Editing Malmedy massacre (section)

=== 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/>