The Escape of the 9th Army, April 28, 1945

The absolute real battle of WW2 was the Escape of the German 9th Army from April 28th to May 1st, 1945. After the army had been by-passed in the attack of Berlin starting April 15, it became encircled and contained by Russian forces who would deal with it later. However, the Russian units containing it were minimal and found themselves in a precarious situation between the German 9th and 12th Armies. In the Halbe region, west of Berlin. The Americans were west of the 12th Army at the Elbe River and instructed not to advance further. The German forces of the 9th Army were threadbare, yet, determined to move west towards the Americans for better POW treatment. Hitler had ordered 12th Army (also threadbare) to attack east towards 9th Army. That order was ignored. Thus, the last remaining strength of the 9th Army, some 50,000 men and AFV’s struck west for 12th Army positions. In between, were Russian rearguard units, each with unclear orders as to how to handle this situation in this backwater of the Berlin area. Only 20,000 succeeded.