Where the Iron Crosses Grow

Despite his bombastic proclamation, Jaenecke knew that AOK 17 could not withstand a determined enemy assault, so he demanded to know when more reinforcements would arrive in the Crimea and requested “freedom of action” in the event that Tolbukhin launched an all-out offensive. This was too much for Hitler, and he ordered that Jaenecke personally report to him at Berchtesgaden on April 29. Once in Hitler’s presence, Jaenecke argued that the rest of AOK 17 had to be withdrawn immediately or face destruction. Hitler was infuriated that a general would talk to him in this manner and began screaming at him. Jaenecke simply turned and left the room, slamming the door. Striding past Hitler’s adjutant, Jaenecke said, “Tell the Führer I have left” and drove off to the airfield.¹¹ Jaenecke did not get far. Hitler had his plane stopped in Romania and ordered the Generaloberst placed under arrest. Hitler ordered that Generaloberst Heinz Guderian conduct a formal inquiry into Jaenecke’s behavior and hold a formal court martial; Guderian obeyed the letter of the order, but in a deliberately slow manner. Meanwhile, General der Infanterie Karl Allmendinger was ordered to take command of AOK 17. Apparently believing that AOK 17 needed leaders made of firmer stuff, Hitler ordered that Generalleutnant Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller would fly from Crete to take over V Armeekorps. Müller had distinguished himself in the Crimea as a regimental commander in the 72. Infanterie-Division in 1942, but subsequently had earned a reputation as “the Butcher of Crete,” which was the kind of man Hitler wanted in a tight spot. Müller did not arrive in the Crimea until May 4.

Tolbukhin steadily increased the pressure on Festung Sevastopol. On May 1, a major attack was launched by the 2nd Guards Army against the German defenses on the south side of the Bel’bek River. During the fighting, Generalleutnant Friedrich Sixt, commander of the 50. Infanterie-Division, was wounded by artillery fire while inspecting forward defenses on the Ölberg. Sixt was evacuated and Oberst Paul Betz took over the division. Mel’nik’s Coastal Army also succeeded in liberating Balaklava. By this point, AOK 17 had only 64,000 troops left in the Crimea, against over 400,000 Soviet troops. On May 5, Tolbukhin commenced his final offensive at 0930hrs with a massive two-hour barrage by 400 artillery pieces concentrated against the XXXXIX Gebirgs-Korps front in the north. Generalmajor Wolf Hagemann’s 336. Infanterie-Division managed to repulse attacks by five Soviet rifle divisions for the next two days, but Hagemann was badly wounded and was flown out.

While the attacks of the 51st Army focused German attention toward the center of their perimeter around Sevastopol, Mel’nik moved up General-Major Konstantin I. Provalov’s 16th Rifle Corps and a large quantity of artillery into assault positions west of Balaklava. Provalov was an experienced infantry commander who had been awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union for leading a rifle regiment during the battle of Lake Khasan in 1938. On the morning of May 7, Provalov’s 16th Rifle Corps attacked V Armeekorps after a heavy-artillery bombardment and quickly achieved a penetration in the center of the sector held by Generalleutnant Hermann Böhme’s 73. Infanterie-Division. II./Grenadier-Regiment 170 was pummeled by volleys of rocket artillery then overrun by a massive assault spearheaded by the 83rd Naval Infantry Brigade. By evening, Provalov’s troops had penetrated 1,500 yards into the German defense and reached their artillery positions near the village of Karan. V Armeekorps was so badly hurt by this attack that there was no option but to begin withdrawing to its second line of defense. On the same day, Zakharov’s 2nd Guards Army reached the edge of Sevastopol’s Severnaya Bay while Kreizer’s 51st Army pushed back the northern part of the V Armeekorps’ front line and reached the foot of Sapun Mountain with two rifle corps.