27 March 1945. On 26 March 1945, the corps assaulted across the Main River into Frankfurt am Main, and fought for three days to capture the city in the face of German resistance characterized by the use of assault guns and a heavy concentration of Flak artillery in the dense urban environment. Moving rapidly northeast, the corps bypassed German troop concentrations and conquered Hanau (28 March), Bad Hersfeld (31 March), and Fulda (2 April). The corps paused between Gotha and Suhl on 3 April 1945. On 4 April 1945 XII Corps troops discovered a Nazi stash of art treasures and gold in a salt mine at Merkers, and then took Meiningen the following day. A curious decision In a questionable allocation of allied military strength, Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower (supreme allied commander) and Omar Bradley (commander of U.S. 12th Army Group) paused 12th Army Group's (to which the U.S. Third Army belonged) advance at the Elbe River and then committed the U.S. Third Army, the U.S. Seventh Army and the French First Army to overrun what they believed was an "Alpine Redoubt" in the south of Germany. The so-called redoubt proved to be a myth and the commitment of eight U.S. and French army corps against it was a curious use of allied military resources while other allied armies in the north paused for weeks only 80 miles from the true heart of German resistance, Berlin. Final operations This decision committed XII Corps to an advance to the southeast. Taking Coburg on 11 April 1945, the corps then took Bayreuth in a three-day battle ending on 16 April. Moving rapidly, XII Corps liberated the Flossenburg concentration camp on 23 April and reached the Danube River on 25 April 1945. Operating simultaneously in Germany and Czechoslovakia, the corps crossed into Austria and assaulted across the Danube River southwest of Regensburg on 26 April 1945. The corps seized Linz on 4–5 May 1945, and began clearing passes in Czechoslovakia for a drive on Prague. VE Day brought a close to combat operations for the XII Corps, as the corps linked up with Red Army troops near Amstetten. Campaign credits and inactivation XII Corps is credited with service in the Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe campaigns. Headquarters, XII Corps, was inactivated on 15 December 1945 in Germany. The corps was subsequently activated and inactivated several times, with the last inactivation occurring