'Rübezahl III' was a German and Croat offensive against the Yugoslav forces of Marshal Josip Broz Tito in German-occupied Yugoslavia with the purpose of driving the 3^rd and 18^th 'Slovenia' Brigades of the 30^th 'Slovenia' Division farther from the important port city of Trieste (3/6 March 1945).

The German force comprised the 4,000 to 5,000 men of SS-Sturmbannführer Gustav Zuschneid’s Kampfgruppe 'Zuschneid' (three SS police battalions, units of the Croat home army’s 1^st Domobran Assault Regiment, two battalions of Kosta Musicki’s 1^st Srpski Dobrovoljački Korpus (1^st Serb Volunteer Corps) and one battalion of ex-Soviet prisoners), and the 2,500 men of the Kampfgruppe 'Kesterman' (two battalions of the 730^th Grenadierregiment [kroatische], one company of the 3/10^th SS Polizeiregiment with one battery of artillery, parts of the 182^nd Polizei-Gebirgsaufklärungskompanie, and pioneer and a number of artillery units).