The other enemy, the opposing troops, were momentarily stunned by the sheer insolence of the attack. Lulled into a sense of security by weeks of relative inactivity and by the added assurance that the flooded Moselle would surely deny a crossing to the Americans, the German outposts were quickly overrun and the immediate objectives wrested from their control. But the surprise was only momentary. Enemy reaction, when it came, was violent and deadly. German artillery and mortars, aided by excellent observation posts across the river, proceeded to shell the crossing sites with costly accuracy. Fort Koenigsmacker in particular enjoyed a panorama view of American activities... Fort Koenigsmacker perched smugly on a hill whose interior was honey-combed with tunnels immune to artillery and bombs.
 

And still the rain continued, and the Moselle rose with a vengeance. Bursting from its narrow confines it stretched out 400, 600, 800 yards, eight times its normal span. Against hopeless odds the Engineers fought back in an attempt to bridge the river. Working knee deep, waist deep, chest deep in the ever-rising waters, they secured the pontoons to the banks of the river and extended the construction toward the opposite shores. And each time the Moselle defiantly ripped the bridge from its moorings.

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