Editing Battle of Halbe (section)

{{Refimprove|date=May 2024}}
{{Short description|Battle in the Eastern Front of World War 2}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Battle of Halbe
| partof            = [[Battle of Berlin]]
| image             = [[File:Convoy halbe 1.jpg|300px]]
| caption           = A destroyed Wehrmacht convoy near Spree Forest, April 1945
| date              = April 24&nbsp;– May 1, 1945
| place             = [[Halbe, Brandenburg|Halbe]], [[Nazi Germany|Germany]]
| coordinates       = {{coord|52|6|24|N|13|42|3|E|type:event|display=inline,title}}
| result            = Soviet victory
| map_type          = Germany
| map_relief        = 1
| combatant1        = {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} [[Nazi Germany|Germany]]
| combatant2        = {{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Soviet Union]]
| commander1        = [[Theodor Busse]]<br>[[Walther Wenck]]<br>[[Matthias Kleinheisterkamp]]{{KIA}}
| commander2        = [[Georgy Zhukov]]<br>[[Ivan Konev]]
| strength1         = About 80,000 in the Halbe Pocket
 {{plainlist |
* 79 tanks 
* 150 armored vehicles  }}
| strength2         = 280,000
| casualties1       = 30,000 killed<br>25,000 escaped<br>10,000 civilians killed<ref name="Downfall1945">{{cite book |last=Beevor |first=Athony |translator-last1=Gyllenhak |translator-first1=Ulf |date=2003 |title=Berlin: Slutstriden 1945  |trans-title=Berlin: The Downfall 1945 |language=Swedish  | publication-place=[[Lund]] |edition=3rd |publisher=Svenska Historiska Media Förlag AB |page=382 |isbn=91-85057-01-0 |author-link=Anthony Beevor }}</ref>
| casualties2       = 20,000 killed or missing<ref name="Downfall1945"/>
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Axis-Soviet War}} {{Campaignbox Battle of Berlin}}
}}

The '''Battle of Halbe''' ({{langx|de|Kesselschlacht von Halbe}}, Battle of the Halbe Pocket; {{langx|ru|Хальбский котёл}}, Halbe pocket)  was a battle lasting from April 24 – May 1, 1945{{sfn|Le Tissier|2005|p=206}} in which the [[9th Army (Wehrmacht)|German Ninth Army]]—under the command of [[General of the Infantry (Germany)|General]] [[Theodor Busse]]—was destroyed as a fighting force by the [[Red Army]] during the [[Battle of Berlin]].

The [[Ninth Army (Germany)|Ninth Army]], encircled in a large [[Pocket (military)|pocket]] in the [[Spreewald|Spree Forest]] region south-east of [[Berlin]], attempted to break out westwards through the village of [[Halbe, Brandenburg|Halbe]] and the pine forests south of Berlin to link up with the [[12th Army (Wehrmacht)|German Twelfth Army]] commanded by [[General der Panzertruppe|General]] [[Walther Wenck]] with the intention of heading west and surrendering to the [[Allies of World War II|Western Allies]]. To do this, the Ninth Army had to fight its way through three lines of Soviet troops of the [[1st Ukrainian Front]] under the command of [[Marshal of the Soviet Union|Marshal]] [[Ivan Konev]], while at the same time units of the [[1st Belorussian Front]], under the command of Marshal [[Georgy Zhukov]], attacked the German rearguard from the northeast.

After heavy fighting, about 30,000 German soldiers—just over one third of those originally in the pocket—reached the comparative safety of the Twelfth Army's front lines. The rest were either killed or captured by Soviet forces.{{Citation needed|date=June 2013}}