In January 1945, the division was ordered to the Baltic port of Libau, where it was evacuated by sea. Battle of Berlin On 16 April, the division was ordered to defend Berlin. Despite recent replenishment, the division was still understrength. From 17 to 20 April, the division was involved in combat all along its front and then retreated into the city. On 24 April, the main Soviet Army assault was towards the Treptow Park area, which the rest of the pioneer battalion and the remaining Tiger tanks of a Panzer battalion were defending. Obersturmbannführer Kausch led the few tanks and armoured vehicles in a counterattack and succeeded in temporarily halting the enemy advance. However, by midday, the 5th Shock Army was able to advance again. A later counter-attack by three assault guns was stopped by a Soviet soldier with three captured German Panzerfausts. In the evening of 24 April between 320 and 330 French troops from the SS Division Charlemagne arrived in Berlin after a long detour to avoid Soviet advance columns. On 25 April, Brigadeführer Gustav Krukenberg was appointed the commander of (Berlin) Defence Sector C, which included Nordland. Ziegler was relieved of his command of the division earlier the same day. The group of French Waffen-SS troops now known as Sturmbataillon Charlemagne was attached to Nordland. The arrival of the French bolstered the division whose two regiments had been decimated in the fighting against the Soviet Army forces. They each roughly equalled a battalion. By 26 April, with Neukölln heavily penetrated by Soviet combat groups, Krukenberg prepared fallback positions for Sector C troops around Hermannplatz. He moved his headquarters into the opera house. As Nordland fell back towards Hermannplatz, Charlemagne and one-hundred Hitler Youth attached to their group destroyed 14 Soviet tanks with Panzerfausts; one machine gun position by the Halensee bridge managed to hold up any Soviet advance in that area for 48 hours. Nordland's remaining armour, eight Tiger tanks and several assault guns, were ordered to take up positions in the Tiergarten, because although the two divisions of Weidling's LVI Panzer Corps could slow the Soviet advance down, they could not stop it. The Soviet forces advance into Berlin followed a pattern of massive shelling followed by assaults using house-clearing battle groups of about 80 men in each, with tank escorts and close artillery support. On 27 April, the remnants of Nordland were pushed back into