re: Dec 16th began the Battle of the Bulge.

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The only two things the Germans had going for them was the element of surprise and the weather which prevented Allied air superiority from taking hold immediately. The element of surprise wasn't 100% on their side, however, because Patton was listening to his intelligence guys and believed a German counteroffensive imminent. Which is why he was ready to disengage from the battle he was presently waging and shift his forces north to slam into the flank of the German attack.

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The weather ended up doing them more harm than good too as they got bogged down in the snow and mud, advancing and retreating. That area is really rural even today so they all had to clog the few roads that could handle that type of vehicle traffic, and it made them easy targets once the tide had turned against them.