CONVOY MOVING UP in the Seventh Army area during the fighting in Alsace (top); vehicles moving over snow-covered roads through the Vosges mountains (bottom).] [Illustration] [Illustration: FRANCE BITCHE, FRANCE. The Seventh Army prepared an alternate main line of resistance along the old Maginot Line (Sarreguemines-Bitche-Lembach-Hatten-Sessenheim) and a final defensive position along the eastern slope of the Vosges. On 1 January 1945 the Germans attacked in the area between Sarre and Rohrbach and drove ten miles into the U. S. lines, where the appearance of powerful armored reserves of the U. S. forces and Allied counterattacks caused the enemy to curtail its operation. Another New Year’s Day attack by the Germans in the Bitche area was a more serious threat. After stubborn fighting on the part of the Allied troops the attack spent itself on 7 January. In the Bitche salient the fighting continued until 20 January before becoming stabilized.] [Illustration: FRANCE TANKS OF AN ARMORED UNIT moving along a slippery road during a heavy snowstorm. In other 6th Army Group areas there was action along the front. As U. S. troops withdrew to the Maginot Line so that French troops could take over this portion of the front, the Germans followed closely. French troops in the Strasbourg area contained an enemy attack from the Colmar pocket. There was heavy activity in the U. S. zone near Hatten where the enemy, after suffering heavy losses, failed to break through the U. S. troops.] [Illustration: FRANCE CAMOUFLAGED TANKS and infantrymen, wearing snow camouflage capes, moving over a snow-covered field. Toward the end of January a heavy snowfall slowed operations and on 25 January the enemy struck his final blow near Haguenau, France. On 26 January the Germans were driven back across the Moder River.] [Illustration: FRANCE MEMBERS OF A CANNON COMPANY near Haguenau keep warm as best they can.] RHINELAND CAMPAIGN 26 January 1945–21 March 1945 [Illustration: RHINELAND The Allied Advance during the Rhineland Campaign 15 September 1944 to 21 March 1945] SECTION VI Rhineland Campaign 26 January-21 March 1945 At the successful conclusion of the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign the Allies again turned their attention to the Rhineland. Between 26 January and 21 March a major objective was achieved: the German troops which tried to halt the advance were cut off and destroyed, thus eliminating future enemy action west of the Rhine.