On 12 April XIII Corps attacked from Hanover toward the Elbe river. The 102d Division moved out on the right following the spearheads of 5th Armored Division and maintaining contact with the 84th on the left and 35th Infantry Division on the right.

In the four-day dash from the Leine to the Elbe River no great resistance was expected nor encountered. Without reserves, without transport, without food and often without ammunition, knowing their rear areas were in the hands of our armor the enemy had little choice but to surrender. In the woods movements were partly screened and those who no longer wanted to fight could at least hide. Stragglers justifyspacer

and malingerers continued to be flushed out of these areas at the end of the month. For the most part, however, the enemy either withdrew to the north, and eventually across the river, or he gave up. The chief danger lay from by-passed units which could not always be tracked down in the neat forests. Every patch of woods became a potential ambush. Unescorted vehicles and small detachments therefore sometimes ran into difficulties. But the Germans have little taste and less talent for guerrilla warfare nor did the sullen and melancholy populace give them the support which is necessary for a real success in this kind of fighting.