The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-12-29
Nazis Ready For
 Offensive Threat
tcontinued from Page lo

campign held the promise of turn ing an American disaster into the greatest victory" called for by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in his order of the day last week.
 But headquarters revealed it was made at a great cost. When the Third Arlny'S armored divisions were shelled northward to reinforce the were forced to abandon the Saar river bridgehead at Dillingen, which took two weeks of bloody fighting to establish.
 That withdrawal was believed to have been one of the primary ob- jectives of Field Marshal Karl Won Rundstedt's offensive and, which thwarted in his drive on Liege and Antwerp, the Nag icommander had achieved a limited success.
 United Press War Correspondent Robert Richards disclosed in dis patch from the Third Army front that Patton'S battle plan was made and his troops were on the move a few hours after receipt of Eisen- howc-'s order.
 In the first six days of their counter-a attack, Patton's troops roll ed the German flank back five to 10 miles, captured 5,531 Nazis and destroyed well over 100 enemy tanks, in addition to relieving the sur- rounded 101st airborne division and other first army units at Bastogne.
 The l0lst airborne, whose Con- mander, Maj. Gen. Maxwell D. Tay- Tor, flew from Washington on Christmas Eve to join his encircled troops, was reported to have at tached itself to the Third army for the drive northward.
 Headquarters said the combined forces held wedge jutting deep in- to the waist of the German Salient, averaging about mile across around in the vicinity of Bastogne and abou tthree miles wide at the base.
 Simultaneously, the Americans cleared the Germans form Hompre and Salvacourt, four and three miles south-southwes tof Bastogne, and drove into an adjacent foreSted area north of Assenois. They also had reached the outskirts of Sibret. foul miles southwest of Bastogne, early Thursday, and heavy fighting was reported continuing in that sec tor
 Pattons troops also hammered out important gains on the eastern flank of Bastogne, driving across the Sure river on a broad front to capture eight Luxembourg villages on an arc extending from five miles south- southeast to 10 miles southeast of that town.
 The newly-won positions included Sainlex, Livarchamps, Sure, Boul- aide, Baschleiden, Bavigne, Kaun- dorf and Mecher-Dunkredt.
 Farther to the east, the Third army crossed the Sure at ESch, and extended its positions south of the river on a 12-mile arc between Die kirch and Echternach. They also reached the Sure river line at three points east of Echternach, including the border town of Rosport.
 Fierce fighting was continuing along the northern shoulder of the Ardennes Salient and field dis patches said the Germans were pull ins back from the Grandmenil- Manhay sector under heavy Ameri- can fire.
 It. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges First Army troops routed the Nazis from both towns after two days and nights of bloody street fighting and at last reports the enemy was being showed slowly Southward, battling furiously for chance to dig in and hold.
 Grandmenil had been one of the main initial objectieS of Rundstedt's drive as springboard for the ex- pected push northward to Liege and the First Army counter-blow ap- peared to have beaten the enemy at his strongest point.
 A dozen miles to the southeast, the Germans attempted several To- cal attacks against the northwest ern shoulder of the corridor on the Menil and Marenne sectors near Marche, but were thrown back with heavy losses.
 Other American forces recaptured Humaine, four miles southwest of Marche and three miles northeast of Rochefort. The Americans broke into the town two days ago from the south and west and cleared the enemy at bayonet point. Around on the southwestern tip of the German bulge, other Panzer Spearheads were being contained in the St. Hubert area 15 miles due west of Bastogne. Advices from the front said the Nazis along that sec- tor had abandoned. at least for the moment, any thought of further advance and were trying to eStab- fish strong defensive positions.
 Radio Berlin said "A Allied di- visions now were in action on the Ardennes battlefield, g American units and the British 51st High lander Division, the latter. according to the enemy, fighting on the ex- treme western end of the Salient. Elsewhere on the western front, brisk patrol clashes were continuing in the British Second Army and