The Story of the 10th Armored Division cont.
Thanks to Caesar and the potent Mosel wines, American tanks rolled unhindered across the river, churned northward without a break in stride. Three miles ahead, the Nazis pulled back behind the now bridgeless Kyll River, Mosel Tributary.
From concealed artillery positions in the steep, pine-clad hills, Germans laid down impenetrable barriers of shell-fire along the banks near the town of Ehrang. The assault crossing, the battle of the expanding bridge-head, the repeated attempts to bridge the river — all were cut to the Saar's familiar, costly pattern.
So, too, were the first crossing of the armor, made where the 76th Inf. Div. had bridged the Kyll, six miles north of Ehrang. While CC B hammered steadily at the original bridgehead, CC A moved from an attack south of the Mosel, circled behind CC B and struck across the Kyll, March 7.
Once across, the 10th's battle wagons moved with lightning rapidity. TF Cherry and a unit led by Maj. Curtis L. Hankins rolled eastward eight miles to within six miles of the division objective, the communications center of Wittlich, March 8.