Where the Iron Crosses Grow

Levchenko apparently believed that Sevastopol could not be held for very long, and, like Oktyabrsky, began to quietly make plans to evacuate the naval base. The Stavka had authorized the bulk of the Black Sea Fleet to rebase at ports in the Caucasus, but had not sanctioned the evacuation of Sevastopol. Borisov, in charge of the KOS, recruited thousands of local civilians to complete trenches and antitank ditches on the city’s approaches that had been begun weeks before. He also issued orders to stockpile food in anticipation of a siege. The only bright spot was that the Fliegerkorps IV had withdrawn most of its air support after the victory at Ishun in order to support Kleist’s drive on Rostov, which left Manstein’s AOK 11 with minimal air support. Although a number of VVS squadrons retreated to the Caucasus, the VVS-ChF’s 62nd Fighter Brigade remained at Sevastopol and provided Petrov with air superiority over the city.

On the evening of November 2, soldiers from the II./IR 438 of the 132. Infanterie-Division assaulted Lieutenant Eaika’s Coastal Battery No. 54, which was overrun after a tough fight. It was the first of Sevastopol’s coastal defenses to fall. Despite a punishing Stuka attack that knocked out three of the battery’s four 102mm guns, the German battalion still suffered heavy casualties, including 21 dead. Lieutenant Eaika escaped into the hills to join the partisans while 28 of his men swam out to a Soviet patrol boat. Following this hollow triumph, the 132. Infanterie-Division pushed across the Kacha River with two regiments, including Bidermann’s IR 437, with the 50. Infanterie-Division coming up close behind. While crossing the Kacha, the German infantry came under fire from Lieutenant Mikhail V. Matushenko’s Battery No. 10, which was armed with four 203mm naval guns. Lieutenant Aleksandr’s Battery No. 30 also opened fire with its twin 305mm turrets, which the German infantry found unnerving. Between November 1 and November 4, these two batteries fired 276 203mm and 142 305mm rounds at the troops of the 132. Infanterie-Division.²¹ Even more worrisome, small groups from Zhidilov’s 7th Naval Infantry Brigade (7 NIB) that had been bypassed by Ziegler’s Brigade now tried to fight their way through the 132. Infanterie-Division to get to Sevastopol. Gottlob Bidermann recounts how his Panzerjäger platoon, attached to a company from IR 437, was attacked from behind several times by groups of naval infantrymen trying to infiltrate through the German lines; Bidermann also described these naval infantrymen as elite troops and noted that their SVT-40 automatic rifles gave them a firepower advantage over German infantry armed with the bolt-action Kar98k.²²

During November 4–6, Hansen used the 132. Infanterie-Division to methodically begin clearing the Bel’bek River valley around Duvankoi, but ran into increasing resistance from Vilshansky’s 8 NIB, the 17th and 18th Naval Infantry Battalions, and the newly raised 3rd Naval Infantry Regiment. In just two days, the 132. Infanterie-Division suffered 428 casualties – the equivalent of a battalion – in minor skirmishing actions. However, Soviet casualties were much higher among the inexperienced naval units. Hansen was trying to jockey the 50. Infanterie-Division to the southeast, to hit Sevastopol’s defenses from due east, but this left the 132. Infanterie-Division unsupported and with its hands full against a growing assortment of ad hoc Russian units. Ominously, the first elements of Petrov’s Coastal Army had slipped into the defenses around Sevastopol on November 5, further reinforcing the defense. The Soviet 17th Naval Infantry Battalion was encouraged enough to mount a local counterattack that recaptured Duvankoi from IR 438. Sensing that the 132. Infanterie-Division was vulnerable to a spoiling attack, Rear-Admiral Zhukov ordered Vilshansky’s 8 NIB to mount a full-scale counterattack north of Duvankoi at dawn on November 7.²³ Bidermann’s IR 437 was on the receiving end of Vilshanksy’s counterattack:

Suddenly and silently, from out of the darkness, poured waves of enemy soldiers. Elite troops of the Soviet Naval Infantry massed toward us… They assaulted our positions from the thick underbrush before Makenziya, pouring toward us in dark waves, hoarse shouts of “Urrah!” erupting from the oncoming line… We opened fire with high explosives point-blank into the rows of attackers.²⁴