4K畫質/高清畫質紀錄片 4K畫質紀錄片 二戰德軍是如何輸掉突出部戰役的？

早在1944年12月16日,三隊超過兩百萬的德國軍隊發動了驚人的反擊,在阿爾丹森林的薄弱的聯邦線上發動了驚人的反擊。 目的就是在歐洲轉變戰爭的風浪。 戰爭的最苦苦的部分,在戰爭前,戰爭的最苦苦的部分,在戰爭前,戰爭的最苦苦的部分, 在戰爭前,戰爭的最苦苦的部分, 但結果會不會有所改變呢? 在1944年第二半,德國軍隊的整體戰略和軍事狀況在納蘭和蘇聯夏季戰爭後嚴重下降。 如此多的佔領地的自由,也意味著德國戰爭業務失去了值得的資源。 在1944年9月,德國軍隊和武器部隊的國務卿埃爾伯特·斯培爾計算到德國只有再一年戰爭的足夠資源。 面對這場嚴重的戰爭,一群軍人嘗試在1944年7月20日殺死亞道夫·希特勒,但他卻短暫逃脫。 希特勒決定,為了重新掌握軍事管理和軍事行動,他必須在西部發動成功的反擊。 同時,西方盟友遭遇了西方領土問題,隨著他們的迅速前進到西歐,他們決定暫停軍事行動,重新組織和供應。 在東方,蘇聯第一次在10月間跨越了德國的邊境,但德國軍隊卻阻止了他們。 現在,他們正在準備冬季戰爭,以破壞德國防衛在波蘭。 在德國,極端的措施和最大規模的動員人口作為整個戰爭計劃的一部分,使得納粹政權在秋季建立最新的儲備。 這是最後一步的努力,但即使如此,德國工廠在1944年以來產生了更多的戰爭和武器,儘管有了聯邦炸彈。 從德國的角度來看,戰爭的下降,新的部隊的精神和訓練水平通常都很低。 歷史學家Gunther Koschorek在9月9日的日記中抱怨說, 我們公司的訓練人員是一群歷史較早的東歐德國族族裔和軍艦人員, 因為船艦短缺而被重新訓練為戰艦軍隊。 人力短缺意味著新的德國軍隊的戰鬥力很低。 儘管美國軍隊平均有超過13,000人, 但1944年以來德國軍隊平均只有9,000人。 裝備大多是不合適的, 而軍隊使用大多是蘇聯捕獲的武器。 儘管德國的儲備質量低, 但當他們給予德國軍隊必須的呼吸空間, 他們就能做出具體的戰略計劃。 1944年9月, 希特勒決定攻擊, 在16日, 他第一次與他的將軍討論。 他最終決定支持一個所謂的大解決方案, 反對大多數他的將軍的建議, 支持更加限制的對抗阿根廷和聯軍。 希特勒的計劃是通過阿根廷森林進行大規模的戰略計劃, 剝奪西德國和印度洲的所有聯邦軍隊, 並捕捉阿根廷的重要港口。 德國的計劃員選擇了阿根廷, 不僅僅是因為阿根廷有很少的美國軍隊, 也因為維爾瑪特已經在1940年以來 成功破壞了阿根廷。 戰略第一階段, 是穿越梅爾河, 接著是向北方的攻擊, 導致了阿根廷的捕捉。 這告訴我們, 戰略第二階段的計劃仍然非常複雜, 並沒有任何計劃, 在阿根廷的軍隊捕捉阿根廷後。 希特勒希望這個戰略會破壞阿根廷的信心, 並允許德國結束和英國和美國的協議, 然後所有的德國軍隊可以再次移民到東部。 大多數他的將軍對此行動感到懷疑。 在戰爭結束後, Gerd von Rundstedt寫下了他的懷疑。 如果我們能夠到達梅爾河, 我們應該要下跪向神祈禱, 甚至嘗試到達安特沃爾比亞。 由於計劃的急迫性, 德國軍隊長Alfred Jodl 沒有足夠的時間 來進行正確的分析 美國軍隊在該地區, 導致了敵人的力量的嚴重低估。 雖然很多德國軍隊 只有30-40公里的燃油能力, 但Jodl期待著 Gerd von Rundstedt的軍隊 能夠在一天內 穿過近200公里的梅爾河。 這意味著他們必須 捕捉敵人的供應站, 以免有任何機會。 另一個重要的因素 在德國的考慮中, 就是天氣。 這項行動的成功 取決於不好的天氣, 這會阻止敵人 使用他們破壞的燃油能力。 三個德國軍隊參與了攻擊。 Sepp Dietrich的6th SS Panzer Armee 是最強的, 包括剩下的SS Panzer隊伍, 500個戰車, 以及超過1000枚槍。 目標是穿過梅爾河和安特沃。 Hassel von Mannteufel 掌握了5th Panzer Armee, 有400個戰車, 並且有命令建立 Brussels附近的前線。 最後,Eric Brandenberger的7th Army 將掌握南部。 他的軍隊是最弱的三個, 主要是沒有引擎, 也沒有任何戰車。 他的任務是 前往Luxembourg和南部的德國, 並建立防線, 以準備對付 George Patton的3rd US Army的反擊。 7th Army的弱點 是這個計劃的缺點, 因為這意味著整個戰略的 左翼是從一開始就受到威脅的。 在這裡, 一旦被擊敗, 就有可能在北部 受到威脅。 German commanders know this, but they don't have the necessary reserves to alleviate the risk. In total, the Wehrmacht assembles more than 200,000 men in 29 divisions, 9 of which are Panzer divisions. But even the Wehrmacht's own internal assessments admit that most of these divisions have a low combat readiness. Opposing the German strike force are the US 1st Army's 5th Corps under Leonard Garrow, and the US 3rd Army's 8th Corps under Troy Middleton. Allied forces in the region are facing problems of their own. To strengthen their attack against the Ruhr River dams by 1st Army and the 3rd Army's planned strike towards the Saar region, General Omar Bradley has stretched US forces in the Ardennes sector extremely thinly. Another issue is that the troops in the Ardennes include many cavalry groups, light and flexible formations ideally suited to pursue a fleeing enemy, but less capable in static defense or battles in forests. The US Army has not yet adequately converted its order of battle from the quick summer advances to the more static situation that set in during the fall. All in all, roughly 80,000 American soldiers are in the Ardennes sector. So three German armies are ready to fall upon two unsuspecting American corps, and when the weather forecast calls for bad weather, the Germans put their plan into motion. The Germans deploy their troops in great secrecy in November and early December, moving men and supplies at night. There are no cooking fires or movement during the daylight hours. German reconnaissance airplanes fly at low altitude over the deployment area at night to check progress and detect forbidden lights, but also to drown out the noise of vehicle engines. Even though the Allied reconnaissance detects some signs of a German build-up, these are either not transmitted in time or not taken seriously, leaving US forces unprepared. The deployment phase brings yet more problems for the Germans. For fear of discovery, much of the materiel is unloaded too far away. The fact that Hitler and his generals take security concerns more seriously than logistical needs leads to unnecessary supply difficulties. When the offensive begins, the Germans only have around 15,000 tons of artillery ammunition, even though they need 1,200 per day, so the operation will run short after just 10 days. There are also problems with a lack of motorization. 17-year-old gunner Emil Frieh, part of a rocket launcher battery, later recalls, It often happened that one truck towed three launchers. Sometimes the VW Kübelwagen used by the unit commander was also hitched on behind. The whole train then looked more like a circus than a dangerous military unit. Meanwhile, on the other side of the front line, American soldiers are resting. Lieutenant Colonel Daniel B. Strickler remembers, It was supposed to be a quiet sector, as no aggressive fighting by either side had taken place in that area since the initial push to the German border in September. But some of the soldiers did notice strange occurrences, and one GI reports, We're constantly being hit by reconnaissance patrols. All night long, the minute it gets dark, they start shooting to cover the rumble of heavy equipment. There are tanks moving around in position. Something is going on. But there's to be no quiet time for the Americans, as German units get their orders December 15th. Friedrich Schmeichke, a 17-year-old former Navy soldier, remembers that night. The peaceful silence of the bunker was now replaced by restless muttering. There were even comrades who broke out in wild euphoria. Then we had a hot meal, which some ghoulishly called our hangman's meal. Some of the men turned to the liquor rationed to raise their spirits. Hand grenades, Panzerfausts, and extra small arms ammunition was passed out, and we had to lie down and rest while fully dressed. We were to be awakened at 4 o'clock a.m., but that didn't prove necessary since nobody slept. The morning of December 16th, German artillery batteries begin a heavy bombardment in preparation for the assault. Then the German infantry charges forward to clear a path for the tanks. U.S. soldier Charlie Hogg witnesses it all. We experienced what was perhaps the biggest hair-raising scare of our entire Army career. Out of the darkness came the awfulest screaming and yelling you'd ever want to hear. The Germans were coming. They were screaming like a bunch of wild Indians. In the northern sector, the Germans immediately run into problems. Despite their four Panzer divisions, they don't even achieve the first objective of taking Elsenborn Ridge. Since the forest is extremely thick, the Germans can use only a few narrow roads, resulting in a traffic jam. Then they send in the reserves too early in order to try to force a breakthrough which only made things worse. In the central sector, the Germans have more success on the first day. U.S. troops are stretched out extremely thinly, and von Mannteufel's Panzers break through almost everywhere. In the southern sector, the first day brings mixed results. 7th Army spearheads attack across the Uhr and Sauer rivers in assault boats, suffering only light casualties. But due to a lack of bridging equipment and precise U.S. artillery fire, most of the 7th Army remains stuck on the eastern banks of the rivers. As the fighting on the first day finally ends, a GI describes the aftermath in a letter home. Everywhere there's a tangle of shell-shot tree trunks and a litter of prolonged fighting at close quarters. Bits of broken rifles, bayonets, shattered helmets, unexploded hand grenades, fragments of shell, displaced sandbags, broken stretchers, boots and gloves, not quite empty, and shreds of uniform and equipment. At the end of December 16, Allied headquarters still thinks that the attack is a limited operation. The scale becomes apparent the next day, though, when the Wehrmacht launches two special operations. The first is Operation Stöße, an airborne operation to secure important road junctions and bridges ahead of the main advance. But it suffers from insufficient coordination with the ground forces and little preparation time, and in the end, only about 300 German paratroopers make it to the target zone. They hide in the woods for three days, with limited food and water supplies, waiting in vain for support. Survivors then split up and sneak back across the line on the 20th. The second operation, codenamed Operation Greif, is led by Otto Skorzeny. His unit filters through the front line in American uniforms and tries to cause chaos by swapping street signs and cutting telephone lines. But the Americans catch most of the teams quickly and shoot nearly all Skorzeny's men upon capture. German lawyers had assured Skorzeny beforehand that wearing foreign uniforms was legal if no weapons were used. But that was in theory. In reality, shooting enemies who are wearing friendly uniforms is common practice in all armies during the war. Operation Greif officially ends in the evening of December 17, when a frustrated Skorzeny receives permission to use the rest of his unit as a regular brigade instead. So the Germans have launched their desperation offensive. So far, the military results are mixed, and where the Germans do advance, they commit war crimes. The most infamous unit in the offensive is Kampfgruppe Peiper. Its commander, Joachim Peiper, is furious because his unit is behind schedule, and the result is a series of massacres. The men of Kampfgruppe Peiper shoot 19 prisoners at Honsfeld, 59 at Böllingen, 44 at Stumont, and 58 more at Lingeville. Finally, on December 17, near Malmedy, they murder nearly 100 American prisoners just so they don't have to escort those prisoners to the rear. The civilian population also fears the return of the Germans. People in German-speaking eastern Belgium had enthusiastically supported reunification with Nazi Germany back in 1940. But being treated as second-class citizens, people have grown increasingly weary of German rule as the war drags on. Nevertheless, there is still some pro-German sentiment in 1944. There are even reports about local Germans helping the advancing Wehrmacht on the battlefield. Not so in Luxembourg. The discontent with German occupation explodes when the Germans introduce conscription and forced labor in 1942. By 1944, many Luxembourgers have joined the resistance and using their German language skills, gather information which they then pass on to the Americans.In French-speaking Belgium, the people wholeheartedly welcome the Allies in September 1944.As vengeful members of the German security services return in December, many families flee to the west. With Belgian refugees on the move, Allied commanders hold a crisis meeting on December 20. They decide to transfer American forces north of the German breakthrough to British control under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's 21st Army Group. U.S. 12th Army Group commander Omar Bradley is extremely frustrated but grudgingly accepts his orders. Overall, the change allows the Allies to get reinforcements to the battlefield faster and more efficiently. Within a week, 250,000 American soldiers and some British units from XXX Corps arrive in the threatened sector. By December 23, the German advance has slowed down as the element of surprise wears off. The Wehrmacht lacks the logistics and the motorization to carry enough materiel forward on lengthening supply lines. German propaganda film shows a disproportionate number of tanks to mask this problem, but in the Ardennes, their army uses 40 times as many horses as it does tanks. Things get worse for the Germans when the sky turns clear for the first time on December 23. Allied fighter-bombers immediately wreak havoc on the advancing German columns, forcing them to move troops only at night and depriving them of mobility and tactical flexibility. As the poorly equipped German infantry suffers high casualties from American artillery fire, the tanks often have to attack towns alone – a task which they're not suited for. Christmas Eve turns out to be the high-water mark of the whole German attack. Although the German advance starts to grind to a halt on December 24, the Battle of the Bulge is far from over. Back on the 20th, German troops surrounded the important Belgian transport hub of Bastogne, along with roughly 15,000 US troops. American private Joseph Sayek is caught in the trap. Early Tuesday morning, we were surrounded and the Germans began to close in on us. As the day rolled on, the enemy showered us with mortar, artillery, and machine-gun fire. Men were going mad. There was no organization, there was nowhere to go. We were all scared. The Germans plan to take the town in a quick surprise attack, but this fails, since US command also realizes its strategic importance, and they immediately activate the 101st Airborne Division, evidence of US tactical flexibility. The orders go out on December 17, and within two days, more than 3,000 trucks bring 12,000 US troops and supplies to Bastogne. The Germans' first probing attacks on the town fail, so they make the fateful decision to split up. While two panzer divisions continue their advance to the west, the 26th Volksgrenadier Division stays behind to continue the siege. Panzerlehrdivision commander Fritz Beyerlein regrets this move after the war. It was one of the greatest mistakes that Bastogne, on failure of the coup, was not immediately captured by a concentrated attack of all our forces. If this had been done, it would have certainly fallen. Because the Germans don't have enough artillery ammunition to destroy the US defenders, the Germans decide to try a bluff on December 22. They demand that the encircled US forces surrender, but US commander Anthony McAuliffe famously rejects this ultimatum with a single word – nuts. The same day that McAuliffe tells off the Germans at Bastogne, Patton's 3rd Army starts to move north towards the besieged town, but it remains unclear exactly when they'll be able to help. The first relief for the defenders appears on December 23, when 240 Douglas C-47 transport planes drop more than 230 tons of supplies into the town. In the following days, the Germans launch increasingly desperate but futile attacks to take the town, while Patton's relief force works its way closer and closer. Patton's army finally lifts the siege on the 27th, when they smash through the disintegrating and starving 5th Fallschirmjäger Division. The US tanks roll right through the German positions, all guns blazing, and establish contact with the encircled US paratroopers. The Wehrmacht launches counterattacks against the small relief corridor, but they fail. 3rd US Army pushes on past Bastogne and links up with 1st Army forces coming from the north at Ruffalies on January 16, marking the end of the Battle for Bastogne. 20,000 Americans, including 4,500 from the 101st Airborne alone, and 25,000 Germans die in a battle fought for a town with a peacetime population of just 4,000 people at the junction of seven roads. But of course, the Battle of the Bulge extends far beyond the dramatic siege at Bastogne. With strategic initiative back with the Allies, the Americans strike back to regain their lost positions. And they have a lot of firepower. Artillery and fighter bombers systematically bomb German-held villages to the ground, before combined-arms US forces clear them of any resistance. German morale starts to crumble under the relentless pounding. Those who continue to fight are increasingly desperate, sometimes forcing civilians or prisoners to help them dig trenches or prepare defenses. In the midst of the fighting, on January 1, 1945, US forces commit a war crime after storming the heavily defended Hamlet of Chenoyne. Sergeant John Fage describes the events. I know some of our boys were lining up German prisoners in the fields on both sides of the road. They must have been 25 or 30 German boys in each group. These boys were to be machine-gunned and murdered. We were committing the same crimes we were now accusing the Japs and Germans of doing. I turned my back on the scene and walked on up the hill. The same day, the Germans launch yet another special operation, Operation Bodenplatte, this time by the Luftwaffe. All operational fighter planes on the Western Front are to take off simultaneously, attack Allied airfields, and destroy all enemy aircraft on the ground. Shortly after daybreak, about 1,000 German airplanes take to the air. The pilots are excited by the magnitude of it all. I was amazed myself. The sky was full of machines. The civilians stood there frozen. When we flew over the front, the soldiers also stood there and marveled. We were all flying low. The excitement amongst the German pilots is short-lived, as Luftwaffe chief Hermann Göring issues brutal orders. Whoever returns without having effectively attacked the enemy airfield or whoever fails to find it shall immediately take off again and fly another attack. This is a disastrous order, since German pilots making a second run no longer have the element of surprise. Another problem is coordination with ground forces, which results in a number of friendly fire incidents. Fuel shortages made worse by long approach distances also hamper the success of the operation. In total, the Germans lose more than 300 aircraft. The Allies lose 260 planes, but they can replace their losses quickly, while the Germans cannot replace theirs at all. The fighting continues in the first weeks of January as the Allies slowly push forward against stubborn German resistance. The Germans finally acknowledge their defeat on January 10th, when German high command pulls three panzer divisions out of the front line to send them east to Hungary. Starting on the 12th, when the Red Army launches its winter offensive on the Vistula River, Wehrmacht forces in the Ardennes are weakened even further. The Germans divert all available reserves to the east, which stabilizes just 70 km from Berlin when the Soviets outrun their supply lines. From now on, the remaining German forces in the Bulge are reduced to rearguard actions alone. On January 28th, the US Army officially declares the Battle of the Bulge to be over. The Ardennes Campaign costs the Americans about 8,600 dead, 21,000 missing, and 47,000 wounded, plus 20,000 cases of non-battle casualties like frostbite and trench foot. The Germans lose about 15,500 men killed, 27,500 missing or captured, and 42,000 wounded. More than 2,500 Belgian and 500 Luxembourg civilians also perish. Most are shot by pillaging German soldiers or by the German security services, but about 1,000 die as a consequence of Allied air raids on German-held villages. The towns and villages of the region are devastated, and it takes years to rebuild the infrastructure, recover the bodies of the fallen soldiers, and clear unexploded ordnance. The Ardennes Offensive ends in a clear German defeat after a month of hard fighting. But was there ever a chance for the German battle plan to succeed? The German offensive suffered from severe structural weaknesses. Supplies were insufficient and unloaded too far away from the front. Most of the units involved were only told about the attack the night before it started, so they had no chance to conduct a proper reconnaissance of terrain and enemy strength, and they attacked blindly. These two factors show the German leadership's increasing paranoia prioritizing secrecy over proper preparation. Another mistake was that the best German units were assigned to Dietrich's SS Panzer Army in the northern sector, even though that's where they expected the strongest Allied resistance. This is contrary to common military wisdom, according to which the units that face the least resistance should be the ones that are reinforced. This can allow one to expand a breakthrough at a weaker point and achieve an encirclement of the enemy without having to expose your own soldiers to attrition. The reasons for this German mistake were in part political. Hitler had lost confidence in the regular army after the assassination attempt against him and instead relied heavily on the Waffen-SS. But the Waffen-SS suffered from a lack of planning efficiency and ideology-driven presumptions, so its troops were not used efficiently. But even if the Waffen-SS units had fought smarter, the success of the operation also relied on factors that were out of German control, like bad weather and capturing enemy fuel depots. It remains unclear how the Germans planned to outmaneuver the Americans to reach the depots before them, despite being far less motorized. By late 1944, the German army was no match for its enemies. It was mostly last-ditch levies equipped with outdated weaponry and lacking logistics. It could not stand a prolonged offensive, since the German war industry was running out of resources and could not supply the German army with the material needed to replace its own losses. One of the most decisive factors was the complete Allied air superiority once the weather cleared, which cut German supply lines and logistical hubs, and provided fire support for Allied ground troops. Hitler's political objectives for the offensive were also doomed to fail. There could be no compromised peace with the Western Allies, since they'd already agreed with the Soviets on a post-war plan for Germany and not to sign a separate peace. Given all these factors, the German offensive was doomed from the start and never had a chance of success. The Battle of the Bulge was a total German defeat on the tactical and strategic and political levels. The Nazis severely underestimated both American strength and will to fight, and overestimated the Wehrmacht's capabilities. The Ardennes Offensive and the waste of Germany's last reserves only ensured that the war would drag on for a little longer and quicken the Red Army's advance on Berlin. After the Battle of the Bulge, the Western Allies regroup and strike into the industrial heartland of Germany in February and March 1945, in the last set-piece battle on the western front of World War II, the Rhineland Campaign. In the Battle for the Rhine, a combined British and American force would fight their way across the German border towards the mighty Rhine River. To cross this last big natural obstacle before the German heartland, the Allies combined a huge amphibious crossing with the biggest single-day airborne operation of the entire war. If you want to learn more about this often-overlooked campaign, you can watch Rhineland 45, our five-part, three-and-a-half-hour documentary series on the offensive. Filmed on the former battlefields using detailed maps and animations, together with expert guests like Christoph Bergs or David Willey from the Tank Museum, and featuring a veteran interview, Rhineland 45 is the most detailed documentary about the Rhineland Campaign. Because we show the war as it really happened, this series is not available on YouTube because it would get immediately demonetized. Instead, Rhineland 45 is available on Nebula, a streaming platform that we built together with other creators where we don't have to worry about YouTube's content restrictions. If you go to nebula.tv and sign up, you can get Nebula and save 40%. For just $3 a month or $30 a year, you can watch our videos and Nebula Originals, or other smart creators like Mustard or Real Engineering, and all of that ad-free and earlier than on YouTube, while you also support us directly. That's nebula.tv slash Realtime History. We want to thank David Lang for his help with this episode. If you're watching this video on Patreon or Nebula, thank you so much for the support. We couldn't produce videos like this without you. If you want to watch another video about a dramatic late WWII battle, you can also check out our YouTube video about the Battle of Iwo Jima. I'm Jesse Alexander, and this is a production of Realtime History, the only YouTube history channel that won't fall on its knees when reaching the Meuse River.