under the command of Generalmajor Günther Hoffmann-Schönborn patrolled the Schnee Eifel area. On December 16th at 4:00 a.m., they took the twenty-two foot macadam road following the Our River valley towards Manderfield. The route terminated at several vital crossroads in the city of St. Vith. The 5th Panzer Army planned to bypass St. Vith to the north. Advance delayed On the German side of the Siegfried Line, the Germans positioned their troops and armor around and to the east of the village of Losheim. On December 16, 1944, at 5:30 a.m., the Germans launched a 90-minute artillery barrage using 1,600 artillery pieces across an front. The infantry of the 9th Fallschirmjaeger Regiment, 3rd Fallschirmjaeger Division led the way through the Losheim Gap, tasked with clearing American resistance along the Main Line of Resistance. To spare the armor, they operated in advance of Kampfgruppe SS Standartenführer Joachim Peiper's 1st SS Panzer Division, the spearhead of SS Oberstgruppenführer Sepp Dietrich’s Sixth Panzer Army. The infantry would then secure the right flank of the attack route near Losheimergraben. The 12th Volksgrenadier Division reached Losheimgraben at 7:00 a.m. East of Losheim, Kampfgruppe Peiper expected to reach Losheimgraben by 8:00 a.m., but the tanks were held up for most of the morning of December 16 on the Blankenheim-Schnied road which was congested with horse-drawn artillery, infantrymen, and numerous other vehicles. Peiper himself tried to sort out the mess at one crossroads. For unknown reasons German engineers did not begin repairing the first of the railroad overpasses on the Losheim-Losheimergraben road until nearly noon, and the second was not repaired until December 17. When Peiper got word that the overpass would not be repaired in time for his advance, he chose to move west through Lanzerath. He was frustrated and angry that the 9th Fallschirmjaeger Regiment had yet to report that the road was clear. The 500 troops of the 1st Battalion, 9th Fallschirmjaeger Regiment, 3rd Fallschirmjaeger Division were held up for most of the day by 18 men of the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division at Lanzerath Ridge. At 6:00 pm, Peiper finally learned that the village had been secured. His column of 117 tanks, 149 half-tracks, 18 105mm guns and 6 150mm guns, totaling 600 vehicles, finally moved forward. He was further held up when his tanks struck two of their own minefields, slowing progress while the engineers cleared