When Adolf Hitler conceived his counter-offensive in the west in the autumn of 1944, he placed his reliance on two SS-Panzer Korps to break through in the northern sector. This failed dismally and the Schwerpunkt, or axis, of the assault was switched to the central sector, where General Hasso von Manteuffel's V Panzer Armee was fairly scything through the Allied lines. 2 Panzer Division came within sight of the River Meuse, the first objective. The Americans were forced to evacuate St Vith and Bastogne was besieged.