"The Monster" - The Matrix Games version of West Front

As the Allied Armies approached the Rhine, the basic question was how stubbornly would the Germans defend before falling back to the West wall. As General Patch's Seventh Army attacked on 15 March 1945, the apparent answer to the German intentions was quick to come. Only in two places could the resistance be characterized as determined. One was where the U.S. 63rd Infantry Division sought to bypass Saarbrucken to the East in order to cut off the escape route from the city. The other was on the extreme right wing where the attached 3rd Algerian Infantry Division and the U.S. 30th Infantry Division sought to breakout into the flat expanse of the Wissembourg Gap and on to the Rhine. There, the Americans and the Frenchmen faced the an urban area straddling the Moder River defensive line, and an expanse of flat land affording superb fields of fire for dug-in automatic and anti-tank weapons. Additionally, the attackers also faced a nasty surprise in the form of a reinforced Jagdtiger Battalion. One of the Battalion's vehicles, "about the size of a small warehouse," was dubbed "the Monster." A welter of mines and excellent visibility added to the French and American problems in the Haguenau sector. As night fell, no Algerian unit had advanced more than a mile.