By the end of the day, Totenkopf had suffered 320 casualties for little gain. The Totenkopf's commander, Priess, was determined to press ahead with the assault and decided that more guile was needed to winkle out the Soviets from their defensive positions. He ordered his panzergrenadiers to launch a surprise "silent" night assault to clear out the Soviet defences. While the initial assault got into the Russian trenches undetected, the Soviets reacted quickly and drove the Germans back with a very prompt counterattack. The incident, however, distracted the Russians long enough for Totenkopf's combat engineers to clear more than 2000 mines and create new lanes through the minefields.

A dogged Soviet defence

The Waffen-SS attack on 31 July was far better planned, with a 45-minute artillery fire preparation by all of II SS Panzer Corps' artillery and rocket launchers. Stuka dive-bombers were on call in strength for the first time in the operation. This time, also, a huge rolling barrage was employed to shield the remaining Totenkopf panzers and supporting infantry as they moved forward. The attack breached the first Soviet defence line but it soon stalled. Again casualties were horrendous, with one Waffen-SS assault battalion reduced to fewer than 100 men. The division was now down to one Tiger, nine Panzer IVs and five Panzer III tanks.

In the Das Reich Division's sector, the Russians launched no less than 14 counterattacks, backed by more than 70 tanks, as they tried to turf the Waffen-SS out of Stepanovka. Fighting during the afternoon was halted by a torrential downpour that turned the battlefield into a quagmire. The storm at one point put the Totenkopf's divisional headquarters out of action, when a violent flash-flood surged down the ravine in which it was positioned, washing away radio antennae and command trucks.

Stadler's tactics

The day's action was hardly encouraging for the Waffen-SS, with another 400 men killed or wounded and 24 more tanks destroyed. Another 80 tanks were in workshops under repair. If this rate of loss continued, II SS Panzer Corps would cease to exist as an effective fighting force. Manstein was so concerned that his élite armoured reserve was being bled white for no gain that he visited Hollidt's headquarters to order the offensive to be called off. He needed the Waffen-SS panzer divisions to deal with an anticipated Soviet offensive at Kharkov.

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