Still under the command of Maj. Gen. Twaddle, the Division went on the offensive 1 November, and reduced an enemy pocket of heavy resistance east of Maizieres. On the 8th day of November 1944, it began its march into military history. Maj. Gen. Walton H. Walker, 20th Corps Commander, ordered the "Victory Division" to cross the Moselle River and push toward the fortress city of Metz.
The Division launched its main effort at 1000 November 15 when 377th Infantry jumped off to inaugurate the drive down the west bank of the Moselle to the very gates of Metz. The road was straight, flanked by broad, open fields. Artillery and mortar fire raked the advance route, but the 2nd and 3rd Battalions continued their drive to the south.
By nightfall, the 3rd held up in La Maxe. The 2nd slugged it out in the outskirts of Woippy, only three miles from Metz. Tough to crack, Woippy finally was cleared before dark, and the 2nd surged forward along the road to Metz.
Meanwhile, the 3rd was having its headaches near Fort Gambette. A request for that "extra ten percent" was passed along the line November 17. No urging was needed. With Metz in sight, the Division felt sharp.
Metz, the queen city of Moselle, had withstood all attacks by military forces since 451 A. D., and the Germans intended to maintain this record. The original fortifications, completed before 1870, consisted of an inner ring of 15 forts and an outer perimeter of 28 steel and concrete bastions built by the Germans in 1912. In 1941, the Germans improved and modernized the installations. The forts were reinforced with 210 MM guns and 105 MM guns placed in revolving steel turrets which would withstand fire from high velocity direct-fire weapons. Rarely was there more than one entrance to each fort, and only a direct hit on a turret by a 500-pound bomb would cause any damage.