     On December 24th, the 2nd Panzer Division was nearing its goal: the Meuse River. After nine days of fighting, the lead elements of the division pushed into Celles, a small town just four miles from the Meuse. At long last, victory seemed to be in their grasp.
     But there were problems. The resupply trucks that should have been right behind them were nowhere to be found; von Lauchert had no way of knowing that Allied airpower had shot up the rear area roads so badly that very few supply trucks were getting forward. To make matters worse, the British 3rd Royal Tank Brigade lay between them and the Meuse. And the American 2nd Armored Division was just five miles north in Ciney, preparing to attack.
     The next morning, the 2nd Armored's attack jumped off. On Christmas Day, the lead elements of the 2nd Panzer were annihilated by a combination of air power, artillery, and tank combat. The Jabos and artillery planes were everywhere; any vehicle that dared move out of the protective cover of the woods during daylight was quickly pounced upon and eliminated. On the 26th, much of the remainder of the 2nd Panzer was caught in the meatgrinder and crushed. On the 27th, the last remnants of 2nd Panzer were in full retreat, and portions of the Panzer Lehr Division and the 9th Panzer Division had been shot up as well. 2nd Armored lost 17 killed and 27 tanks in the battle.
     The tip of the Bulge had been snipped off and crushed. The German offensive had been broken in a three-day battle. The 2nd Panzer Division was nearly destroyed, and two other Panzer divisions badly damaged. From this point on, the Germans were fighting a defensive battle.
/Fighter-Bombers
     The American fighter-bombers were called Jabos by the Germans, and they were particularly good at destroying German tanks. A tank is designed for ground fighting; its thickest armor lies in its front apron, for that is the direction from which most enemy shells will come. Its side and rear armor are perhaps only half as thick. But the thinnest armor on any tank is the top armor; after all, who's going to shoot at you from above?
      Don't be too hard on the German tank designers; all tanks in all armies have thinner top armor. And the US Army's own documents on the German tanks failed to mention the thickness of the top armor -- because nobody in any army thought that it was important.
     Because the top armor is so thin, it is easily pierced. Fighter-bombers armed with simple unguided rockets could easily destroy even the heaviest tank. Most fighter-bombers carried eight such rockets, launching two at a time. That means that one skilled fighter-bomber could take out four tanks. And they could do so with almost no risk; German anti-aircraft defenses at that time were weak and unable to deter Allied attacks. If anyone was foolish enough to shoot at the jabos, they were the first ones destroyed.
     For this reason, the Germans quickly learned that movement in the open during daylight was suicidal. Once the weather cleared on the 23rd, most German movements took place at night. During the day, they holed up in the woods and stayed put./