The river was less than fifty meters wide—not much at all. Though the melting snow had made the current somewhat swift, it posed no obstacle whatsoever to a well-trained army. If not for the Americans blocking them on the opposite bank, the German military could have crossed with ease. Germany's engineers could even have erected pontoon bridges in an extremely short time.
However, because the bridge over the river had long since been blown up by the US military, it was not easy for the German military's heavy equipment to cross. They would have to wait until the German engineers had built sturdy pontoon bridges before they could get across. But the prerequisite was for the German military to establish solid positions on the far bank, so the engineers could construct the bridges without interference.
The German 3rd Army Corps, 8th Army Corps, and 14th Army Corps each dispatched an Infantry Division to cross the river. Tens of thousands of German troops struggled to cross along a fifty-kilometer stretch of river. Carrying the small boats they had prepared in advance, they pushed them into the water, then boarded by squad and rowed furiously toward the opposite shore.
On their own positions, mortar after mortar and light and heavy machine gun after machine gun opened fire, suppressing the American positions on the far bank and providing fire cover for the crossing troops.
But the US military obviously could not possibly allow the German military to cross so easily.
"Get into position! The Germans have started crossing the river! We can't let them get across, or we're dead!"
The US military's junior officers shouted at the top of their lungs.
Countless US soldiers raised their heads from the trenches, mounted their weapons on the trench walls, and prepared to fire. Many more