Before the Big Threemet in Yalta they were already engagedin a bitter dash to seize...

[narrator] Before the Big Three
met in Yalta they were already engaged
in a bitter dash to seize German territory. Hitler's forces were crumbling, and the Allies were moving
towards Germany in a race to claim the biggest prize
of all: Berlin. [explosions] The conquest would involve
a multi‐pronged approach. British and American forces
would make separate advances through Germany from the west, while Soviet troops
approached Berlin from the
east. The pivotal part
of their advance was crossing and conquering
the mighty Rhine. Over 700 miles long,
the river represented the last natural
defensive barrier to the German heartland. In anticipation of Allied
forces
getting that far, Hitler had ordered
the bridges across the river to be destroyed. [Sir Mike] The Americans
first crossed it somewhere, Remagen, I think.
Almost by good luck, found a railway bridge unblown