 Almost immediately, Ninth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolts of the 366th Fighter Group and on 15 April, the 406th Fighter Group moved in to press home the attacks on the encircled German forces trapped in the Pocket.The pocket was made smaller and smaller, eventually forcing the surrender of over 300,000 German troops and their equipment.The victory in the Ruhr essentially eliminated serious opposition by the German Armed forces in Western Germany and afterward American ground forces swept east into Central Germany and Southern Germany, while British and Commonwealth forces moved into northern Germany against little organized resistance.