Battle of the Bulge, Animated - Part 1, The Assault Begins

foreign [Music] this video is sponsored by enlisted a free-to-play World War II multiplayer shooter enlisted has a deep focus on historical authenticity with exciting and dynamic gameplay large-scale combat involving dozens of other players accurate World War II weapons and vehicles and historical campaigns I really enjoyed the swords feature commanding a team on the Battleground coordinating armored support and with Engineers constructing fighting positions while laying down a fuselage on the enemy with my Lee Enfield 303 rifle join me in enlisted for free on PC Xbox series X and X PS5 as well as Xbox One and PS4 by following my link to get the game as well as a free exclusive bonus [Music] at 5 20 am local time on December 16 1944 the quiet Stillness of the Arden Forest is Shattered by the Thunder of heavy guns across the densely wooded area stretching across Luxembourg and Belgium German artillery has opened a massive barrage while V1 busbombs scream overhead towards the cities of liege and Brussels German Gunners set their fuses to explode in the Treetops showering their targets with wooden splinters the Furious orders are that infantry are to attack first to force breakthroughs so the Panzer divisions can advance on the Muse with their strength intact the American infantryman caught in this Onslaught are bewildered their officers have assured them that the enemy is beaten and that this is a calm section of the front forward outposts report coming under heavy ground attack the Battle of the Bulge has begun this attack is born out of desperation the German Army has been in steady Retreat Across the Western Front for six months since the Allies landed in Normandy Now The Battered Vermont has been pushed all the way to the reich's Border on the Eastern Front The Red Army stands on the banks of the Vistula River less than 350 miles from Berlin Germany is being squeezed on both sides and it is only a matter of time before the war is lost the furor plans one last major offensive to defeat his enemies in 1940 the German leader oversaw case yellow which saw German armor sweep through the Ardennes and cut off the combined anglo-french Army at the Port of Dunkirk the fuhrer believes the success of this daring operation can be replicated in September of 1944 the fuhrer orders preparations for a major offensive through the Ardennes aimed at the strategically vital Port of antwep he outlines another armored thrust that will smash the American units in the Arden cross the Muse River Dash to Antwerp and trap the British and Canadian armies in a massive pocket he believes this will force the Allied Leaders to the negotiating table and allow him to turn his full attention to the Eastern Front the Furious plan is ambitious and risky he is counting on poor winter weather to hamper the overwhelming Allied air power three German armies of about 400 000 men in 30 divisions will attack on a 37 mile wide front these troops represent Germany's last strategic reserves and a rapid pace of Advance has been demanded of them the spearhead of the advance will be the 5th and sixth Panzer armies whose powerful armored formations must cross the Muse in two days and capture Antwerp in four his generals do not believe this is possible the German High command agrees that the outcome of the war rests on this operation and it must be attempted no matter the costs in the north the sixth Panza Army led by General sep Dietrich has the shortest route to The Muse and has been given 60 of the armor for the operation at the tip of the spear is Camp grouper Piper a powerful SS Panzer unit led by Ober Stern Van fuhrer Joachim Piper and comprised of grizzled veterans over the Eastern Front Piper's route has been personally chosen by the fuhrer and his men are expected to be the first German formation across the muse in the center fifth Panza Army under the command of General hasso von manterfel must take the towns of sanvit and bastonia two critical Road Junctions that are of Paramount importance to the German advance their paved roads will allow the armor of the Panzer Lair second Panzer and 116th Panzer divisions to race towards the Muse with great Haste The Southern shoulder is assigned less importance with General Eric brandenberger's seventh Army relegated to protecting the flank of the advance when the attack begins in the north a platoon of 18 men and four artillery observers under the command of Lieutenant Lyle buke Jr are holding the strategically important Village of lanzarath along with a section of tank Destroyers the Germans must take this town before the tanks of Camp grouper Piper can get moving towards the muse when the German barrage opens Luke's men dive into their foxholes while the tank destroyers Retreat past them without warning bemused an infantryman remarks they might at least wave goodbye Luke's men soon spot a full Regiment of German falsham Jaeger paratroopers marching up the hill toward them in a twin column they lie in Ambush when just as the platoon is about to open fire a little girl runs up to the German soldiers and betrays the American position the paratroopers died to the ground and a firefight breaks out despite losing the chance for an ambush Lieutenant Luke's men fend off multiple attacks from the falsham Jaegers he constantly calls for artillery support on the radio only to be told that fire emissions are needed elsewhere as The Observers disbelieve what book is seeing fed up after being rejected again he responds God damn it don't tell me what I don't see I have 20 20 vision bring down all the artillery you've got on the road south of lanzarath the whole goddamn German Army is coming down the road his artillery support never comes nonetheless his tiny Force continues to hold their position against wave after wave of German attacks facing the German formations are a hodgepodge of American units in the north the inexperienced 99th and 106th infantry divisions have not seen serious combat before and have been placed in the Arden to gain gradual experience to their South the 4th and 28th infantry divisions are battle-hardened formations that are deployed to this quiet sector of the front to recover from the terrible losses they suffered in the battle of the hertken forest they are part of General Troy Middleton's eighth Corps which is spread thinly across the front the second Infantry Division along with elements of the ninth Armored Division are also in the region the Western allies have made critical mistakes in their preparation an intelligence has failed to detect the imminent offensive however it is complacency that will cost the Allies the most a sense of Victory fever has infected Allied High command a belief that the Third Reich is on the verge of collapse and no longer capable of offering resistance when 12th Army group Commander General Omar Bradley is informed about increased German activity in the Arden he dismisses the warning stating let them come as it turns out it will be Bradley's troops who will soon bear the brunt of the fighting meanwhile Lieutenant Duke's men continue to stand their ground against a force which outnumbers them 22-1 however as night falls the German paratroopers managed to flank buke's position through the forest to their rear despite being enveloped Luke's men continued to resist until they run out of ammunition and are captured incredibly his 22 men have held up a regiment of over 500 paratroopers for an entire day and have inflicted 96 casualties at a cost of just one man dead and several wounded however the most important achievement is delaying the advance of the entire first SS Panzer Division lifestandata along with Camp Krupa Piper they will later be awarded the presidential unit citation the only platoon to receive this honor in the Second World War in the center the fifth Panza Army attacks without an artillery barrage catching the 106th and 28th infantry divisions completely by surprise the commanding officer of the 106th division Major General Alan W Jones loses contact with his forward units almost immediately Jones can only sit helplessly at his headquarters in sanvit as his division struggles with the German onslaught in verse I Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower is celebrating his promotion to General of the army with General Bradley when he's interrupted by news of the attack Bradley believes this is a small action to spoil General George Patton's advance in Lorraine but Eisenhower's gut tells him that the situation is more serious than it is being portrayed Communications from the front are terrible and local commanders are unable to determine the scope of the German attack faced with a critical decision Eisenhower acts quickly and orders pattern to halt his attack while sending reinforcements from across the Western Front to the Arden his intuition proves to be correct by the afternoon Allied command understands that a major offensive is underway by the evening of December the 16th the German offensive is close to breaking through the American lines in several places but unexpectedly tenacious resistance is upsetting the timetable for advance the Furious insistence on the Infantry forcing breakthroughs for the panzers is proving to be a mistake in many places the Infantry lacked the Firepower to press home the attacks to Aid the ground assault Colonel Friedrich vonderheiter whose men had fought Easy Company of the 101st Airborne at Carrington has been ordered to Power Drop 1 300 falsham Jaegers behind American lines to capture vital Crossroads and disrupt American Supply the operation had been initially scheduled for the night of the 15th of December canceled and then rescheduled for midnight on the 17th the drops are a complete disaster because of windy conditions along with inexperienced soldiers and Pilots some transports never drop and return to base While others drop their paratroopers in German territory vonderheiter only manages to Rally 300 mostly combat ineffective men once the drops are finished the 285th field artillery observation Battalion of the American Seventh Armored Division is one of the many formations that has been ordered into the Arden by Eisenhower they arrive on the Northern shoulder of the German attack the morning of the second day of the battle as the Convoy of trucks approaches the town of bonnier south of malmadi they pass Belgian civilians who frantically Point down the road and Shout Bosch Bosch the unsuspecting GIS merely wave back not understanding what the locals are saying when the Convoy reaches the bonnier crossroads they run straight into Panther tanks and SS Panzer grenadiers the Panthers destroy the first and last trucks in the Convoy trapping the formation in place the Americans are raked with gunfire as men tumble out of their trucks and try to escape this is the Vanguard of Camp grouper Piper which has finally broken through and advanced rapidly throughout the morning having been delayed for so long the previous day Piper is in a vicious mood and orders his men to be harsh in their advance they have already shot dozens of civilians and unarmed prisoners throughout the day having become accustomed to the practice during their time on the Eastern Front the Panzer grenadiers make quick work of the Doom's 285th Battalion and round up over 130 American prisoners the SS soldiers heard the prisoners into a field and robbed them of their belongings once Piper's men are satisfied with their loot they open fire with machine guns 84 American prisoners are killed in the massacre but some survivors managed to escape and make their way back to Friendly lines to report the atrocity although the masculine takes place at Bonnie it will become infamous as the malmadi massacre however news of the massacre fills the Americans fighting in the ardenne with rage not fear U.S units which are already offering tenacious resistance now fight with a fanatical determination to avoid being taken prisoner in sanvit general Jones of the 106th division receives the chilling news that two of his forward regiments have been cut off by the German advance later that afternoon at 2 30 PM Jones hears Small Arms fire and can see for himself the tanks of the 116th Panzer Division approaching the town he also receives reports that enemy armor is six miles behind his lines nonetheless Jones's shattered division along with elements of the seventh armored and other retreating units form a scratch team to defend sanvit in a horseshoe shape they must deny the Germans the critical Road Junction as long as possible further to the South Major General Norman coaters 28th infantry division is taking a pounding Kota has already distinguished himself in the war when he personally led the breakout from Omaha Beach on D-Day but his under strength division is a shadow of its former self when it was the first American unit to parade through the streets of liberated Paris yet kota's men continue to offer Fierce resistance a platoon of American infantry are holding the village of Holtz them to the east of kota's headquarters in the Strategic town of vilts when they spot German tanks approaching their position despite having two Bazookas only their commanding Sergeant knows how to operate the anti-tank weapon the Bazooka must usually be operated by a two-man team but there is no time to train the other men how to use it he must hope that there are no Faults in the electrical wiring which would render the weapon useless the sergeant grabs a bazooka and sets out to hunt the tanks hoping to catch them in the vulnerable rear of the vehicle he instead rounds the first corner and comes face to face with the leading Panzer 4. the massive vehicle stops and takes aim but the sergeant fires a shot that fails to penetrate the Tank's frontal armor and ducks behind a house the Panzer obliterates the building with its 75 millimeter gun unharmed and undeterred the sergeant runs to the Second Story of an adjacent house and fires two more ineffective bazooka rounds into the side armor the Bazooka was designed to penetrate three-inch armor but the armored side skirts on the upgraded Panzer Falls are deflecting the shape charges the weapon is out of its element in this fight finally his fourth shot damages the turret and the tank Retreats along with the rest of the Panzer Falls despite its ineffectiveness in armor penetration the bazooka's convenient loading mechanism allowed the sergeant to fire off four rounds in less than a minute this will do the Americans in halts them know that they are the only unit between the leading elements of the Panzer layer Division and kota's headquarters in villes vilts will hold out for another two days further frustrating the German advance despite these acts of heroism the 28th infantry division is essentially destroyed by the end of the second day of the offensive although they have been massively delayed the fifth Panza Army has finally broken through in the center and the road to bastonia is open the second Panzer and Panzer layer divisions race towards the Strategic Crossroads with little resistance in their way in the north Camp grouper Piper is spearheading the sixth Panza Army's Advance towards the Muse with American units trying to regroup on the eldenborn ridge Eisenhower recognizes this and now moves every available unit to the front exhausted former drivers of the now defunct Red Bull Express the truck supply system halted in November are ordered to abandon their new assignments and instead drive to every Allied assembly area to pick up units the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions have been resting and refitting in halim when both divisions are alerted to the developing crisis while the 82nd has had more time to replenish its ranks after tough fighting in operation Market Garden the 101st is short of everything the division is under strength has reduced stocks of ammo and no winter clothing General Maxwell Taylor commanding officer of the 101st isn't even in the country and temporary command has been passed to Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe regardless they are ordered onto trucks which set off for the Arden the 82nd Airborne will be sent to the northern shoulder to hold the elzenborn ridge while the 101st will be deployed to bastonia in the center among these are the men of Easy Company 2nd battalion 506th parachute Infantry Regiment they announced a small part of the more than 250 000 Allied soldiers racing towards the odd end to blunt the German breakthrough the Swift turnaround of so many men and material to the Bulge is one of the greatest logistical achievements of the second World War in Paris Ernest Hemingway the famous author turned War correspondent is recovering from bronchitis when he hears news of the German attack he is determined to rejoin his unit the fourth infantry division which is now engaged in Desperate fighting on the southern shoulder of the enemy advance amid scenes of Chaos in the Ritz hotel with American Military Police ordering officers and men to return to their units Hemingway's brother Lester finds him in his hotel room packing a Thompson submachine gun along with ammunition Hemingway explains to his brother has been a complete breakthrough this thing could cost us the works their armor is pouring in they're taking no prisoners load those clips and wipe every cartridge clean me in enlisted for free on PC Xbox x and S and PS5 follow my link to get the game as well as an exclusive bonus thanks to Indian Idol from World War II in real time for his guest narration on our sister channel the Intel reports we're looking at how the German forces succeeded in keeping the offensive a complete secret don't forget to subscribe and see you in part two

Channel: The Operations Room

Views: 1,215,112

Keywords: ww2, animated, documentary, history, battle of the bulge, us army, band of brothers, tiger tank

Id: UoynTOzLD28

Length: 18min 48sec (1128 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 04 2022