to the left wing of the invasion front. They learned on 21 June 1944 that the supplies needed to conduct a sustained resistance could not be assured. Although they rendered vigorous resistance, the German forces could only slow the Allied advance. Throughout the course of defending the coastline and in spite of the disastrous circumstances, Dollmann continued to discipline his soldiers by the threat of severe penalties. Inaccurate Wehrmacht intelligence reports and Hitler's assurance that a second invasion was due at any moment left the equivalent of an entire German Army Group, comprising five Luftwaffe divisions, two Panzer divisions, and 24 infantry divisions, sitting immobile awaiting further instructions. In the meantime, the German High Command issued orders for Rommel and Rundstedt to launch a massive armored counterattack against an Allied force of "929,000 men, 177,000 vehicles, and 586,000 tons of materiel", an order which was impossible to obey. Cherbourg and death The French port of Cherbourg fell on 26 June 1944, and was surrendered by Lieutenant General Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben. This enraged Hitler and prompted a court-martial investigation from Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel. Hitler summoned Rundstedt and Dollmann to Berchtesgaden on 28 June 1944 and insisted that Dollmann be court-martialed. Rundstedt rejected this idea since Dollmann was no more accountable for the failure than himself. Still unsatisfied, Hitler demanded that Dollmann at the very least should be relieved of command, which stimulated another defense, this time from Rommel. Undeterred, Hitler waited until the men left to relieve Dollmann of command, replacing him with Paul Hausser of the Waffen-SS. Hitler relieved Rundstedt of command a short time later. Unaware that he had been relieved of command, Dollmann was nonetheless worn out and stressed. He died on 29 June 1944. The exact circumstances of his death remain controversial. Some sources say he suffered a heart attack, while others say he committed suicide by taking poison. In 1973, Dollmann's last chief of staff Lieutenant General Max-Josef Pemsel, wrote that on 29 June at around 3:00 in the morning, Dollmann bid farewell to his staff and committed suicide in his command post. In 2003, a theory was put forward that like Rommel, Dollmann was forced to commit suicide by Hitler. He was buried in France on 2 July 1944, where the field marshals Rundstedt, Rommel and Hugo Sperrle were present. On the same day, he received posthumously the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross