1945
By January 1945, the Fourth Panzer Army was holding static defensive positions on Hitler's direct orders and during the lull in the fighting they had created a defensive zone in southern Poland.
Unknown to the Germans the Soviets planned to saturate the entire defensive zone with artillery bombardment. The Soviets began their Vistula–Oder Offensive on January 17 and struck with such force and speed that they managed to encircle and destroy the LVI Panzer Corps; destroying half of all armored forces concentrated with the 4th Panzer Army. The commander of the LVI Corps, General Johannes Block, was killed in the assault on the 26th of January. The remnants of the Army retreated along the entire front before re-grouping on the western bank of the Oder River in February 1945.
The Soviets halted their offensive in February 1945. The 3rd Panzer Army was tasked to halt the Soviets in the north, while the 9th Army was guarding against the Soviets in the center. The 4th Panzer Army was deployed in the South.
On April 16 1945, the Soviets renewed their offensive by crossing the Oder River. While the 9th Army held the Soviets at the Battle of Seelow Heights, the 4th Panzer Army was being pushed back. The retreating 4th Panzer Army ran into the German 9th Army, forming a gigantic pocket of 250,000 men and 600 tanks. The Soviets then encircled the armies in a pocket in the Spree Forest south of the Seelow Heights and west of Frankfurt.
Hitler ordered the 12th Army to breakthrough the Soviet encirclement and link up with the trapped 4th Panzer and 9th Army and relieve Berlin. Ignoring Hitler's orders, they chose to breakout towards the west, known as the Battle of Halbe proved to be a very costly resulting in the destruction of the 4th Panzer Army and Ninth Army as a coherent force. The survivors that were not killed, and did not surrender to the Soviets during the breakout, crossed the Elbe and surrendered to the US Army.
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