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During the middle and late stages of World War II, German heavy industrial companies such as Henschel and Krupp successively developed medium and heavy tanks suitable for German equipment, just to defeat the Soviet T- 34. Obtained "absolute technical advantage" in front of the Allied M4, Churchill and other tanks... The 501st heavy tank battalion was the first to be established, followed by the 502nd, 503rd, 504th... until the 508th. The 509th heavy tank battalion The battalion was originally planned to be established on March 10, 1945. However, due to the limited number of Tiger (Tiger I) tanks and King Tiger (Tiger II) tanks produced, and the first few established tank battalions suffered heavy losses on the front line, the plan was The Tiger I and Tiger II tanks equipped with the 509th Tank Battalion were dispersed and distributed to other heavy tank battalions that needed to be supplemented. Therefore, there are 8 German heavy tank battalions.
The second question is that although these heavy tank battalions have their own nominally assigned divisions. But in fact they do not belong entirely to any division. They are equivalent to "battlefield firefighters"... Because they are equipped with many "Tiger" tanks, their combat effectiveness is undoubtedly very powerful. This means that if an area is about to be broken through by the Soviet army or the US military, then they will rush to that area to "put out the fire"... For example, on the Soviet battlefield in 1944, faced with the "ten fire attacks" launched by the Soviet tank armored group, "Offensive Battle", the defense of all German units was very difficult. Faced with this situation, they did not fight with their own troops, but acted as a "general reserve". They rushed wherever there was a danger of being broken through by Soviet armored groups. Among them, the 502nd and 503rd heavy tank battalions worked together to break through the Soviet encirclement and rescued several besieged German infantry divisions. They also do not have fixed units. For example, the German 7th Armored Division, the 501st, 502nd, and 503rd heavy tank battalions were all nominally under its banner.
About the 504th Heavy Tank Battalion: The 504th Heavy Tank Battalion was established from December 1942 to January 1943. In February 1943, the battalion received the first batch of 20 Tiger tanks. On March 12, 1943, under Hitler's order, the vanguard of the battalion arrived in North Africa, with a total of 25 Panzer III tanks, 18 Tiger tanks, and 2 armored befehlswagens (unknown what kind of vehicles they were). In April On the 13th, the second company equipped with 17 Tiger tanks also arrived in Tunisia, North Africa. Since the 11 Tiger tanks of the 501st Battalion lost their commander, they were placed under the command of the 504th Heavy Tank Battalion on March 17. At this time, the number of Tiger tanks in the battalion reached 43. All Tiger tanks of the 504th Heavy Tank Battalion were lost in the North African battlefield. Most were destroyed by mechanical failures or abandoned due to fuel shortages. The British army also captured several tanks on the battlefield. The survivors of the 504th Heavy Tank Battalion surrendered to the British on May 12, 1943. On June 4, 1943, the 504th Heavy Tank Battalion was reorganized in Trapani, Italy. On July 11, 1943, the battalion dispatched 17 Tiger tanks to cooperate with the Hermann Goering Armored Division against the US beachhead in Italy. Launched an attack, but under the gunfire of the Allied Navy, the battalion lost 10 Tiger tanks in only three days of fighting, and then 6 more Tiger tanks were destroyed or abandoned due to mechanical failures. After suffering huge losses, the battalion's remaining Tiger tank was shipped across the Messina Strait in Italy and returned to Germany for rest. With support from the 18th Armored Division, the battalion reorganized three fully-manned Tiger tank companies, and then the battalion returned to the Italian battlefield, where the 504th Heavy Tank Battalion briefly supported the 17th SS Division's attack, and then cooperated with the 362nd Infantry Division to launch an attack on the Allied forces in Anzio, successfully stopping the Allied advance. The 504th Heavy Tank Battalion participated in many operations in Italy, such as the Battle of the Anno River, the Defense of Northern Italy, etc. In 1944, the battalion was deployed to the Vienna area and received the new King Tiger tanks. On February 12, 1945, the 508th Heavy Tank Battalion handed over 15 Tiger tanks to the battalion. On April 28, 1945, the battalion surrendered to the Allies in Italy.
Most of the other heavy tank battalions initially fought on the Eastern Front. Starting from the end of 1944, some heavy tank battalions that had been withdrawn from the Eastern Front came together to participate in the Ardennes Counterattack. In this failed counterattack, basically all the remaining heavy forces were lost...but before the end of 1944, their overall performance was still very good.
Commander Hall, Headquarters. Equivalent to the current General Staff, its role is to gather generals and marshals together to study and judge the battlefield situation. The German high command during World War II was basically formed in 1936 and was finally completed in 1945. Its performance was undoubtedly the best among all the armies participating in the war.
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