Reading latest WW2 mag & about the Hurtgen forest battle, which lasted 5 months! The American advance through France into Germany was done for the most part efficiently & fairly rapidly. This was one exception. The article mentioned the extensive planting of trees by the Germans as extra obstacles. Clever.

2 questions; If this op had never taken place & the soldiers involved were stationed & deployed elswhere, would this have speeded up the allied advance or was it too small of an event to matter in overall strategy?

& this planting of trees as obstacles, how extensive did they do this? Obviously the trees were transplants as trees don't grow fast enough to plant new ones.Any data?