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The Movements Of The Trains

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The movements of the trains were primarily conducted by night to increase cover-up and prevent detection. The German army limited their scouting and enforced strict communication discipline during the buildup of their German supply lines and troops. This included and not withstanding forbidding any scouting in the assault zones, minimizing combat patrols, and weaponry operations. The German army utilized the terrain and disguises their techniques to take advantage of the total preparation which made it difficult to detect German movements for the Americans. The logistical result of the intense planning resulted in 29 infantry divisions, 12 armored divisions, 1,500 troop trains, 500 supply trains, 1,420 tanks and weapons, 15,000 tons of…show more content…
At that time, nearly 60,000 men that were made up of mostly American troops held their position in the Ardennes forest. The German objective was to break through the weakly held American position to cross over the River Meuse to secure the allied supply lines in Antwerp and hold a new German military line and fracture the alliance. The Germans needed bad weather to be successful and planned on that bad weather. Hitler used basic weather prediction technology (weather forecast information) created by German U boats in the Atlantic Ocean by using statistics, data, and weather conditions to set the date for the attack onto Western front in the Ardennes region. Hitler’s troop movements in the dense forest were undetected and were a major intelligence failure for the US. This last offensive campaign offered “wonder weapons” that were used in the beginning of the battle to which included the King Tiger tanks, V1 and V2 rockets, jet airplanes, MP 44 riffle (light weight and easy to handle) which handled 30 rounds versus the American BAR riffle which only handled 20 rounds. The American riffle version was heavy and jammed easily. Limited access on travel within this dense terrain for both troop & equipment, 65-ton tank limited mobility, typical newest technology startup problems, and young and inexperience troops created huge problems to
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