THE PLAN OF THE THIRD ARMY
The sole mission of the Third Army in the XX Corps sector was, not that of taking the city of
Metz alone, but in conjunction with the overall effort of expelling the Germans from French soil and
hurling them back to the Rhine.
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The best plan was to execute a pincer movement from the north and south, to close somewhere in
the rear of the city. The right, or south wing was in very favorable positions to execute their portion of
the plan. They occupied a dominant position with fine observation. The left, or north, wing had quite a
different situation facing it. It would have to force a crossing of an obstacle, the Moselle, establish a
bridgehead and expand it before the necessary support equipment could be crossed.
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This being the
situation, there would, of necessity, have to be a different time schedule set for each wing of the pincer.
The south wing would move out initially on a broad front while the north wing made local actions,
which would be exploited. The south would then hold up while the north wing would initiate an
aggressive offensive.
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