As the core force of the German Army in World War II, the German armored forces were undoubtedly the best in the war. It pioneered modern three-dimensional warfare and gave full play to the combat effectiveness of various arms, especially the armored forces and the air force. Compared with World War I, the mobility of the troops has been greatly improved, which greatly reduced the power of the front composed of fortresses, trenches, mines and machine gun fire points. The tank itself was a new weapon invented to break through trench warfare. With the development of the art of war, With the development, tanks played an increasingly important role in war. Comparing the two world wars, the German army fought hard for several years in the first one, suffered millions of casualties, still failed to achieve its combat objectives, and was finally defeated. More than 20 years later, the German army bypassed the Maginot Line and broke through the Allied front from the Ardennes at the cost of tens of thousands of casualties. Within dozens of days, the British army was defeated and Paris surrendered.
As the main assault force of the Blitzkrieg, the task of the armored forces is to firmly hold the initiative in their own hands. With the cooperation of the powerful air force, the armored forces quickly assaulted the weak points of the enemy's defense, opening a gap in the enemy's line with a rapid offensive. The motorized infantry quickly followed up, consolidated and expanded the breach, and assaulted deep into the enemy's defense. And extend to the enemy's flanks to encircle the enemy. The main mission of the air force is to seize air superiority on the battlefield, attack the enemy's solid fortresses, and initially clear obstacles for the armored forces' attack. Then, they can launch a powerful assault deep into the front, destroy the enemy's transportation hubs and command systems, and block enemy reinforcements. Troops, make every effort to destroy the enemy's effective forces. After the armored forces achieve a breakthrough, they quickly maneuver to cut off the enemy's retreat or supply lines, or quickly penetrate to divide and surround the enemy. In short, in one sentence, we must make rapid breakthroughs, preemptively disrupt the enemy's deployment, and not give the enemy a chance to breathe.
In the world at that time, the application of tanks was mainly used as support firepower for infantry assaults. When the revolutionary tactics of the German armored forces were recognized by the world, its power was greatly reduced. . The late failure of the Eastern Front is the best example. The unfavorable German offensive in the later period had a lot to do with the consolidation of the Soviet defense line. The lightning offensive at that time could no longer achieve its campaign goals!
The battle formation of armored troops is the key to determining the combat effectiveness of armored troops in combat. During tactical operations such as marching, advancing, engaging the enemy, and pursuing, armored units can adopt different combat formations based on the enemy's situation, terrain, and tactical tasks, so as to more effectively display the overall combat formation. power. Therefore, it can be said that an excellent armored force commander is actually an expert at "arrangement of troops" on the battlefield.
The last sentence of the last battle report of the Supreme Command calls on us: "In this difficult moment, the armed forces must remember our fallen comrades. They enjoin us to observe discipline, obey orders, and unconditionally Loyal to the motherland for which we fought bloody battles.”
The actual attack front should be based on the mission of the unit. For example, a narrow front is used for the main attack point (Schwerpunkt), while a slightly wider front is used for other areas of the attack. If an unexpected main attack point appears in the front during an attack, all forces should immediately increase the density of troops in this offensive area, thereby reducing their attack front. Troops deployed at the main attack point should be supplemented with the most suppressive weapons and the most sufficient ammunition to meet their strike intensity.
In principle, the main attack point should be the deepest point of the breakthrough in the enemy's defense line, which also has a "core" (Anschluss). In a platoon's offensive sector, one squad will become the core, and all other squads will operate around this core squad. Also in a larger offensive sector, a core platoon will direct the actions of a company, a core company will direct the actions of a battalion, and a core battalion will direct the actions of a regiment. The unit that achieves the deepest penetration will automatically become the "core unit", and all nearby units will be guided by it---this is also the German army's famous "Gestattendtaktik" (Gestattendtaktik).
"Freedom Tactics" or "Core Doctrine" is an extremely important concept in German offensive and defensive tactics. It avoids gaps in the front through the connection between the "core force" and its temporary flank forces. , maintaining its density and integrity. Theoretically, the core unit should achieve a deeper penetration distance than adjacent units, and its flanks will be supported by concentrated firepower from heavy machine guns and anti-tank guns deployed in parallel on both sides of the unit's offensive area. Continuous heavy attacks on the enemy's defense line will "penetrate" (Einbruch) them.
If the penetration point is then used as the main attack point, the troops will receive more intense fire support and eventually form a "breakthrough" (Durchbruch). Once a breakthrough is achieved, all forces will immediately be committed to the battle line, and mobile units will carry out the penetration. The encirclement was finally achieved.
Operation deployment (Entfaltung): It mainly depends on factors such as terrain, visibility, enemy strength and the designated attack area of ??the formation. After a grenadier company commander has moved his troops to the offensive position, he will then order the troops to form a "company wedge" formation (Kompanie-Keil), that is, one platoon in front and two platoons in reserve. Or the "company level inverted wedge" formation (Kompanie-Breitkeil), with 2 platoons in front and 1 platoon in reserve.
If it is a "wedge" formation, the platoon forward will automatically become the "core platoon". In the "company-level inverted wedge" formation, the "core platoon" will be specially designated. The company headquarters will be deployed behind the core platoon. Likewise, the platoon leader will use "wedge" and "inverted wedge" formations in his platoon position and in the positions of his subordinate squads accordingly.
Generally speaking, the "wedge" formation is suitable for the beginning of a battle, because the company commander can flexibly send any platoon forward to attack an identified enemy. position. In this case, the remaining platoon can move into the central reserve position. Then carry out interspersed attacks or flank attacks, quickly switch to the "inverted wedge" formation, and thus switch to the "core platoon" in turn.
Tactical deployment (Entwicklung): After contact with the enemy, the grenadier squad will move through their designated area in a column formation. This formation has the advantages of favorable command and vision. Reconnaissance troops in front of each platoon and company should fully ascertain the enemy's situation. Each group will then develop a combat formation when attacking: a "core squad" commander will order the light machine gun group to change from a column formation to a skirmish formation to obtain a good shooting position. The grenadier group in the same squad will continue to advance until it reaches an assault position under the cover of its own firepower and directly facing the enemy's position. Since the designated tasks of the machine gun group and the grenadier group were different, the German army rarely deployed them at the same time. Depending on the importance of each enemy position, the platoon leader can choose to concentrate the machine gun groups of all three squads to attack one target. If a platoon has a heavy machine gun squad or group, he will also be concentrated.
Precise combat formations are one of the advantages of the German armored forces
In order for tanks to be able to maneuver, they must be commanded flexibly and correctly. In order to make use of the terrain to advance quickly and attack the enemy with full force within the specified time, appropriate marching formations, battle formations and battle formations must be adopted. The various formations must be simple so that they can be quickly changed according to terrain conditions and combat situations. Rigidly adopting a certain formation does not conform to the principles of modern tank combat use.
The German army was one of the armies that accurately studied the use of combat formations and formation functions before the war, and through repeated training and exercises, it accumulated experience and lessons that were far superior to those of its opponents. This enabled the German army to use its sharp offensive and flexible formations in the early stages of the war to always find exploitable flaws in the opponent's defense system and quickly amplify them, thus often turning tactical victories into battle victories.
The basic principles followed by the German armored forces in forming combat formations
1. “In order to facilitate the command of each detachment and its firepower, each detachment must act as a whole. For this reason, It is necessary for the unit commander to determine the marching formation, battle formation and marching formation by himself."
2. "The platoon's marching formation is a column; companies and battalions, especially on open terrain. , can be formed into two columns."
3. "Before the battle, the company and battalion form a battle formation according to the current terrain and combat situation."
4. During the battle, Form a front-line combat formation, and each row will form a skirmish line."
5. "When each row forms a front-line attack, the number of echelons is determined according to the following conditions: The superior officer orders. "Based on the mission, combat situation and terrain conditions, various configuration methods can be adopted to ensure safety when assembling tanks."
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7. "If the attack is carried out by a regiment or brigade, the combat formation at this time can be one echelon or several echelons (tank battalion front-line configuration or front-rear configuration)."
< p>8. "The commander of the tank unit (detachment) should be located in a location most convenient for observing and commanding his unit (detachment) according to the situation."Classification of German armored combat formations
< p>The combat formation of the German armored forces can be divided into: armored formation and mixed formation according to the size of the reinforced troops, battlefield terrain conditions, current enemy situation and superior tasks. Among them, armored formation refers to a battle formation composed of tanks, armored vehicles, self-propelled artillery, motorcycles, engineering vehicles and other vehicles with roughly equal mobility and defense capabilities; mixed formation refers to a battle formation composed of the above-mentioned vehicles and dismounted infantry. formation. It must be noted that the aviation combat support aircraft group should also be included in the sky above the entire combat formation of the troops. The main principles followed in the classification of combat formations are: flexibility facilitates maneuverability, and advantages facilitate the development of firepower. "Flexible and easy to maneuver" means: the battle formation should make the entire formation as simple and easy to use as possible and be able to cope with different unexpected situations on the battlefield. "Advantage facilitates the development of firepower" means: when fighting the same opponent at the same time, in the same place, the overall firepower formed by the battle formation has the advantage, that is, the concentration of firepower.1. Armor formation.
Can be divided into: echelon formation, line formation, echelon formation, triangle formation, wedge formation and prismatic formation. The echelon formation includes the left echelon formation and the right echelon formation. When there are concerns about the enemy's situation on the left side of the battlefield, the armored troops form a left-echelon battle formation; when there are concerns about the enemy's situation on the right side of the battlefield, the armored forces form a right-echelon battle formation. The echelon formation is mainly to guard against side threats when moving in the forward direction. Line formation, also called horizontal formation. Line formations are generally used when the enemy situation is clear and the terrain is open, allowing armored forces to impact at high speeds.
Among all formations, the line formation is the one that can maximize the firepower of the tank. The echelon formation is a formation used when attacking a defensive position with a large depth. The purpose is to increase the impact of the attack and maintain the continuity of the attack. The echelon formation is divided into two echelon formations and three echelon formations. According to the enemy situation and battlefield terrain conditions, it can be formed into four or more echelon formations. The biggest weakness of the echelon formation is that it is inconvenient to maintain the flexibility of the formation to "turn to attack". The triangle formation is essentially developed from the echelon formation, that is, based on the echelon formation, the front and rear positions of the tanks in each echelon are adjusted. Triangles forming each echelon. It includes front triangle and rear triangle. Taking a company as an example, the German tank company has 17 tanks, 5 in each row and 2 in the company headquarters. When expanded into a triangular formation (taking the front triangle as an example), 1st row of 5 vehicles expands into a triangular formation at the front, 2nd platoon expands into a triangle on the left side behind 1st row, and 3rd platoon expands into a triangle on the right side of 1st row. The company headquarters is located behind the middle of the three tank platoons. The triangle formation is the most commonly used offensive formation by the German armored units. The wedge formation is actually a variation of the triangle formation. Although the triangle formation has a sharp attack and strong impact, it still cannot effectively utilize the firepower of the four tanks inside the 2nd and 3rd rows of the company's triangle formation. Moreover, when breaking into the depth of the enemy's position, how to attack the enemy's position in depth? Effectively striking enemy firepower points on both sides of the breach during internal penetration has become the fundamental reason for the birth of this formation. The difference from the triangle formation is that the tanks in the 2nd and 3rd rows move forward in a "vertical shape" along the attack axis at the same time, but the attack points of the firepower are on both sides of the formation. Units above the tank company level can adopt the "wedge" formation. The "prismatic" combat formation is actually a comprehensive combat formation formed by merging the "front wedge" and the "rear wedge". When the entire formation stops moving and forms a configuration, it is called a "hedgehog" formation by the Germans. It also means that this formation can enable the entire formation to move forward quickly in any direction and facilitate the formation of firepower in any direction. front. Then, when it is in motion, its main purpose is to defend against the opponent's rear and wing attacks, and to maintain the integrity and continuity of the attack.
2. Mixed formation.
The mixed formation basically adopts the same combat formation as the armored formation. But there is also a difference. This is the collaborative battle formation of infantry and tanks. When a mixed attack of tanks and infantry is adopted, especially when tanks lead the infantry attack, the infantry only needs to be organized in the above armored formation. When the terrain is unfavorable and the infantry leads the tank attack, it is best for the tanks to adopt a wide-frontal "line formation", that is, a horizontal formation, in order to support the infantry battle with more tank firepower.
Examples of German armored forces successfully using various battle formations
1. Examples of offensive operations: In the "Typhoon" campaign to attack Moscow, the German army broke through closely in the outer and inner suburbs of Moscow When the Soviet army defended their positions, they often adopted a "wedge" battle formation based on the characteristics of numerous forests, muddy roads, and little depth of Soviet defense. After the breakthrough, the infantry units that followed carried out offensive operations against the besieged Soviet troops, while the armored units used a "wedge-shaped" battle formation to search and advance, sometimes even advancing directly in a marching column. For example, in the pursuit of Tula, Guderian's troops marched directly in one column. However, as the Soviet army continued its tenacious counterattacks and counterattacks, the German armored forces suffered more and more attacks from the flanks and rear. In the battle on the outskirts of Moscow, the German army was forced to adopt a "prismatic" battle formation. to maintain offensive stability. However, under the powerful artillery firepower of General Rossokov, the German tanks caused a lot of damage due to the dense battle formation (note: it is not destroyed. The effectiveness of howitzers on tanks is very low and can only damage the peripheral equipment of the tanks. Destroying the battle formation of the tanks.) The fundamental reason for the failure of the battle was that the German tanks had lost their initial combat effectiveness in the continuous battles, and the terrain and climate also severely restricted the movement of the German tanks. More importantly, the Soviet army has the ability to counterattack, and the German army has become the last force. In the "Battle of the Fortress" in the Battle of Kursk, the German army finally developed the traditional "wedge" battle formation into a "bell" battle formation. This "bell" shaped battle formation is actually an inevitable development trend in battles and combat operations. In the "Fortress" battle operation, in order to concentrate firepower and facilitate control and command, the attacking tanks placed the super-heavy tanks in the center, the medium tanks on the left and right sides in a "figure of eight" shape, and the light tanks behind the heavy tanks, ready to pursue pursuit at any time. The new battle formation is called the "bell" shaped battle formation. During the battle, this battle formation can effectively suppress the wide frontal and deep anti-tank firepower of the Soviet army, and enables tank commanders and heavy weapons observers to effectively coordinate land and air. The German tank general even believed that if this formation could be organized to carry out an attack, and the close coordination of various arms could be organized, it would generally be successful on complex terrain.
2. Examples of ambush warfare: In the defensive operations in Ukraine, when the Soviet army usually concentrated its overwhelmingly superior tanks to attack, the German armored forces were usually at a disadvantage and often carried out small-scale mobile operations. The "fire brigade" role played by the German army's mobile operations within a considerable range only alleviated the pressure of the collapse of the German defense line. In long-term actual combat, the German army also adopted many surprising battle formations when facing the superior Soviet tank troops.
For example, in a defensive operation, based on the terrain characteristics of the forest on one side of the defensive front and the defensive front at the bend on the northeast side of the forest, after identifying the possible attack time and route of the Soviet army, based on the Soviet army's night attack, the first echelon The distance between the tank and the second echelon was determined by the red light on the rear of the tank, so it was decided to carry out an ambush operation in a disadvantageous situation. The comparison of the number of tanks between the two sides is: the German army has less than a hundred tanks, and the Soviet army has a tank corps with more than 300 tanks. The German army was determined to implement a front-line ambush operation. They used the night to quietly hide the ambush tanks on the routes that the Soviet tanks must pass through, and the battle was decided to start in the early morning of the next day. At four o'clock in the morning the next day, the Soviet army launched the attack on time. The distance between the more than 70 tanks of the first echelon and the second echelon was less than ten kilometers, and the maneuver time difference was more than 20 minutes. The Soviet tanks approached the German front line at the scheduled time and route. When the first echelon of the Soviet army moved five kilometers away, the hidden German tanks formed a corresponding formation and quietly accelerated to follow. Here, there is actually an extra German tank unit between the first and second echelons of the Soviet army. The commander of the first echelon looked back, oh, the second echelon was following. The commander of the second echelon looked forward, oh, the first echelon was moving forward. Unexpectedly, the loss is here. We were almost approaching the German defense zone. The commander of the first echelon of the Soviet army was about to give the order to form a sparse formation, and the Soviet tanks were also preparing to form a company formation. Everyone was paying careful attention to the front. Suddenly, there was a thunderous sound of artillery fire from behind. Within a few minutes, more than 70 tanks were destroyed and more than 60 were destroyed. Only six escaped. The tanks of the first echelon of the Soviet army were basically destroyed, but the second echelon was unaware of it. It thought that the battle had already begun and accelerated its advance. However, they ran into a German tank that had been resting for a few minutes. The two sides fought fiercely, and the second echelon of the Soviet army was basically wiped out. In this battle alone, the German army only lost a few tanks, while the Soviet army lost ten times this number of tanks. Later, the German army often borrowed this style of play, taking advantage of the battlefield terrain and successfully ambushed many times. After suffering several losses, the Soviet army became cautious. This affected the advancement of the entire front.
The main core of the German armored divisions is the armored regiment. Before 1935, the German army had only 6 armored divisions a year, excluding light armored divisions. During this period, most of the German armored divisions were organized into 2 armored regiments. By 1941, the number of German armored divisions had reached 21. At this time, most of the German armored divisions were organized into 1 armored regiment + 3 mechanized regiments/ Motorized regiments. In fact, most of the infantry of the German armored divisions still ride in trucks instead of armored vehicles, so they can only be called motorized infantry. At this time, the strength of the 1-regiment armored division is not what it used to be, because at this time in 1941 Armored divisions were formed based on the 1938 armored divisions, cut in half, so the impact of the 1-regiment armored division has declined. In view of this, the German army has formed some armored regiment-based armored divisions, and these divisions have 2 There is an armored regiment, but its strength is not simply twice that of a 1-regiment armored division. Since a 1-regiment regiment has 4 battalions and a 2-regiment armored regiment has only 3 battalions, its strength is larger but limited. Generally, a 1-regiment armored regiment has about 150-180 tanks and a 2-regiment armored regiment has about 200-250 tanks.
The German armored divisions had 16,000 soldiers, but they had less than 200 tanks. They were dwarfed by the Soviet mechanized army during this period. The Soviet mechanized army had 5 tanks. About 10,000 soldiers. However, they use 800-1,200 tanks, while the British combat brigade-level armored forces in Europe have more than 100 tanks. There is no doubt that the German armored forces violated the winning factor of concentration.
Secondly, most of the infantry in armored divisions still ride in trucks instead of 250/251 series armored combat vehicles. This greatly weakens the German infantry-machine coordination ability. Even the troops with armored vehicles are not equipped with armored vehicles. These vehicles were too fragile and could not drive to the front line within 400 meters, so this phenomenon occurred. The German tanks accelerated to avoid enemy fire while the infantry pursued them desperately. By the time the combat range of the infantry submachine guns within 100 meters was exhausted, they had no intention to continue. Chase, but the tank has been surrounded by enemy infantry.
Assault artillery is not incorporated into armored divisions. The main sources of firepower of the German army are 150MM guns, 81MM guns, 50MM anti-tank guns. The 75mm guns are not yet equipped. The 88MM anti-aircraft guns are mainly composed of several high-altitude guns. In artillery corps and a small number of armored divisions, the 88 gun basically does not provide ground support except anti-tank. The 37MM gun plays an immeasurable role in light tanks and supporting infantry in street fighting. Although it has the disadvantage of low power, it is light in weight and has a fast rate of fire. , easy to supply, small in size and very popular in street fighting. As well as a small number of rocket launchers, we can easily see that none of them except the 50MM guns are suitable for direct tank support. Therefore, when the German armored divisions charged, they often did not receive strong direct fire support and suffered heavy losses, which seriously affected the impact of the armored forces. .
In the early days of the war, the highest establishment of the Soviet armored forces was at the military level. A mechanized corps had more than 2 tank divisions + some motorized units. The overall strength was very strong. However, due to the over-organization It is very difficult to coordinate and supply supplies. It can be said that the mechanized army cannot adapt to modern warfare at all. After the Battle of Kiev, the Soviet Army High Command abolished the mechanized army in name only. At the same time, it also disbanded many tank divisions and organized them into brigade-level troops. In this way, the armored strength of the Soviet army became very weak. Such a brigade could not exceed 2,000 men and 100 tanks at most. Unless it was used intensively, it would only harass the enemy, and there would be no impact.
But as the war progressed, the Soviet army's strength recovered. In 1942, the Soviet high command began to consider using its own armored forces to attack the Germans. But how to organize it? The Soviet Army High Command invented a new type of organization-the tank group army. This group army is much larger than the German armored divisions. It usually has 5 division-level troops under its jurisdiction, and no more than 6 at most. divisions, but only 1-3 are tank divisions, usually with 50,000 or 60,000 people. Such a group army has artillery units. The mechanized/motorized units can effectively cooperate with tank operations, and the larger organization can ensure that the group army has The relatively abundant force ensures sufficient strength when attacking the enemy, and the various arms can effectively coordinate to achieve true multi-arms combined operations, which has a great advantage over the relatively single armored division of the German army
But there are advantages and disadvantages. Such a large organization and the mixing of so many types of arms will inevitably make command difficult, so the Soviet army began to be quite uncomfortable with this organization...
< p>It is not difficult to see that in this kind of attack, the basis for victory is mainly maneuvering, not attacking.When carrying out this kind of attack, you can also take the initiative to retreat to lure the enemy into an obstacle area or an area surrounded on both sides, and then attack it.
(3) Two-wing encirclement: If there are no obstacles, the mechanized troops must maneuver in their area. As shown in Figure 33, when battle group a advances towards the enemy, battle group c advances towards the enemy. Maneuvering at x, when battle group b moves towards y, battle group a rushes towards the enemy.