 Hitler believed that inaction in the West would only conclude in an inevitable German defeat.His basic plan involved an early morning breakthrough along the lightly defended sector of the Ardennes Forest, with the eventual task of crossing the Meuse River and capturing Antwerp in order to deny the Western Allies a crucial port.By December 1944, German forces defending against continued Western Allied offensives were organized into four separate army groups; three (Army Groups H, B. and G) fell under the command of Field Marshal von Rundstedt, while the fourth (Army Group "Öberrhein") fell under the command of Heinrich Himmler.