 Covered by a dense wood, the Pfaelzer Forest, the region was crossed laterally by only one main highway, by a secondary highway close behind the Siegfried Line, and by a few minor roads and trails.The natural difficulties posed by these twisting, poorly surfaced routes already had been heightened by a mass of wrecked vehicles as American fighter pilots relentlessly preyed on hapless targets.Using the authority granted by Kesselring on 17 March to pull back units threatened with encirclement, the 1.