Many were frustrated by the American way of warfare, especially the officers who could not call upon the resources that their enemy could. The common soldier was annoyed that the American infantry declined to “fight fairly” and relied heavily on artillery and airpower to soften resistance.
Americans were bolder than the cautious British but did not charge recklessly on offense, nor did they push relentlessly forward like the Russians, taking huge casualties in the process. US Army doctrine for units at every level was what they called the holding attack. It was designed to take advantage of the American superiority in logistics, artillery, and close air support to reduce casualties and it was very successful.
The factor of three was applied at all levels. Three squads made up a platoon. Three platoons were a rifle company. Three rifle companies made up an infantry battalion. Three infantry battalions were an infantry regiment. The division had three infantry regiments.
When a division encountered the enemy, one of its three regiments would engage the enemy to hold them in position. Then airpower and time-on-target artillery barrages would hammer the enemy while the other regiments would make a single or double envelopment maneuver to force the enemy out of its position. Then they would repeat as long as needed.
Germans were tenacious in defense throughout the war, in Italy, in Russia, everywhere. They almost never collapsed and retreated, they had to be forced out of every position until they ran out of combat power to continue. The holding attack did not allow the Germans to create huge casualties like they did against Russian direct assaults. US artillery and airpower were demoralizing and crippled their ability to hold ground like they were accustomed to.
When placed on defense, the Americans rarely retreated and never collapsed like the 1940 French army. When the front lines were overrun in the Battle of the Bulge, the Americans withdrew to small and defendable pockets of resistance in St. Vith, Bastogne, and held Elsenborn Ridge until the front stabilized and relief could arrive.
And they knew that relief would arrive. There were always new divisions going into the line. The air corps was only waiting for good weather and the artillery was pounding the enemy with indirect fire. The Americans knew how to utilize their advantages. So did the Germans, of course, but the advantages they had enjoyed during Blitzkreig were beyond their capacity to match in 1945.
Source: Jay Snead (Quora)
