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plus huge expenditures of heavy caliber ammunition which had been rained prodigiously along the
Corps front.
The Corps was in an advantageous position about the 1st of October to continue its offensive.
The Corps Commander was already reorganizing his troops perfecting plans, when, for the second time
in a month, XX Corps ground to a stop. On order from Twelfth Army Group, the 7th Armored Division,
which was to have exploited the successful Seille River crossing, was relieved from XX Corps and
Third Army control and sent north to Belgium.
This made it necessary to discontinue large-scale attacks in the sector to the south of Metz, and
to establish a defensive line along the high ground west of the Seille. The 5th Division drew back from
the hard earned advanced positions at Pournoy and Coin-sur-Seille to cover a large area on the southern
flank of the Corps left vacant by the loss of the 7th Armored Division.
Now, in the face of increasing German resistance, even the great industrial capacity of the Allies
was strained to maintain five armies in the field. High-level strategy called for an early fall offensive
further north in the British and American First Army zones where the crust of German fortifications
seemed more easily pierced, and where a level land route into the industrial Ruhr and the heart of
Germany existed.
To strengthen this main effort, quantities of Third Army supplies and many troops were diverted
to the northern flank of the Western Front. Reinforcements became scarce. Critical supply items such
as ammunition over 3 inches in caliber and tanks and tank parts (especially treads) were short of the
amount needed to mount a full-scale offensive.
The Third Army, as a result, was ordered to conduct an "aggressive defense" to keep the enemy
in its zone off balance and in doubt as to the Third Army's intentions by continuing a vigorous patrolling
and limited objective attacks. How destructive such tactics can be in the hands of courageous soldiers,
expert staffs, and daring leaders was clearly illustrated in the XX Corps zone near Metz.
The 3rd Cavalry Group patrolled the line of the Moselle as far as First Army forces on the north
flank, encountering enemy patrols that infiltrated into River line towns at night. Small but threatening
feints by Corps units held the attention of the opposing German commanders. Even during this quiet
period, several German divisions were occupied on the Corps front.
Corps artillery continued to pound enemy positions east of the Moselle. Infantry bazookas
destroyed large numbers of tanks and self-propelled guns which the Germans were to need badly later.
During small-scale attacks launched by Corps units, the enemy, expecting a major push, defended every
foot of ground at a great cost in men and matériel. When forced from a position, he counterattacked
again and again in an effort to regain it.
The XX Corps seized an opportunity during this period to rest troops who had had no respite
from heavy fighting over a long period of time. Corps troops, especially the new replacements, were
trained in the latest techniques of assaulting fortified positions.
The crafty German use every page in his book of tricks during this somewhat static period. Spies
in civilian clothes were frequently sent over to check the American positions in order of battle.
Occupants of jeeps were likely to encounter tightly strung wires hung across the roads to decapitate the
riders. Propaganda leaflets advised the Americans that they would not be home for Christmas, a fact
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