Operation Zahnarzt

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Operation Zahnart (literally "Dentist") was a plan by the Germans to eliminate the 3rd Army of the United States. The plan of Operation Zahnart was to immediately follow up Operation Nordwind. This would encircle and destroy the 3rd US Army Division.

[edit] Overview

The attacks began in late December and continued into early January. In the days that followed the Germans saw their small advances continuously eroded by repeated counterstrikes from the 44th, 100th, and 63rd Division infantry supported by the French 2nd Armored Division. Allied artillery and air attacks (when the weather broke), together with the harshness of the weather, also diminished the momentum the attackers by cutting off its already thin supply lines. Thus the Germans were forced to call off the operation on January 4. Zahnart was one of the last major offensives by the Germans during the remainder of the war.