[quote]Originally posted by General der Infanterie Friedrich H:
Schmidt: do you know that Hitler and his generals perfectly knew that the real menace came from the East and that they needed to achieve some victory... However, even Hitler knew that such a victory was impossible in the East because "the Red Army is too strong now"* That is why they looked for the weakest sector of the 'unexperienced' Americans...

I agree with Friedrich. In late 1944 Hitler realised that if Germany was not to be annihilated in less than six months, they would have to go over to the offensive, but the Western front was the only option where this might be possible - hence the Ardennes offensive.

Hitler knew that Germany would not be able to force a decisive result in the East in late '44. Stalin had something like 520 infantry divisions and more than 300 armoured and mechanised brigades at his command, and so could lose up to 30 divisions, or retreat up to 150 miles, without suffering a decisive defeat.

On the other a counter-offensive in the West by Germany offered Hitler the chance to exploit the logistical difficulties and man-power shortage that was plaguing Eisenhower's armies.