Morning December 20th
7th Army attacks.
5th Panzer Army attacks.
Note 116th Panzer have fuel shortage
6th Panzer Army attacks.
The 3rd Panzer Grenadier Division has fuel shortages all day.
The big picture at midday.
Black line shows the extent of the bulge.
Afternoon December 20th
The 7th Army's offensive gathers pace.
5th Panzer Army is somewhat stalled,
with 2nd Panzer again suffering fuel shortages.
However the 26th Volksgrenadier Division (far left) appears to have broken through.
The 6th Panzer Army continues to attack, but at low odds.
They have surrounded a number of US formations,
but these just serve as further blockages.
At midnight of the 20th the Germans still haven't reached the Ourthe River Line.
However all three armies appear to have broken through.
Most dangerous (to the Allies) is the situation on the left. There are now three Panzer Divisions with the 7th Army. Maybe it will turn to be a waste of resources, but they couldn't have been deployed any faster to other sectors and have enabled 7th Army to progress after becoming stalled early on.
Morning December 21st
The morning is still overcast, but a freeze has now set in which should improve the mobility of the panzers (and the Allies rushing to stop them).
The 7th Army is confident of closing off this flank,
even with 9th SS Panzer suffering fuel shortages.
5th Panzer Army was only able to make two attacks.
Panzer Lehr was low on fuel, but at least it was in place.
On the right the 6th Panzer Army attacks on one part of its front,
while hoping that the pockets on the other part will soon surrender.
The big picture at midday.
Afternoon December 21st
The 7th Army are now just mopping up,
but they need to get moving west towards Sedan,
or rather northwest towards the Meuse.
5th Panzer Army is crawling north west.
They need the 7th to catch up on their left flank.
Fuel shortages struck the 1st SS Panzer.
The attacks started in the morning continue.
The German armour superiority is rendered ineffective in the woods.
Big picture at midnight.
The 7th Army were feeling pretty good until they got intelligence reporting Patton is on his way.
Have they been able to capture enough blocking points to keep him at bay?
5th Panzer Army is coming up against the Ourthe River line.
The plan had been for them, with the help of 7th Army, to out flank it on the left.
6th Panzer Army has made progress, but is slowed up by a continuous trickle of US reinforcements.
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