26 December 1944 A.D. GEN George Patton’s Audacious
Strategy: Battle of the Bulge
1944 – General George S.
Patton employs an audacious strategy to relieve the besieged Allied defenders
of Bastogne, Belgium, during the brutal Battle of the Bulge. The capture of
Bastogne was the ultimate goal of the Battle of the Bulge, the German offensive
through the Ardennes forest. Bastogne provided a road junction in rough terrain
where few roads existed; it would open up a valuable pathway further north for
German expansion. The Belgian town was defended by the U.S. 101st Airborne
Division, which had to be reinforced by troops who straggled in from other
battlefields. Food, medical supplies, and other resources eroded as bad weather
and relentless German assaults threatened the Americans’ ability to hold out.
Nevertheless, Brigadier General Anthony C. MacAuliffe met a German surrender
demand with a typewritten response of a single word: “Nuts.” Enter “Old Blood
and Guts,” General Patton. Employing a complex and quick-witted strategy
wherein he literally wheeled his 3rd Army a sharp 90 degrees in a counterthrust
movement, Patton broke through the German lines and entered Bastogne, relieving
the valiant defenders and ultimately pushing the Germans east across the Rhine.
Meanwhile, British Bomber Command makes a daylight raid on the German held
transportation hub of St. Vith. The Allies claim to have captured 13,273 German
prisoners while the Germans claim over 30,000 Allied POWs and the destruction
of 700 American tanks.
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