The '''Battle of Heartbreak Crossroads''' was fought, beginning one day prior to the start of the [[Battle of the Bulge]], at a vital crossroads[[three-way junction]] near a [[Forestry|forester's]] cabin and former border post named Wahlerscheid, astride the [[Siegfried Line]] (''Westwall'').<ref group=notes>The [[Eupen-Malmedy#Provisional Belgian administration, 1919–25|interbellum Belgian-German border]] ran about one km to the southwest of the crossroads. The border post was, prior to [[Eupen-Malmedy#Annexed to Germany, 1940–45|the annexation]] of Eupen-Malmédy on 18 May 1940, the German-side customs house. After annexation it was integrated into the newly-built ''Westwall'' defences around it.</ref> The road ran along the Höfen-Alzen and [[Dreiborn Plateau|Dreiborn]] ridges, about {{convert|5.6|mi}} north of [[Büllingen|Krinkelt-Rocherath]], [[Belgium]]. In early December 1944, the U.S. V Corps trucked the experienced [[2nd Infantry Division (United States)|2nd Infantry Division]] from positions it had held in the south to Krinkelt-Rocherath, twin villages adjacent to Elsenborn Ridge and near the southern tip of the [[Hürtgen Forest]].
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.
