The Battle of the Argentan-Falaise Gap demonstrated that General Patton was not just capable of executing the blitzkrieg strategy to perfection but also revealed that he knew how to utilize the tactic better than any other Allied General. General Patton bragged in his diary on August 14, 1944, that, It is really a great plan – Battle of Argentan-Falaise Gap -, wholly my own, and I made Bradley think that he thought of it. (51) Patton was the mastermind behind the pincer movements that would have led to the encirclement of the German army at Argentan – Falaise. Despite that, most of the credit for the operation went to General Bradley, since Bradley was the commander in charge of the whole Allied forces.
The war continued, much to Patton’s satisfaction. The Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 was one of the most pivotal battles in the European Theater during World War II. It marked the final German attempt at a counteroffensive. The Battle of the Bulge would offer Patton the opportunity to use his modified Blitzkrieg strategy without having to wait for orders from his superiors. On December 16, 1944, having rebuilt some of their forces after the Battle of the Argentan – Falaise Gap and the race all through France and Belgium, the Germans were intent on achieving a victory. Led by most of their highest-ranking officers, Sepp Dietrich (SS-Oberstgruppenführer – 6.Panzer-Army); General Erich Brandenberger (7.Army); General Hasso von Manteuffel (5.Panzer-Army), the Germans were tasked with reclaiming as much European territory as possible through a surprise Blitzkrieg attack. (52) Adolf Hitler drafted personally a blitzkrieg plan that would swiftly defeat Allied troops in Europe. Dietrich, Manteuffel, Brandenberger, and their cohorts met resistance as they attempted to move west across Europe. Many of the roads in the region were either narrow or broken, slowing the Nazi’s plans for a fast-moving offensive. (53)
While originally caught off guard by the German surprise counterattack, by December 26, just ten days after the Germans launched their offensive, the Allies had effectively stopped the German troops and began their own counterattack. (54) In an eerily identical fashion, the Allies planned for Gen William H. Simpson’s Ninth Army and Gen Miles Dempsey British Second Army (Gen Bernard Montgomery British 21st Army Group), to advance their troops south and meet up with General Patton’s Third Army. The goal of the counterattack was to ‘form a giant noose around the German positions’ in order to prevent any escape of German forces from the pocket. (55) After receiving his orders, Patton moved his Third Army rapidly north in an effort to meet the midpoint as quickly as possible and to block any escape route. Alan Axelrod in his Encyclopedia of World War II comments that The speed and efficiency with which Patton carried out this change in direction was one of the most remarkable tactical achievements of the entire war, and it spelled the beginning of the end of the German offensive. (56)
As the map indicates, General Patton and Montgomery were seeking to enclose and trap the German forces that had advanced far west. Once again, the German forces had fallen right into the Allied’s trap. By advancing so far west, the German lines were exposed and difficult to defend. Patton had deployed the pincer movements of the blitzkrieg strategy to move rapidly through France, enabling him to plug any hole through which the Germans might escape. Unfortunately for General Patton, his second chance at a complete encirclement of the German army would prove unsuccessful. Heavy snow storms blocked the pathways that General Patton and Montgomery were planning to use. (57) It became impossible for the Allied forces to rapidly move their tank units. While the Allied Generals had intended to join forces by January 3, 1945, it wasn’t until January 16th that General Patton and General Montgomery were able to fully enclose the German army. (58)
By that point, a significant portion of the German troops had already fled. Despite this, the Allied armies under Patton were incredibly successful. They captured or killed one-fifth of the German soldiers involved in the Battle of the Bulge offensive. The German army also lost much of its heavy equipment in this battle. Deep snow prevented the Germans from retreating with their tanks or heavy weapons, many of which were either destroyed by the Allies or left behind. (59) While General Patton did not get to execute his modified blitzkrieg strategy as he would have liked to, he still was able to defeat the final German offensive and at the same time inflict massive damage. Due to the loss of their equipment and a significant drop in morale after the Battle of the Bulge, the German army would never attempt another offensive attack against the Allies again. After the decisive counteroffensive in the Belgian Ardennes, the German army was relegated solely to defensive warfare.
At the end of the war, the German Generals commented that General Patton had executed the German blitzkrieg tactics better than the German army. German General Heinz Guderian, often credited with being the first practitioner of the modern Blitzkrieg, told his Allied captors, From the standpoint of a tank specialist, I must congratulate Patton for his victory since he acted as I should have done had I been in his place. (60) In a short span of only a few years, General Patton rose through the ranks of the Allied army by adopting and implementing a strategy of continuous battlefield aggression. The German Blitzkrieg incorporated rapid attack-style tactics and blended that quickness with unsuspected and fast-paced troop movements to gain battlefield advantages. Patton adopted these aggressive Blitzkrieg tactics for use by his Third Army. No one should be surprised. Patton was an aggressive person. He was brash. He instilled order in his troops and demanded obedience in even the smallest details like grooming. These same personality traits and characteristics infused the battlefield philosophies reflected in Blitzkrieg’s tactics. It is no wonder, then, that Patton rode the Blitzkrieg to victory in Europe.
(51) George S. Patton Papers: Diaries, 1910 to 1945; Annotated transcripts; 1943 to 1945; 1944, Aug. 1-Nov. 29 1 of 2. 1944. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/mss35634034/. 28 Apr. 2017. (52) Yeide, Harry. “Patton: The German View”. HistoryNet. N.p., 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2017. (53) Yeide, Harry. “Patton: The German View”. HistoryNet. N.p., 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2017. (54) Yeide, Harry. “Patton: The German View”. HistoryNet. N.p., 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2017. (55) “Defeat Of Hitler: Battle Of The Bulge”. The History Place. N.p., 2010. Web. 28 Apr. 2017. (56) Axelrod, Alan. “Encyclopedia of World War II, Volume 1”. Volume 1. H.W. Folwer. 2007, Online.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adwar, Corey. 6 Badass Lines From Patton’S Famously Vulgar Speech. Task & Purpose. N.p., 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2017
Altman, William H. F. The German Stranger
Astore, William. American Blitzkrieg – The U.S. Military’s German Fetish”. Southern Cross Review. N.p., 2010.
Atkinson, Rick. The War In Sicily And Italy
Axelrod, Alan. Encyclopedia of World War II, Volume 1
Carpenter, Col Douglas C. A Failure of Coalition Leadership: Falaise-Argentan Gap. Strategy Research Project. N.p., 2002
Defeat Of Hitler: Battle Of The Bulge. The History Place. N.p., 2010. Web. 28 Apr. 2017
DeLauder, Maj Braden P. The Falaise Pocket N.p., 2002
Gifford, Jonathan. Taking The Offensive: Patton and… Elizabeth Garrett Anderson”. Jonathangifford.com. N.p., 2011
Granier, Major Thomas R. “ANALYSIS OF OPERATION COBRA AND THE FALAISE GAP MANEUVERS IN WORLD WAR II”. Air Command and Staff College. N.p., 1985
Higgins, George A. Operational Tenets Of Generals Heinz Guderian And George S. Patton, Jr USACGSC, 1985. Print
McKay, Brett. “The Obligation Of Being An Officer By George Patton”. The Art of Manliness. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Apr. 2017
Patton, George S. Papers: Diaries, 1910 to 1945; Annotated transcripts; 43/45; 1944, Aug. 1-Nov. 29 1 of 2. 1944. Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/mss35634034/. 28 Apr. 2017
Province, Charles. “George S.Patton”. Patton-mania.com. Web. 28 Apr. 2017.
Province, Charles. “The Famous Patton Speech”. Pattonhq.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 28 Apr. 2017.
Rabieh, Linda R. Plato And The Virtue Of Courage. 1st ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. Print
Robere, Bruce. “General Patton Quotes”. Tankmastergunner.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Apr. 2017
Sanderson, Jeffrey. General George S. Patton, Jr: Master Of Operational Battle Command. What Lasting Battle Command Lessons Can We Learn From Him?. 1st ed. [United States]: Army Command and General Staff College Fort Leavenworth Kansas School of Advanced Military Studies, 1997. Print
Staff. “Blitzkrieg – History And Present Form”. Longwood.edu. N.p., 2003. Web. 28 Apr. 2017
Yeide, Harry. “Patton: The German View”. HistoryNet. N.p., 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2017
Zabecki, David T. Germany At War: 400 Years Of Military History [4 Volumes]: 400 Years Of Military History. 1st ed. Birmingham: University of Birmingham, 2014. Print
