Where the Iron Crosses Grow

Fretter-Pico’s forces pursued slowly, cautiously winding their way through minefields and mopping up small pockets of resistance. The main German advance was up the elevated causeway road, with troops in both the north and south valleys as well. On June 18, Radfahr-Abteilung 72 – an ad-hoc mounted unit under Major Karl Baake – was able to exploit a gap in Novikov’s front and reach a position known as the “Eagle’s Perch,” only half a mile from the Sapun Heights. However, Fretter-Pico’s troops were spent after incurring 5,235 casualties between June 7 and June 20, including 1,010 dead or missing. Fretter-Pico decided to revert to the defense on June 22 until he could gather sufficient strength to assault the Sapun Heights. Novikov’s losses were probably heavier, and the 388th Rifle Division was virtually demolished in the fighting withdrawal. At least 1,800 Soviet troops from Sector I were captured in this period.⁷⁵ The heroic Colonel Pavel P. Gorpishchenko, commander of the 8th Naval Infantry Brigade, was seriously wounded during this phase of the fighting and was evacuated; Regimental Commissar Prokofiev I. Silant’ev took over the brigade.

The Romanian Mountain Corps finally made a major attack against Sector II’s defenses in the lower Chernaya River valley on June 18. The 1st Mountain Division struggled mightily for three days to gain control of two hilltops – “North Nose” and “Sugar Loaf” – with the battle swinging back and forth as Zhidilov’s 7th Naval Infantry Brigade and the 386th Rifle Division counterattacked regularly to retake any lost ground. Eventually, the Romanians were able to capture and hold both hills by June 20, which helped to secure XXX Armeekorps’ right flank. Lacking assault guns or extensive air support, the Romanians suffered thousands of casualties for these two small objectives. On June 21, Fretter-Pico was able to gain two battalions of IR 420, which were temporarily loaned from Heeresgruppe Süd, to mount a sudden night attack on the Fedyukhiny Heights in conjunction with the Romanian 1st Mountain Division. Before Skutel’nik could react his single regiment on the heights was overwhelmed; the Axis had won a cheap tactical victory that put them one step closer to gaining the Sapun Heights.

While XXX Armeekorps rested on June 22–28, Avramescu’s Mountain Corps mounted a major effort to clear the Chernaya River valley northeast of the Fedyukhiny Heights. This was the first time in the battle of Sevastopol that the Romanians employed all their forces, and they gradually eliminated several Soviet positions and forced the rest of Skutel’nik’s Sector II forces to retreat. Indeed, the Romanians made an important contribution at this point, in mopping up positions that the Germans no longer had the forces to reduce themselves. By late June, Novikov’s Sector I had been pushed back about 3 miles in the center, but he still had a firm grip on Balaklava in the south, while Skutel’nik’s troops held the Sapun Heights. During the fighting in the south Soviet soldiers and small-unit leaders had demonstrated great resiliency in positional warfare, and the German infantry had been able to make significant advances only when they had assault guns and air support. On the other hand, German regiment and division-level leaders had proven adept at exploiting fleeting opportunities made by enemy mistakes. This kind of combat dynamic shaped a battle that was characterized by heavy casualties and sudden spasms of maneuver.

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A brief lull settled over most sectors of the Sevastopol battlefield in late June, as both sides prepared for the final act. Both XXX and LIV Armeekorps temporarily shifted to the defense as they reorganized their decimated assault troops. Richthofen and his Fliegerkorps VIII staff had already left the Crimea on June 23, and some of the Luftwaffe units were departing as well, although the VVS-ChF was no longer able to contest air superiority over the city. The remaining Luftwaffe units were running out of bombs, meaning that bomber sorties were no longer flown with full loads. Zuckertort’s largest artillery pieces, including Dora, the two Karl mortars, and the 42cm howitzers were no longer in the fight, having expended all their ammunition. Petrov’s gunners were also running out of ammunition for their medium artillery, but there was still plenty of 76mm and 82mm ammunition. Hitler wanted Störfang completed by the end of June, as his main summer offensive, Fall Blau, was about to begin and he wanted Manstein’s AOK 11 to be available soon for employment outside the Crimea. For the frontline soldiers, most were appreciative still to be on their feet and have all their limbs after three weeks of intense combat. Victory or defeat was now within their grasp, but one more blood deposit was required.