6. The Fuhrer’s Generals Were Against the Decision
The German offensive was masterminded and pushed through by Hitler himself months before, to the discomfort of his generals and lieutenants. Hitler believed that disagreements existed among the Allied command and that a blitzkrieg attack would be able to break the alliance. Which is why he proposed Operation Watch on the Rhine. The plan required a fast and secret build-up as well as an attack across the Meuse River to the port of Antwerp. Hitler expected his troops to break through the front lines and make it to the Meuse in just a matter of days.
Generals, such as Gerd von Rundstedt, thought the plan was too ambitious and raised their concerns about the schedule, place and amount of forces required (since Germany was also fighting an eastern front). The Generals were concerned about the plan largely for the same reason that the Allies were so certain that the Germans would not attack them. The Ardennes were covered in snow and ice, and the offensive would mean sending massive columns of men and troops through narrow, slippery and frozen roads. Even if the Germans got to the Meuse it was still another 125 miles to the Antwerp port that Hitler wished to catch. Walther Model wrote out a number of protests and alternative strategies and gave them to Hitler, Gerd von Rundstedt did the same. Because of this, Hitler trusted most of the plan to his own party army, the SS (Schutzstaffel). In the end, his plan not only failed but also cost the Germans their last reserves in veteran troops, tanks, and mechanized artillery and vehicles. Despite some desperate moments, the “Battle of the Bulge” ultimately proved to be Hitler’s last great offensive on the Western front.