectives, such as the town of Bastogne, remained in Allied hands. It was time for the Allies to counterattack, pushing back the bulge and restoring the front line to its December 1944 shape. A plan was formed.
General Patton’s 3rd Army in the south would strike north, while Montgomery’s forces in the north would press south, with the two coming together around Houffalize on the River Our. Yet there were concerns within the corridors of Allied power. Both Eisenhower and Patton were worried about the limited manpower available. For example, the US 1st Army had lost over 41,000 in the
