The Battle of the Bulge was Adolf Hitler’s last throw of the dice; his last gamble. It was his last attempt to reverse the tide of World War Two on the Western Front, and secure victory for Nazi Germany. The plan called for three German Armies to attack through the Ardennes Forest in southern Belgium, drive northwest, crossing the Meuse River in just four days time, and capture the huge Allied supply depot at Liege. After this, their resupplied armies would then drive onward to retake the port city of Antwerp, thus denying the Western Allies their largest and second largest sources of supply. If successful, the Allied forces would be cut in two, with absolutely no hope of resupply. This would then compel the Western Allies to Sue for Peace and allow the Germans to turn their entire attention to holding off the Soviets on the Eastern front.

In order to launch this audacious attack, men and equipment from all over the Reich were gathered up and secretly shipped to staging areas in and around the Eifel; an area of Germany that lay just opposite of the Ardennes Forest. Artillery pieces from as far away as Norway were sent to the Eifel. Brand new infantry formations, termed Volksgrenadier Divisions, were raised, trained, and sent to the Eifel. Every available reserve unit and piece of military equipment was sent to the Eifel as well. This included over 15,000 military vehicles, 1,900 pieces of artillery, mortars, and rockets, along with 970 tanks, tank destroyers, and armored assault guns. In addition, the balance of all military production was earmarked for the big attack as well. For example, during the months of October and November 1944, 2277 heavy fighting vehicles were  unloaded in the Eifel.

This entire mammoth buildup was all done at the expense of the Eastern Front, which received only 919 of the military vehicles during this exact same time period. This was a huge gamble on the part of Adolf Hitler, since the German forces facing the Soviets were already outnumbered by more than 3 to 1 in manpower, and almost 6 to 1 in tanks and 10 to 1 in artillery. If the German gamble in the Ardennes were to fail, these already beleaguered units would have absolutely no hope whatsoever of receiving any type of significant reinforcements to help them fend off the expected Soviet offensive tidal wave. In effect, the German forces on the Eastern Front would be summarily hung out to dry.

When the great German attack began on Saturday morning, December 16 1944, they deployed nearly 300,000 men, 2,000 artillery pieces, nearly 1,000 tanks, and over 15,000 armored vehicles. When the battle officially ended on January 28 1945, 120,000 of these men were killed, wounded, missing or captured, and 1,000 of their artillery pieces were destroyed. In addition, more than 600 of their excellent quality tanks were burned out wrecks. And, almost half of their military vehicles were completely obliterated.

So, when the huge Soviet offensive commenced in earnest on the morning of January 12 1945, there was nothing left in reserve to stop, or even blunt them for that matter. They rolled forward like a big red tidal wave, right to the banks of the Oder River, just 40 miles from Berlin. In addition, once the American counter offensive began full throttle to eliminate the gains the Germans made during their offensive operations, it didn’t come to a halt once the Germans were pushed back to their starting positions. No Sir. That great counter offensive continued right up to the banks of the Rhine River, and then across it, and relentlessly into the heart of Germany. And, the Germans had nothing left to stop this enormous juggernaut either.

In summation, the aftermath of the Battle of the bulge was to actually shorten the war in Europe. All of the German units that were wasted in the Battle of the Bulge would have been able to inflict massive casualties upon the attacking Allied Forces had they remained in heavily fortified defensive positions along the whole of the Siegfried Line as well as the Eastern Front. So, by launching this audacious attack, Adolf Hitler actually aided the Allied cause.