 On 11 April, Ustaše elements captured the staff of the 7th Army at Topusko and handed them over to the Germans shortly thereafter, and the 7th Army effectively ceased to exist as a formation. Petrović and the staff of 1st Army Group headquarters were also captured by Ustaše at Petrinja. Chaos ensued throughout the 7th Army, whose Croat and Slovene soldiers could hear fifth column radio broadcasts telling them of their pending encirclement by the Germans and encouraging them to return to their homes and not fight against the Germans. This was reinforced by Natlačen and his NszS, who had distributed leaflets on the night of 10 / 11 April urging soldiers not to resist the Italians or Germans. To maintain public order, the NszS also formed a "Slovenian Legion" on 11 April, and encouraged Slovene nationalists among the 7th Army to join it. This force, split into a dozen units and totalling 2,000 – 3,000 men, then began to assist the Germans in disarming units of the Yugoslav Army on Slovene territory. The NszS authorised Natlačen to negotiate with the Germans for the creation of a Slovene client state along the lines of the NDH and the Slovak Republic, and Natlačen appointed the Ljubljana police chief Lovro Hacin to make contact with the Germans.
