Abstract
Since September, perceiving the Allies had overextended themselves, Hitler had been considering risking a counter-offensive, codenamed Wacht am Rhein. If German forces could repeat their feat of 1940, forcing their way through the Allied lines in the Ardennes and then up to Antwerp, he would strike a blow that would, he hoped, buy time, allowing the V2s to wreak destruction on London and Paris. It was an unrealistic notion, and opposed by Model and Rundstedt, but Hitler’s control over German strategy was still complete. He marshalled all his remaining reserves for what was now called Operation Autumn Mist, believing that a victory would enable him to transfer them to the east while the Soviets were still a distance from Berlin. Initially, conditions worked in his favour. Allied forces were recuperating after the dash through France, Market-Garden and the long fight in the Huertgen Forest and Scheldt Estuary. Exhaustion combined with a certain complacency at Allied Supreme Headquarters. The fog that descended on the Ardennes gave perfect cover for the concentration of the panzers in the narrow forest roads and valleys and negated Allied air superiority.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2004 Martin Folly
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Folly, M.H. (2004). The Bulge and the Crossing of the Rhine. In: The Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas of the Second World War. Palgrave Concise Historical Atlases. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230502390_40
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230502390_40
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-4039-0286-3
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-50239-0
eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)