Hitler then sent the Panzer forces from Army Group Center to the northern and southern fronts to inflict severe economic damage to the Soviet Union.

The 9th Army remained static from late July 1941 until October 1941 when Hitler finally decided to launch his long-awaited attack on Moscow.

The 9th Army remained in defensive positions in 1942, dug in 200 miles outside of Moscow as the Germans concentrated their offensive in Southern Russia.

As the tide of the battle turned in Southern Russia, the Soviets launched Operation Mars, a major offensive against Army Group Center.

The Germans tried again in 1943 to regain the momentum in the Eastern Front by launching a massive pincer movement at the Kursk salient where 1/6th of all Soviet forces were deployed.

Walter Model ordered the capture of the key and heavily fortified Ponyri railway station, which was needed to continue the advance towards Kursk.

By 1944, the 9th Army was exhausted, but it had received some badly needed reinforcements and was defending the area of Bobruisk in the first half of that year.

The army was then rebuilt by German units redeployed from Italy and was involved in the defence of Warsaw in autumn and winter of 1944.

The Battle of the Seelow Heights started on 16 April 1945 when Marshal Georgy Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front attacked across the Oder.

Theodor Busse and the rest of the 9th Army were driven into a pocket in the Spree Forest south of the Seelow Heights and west of Frankfurt an der Oder.