Poised on top of a spur ridge, the land inside the village along the main east–west road is relatively flat.

The yards, like the farm fields, were often separated by a form of traditional tall, dense hedge that is used as a windbreak.

The attack by the 309th Infantry Regiment was a surprise to the Germans defending the Siegfried Line and the Americans quickly took Bickerath, Paustenbach, Witzerath, and Simmerath.

In taking Simmerath, the Americans finally cut the Monschau-Düren highway and severed the Monschau Corridor.

The murderous fire on the 309th was relieved somewhat when the 2nd Battalion of the 310th Infantry moved on Kesternich as ordered after noon the same day.

Company F, at dawn, with the support of two M10 tank destroyers, attacked a stubborn pillbox at the west edge of Simmerath which had not been defeated the day before.

In the meantime E and G Companies had been pinned down by fire from a previously unknown large pillbox at the west edge of Kesternich.

The situation was so fluid that the 309th's commander did not even know whether or not he had any troops within the town (he did not) The 2nd Battalion, 310th Infantry, made no further gains on 14 December, and dug in for the night approximately five-hundred yards west of Kesternich.

The plan for the attack, was to have the tank destroyers improve their positions before daylight so as to bring direct fire on the pillbox at the western outskirts of Kesternich.

Company F was to advance from its present position, south of the Simmerath-Kesternich road, clear the southern portion of the town, then dig in.

Tanks were to support the infantry in the attack and then move to the east portion of town where they were to be utilized in defense of any German counterattack.

The explosion had little penetrating effect on the thick concrete walls, however, the concussion caused the occupants to surrender.

The remaining tanks moved to the west edge of town, but did not advance to the east side, or participate in the upcoming house to house fire fights; they encountered Teller mines and two tanks were disabled by German anti-tank fire.

Company E encountered sniper and automatic weapons fire which slowed its progress considerably.

Company F moved east and encountered a minefield in the vicinity of the pillbox that was cleared earlier in the day.

Volksgrenadier-Division, assembling to the south in front of Höfen and Monschau, was loaned to König for the attack and provided additional manpower.

The German counterattack against the 2nd Battalion, 310th Insting of at least 500 Volksgrenadiers began at approximately 16:15 and continued sporadically until the early morning hours of 16 December.

Those GIs trapped in Kesternich faced German armored vehicles with no means to combat them.

Outnumbered, with little ammunition, and cut off from their supplies, the fate of the Americans inside the village was sealed.

Once the battalion commander was captured, nearly all of the surviving Americans surrendered, although some men hid away in the houses.

While the American casualties were not nearly as great, virtually the entire fighting strength of the 2nd Battalion of the 310th Infantry were now German POWs.

With the knowledge that they didn't have the strength to hold the ground they gained, the German force retreated to the east side of the village by early light the next day.

Only a small force at the large bunker near the entrance to the village remained to guard their conquest.

When the 309th Infantry entered the town on the morning of 16 December, One officer said later, "Very few men from the [2nd of the 310th] were found in any of the houses, none [of them] were alive."

German losses in dead and captured, as confirmed by the 78th Infantry Division, were approximately 770, not counting wounded or missing.

To the north, the 309th was to hold in place as the initial operations kicked off, later they would be called on to sweep up the Monschau Corridor, taking Strauch, Steckenborn, Hechelscheid, Woffelsbach, Silberscheidt, Kommerscheidt and Harscheidt on their way to their final objectives of Schmidt and the Schwammenauel Dam.

The high ridge at Kesternich dictated that the town could not be fully enveloped in an attack from the west.

As the GIs jumped off in the darkness, a slight snow shower helped to conceal their movement.

With ample time to develop their defense, the Volksgrenadiers had emplaced machine gun positions in houses and in the rubble behind mine fields and wire.

It took actions like those of squad leader Jonah Edward Kelley, who singlehandedly destroyed several machine-gun emplacements before being killed, to push the attack.