At present, the Western Front has better opportunities than the Eastern Front, the distance of the Western Front is shorter, the cost of transporting the necessary fuel is lower, and the important strategic objectives are more easily accessible to the existing forces and weapons, while on the Eastern Front in the Soviet theater, the war needs to be fought under completely different conditions. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

In addition, the British and Americans were not tough opponents like the Red Army or the Soviet political leaders. The British were on the verge of exhaustion, and the Americans were likely to be discouraged if they saw that things were turning against them.

Rommel went on to analyze:

"If we succeed, we will crush the enemy's entire Western Front, and then the situation on the Western Front will be temporarily stabilized, which will allow us to draw troops to the threatened areas of the Eastern Front, and at that time I do not believe that the Soviet Union will be able to resist the attack of our millions of elite German troops for a long time, and we will definitely control our own destiny."

Rommel attached importance not only to the psychological role of the party leaders, the front and the rear, but also to the public opinion of the allied countries and the psychological role of the army.

Rommel concluded his speech by saying that "the psychology of the Western powers should be weakened forever", in the hope of shaking the confidence of the enemy in a resounding victory, making them abandon their desire for Germany to open a second theater of war, and making them more willing to negotiate peace:

"Victory belongs to Germany, victory belongs to the great Germanic peoples."

The Anglo-American forces in the Ardennes were surrounded by German troops again, which was two times in a row, and the American people began to have pessimistic war-weariness, and they held various anti-war demonstrations, and the people of these marches even vented their anger on Patton, who returned home, saying that he was a "disgrace to the United States" and a "murderer", and sent countless Americans into the encirclement of the German army, and the glass of Patton's house was smashed several times a day.

The stubborn and strong Patton couldn't stand that, and took the initiative to ask Ying to serve as the commander of the Anglo-American coalition in the Ardennes, Patton would rather die in battle than endure humiliation, and Montgomery, the commander of the Anglo-American coalition in the Ardennes, also wanted to leave, Churchill had asked Eisenhower several times to transfer Montgomery out of the dangerous area of the Ardennes, Montgomery was the ace general in Churchill's hands, and Churchill was of course unwilling to let him die in the Ardennes.

Patton got his wish and returned to the European theater as the supreme commander of the Ardennes.

In November 1941, the British and American soldiers in Europe were looking forward to Christmas in the snowstorm, looking forward to holidays, gifts and good weather.

George Smith Patton, commander of the Anglo-American 3rd Army, cursed the ghost weather while asking the priest to write a prayer - he needed good weather, the air force could not be dispatched in such weather, and it was almost impossible for Patton's armored forces to break through without air cover.

Contrary to Patton's anxiety, Field Marshal Manstein, commander of German Army Group A, was applauding the harsh weather, and he would take advantage of the opportunity to carry out a large-scale encirclement and annihilation.

Because the Anglo-American coalition did not want to fight with the German air force, the German planes suffered serious losses in battle, and now there are only more than 3,000 left, while the Anglo-American coalition forces still have more than 5,000 planes, although they have lost more than 8,000 aircraft.

Although German submarines have been attacking the transport fleets of the British and American forces in the Atlantic, because of the invention of sonar, German submarines have been sunk more and more at this time, and the results of the war are getting less and less.

The German army annihilated more than 500,000 Anglo-American troops in Belgium and the Netherlands, but it did not completely crush the will of the Anglo-American coalition to fight.

Fortunately, after the integration of Rommel, the German aircraft industry now has a monthly output of more than 1,800 aircraft, which gives Rommel a little confidence to fight with the Anglo-American coalition for the consumption of the air force.

The Second French Campaign could not be delayed, and the longer it dragged on, the more unfavorable it would be for Rommel, and perhaps it would be overturned by the Anglo-American coalition.

Located at the junction of Lieutenant General Hodges's 1st Army and Patton's 3rd Army, the Ardennes Mountains were about 80 miles wide and rugged and difficult to defend by Middleton's 8th Army.

The leaders of the Anglo-American forces did not realize that there was a great danger lurking here, and instead turned it into a resting place for the personnel of the divisions who had been frustrated in sporadic battles. Opposite the positions of the 8th Army, the Germans had already quietly concentrated a huge force of 14 divisions (7 of which were panzer) under the cover of night.

Patton, aware of the recent unusual behavior of the German army, asked Chief of Staff Guy to draw up a plan - the 3rd Army would halt its eastward advance and make a 90-degree turn.

On 13 November, Patton issued a warning to Bradley, commander-in-chief of the Anglo-American forces in Europe (and a longtime comrade-in-arms of Patton), and reminded him that the Eighth Army was in a very dangerous situation and that action must be taken as soon as possible. But Bradley didn't take Barton's advice.

On the night of November 15, the German radio stations fell silent, and Patton, keenly aware of the impending battle, ordered his troops to immediately enter combat mode and be ready to meet the Germans.

At 5:30 a.m. on November 17, 2,000 German artillery pieces shattered the dream of the 8th Army, and the three German armies (the 6th SS Panzer Army, the 5th Panzer Army and the 7th Army with a total strength of 200,000 troops) rushed towards the US 8th Army under the command of Field Marshal Manstein.

German Army Group A and Moder's Maginot Line troops directly launched an offensive battle against Nancy, with 850,000 German offensive troops and 600,000 troops involved in defense and reinforcement.

The 8th Army, consisting of the 92nd Airborne Division and its task force, the 28th Infantry Division (missing 2 regiments), the 9th Panzer Division and a number of artillery units, was no match for the Germans. Soon, the Germans surrounded it in a few small areas such as Volks, and advanced 30-50 miles into the depth of the Anglo-American forces.

On November 18, Eisenhower, commander-in-chief of the Anglo-American forces, convened an emergency meeting at Bradley's headquarters to study countermeasures to deal with the German offensive and decided to launch a counterattack against the Germans in the south to relieve the besieged troops.

When Eisenhower asked Patton when he could attack, Patton replied without hesitation: "The morning of November 22." ”

The generals at the meeting thought that he was talking about it, but Patton said quietly: "This is not nonsense, I have already made arrangements, and my staff officers are drawing up a battle plan."

I could have put in 3 divisions on November 22 - the 26th, 80th Infantry Division and the 4th Panzer Division. In a few days it was possible to throw 6 divisions. But I decided to attack with the forces at hand, I could not wait, otherwise I would lose the effect of the surprise. (To be continued.) )