Editing Battle of Halbe (section)

== Encirclement ==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1971-033-33, Lagebesprechung im Hauptquartier der Heeresgruppe Weichsel.jpg|thumb|[[General of the Infantry (Germany)|General of the Infantry]] [[Theodor Busse]] (standing, far right) in a meeting with Adolf Hitler, March 1945]]

=== German dispositions ===
<!---[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1977-120-09, Günther v. Kluge, Gotthard Heinrici.jpg|thumb|[[Generalfeldmarschall]] [[Günther von Kluge]] (left) and [[Gotthard Heinrici]], mid 1943]]--->
The command of the [[V SS Mountain Corps]], encircled with the Ninth Army north of [[Forst (Lausitz)|Forst]], passed from the [[German Fourth Panzer Army|4th Panzer Army]] (part of Army Group Centre) to the Ninth Army (part of [[Army Group Vistula]] under the command of [[Generaloberst|Colonel-General]] [[Gotthard Heinrici]]). The corps was still holding on to [[Cottbus]]. While the bulk of Army Group Centre was being forced, by the advance of the 1st Ukrainian Front, to retreat along its lines of communication to the south-west towards [[Third Czechoslovak Republic|Czechoslovakia]], the southern flank of the 4th Panzer Army had some local successes counterattacking north against the 1st Ukrainian Front.

Contrary to realities on the ground, [[Hitler]] ordered the Ninth Army to hold Cottbus and set up a front facing west, then they were to attack into the Soviet columns advancing north. This would allow them to form the northern pincer which would meet with the 4th Panzer Army coming from the south and envelop the 1st Ukrainian Front before destroying it. They were to anticipate an attack south by the [[3rd Panzer Army]] and to be ready to be the southern arm of a pincer attack which would envelop the 1st Belorussian Front, which would then be destroyed by [[Schutzstaffel|SS]]-general [[Felix Steiner]]'s [[III SS Panzer Corps]] advancing from the north of Berlin. Later in the day, Steiner made it plain that he did not have the divisions to make this effort. Heinrici then explained to Hitler's staff that unless the Ninth Army retreated immediately, it would be enveloped by the Soviet forces. He stressed it was already too late for the unit to move north-west to Berlin and would have to retreat west.

At his afternoon situation conference on April 22, Hitler flew into a rage when he realised that his plans of the day before were not going to be implemented. He declared that the war was lost, blamed the generals and announced that he would stay in Berlin until the end and then kill himself. In an attempt to coax Hitler out of his rage, the Chief of Staff of the [[OKW]], Colonel-General [[Alfred Jodl]], speculated that the [[12th Army (Wehrmacht)|12th Army]], which was facing the American forces, could move to Berlin because the Americans already on the [[Elbe]] River were unlikely to move further east. Hitler immediately seized upon the idea and within hours, the army's commander, General [[Walther Wenck]], was ordered to disengage from the American forces and move the Twelfth Army north-east to support Berlin. It was then realised that if the Ninth Army moved west, it could link up with the Twelfth Army. In the evening, Heinrici was given permission to make the linkup.

Although in Hitler's mind{{Citation needed|date=August 2014}} the Twelfth Army was going to break through to Berlin, and the Ninth Army, once it had broken through to the Twelfth Army, was going to help them, there is no evidence that Generals Heinrici, Busse or Wenck thought that this was at all possible. However, Hitler's agreement to allow the Ninth Army to break through to the Twelfth Army would allow a window through which sizable numbers of German troops could retreat to the west and surrender to the American forces, which is exactly what Wenck and Busse agreed to do. This was made easier when, shortly after midnight on April 25, Busse was given authority "to decide for himself the best direction of attack".{{sfn|Beevor|2002|p=330}}

=== The situation of the German 9th Army ===
Before being encircled, the Ninth Army had already suffered heavy losses in the Battle of the Seelow Heights. It is estimated that, at the start of the encirclement, it had fewer than 1,000 guns and mortars, approximately 79 tanks, and probably a total of 150–200 combat-ready armoured fighting vehicles left. In all, there were about 80,000 men in the pocket, the majority of whom belonged to the Ninth Army, consisting of the [[XI SS Panzer Corps]], [[V SS Mountain Corps]] and the newly acquired [[V Army Corps (Wehrmacht)|V Army Corps]], but there was also the [[Fortress Division Frankfurt/Oder|Frankfurt Garrison]].{{sfn|Beevor|2002|p=329}} The number of tanks reported included 36 tanks in the XI SS Panzer Corps, including up to 14 [[King Tiger|Tiger II tank]]s of the [[102nd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion]].{{efn|name=tigers}} Air supply was attempted on April 25 and 26, but could not be carried out because the planes that had taken off could not find the drop point for supply, and no contact with the encircled army could be established.

The pocket into which the Ninth Army had been pushed by troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts was a region of lakes and forest in the [[Spree Forest]] south-east of [[Fürstenwalde]]. The Soviet forces, having broken through and surrounded their primary objective of Berlin, then turned to mopping up those forces in the pocket. On the afternoon of April 25, the Soviet [[Soviet Third Army|3rd]], [[33rd Army (Soviet Union)|33rd]] and [[69th Army|69th]] Armies, as well as the [[2nd Guards Cavalry Corps (Soviet Union)|2nd Guards Cavalry Corps]] (which was a formation capable of infiltration through difficult terrain such as forests), attacked the pocket from the north-east as ordered by Marshal [[Georgy Zhukov]], the commander of the 1st Belorussian Front. Konev knew that to break out to the west, the Ninth Army would have to cross the Berlin–[[Dresden]] [[Autobahn]] south of a chain of lakes starting at [[Teupitz]] and running north-east. On the same day of his attack in the north-east, Zhukov sent the 3rd Guards Army to support the 28th Army, which was ready to close the likely breakout route over the Berlin–Dresden Autobahn.

=== Soviet dispositions ===
[[File:Kummersdorf Gut Kasernenruinen.JPG|thumb|Barracks ruins in Kummersdorf Gut in Brandenburg]]
Soviet forces ordered to attack the Ninth Army numbered around 280,000 men, 7,400 guns and mortars, 280 tanks and self-propelled guns, and 1,500 aircraft. The force included six Air Corps and the [[1st Guards Breakthrough Artillery Division]], which was committed on April 25.{{sfn|Le Tissier|2005|p=81}}

In the area to the west of the encirclement, Soviet forces were already positioned in depth, with (from the north)

* the [[29th Army (Soviet Union)|29th Army's]] [[128th Rifle Corps]] in the area of [[Mittenwalde]] and [[Motzen]].
**the [[3rd Guards Rifle Corps]] in the area of [[Tornow]], [[Radeland]], [[Baruth/Mark]], [[Golssen]].
* the [[Soviet Third Guards Army|3rd Guards Army's]] [[120th Rifle Corps]] south of [[Halbe, Brandenburg|Halbe]].
**the [[21st Rifle Corps]] along the Berlin to Dresden [[Bundesautobahn 13|Autobahn 13]] to the west of [[Lübben (Spreewald)|Lübben]].
* the [[13th Army (Soviet Union)|13th Army's]] [[102nd Rifle Corps (Soviet Union)|102nd Rifle Corps]] with the [[117th Guards Rifle Division]] near [[Luckenwalde]].
**the [[27th Rifle Corps]]'s [[280th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|280th Rifle Division]] at [[Jüterbog]], where the [[Wehrmacht]]'s main artillery school was located.
In terms of mechanized formations, the [[Soviet Third Guards Tank Army|3rd Guards Tank Army's]] [[9th Mechanized Corps (Soviet Union)|9th Mechanised Corps]] had its [[71st Mechanized Brigade (Soviet Union)|71st Mechanized Brigade]] between [[Teupitz]] and Neuhof; the [[Soviet Fourth Guards Tank Army|4th Guards Tank Army's]] [[68th Guards Tank Brigade]] stood near [[Kummersdorf]] Gut; and the 3rd Guards Army's [[25th Tank Corps]] near [[Duben]]. Both the 3rd Guards Army and the 13th Army were to be heavily reinforced throughout the battle, as they were to be in the path of the German break-out. A reinforcement of particular note was the deployment of the 1st Guards Breakthrough Artillery Division{{efn|name=GBAD}} under the command of the 3rd Guards Army in the sector of [[Teurow]] to [[Briesen, Halbe|Briesen]].{{sfn|Le Tissier|2005|loc=Appendices}}{{sfn|Le Tissier|2005|p=83|loc=Disposition Map of 25 April}}