Road engineering made the Ardennes advance possible but fragile

The follow-up separates the claim that the Ardennes was impassable from the narrower claim that its road network imposed serious friction. Engineers could widen routes, cut trees, create passing places, and clear disabled vehicles, but those preparations were essential because narrow roads and broken ground could otherwise turn movement into a traffic jam. A commenter adds that tracked vehicles could leave roads only at the cost of fuel, wear, and separation from truck-borne infantry and artillery. The thread also describes a reinforced infantry company delaying German forces for roughly twelve hours, illustrating how even limited defence could exploit the terrain. Reconnaissance reports, command decisions, and the timing of covering-force withdrawals therefore mattered alongside topography. The point is not that the advance was inevitable, but that small operational changes might have converted a bold movement into a major German failure.