the leadership of Brig. General Konstantinos Th. Bakopoulos, and after three days of fighting they had only limited successes. The 2nd Panzerdivision XVIII Mountain Corps with an enveloping move crossed the Yugoslavian borders, overcame Yugoslav and Greek resistance and captured Thessaloniki on the 9th of April. The capture of Thessaloniki forced the Greek East Macedonia Army Section to surrender on the 10th of April and the Metaxas Line battle was over. German General Wilhelm List, who led the attack against the Metaxas Line, admired the bravery and courage of these soldiers. He refrained from taking the Greek soldiers prisoner and declared that the army was free to leave with their war flags, on condition that they surrender their arms and supplies. He also ordered his soldiers and officers to salute the Greek soldiers (Beevor 2005, p. 20). There were few troops to defend the line as most of the Greek Army was fighting against the Italians on the Albanian front. See also Greco-Italian War 4th of August Regime References External links About the German invasion of Greece Bunkermuzeum, maps and ww2 fortifications World War II Fortifications in Greece 4th of August Regime Battle of Greece World War II defensive lines 1936 establishments in Greece Ioannis Metaxas