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The Battle of Heartbreak Crossroads was fought at a vital crossroads near a forester's cabin named Wehlerscheid, astride the West Wall that ran along the Hoefen-Alzen and Dreiborn ridges, about north of Krinkelt-Rocherath, Belgium. In early December, the U.S. V Corps trucked the experienced 2nd Infantry Division from positions it had held in the south to Krinkelt-Rocherath, twin villages adjacent to Elsenborn Ridge and near the southern tip of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest. On the eastern side of the West Wall was an excellent road network leading to the Roer River dams a few miles to the northeast and the Allies' next goal. The Americans were assigned with capturing the crossroads with the goal of destroying the dams, or failing that, force the Germans to blow them up.〔 The dams were important to the Germans because they could be used defensively to control the flow and depth of the Roer River, blocking and delaying Allied advances. During the first two days of the battle, the Americans failed to advance and experienced significant losses. On the third day a platoon infiltrated the German lines and late on 15 December, the U.S. troops captured the crossroads. On 16 December, the German Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein offensive threatened to cut the American's rear lines and they were forced to withdraw to the twin villages. The villages lay astride a key rollbahn to the west that the Germans wanted to capture in their attack west towards Antwerp. This turned into the Battle of Elsenborn Ridge, which was the only portion of the Battle of the Bulge where the Allies didn't yield to the Germans. == Geography == From Krinkelt-Rocherath, a two-lane secondary road passed north through the Monschau Forest to the Wehlerscheid crossroads, which was guarded by a constellation of 25 concrete pillboxes girding both sides of the road. The Germans had cleared the ground near the crossroads of trees to give their troops a clear field of fire, and laced the area with antipersonnel mines and masses of barbed wire six to ten deep.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=https://ia802605.us.archive.org/22/items/FromD1To105/FromD1To105.pdf )〕 On about December 12, the 2nd ID was brought to the rear of the yet untested 99th ID on Elsenborn Ridge and passed through their lines headed for the Wehlerscheid crossroads. The 2nd ID's commanding officer, General Walter M. Robertson, directed the 9th Infantry Regiment to attack along the only road, capture the junction, and then swing northeast to clear German forces along the Hoefen-Alzen ridge. He ordered the 38th Infantry Regiment to attack northeast from the road junction along the Dreiborn ridge, in the direction of the Roer River dams. The 23rd Infantry was held in reserve. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Heartbreak Crossroads」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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