| An added difficulty, no strange one to the 90th,
the Saar, like the Moselle, was in flood stage, its opposite banks were
inundated, cross-country movement was extremely difficult if not impossible. These were the challenges presented to the 90th Division as it prepared to force its crossing of the Saar. The Division made its necessary reconnaissance, surveyed the battlefield, completed its plans, and as usual, accepted the challenge. On December 6th the 90th Division hurled itself into the teeth of the Siegfried Line. Duplicating the feat performed at the Moselle River less than a month earlier, the 90th moved its assault boats quietly over the Saar in the pre-dawn hours and once again caught the enemy unawares. The 358th was on the right, the 357th on the left, while the 359th maintained a constant hail of fire from the west bank of the river, drawing heavy retaliatory fire in return. The first day the attacking elements had successfully advanced to a line generally marked by the railroad, but in order to make such gains it was necessary to by-pass many pillboxes. With the enemy-held pillboxes to the rear, the infantry was subjected to harassing fires and it became vital that these boxes be neutralized and cleared before further progress could be expected. Fire from both flanks of the Division zone, while not disastrous, had the effect of slowing the progress of the 90th.
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