The Siege of Bastogne took place in Germany in 1944. It was part of the last major German offensive campaign during World War II, called the Battle of the Bulge, which involved 250,000 German forces and 80,000 American forces. Germany's main objective during this operation was to capture the port city of Antwerp, Belgium. The Battle of Bastogne occurred when German forces attacked American forces defending Bastogne, Belgium, which was an important highway junction. This battle took place over seven days and lasted from December 20 to 27. Throughout the Battle of the Bulge, the largest battle of the Western Front, the Germans attempted to push American forces from northern France into northwest Belgium. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why violent video games should not be banned'?Get the original essayThe Allied forces thought the Ardennes forest was too thick for the Germans to cross, so they did not expect to an attack. However, the Allied forces were running out of steam, providing an unguarded area for German forces to infiltrate the American lines. The fog was so thick that it prevented Allied air cover from detecting German movements. An additional difficulty for the Americans was that they could not be resupplied during the thick fog, so they had to use the equipment they had very judiciously. Due to the extremely cold temperatures, certain precautions had to be taken with their weapons, vehicles had to be driven very frequently to ensure that the oil would not coagulate or turn into a solid. The constant zero-degree temperatures the soldiers fought in caused them to get frostbite. There was so much snow that they had difficulty seeing, even 10 or 20 meters in front of them. American soldiers' uniforms were not made for extremely cold temperatures and in some cases they froze to death. Before their major attack, English-speaking German forces infiltrated American lines in order to pose as American soldiers. These German soldiers were issued American uniforms, weapons, and vehicles, making it difficult for the Americans to identify them because they could not tell the difference between enemy and friend. German soldiers acting as American soldiers changed street signs, cut communication lines, and gathered intelligence. This confused American soldiers and caused them to be wary of traitors. Even after the Americans discovered they were German forces, some Americans were questioned to ensure they were not German forces. Numerous German troops, as well as 1,000 tanks, attacked a distance of 120 kilometers in front of the Ardennes. The four divisions stationed in the area were still recovering from past operations. They were extremely tired and some were still training or completely untrained. Some of these troops were the American 99th and 106th Golden Lions Divisions. They had lost so many soldiers that recruiters brought in African American soldiers to serve as reinforcements. For a short period of the battle, the troops were desegregated. This was the only battle where the army allowed integrated combat. The United States experienced its second largest troop surrender during the war. More than 7,500 members of the 106th Infantry Division surrendered simultaneously at the Schnee Eifel. There.”