During most of the eleven months between D-day and V-E day in Europe, the U S Army was carrying on highly successful offensive operations. As a consequence, the American soldier was buoyed with success, imbued with the idea that his enemy could not strike him a really heavy counterblow, and sustained by the conviction that the war was nearly won. This volume deals with the crucial period of the European campaign conducted in the Belgian Ardennes and Luxembourg, generally known as the Battle of the Bulge. The Origins Planning the Counteroffensive Troops and Terrain Preparations The Sixth Panzer Army Attack The German Northern Shoulder is Jammed Breakthrough at the Schnee Eifel The Fifth Panzer Army Attacks the 28th Infantry Division The Attack by the German Left Wing The German Southern Shoulder is Jammed The 1st Ss Panzer Division's Dash Westward, and Operation Greif The First Attacks at St. Vith Viii Corps Attempts to Delay the Enemy The VII Corps Barrier Lines The German Salient Expands to the West One Threat Subsides; Another Emerges St. Vith is Lost The VII Corps Moves to Blunt the Salient The Battle of Bastogne The XII Corps Attacks the Southern Shoulder The III Corps' Counterattack Toward Bastogne The Battle Before the Meuse The Battle Between the Salm and the Ourthe The Third Army Offensive