The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-01-05
German Pressure At Forces Retreat
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 yards or less. the Anglo American drive was proceeding on line roughly parallel with the St. With La Roche highway and at least three spearheads were within one to three miles of the road yester- day.
 A breakthrough across the high way would cut one of the few good roads in the Ardennes over which the Germans could extricate their divisions if 1t should become neces- Sary to quit the salient.
 Montgomery's combined armies were cutting through the German flank without benefit of air sup port early today, but the blizzard that slowed their drive yesterday had abated and there was some hope that the Allied tactical air forces might be able to join the bat tie later in the day.
 At least 1900 prisoners were rounded up by the Anglo American forces Wednesday and Thursday and another 600 were taken in the Posse area six miles southwest of Stavelot today when First Army troops smashed a fair sized German counter thrust.
 At another point two miles south east of Malmedy, 6 hite-caped German patrol broke into the American lines with Q wild burst of gunfire and grenade throwing, but the Nazis were routed in short or der
 Recalling slowly before the AL jed power in the north, the Ger mans also had lost the initiative on their southern flank after a brief period in which they forced Patton's troops back on the defensive around Bastogne.
 The GemanS threw in r unsuc- cessful counter attacks on the third Army front during the past 24 hours, with their heaviest blows falling on the lOlst Airborne Division in the Longchamps area four miles north Of Bastogne. In two attacks short ly after midday yesterday the Ger mans struck with IS to 18 tanks and a regiment of infantry, per- haps 5000 men, but they were cut down by heavy American fire. A third counter attack of equal strength was smashed in the champs sector four miles northeast of Bas- togne.
 Bitter cold and heavy snowfalls on some sectors of the Third Army front hampered Pattons advance, but front dispatches said the Amer leans won small gains on l5-mile arc north and west of Bastogne.
 The biggest announced g&ia yes- terday was 6 one-mile advance in the tillet area about six miles west or Bastogne. On the Third Army's western flank, other units ran into stiff opposition two miles south Of St. Hubert.
 Third Army Stalled
 Strong German resistance also stalled the Third Army push at most points east and southeast of BaStogne. although the Americans cleared the northern edge of Lutre- boiS, three miles to the southeast, and captured an unidentified road junction area three miles farther to the south. Heavy but indeciSive fighting was continuing just south of MwiltZ, 10 miles southeast of Bastogne.
 The counter-attacks cost the Ger mans at least g of 100 tanks thrown into the battle yesterday, making a total Of 430 NaZ tanks knocked out on the Third Army front, more than half enemy's original armored force on that flank.
 Today's Shaef communique did not confirm the German claims of a breakthrough on the Seventh Army front to the southeast. The com munique said American artillery broke up small force Of German infantry attacking Seventh Army positions in theLudweiler area west of Saarbrucken and that a similar thrust was turned back south of Bliesbrucken. east Of Sarreguemines
 Farther to the south, enemy units that penetrated to Gros Rederchin- gen and Achen were driven back and in the Bitche area only "re- peated Small-scale attacks" and in- filtration thrusts by the Germans were reported. Immediately south of Bitche. the Americans recap tured the village of Meisenthal which had changed hands several times in the past week, and hard fighting was continuing around the nearby towns of Philippsbourg and Baerenthal.
 It. Gen. Jacob l.. Devers, cam mander of the Franco American Sixth Army group, intimated. how ever, that the German thrusts in the Saar- Rhine sector were broadening into G sizeable cotmter-offensiVe.
 Tn a special order Of the day Devers told his troops that the Ger man advance out of the Siegfried Line Qualifications has created an opportunity for a decisive" Allied victory.
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