This is the full story of the Battle of the Ardennes. In the last weeks of 1944 the German armies in the West, after a continuous retreat since the Battle of Normandy five months earlier were regrouping in what they thought was to be the last battle in defence of the Fatherland. But Hitler had other plans--to mount an offensive through the Ardennes that would deal such a blow to the Western Allies that they would be willing to negotiate a separate peace. This is the offensive known as the Battle of the Bulge.