 Colonel-General Heinz Guderian, the Chief of the German General Staff insisted to Adolf Hitler that the troops in Courland should be evacuated by sea and used for the defence of the Third Reich; however, Hitler refused and ordered the German forces in Courland to hold out.He believed them necessary to protect German submarine bases along the Baltic coast.On January 15, 1945, Army Group Courland ("Heeresgruppe Kurland") was formed under Colonel-General Dr. Lothar Rendulic.