 The 27th attacked enemy troop formations, motorized vehicles, armored vehicles and bridges to keep the German forces pinned down while the United States First and Ninth Armies moved up to meet the British XXIst Army Group coming down from the north.By 4 April the encirclement was complete, and for the next two weeks 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.