The 'Bulge' was the largest and bloodiest single battle fought by the United States in World War II and the third-deadliest campaign in American history. German Luftwaffe personnel, and later also Luftwaffe aircraft (in the concluding stages of the engagement) had also sustained heavy losses.ДЇrom among the American's peak strength of 610,000 troops, there were 89,000 casualties, including about 19,000 killed. The battle severely depleted Germany's armored forces, which remained largely unreplaced throughout the remainder of the war. Between 63,222 and 98,000 of these men were killed, missing, wounded in action, or captured. These were reinforced a couple of weeks later, bringing the offensive's total strength to around 450,000 troops, and 1,500 tanks and assault guns. The Germans' initial attack involved 410,000 men just over 1,400 tanks, tank destroyers, and assault guns 2,600 artillery pieces and over 1,000 combat aircraft, as well as large numbers of other armored fighting vehicles (AFVs). In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were out of men and equipment, and the survivors retreated to the Siegfried Line. Although the offensive was effectively broken by 27 December, when the trapped units of 2nd Panzer Division made two break-out attempts with only partial success, the battle continued for another month before the front line was effectively restored to its position prior to the attack.

Third Army reached Bastogne from the south, ending the siege. On 26 December the lead element of Patton's U.S. Improved weather conditions from around 24 December permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines, which sealed the failure of the offensive. 2nd Armored Division on 24 December 1944. The farthest west the offensive reached was the village of Foy-NГґtre-Dame, south east of Dinant, being stopped by the U.S. This congestion, and terrain that favored the defenders, threw the German advance behind schedule and allowed the Allies to reinforce the thinly placed troops. Columns of armor and infantry that were supposed to advance along parallel routes found themselves on the same roads. Fierce American resistance on the northern shoulder of the offensive, around Elsenborn Ridge, and in the south, around Bastogne, blocked German access to key roads to the northwest and west that they counted on for success. The Germans had attacked a weakly defended section of the Allied line, taking advantage of heavily overcast weather conditions that grounded the Allies' superior air forces. American forces bore the brunt of the attack. The Germans achieved a total surprise attack on the morning of 16 December 1944, due to a combination of Allied overconfidence, preoccupation with Allied offensive plans, and poor aerial reconnaissance due to bad weather. After their defeat, Germany would retreat for the remainder of the war. The Battle of the Bulge remains among the most important battles of the war, as it marked the last major offensive attempted by the Axis Powers on the Western front. The offensive was intended to stop Allied use of the Belgian port of Antwerp and to split the Allied lines, allowing the Germans to encircle and destroy the four Allied forces and cause the Allies to negotiate a peace treaty in the Axis powers' favor. It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region between Belgium and Luxembourg towards the end of the war in Europe. The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was a major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II which took place from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945.

Enemy front ardennes