Editing Malmedy massacre (section)

== German advance to the west ==
=== German attack ===
{{Campaignbox Battle of the Bulge}}
[[File:BaugnezCrossroads1.JPG|thumb|right|upright=1.35|Route of the Waffen-SS {{lang|de|Kampfgruppe Peiper}}: the black circle near the center indicates the Baugnez crossroads where {{lang|de|Waffen-SS}} soldiers killed 84 U.S. Army POWs, in a massacre at Malmedy, Belgium, on 17 December 1944]]

In December 1944, for the [[Battle of the Bulge|Ardennes Counteroffensive]] the Germans' initial, strategic position was east of the German-Belgium border and the [[Siegfried Line]], near the town of Losheim, Belgium. To realize the German advance to the west, SS General Dietrich planned for the 6th SS Panzer Army to advance northwest, through Losheimergraben and Bucholz Station, and then drive {{convert|72|mi}} through the towns of Honsfeld and Büllingen, and through the villages of [[Trois-Ponts]], to then reach Belgian Route Nationale N23, and then cross the River [[Meuse]].<ref name=kershaw/>{{rp|70}}

For their part in the German advance to the west, {{lang|de|Kampfgruppe Peiper}} was to travel the Lanzerath-Losheimergraben road and advance onto the town of Losheimergraben, immediately following the {{lang|de|Waffen-SS}} infantry tasked to capture the villages and towns immediately west of the International Highway. A destroyed bridge thwarted Peiper's tactical plan; earlier in 1944, the retreating Germans had destroyed the Losheim-Losheimergraben bridge over the railroad, which in mid-December 1944 prevented {{lang|de|Kampfgruppe Peiper}} from traveling that route to their objective — the town of Losheimergraben.

Moreover, Peiper's alternative route also was thwarted, because the selected railroad overpass bridge could not bear the weight of armored military vehicles. In the event, the German combat engineers were slow to repair the damaged [[roadway]] of the Losheim-Losheimergraben road, which delay detoured the convoy of tanks and armored vehicles of {{lang|de|Kampfgruppe Peiper}} onto the road through the town of Lanzerath enroute to Bucholz Station.<ref name=cavanagh2005>{{cite book|last=Cavanagh |first=William |title=The Battle East of Elsenborn |publisher=Pen & Sword Books |location=City |year= 2005 |isbn=1-84415-126-3}}</ref>{{rp|34}}

=== American counter-attack ===
The Germans were surprised that the Ardennes Counteroffensive on the northern front — the frontline "bulge" in the Battle of the Bulge — met much resistance from the U.S. Army; for most of a day, an American reconnaissance platoon of 22 soldiers (18 infantrymen and four [[artillery observer]]s) battled and delayed approximately 500 {{lang|de|Waffen-SS}} paratroops in the village of [[Battle of Lanzerath Ridge|Lanzerath]], Belgium.<ref name=cavanagh2005/>{{rp|34}} The reconnaissance platoon's defense of the village halted the {{lang|de|Kampfgruppe Peiper}} convoy of tanks and armored vehicles for almost an entire day, slowing its advance towards the River Meuse and the city of Antwerp; the delay allowed the U.S. Army time to reinforce against the expected attacks by the ''Waffen-SS''.<ref name=kershaw>{{cite book|title=The Longest Winter: The Battle of the Bulge and the Epic Story of World War II's Most Decorated Platoon |last=Kershaw|first=Alex |page=330 | publisher=Da Capo Press |date=30 October 2005 |isbn =0-306-81440-4}}</ref>

At dusk, the German 9th Parachute Regiment ([[3rd Parachute Division (Germany)|3rd Parachute Division]]) out-flanked and captured the American reconnaissance platoon as they withdrew for want of ammunition to continue the fight — halting the progress of ''Kampfgruppe Peiper'' through the village of Lanzerath. In that battle, the ''Waffen-SS'' paratroops killed one of the artillery observers and wounded 14 of the other American soldiers. Upon capturing the American reconnaissance platoon, the paratroops paused their attack out of caution, believing that a greater force of American infantry and tanks was hiding in the woods. For more than 12 hours, the over-cautious soldiers of the 9th Parachute Regiment did not act until the midnight arrival of Peiper's tanks to Lanzerath; then the ''Waffen-SS'' paratroops explored and found no American soldiers in the woods.<ref name=kershaw/>