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{{short description|Engagement prior to the Battle of the Bulge}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Battle of Heartbreak Crossroads
| partof = [[World War II]], [[Battle of the Bulge]]
| image = US soldiers take cover under fire in Germany 23-0469M.JPG
| image_size = 300
| caption = Infantrymen of the 9th Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division crouch in a snow-filled ditch, taking shelter from a German artillery barrage in the Krinkelter woods on 14 December.
| date = 16–26 December 1944
| place = [[Hellenthal]] region, [[Prussia]], {{flagcountry|Nazi Germany}}
| coordinates = {{Coord|50|30|07|N|6|19|39|E|region:BE_scale:50000_type:event|display=inline,title}}
| result = Inconclusive
| combatant1 = {{flag|United States|1912}}
| combatant2 = {{flagcountry|Nazi Germany}}
| commander1
| commander2
| units1 = [[2nd Infantry Division (United States)|2nd Infantry Division]] <br>[[99th Infantry Division (United States)|99th Infantry Division]]
| units2 = [[277th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|277th
| strength1 = <!-- 2,000 men -->
| strength2 = <!-- 2,000 men -->
| casualties1 = <!-- 5,000 men killed or missing -->
| casualties2 = <!-- 114 tanks and other vehicles,<br>Unknown, but high personnel losses -->
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Battle of the Bulge}}
}}
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On the eastern side of the Siegfried Line was an excellent road network leading to the [[Roer River]] dams a few miles to the northeast; the Allies' next goal. The Allies had tried bombing the dams without success, and a ground campaign was decided upon. The Americans were assigned to capture the crossroads with the goal of securing a jumping-off point for an attack on the dams, or failing that, force the Germans to blow them up.<ref name="Hersko"/> The dams were important to the Germans because they could be used defensively to control the flow and depth of the Roer River, delaying or even completely blocking Allied advances at will.
During the first two days of the battle, the Americans failed to advance and experienced significant losses. On the third day a platoon infiltrated the German lines and late on 15 December, the U.S. troops captured the crossroads. On 16 December, the German
== Background ==
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The Allies feared that once troops had crossed the river, the Germans might blow up the dams to produce flood waters that would isolate forces that had crossed the Roer. To prevent this, they sought to capture two key dams.
The 9th Infantry Regiment/2nd ID was ordered on December 7 to pass through the 99th Infantry Division and seize the road junction north of Höfen-Rocherath at the Wahlerscheid crossroads, attack north and capture Rohern inside the Seigfried Line, and then a hill {{convert|3000|yards}} east of the road junction. They would then advance east and seize a dam. The 38th Infantry was assigned to the main effort through the Monschau Forest toward Drieborn.<ref name=operations>OPERATIONS OF THE 612TH TANK DESTROYER BATTALION (T), SECOND INFANTRY DIVISION, IN THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE IN VICINITY OF ELSENBORN CORNER, 16-31 DECEMBER 1944. Staff Department THE INFANTRY SCHOOL, Fort Benning, Georgia</ref>
The sector along the northeast side of the road to Walerscheid was assigned to the 9th Infantry Regiment and technically within the 99th Division's sector, but that division was stretched very thinly over an elongated front. Some areas had no fixed defensive positions, and were only covered by occasional jeep and foot patrols. That left a gap on the northeastern side of the road where the southeastward curve of the 99th Division's lines left the sector wide open to enemy penetration from the east. This prompted General [[Leonard T. Gerow]] on December 13 to order the 395th Regimental Combat Team (RCT), made up of two battalions of the 395th Infantry Regiment and another borrowed from the 393rd, to make a limited attack on the 2nd Division's immediate right flank against German positions about {{convert|1.4|mi}} southeast of Wahlerscheid.<ref name="Hersko"/>▼
▲The sector along the northeast side of the road to Walerscheid was
The {{convert|3|mi}} of dense woods between Krinkelt-Rocherath and Wahlerscheid made accurate estimations of enemy strength difficult. The U.S. infantry were supported by the 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion, including a battery of 105 mm howitzers, another of 4.5 inch rockets, 155 mm self-propelled guns, a company of chemical mortars, a medium tank battalion, and two battalions of tank destroyers. This was reinforced by the 406th Field Artillery Group and their four battalions of 155 mm caliber or larger artillery. [[Combat Command]] B of the [[9th Armored Division (United States)|9th Armored Division]] was attached to exploit a possible breakthrough.<ref name=macdonald2/>
An hour after sunrise on 13 December, the American infantry set off through the brush and thick woods on either side of the road, avoiding the mines known to block the road. The GIs were slowed by knee-deep snow in places, the dense, unfamiliar forest that dropped wet snow on them, and ravines full of melting snow that filled their boots. To avoid repeating the resupply difficulties encountered by the [[28th Infantry Division (United States)|28th Infantry Division]] in their battle further north near the [[Our (river)|Our]] and [[Sauer]] Rivers,<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/022/22-2-1/CMH_Pub_22-2-1.pdf | title=Bastogne: The Story of the First Eight Days | publisher=United States Army | author=Marshall, S.L.A. | == Geography of the attack ==
[[
Two roads north of Höfen were important to movement through the area. In the north a main paved road led from Höfen through the Monschau Forest, then divided as it emerged on the eastern edge. The fork beyond the forest later gained some tactical importance.<ref name=
A two-lane secondary road ran laterally behind the division center and right wing, leaving the Höfen road at the Wahlerscheid crossroads, which was guarded by a constellation of 25 concrete pillboxes. The Germans had cleared the ground near the crossroads of trees to give their troops a clear [[field of fire (weaponry)|field of fire]], and laced the area with antipersonnel mines and masses of barbed wire six to ten deep.<ref name=macdonald2/><ref name=story2nd>{{cite web|title=Story of the 2nd Infantry Division|url=https://archive.org/details/FromD1To105|publisher=Stars and Strips|
▲[[Image:Walter M. Robertson.jpg|thumb|General Walter M. Robertson, commanding officer of the 2nd Infantry Division.]]
On about December 12, the 2nd Infantry Division was brought to the rear of the yet untested [[99th Infantry Division (United States)|99th ID]] on Elsenborn Ridge and passed through their lines headed for the Wahlerscheid crossroads. The 2nd's commanding officer, General [[Walter M. Robertson]], directed the 9th Infantry Regiment to attack along the only road, capture the junction, and then swing northwest to clear German forces along the Höfen-Alzen ridge towards Monschau. He ordered the 38th Infantry Regiment to attack northeast from the road junction along the Dreiborn Ridge, in the direction of the Roer River dams. The 23rd Infantry was held in reserve.<ref name=macdonald2>{{cite book| last=MacDonald|first=Charles B.|title=The Siegfried Line Campaign | publisher=Center of Military History| year = 1990|edition=CMH Pub 7-7-1 |location=Washington, D. C. |asin= B001P4MAYO}}</ref>{{rp|610}}
== Allies attack ==
[[File:Heartbreak Crossroads.jpg
The 277th Volksgrenadier Division's 991st Grenadier Regiment was in the Monschau Forest about {{convert|1.5|mi}} southeast of Wahlerscheid.{{sfn|Parker|2004|page=71}} The 2nd ID intended to surprise the Germans and advanced without artillery preparation. Their movement forward through the forest went well at first with little resistance,<ref name="Hersko">{{cite web |url=http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-the-bulge-us-troops-fight-at-elsenburn-ridge.htm/1 |title=Battle of the Bulge: U.S. Troops Fight at Elsenburn Ridge |publisher=HistoryNet.com |author=Ralph E. Hersko, Jr. |date=November 1998 |accessdate=2010-07-14 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612000346/http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-the-bulge-us-troops-fight-at-elsenburn-ridge.htm/1 |archivedate=2011-06-12 }}</ref> but once they gained the edge of the cleared forest around the pillboxes on December 14, they found themselves facing four pillboxes, six concrete bunkers, a forester's lodge, and a customs house, grouped compactly about the road junction and sited to provide interlocking fire for their machine gun and rifle positions.<ref name=macdonald2/>▼
▲[[File:Heartbreak Crossroads.jpg|left|thumb|The crossroads at Wahlerscheid on February 13, 1945 after it was recaptured by the 9th ID. The right road leads to Krinkelt-Rocherath, the left to Höfen-Alzen ridge and Monschau, and center into Nazi-held Germany, Dreiborn Ridge, and Roer River dams.]]
▲The 277th Volksgrenadier Division's 991st Grenadier Regiment
=== Germans prevent U.S. advance ===
The U.S. soldiers were met with concentrated fire from hundreds of German weapons. Shortly after the fire fight had begun a patrol from Company E wriggled out into the clearing for more than 80 yards to reach a slight elevation before the barbed wire barrier.<ref group=notes>Although not obvious due to the surrounding forest, the Dreiborn and Höfen-Alzen ridges join a few 100 metres/yards south of the crossroads to form the highest peak ({{convert|655|m|yards}}) in this part of the Ardennes.</ref> about {{convert|80|yards|m}} from the edge of the forest. There the men were stopped by heavy machine gun fire. It was quickly discovered, however, that from this rise in ground a much better view of the pillboxes could be obtained than from the edge of the clearing. Word was sent back to the lines. Artillery was notified. Accompanied by two radio operators, Capt. Homer G. Ross, of Elyria, Ohio, Company Commander of Company E, crawled out in the face of enemy guns to join the platoon. From the middle of the clearing, he directed artillery fire by radio and succeeded in calling down direct hits on pillboxes. The patrol, however, could not breach the barbed wire, and, after the artillery mission had been fired, withdrew.<ref>{{cite web |title=From D+1 to 105:
=== Americans penetrate German lines ===
On the south side of the road, two U.S. squads crawling on their stomachs found a way through the well-emplaced German guns and cut the barbed wire to forge a path between the German defenses. They penetrated a trench line behind the pill boxes and held off German patrols for five hours, but when darkness fell they returned to the American lines. On December 15, an American patrol advanced once more through the breach in the barbed wire and captured a portion of the trench line. They alerted the regimental command post, and Lieutenant Colonel
== Ardennes offensive ==
{{main|Battle of the Bulge}}
The U.S. First Army thought the Germans might initiate a spoiling attack to try to break up the U.S. drive.<ref name=spiller>{{cite book|last1=Spiller|first1=Roger J.|title=Combined Arms in Battle Since 1939|date=1992|publisher=U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Press|url=http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/cgsc/carl/download/csipubs/spiller.pdf|location=Fort Leavenworth, Kansas|
=== Americans break contact ===
When Bradley finally learned that the Germans had attacked the American lines in five places across an 80-mile (130 km) front in the Ardennes, he knew the Allies were in for a fight. During the morning of 17 December, elements of the 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division were attacked by a numerically superior force of German infantry and tanks. They repulsed the first six waves with heavy casualties, leading to a last ditch defense. Heavy machine gunner [[Richard Cowan (soldier)|Richard Cowan]] was later awarded the [[Medal of Honor]] for {{nowrap|single-handedly}} killing an estimated one hundred of the enemy before his unit withdrew.<ref name=AMOHW>{{Cite web |publisher = [[United States Army Center of Military History]] |title = Medal of Honor recipients – World War II (A–F) |work = Medal of Honor citations |date = June 8, 2009 |url = http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/wwII-a-f.html |
=== Withdrawal to Elsenborn Ridge ===
[[File:Battle of the Bulge 6th.jpg|thumb|Northern shoulder of the Battle of the Bulge in which the [[6th Panzer Army|German Sixth Panzer Army]] attacked the United States' 99th Infantry Division, but could not dislodge them.]]
During the night of 16 and dawn of 17 December, General Robertson consolidated his and other forces that had only a day before captured the vital crossroads at Wahlerscheid. To the east of Rocherath and Krinkelt, the Germans had made a deep penetration and were liable at any moment to come bursting out of the forest. The U.S. had to hold the twin villages to allow the 2nd ID with its heavy weapons and vehicles to reach positions around Elsenborn intact. The 99th Division had already put its last reserve into the battle. The 2nd ID with the attached 395th were left to defend the endangered sector of the corridor south.<ref name=
The 9th Infantry Regiment pulled back to another crossroads in the forest at Baracken, about {{convert|5|mi}} to the south of the cross roads at Wahlerscheid.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ninth Infantry Regiment|url=http://www.manchu.org/linage/page2.htm|
The Americans later regretted their failure to destroy the pillboxes at the crossroads when they were forced to recapture the area again in early February 1945.<ref name=
== Notes ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Heartbreak Ridge 1944, Battle Of}}
[[Category:1944 in Belgium|Battle of Heartbreak Crossroads]]
[[Category:Battles of World War II involving Germany]]
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