Hitler did not believe him guilty, and in fact later awarded him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) for his services. Additionally, Blumentritt acted as a kind of ambassador between the SS and the Army in France after the coup attempt. Over 1,000 SS officers—including the head of the SS in France, Carl Oberg, and the head of the SS Security Service in Paris, Helmut Knochen—had been arrested by the German military commander in France, Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel, who was complicit in the plot. This presented a problem for the Army when it was revealed that Hitler was still alive and in charge. After a meeting in Paris, Blumentritt was able to work out a deal with Oberg and Knochen whereby relations were patched up between the Army and the SS, and the involvement of many of the conspirators in Paris was never discovered. Combat command and German surrender Shortly after the upheaval associated with the assassination attempt, Blumentritt returned to his position as Chief of Staff of OB West, first under Generalfeldmarshall Walter Model, then once again under Rundstedt when he was restored to command. However, he now served as a field commander rather than a staff officer, as he had been removed from his post as Chief of Staff and given a combat command and after being shuffled around to the LXXXVI Armeekorps and the LVII Panzerkorps, he was tapped as leader of "Corps Group Blumentritt" consisting of the XII SS Armeekorps (made up of the 176. Infantrie under Oberst Landau and the 183. Volksgrenadier under General Lange). Under Model and then the restored Rundstedt, the German army fell back, defending the Siegfried Line. Blumentritt and his command bore responsibility for almost of front northwest of Loverich (now part of Baesweiler) through Geilenkirchen all the way to the Meuse. After the Allied victory just to the south in the Battle of the Bulge, they turned their attention north to Blumentritt's position. Subsequently, he and the XII SS Korps failed in their attempt to hold the salient of the Roer Triangle during the British Operation Blackcock. On 29 January 1945 (not long after the collapse of the Roer Triangle), Blumentritt was appointed commander of the 25th Armee in the Netherlands, and all ground combat units in the country, not only of the Army, but also of the Navy and Air Force were brought together