After the successful invasion of Normandy and the destruction of the German armies in western and southern France, the Allies advanced rapidly, liberating Paris and Brussels and reaching the German border. On September 11, 1944, the invading forces from the West and South met near Dijon, forming a continuous line from the North Sea to the Swiss border. This was the moment when General Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived from England to assume command of the ground troops and direct the Allied strategy for the next challenge: crossing the Rhine River, Germany's last natural barrier. On the German side, the elderly Marshal Rundstedt resumed command of the German forces in the West, now shattered and retreating after their near annihilation in the Falaise Pocket. His mission: to stabilize the western front, secure the Rhine, and prepare for a major winter offensive.

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