After the LSSAH had stabilized the Romanian sector, the Soviets increased the pressure on XXX Army Corps. The Soviets did not respond to the build-up of the 1st Panzer Army on their northern flank. On 1 October the Germans started their counterattack from the north and west. The rapid advance of German armoured and motorized forces from the north compelled the Soviets to retreat on October 3. The 11th Army took up the pursuit, with the Leibstandarte's attack eliminating the Soviet 30th Rifle Division's HQ section and dispersing its subordinate formations. Melitopol was captured by III Panzer Corps on 5 October. The LSSAH reconnaissance battalion under Kurt Meyer captured Berdiansk on 6 October. The XIV motorized Army Corps under Gustav Anton von Wietersheim linked up with the Leibstandarte to encircle seven Red Army divisions in the Mariupol-Berdiansk area on October 7. Four days later the battle was over. Caught in the pocket, 150,000 troops of