by this time, the axis was facing a serious manpower and artillery shortage. the german 11th army's divisions had anywhere between 35 and 75 percent of their initial strength. the german 22nd infantry division was the strongest division, and was only short 1,750 personnel, while the weakest was the 132nd infantry division, which was short 2,300 men. the 170th infantry division had to collapse one of its regiments to bring the others up to strength. the german infantry force was a fragile force at sevastopol and manstein could not afford to squander it. german doctrine stressed bypassing strongpoints, but since this was not possible, german infantry were forced to reduce one fort after another. some 65 sturmgeschütz iii assault guns were available to support them.