BastogneBreakout

The German Fifth Panzer Army crossed into Belgium in December 1944. Their first objective was the Meuse river, 100 kilometres to the west. The timetable required clearing and maintaining the road network around Bastogne and Wiltz. On the sixth day the Second Panzer Division and Panzer Division Lehr were to be released to continue the advance to the Meuse.

The allies's General Eisenhower immediatly ordered the one Hunderd and First Airborne Division, the Screaming Eagles, to collect all their men on leave in Paris. They were to load unto trucks and driven to the vital crossroads of Bastogne. He also ordered General Patton to turn his third Army due north to cut into the German thrust.