1944年6月,盟军在法国西北部的诺曼底成功登陆之后,最高司令官艾森豪威尔将军又率领蒙哥马利指挥的英国第21集团军、霍奇斯指挥的美第1集团军和巴顿指挥的美第3集团军等部队挥师南下,接着开始大举东进,不久即攻克沦陷于德军的法国首都巴黎,一个月后又解放了比利时,紧逼德国边境重镇——亚琛。此时,德国腹地的广大地区就暴露在盟军强大的装甲机械化部队面前。然而,德法交界处蜿蜒曲折的莱茵河 In June 1944, after the Allies successfully landed at Normandy in northwestern France, the Supreme Commander Eisenhower led the 21st British Army under the command of Montgomery, the U.S. First Army led by Hodges and the U.S. Third Army led by Patton After the troops marched southward, they began to plunge eastward. Soon after they captured the French capital Paris, which fell to the Germans, a month later they liberated Belgium and pressed Aachen, a major German border town. At this moment, vast areas in the hinterland of Germany were exposed to the mighty Armored Forces of the Allied Forces. However, the twisting Rhine at the junction of Germany and France