Editing Battle of the Bulge (section)

===Germans advance west===
[[File:GERMAN TROOPS ADVANCING PAST ABANDONED AMERICAN EQUIPMENT.jpg|thumb|German troops advancing past abandoned American equipment]]

By the evening the spearhead had pushed north to engage the U.S. 99th Infantry Division and ''Kampfgruppe'' Peiper arrived in front of [[Stavelot]]. Peiper's forces were already behind his timetable because of the stiff American resistance and because when the Americans fell back, their engineers blew up bridges and emptied fuel dumps. Peiper's unit was delayed and his vehicles denied critically needed fuel. They took 36 hours to advance from the [[Eifel]] region to Stavelot, while the same advance required nine hours in 1940.{{citation needed|date=February 2010}}

''Kampfgruppe'' Peiper attacked Stavelot on 18 December but was unable to capture the town before the Americans evacuated a large fuel depot.{{sfn|Bouwmeester|2004|p=106}} Three tanks attempted to take the bridge, but the lead vehicle was disabled by a mine. Following this, 60 grenadiers advanced forward but were stopped by concentrated American defensive fire. After a fierce tank battle the next day, the Germans finally entered the town when U.S. engineers failed to blow the bridge.

Capitalizing on his success and not wanting to lose more time, Peiper rushed an advance group toward the vital bridge at [[Trois-Ponts]], leaving the bulk of his strength in Stavelot. When they reached it at 11:30 on 18 December, retreating U.S. engineers blew it up.{{sfn|Bouwmeester|2004|p=107}}{{sfn|Toland|1999|pp=103, 104}} Peiper detoured north towards the villages of [[La Gleize]] and Cheneux. At Cheneux, the advance guard was attacked by American fighter-bombers, destroying two tanks and five halftracks, blocking the narrow road. The group began moving again at dusk at 16:00 and was able to return to its original route at around 18:00. Of the two bridges remaining between ''Kampfgruppe'' Peiper and the Meuse, the bridge over the Lienne was blown by the Americans as the Germans approached. Peiper turned north and halted his forces in the woods between La Gleize and [[Stoumont]].{{sfn|Bouwmeester|2004|p=108}} He learned that Stoumont was strongly held and that the Americans were bringing up strong reinforcements from [[Spa, Belgium|Spa]].

To Peiper's south, the advance of ''Kampfgruppe'' Hansen had stalled. SS-''Oberführer'' [[Wilhelm Mohnke|Mohnke]] ordered ''Schnellgruppe'' Knittel, which had been designated to follow Hansen, to instead move forward to support Peiper. SS-''Sturmbannführer'' Knittel crossed the bridge at Stavelot around 19:00 against American forces trying to retake the town. Knittel pressed forward towards La Gleize, and shortly afterward the Americans recaptured Stavelot. Peiper and Knittel both faced the prospect of being cut off.{{sfn|Bouwmeester|2004|p=108}}