Written on June 25, 2009 at 12:33 am by Michelle

German Infantry

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German Infantry
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Scare Tactics and the Art of War

Fear and anxiety have been crucial elements in any general's strategy since the dawn of time. The Assyrian empire was reputedly formed through the use of generous amounts of terror and brutality. The Spartans struck such terror in their enemies that their forces often won their wars with other Greek city states simply by arriving on the battlefield. Gaius Marius, a Senator of the ancient Roman Republic, once quelled the threat of rebellion in a client kingdom by imposing upon his rival the might of a single Roman legion. The Mongol hordes claimed entire kingdoms as they swept through Europe through the use of scare tactics. The fact is, even before scorched earth strategies, fear and anxiety have long been in the arsenal of military commanders.

Fear and anxiety are immensely helpful in keeping enemy forces from not only fighting effectively, but in some cases, it might inspire them to leave your territory entirely. This was the case when Vlad III Dracula (yes, the name is in that format), more commonly referred to in history as Vlad the Impaler, faced against an overwhelming Turkish and Ottoman force. According to historical accounts, when the Shah-in Shah's forces encountered the massive field of impaled soldiers captured from previous encounters with Vlad's army, he turned back. He was greeted with an image that inspired fear and anxiety even in his supposedly invincible army: the sight of thousands of impaled Turkish and Ottoman troops. Most military historians acknowledge Vlad's tactic as one of the most effective uses of psychological warfare and terror in history.

The use of fear and anxiety, however, is not merely limited to enemy forces. During the Second World War, in the infamous Battle of Stalingrad, the Soviets employed fear and anxiety on their own forces. Soviet conscripts troops, forcibly taken for their homes and barely even armed properly for combat, were informed that to retreat would mean death. Faced with a choice of either German bullets or Russian bullets, the Red Army was reported to have charged repeatedly into German lines, seemingly showing little regard for their own safety.

History also has several examples of fear and anxiety having effects on the maneuvering of troops. One example occurred again during World War II. German troops of the time were notoriously effective, such that the Allied commanders felt it was a tactical mistake to send their troops to face Hitler's blitzkrieg army. The front lines also experienced fear and anxiety, particularly when faced with sizable German infantry and panzer divisions. As a remedy, American and British commanders took a cue from the Soviet Red Army on the Eastern front and ordered their forces to engage the less well-trained Romanian and Italian armies, which lacked the discipline and equipment of their German counterparts.

The tank was initially developed as a weapon of intimidation, designed to scare infantry into breaking rank as the approaching mass of steel and gunfire came closer to them. The tanks were maneuvered straight into enemy infantry lines, regardless of how much damage the machines would have taken, simply to use the tank's intimidating effect to the fullest.

The fact is, scare tactics were, are, and will always be part of warfare for as long as there are human beings fighting on the front lines. Terrorizing your own troops as a substitute for morale and horrifying your opponents as a means of demoralizing them will inevitably be considered part and parcel of any comprehensive guide to warfare.

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Best Infantry Anti-tank Gun of WWII (multiple choice)?

Different approach this time. Vote for which you think was the best anti-tank gun employed by the Infantry during WWII and explain your reasons why. Here are the choices and their very basic performance (wieght/muzzle velocity/armor penetration):
1. Soviet 45mm M1942: 570 kg, 1,070 m/s, 95 mm armor at 300 meters (APCR)
2. German 42/29mm PAK41: 560 kg, 1,265 m/s, 87mm at 500 meters
3. German 5.0cm PAK38: 968kg, 1,198 m/s, 120mm at 500 meters (APCR)
4. British Ordnance QF 6-Pounder: 1,112 kg, 1,097 m/s, 146mm at 914 meters (APDS)
5. American M1 57mm: 1,225 kg, 823 m/s, 79mm at 914 meters (APC)
6. German 7.5cm PAK 40: 1,425 kg, 792 m/s, 116mm at 1,000 meters (APC)
7. German 7.5/5.5cm PAK 41: 1,356 kg, 1,125m/s, 177mm at 1,000 meters
8. German 8.0cm PWK 8H63: 600 kg, 520 m/s, 140mm at 750 meters (HEAT)

I answered a similar question for you the other day so you know what my answer is. Let us step through why.

1. Light enough for easy manhandling and horse transport (critical in the Soviet army). Good penetration for the caliber but small round makes a feeble impact on target. Better than nothing - but only just. Proved rather more useful as an infantry gun firing HE than a tank-killer firing AP.

2. See #1, except the gun and ammunition was very expensive, wore out barrels at an alarming rate, required scarce raw materials and lacked an HE round of any kind.

3. On paper this one looks good. Just at the outer limit of what can be effectively man-handled in and out of action by its own crew. Armor penetration seemed more than adequate until on the Eastern front the standard Pzgr 39 round proved completely ineffective against the T-34 and the expensive and rare Pzrg 40 (AP40) only effective under 250 meters. Stuck around until the end of the war anyway.

4. Much better gun than the PAK38. Could kill a Tiger 1 under the right circumstances. Required motor transport to move any distance (which the allies at least had in quantity). Needed APDS to kill a Panther but the round suffered from poor accuracy beyond 500 meters and limited hitting power from the small projectile.

5. Same gun as the 6-Pounder with American ammo.

6. Effective against any tank it could see but far too heavy for effective use in the infantry regiments. Large numbers were lost through abandonment simply because their crews could not displace them before being overun.

7. The most lethal of the bunch against tanks. Very high production cost and long building time in terms of ma-hours, high rate of barrel wear, specialized ammunition requiring scarce raw materials and lack of an HE round all count against it. Noble effort but superceded by...

8. Best of the bunch but largely unheard of due to its late arrival and scant use in WWII. In weight it is down there with the 42-45mm weapons thus making it much easier to manhandle without a motor vehicle than the others - a critical consideration in an infantry weapon on a fast-moving battlefield. This is because it uses HEAT rather than high-velocity AP ammunition so the gun does not need to be so heavy and sturdy. This ammo offers penetration comparable to the heavy HV guns in a light package. The HEAT also offers some dual-purpose capability but the lower velocity gun itself could fire highly effective HE and smoke rounds. HV guns use a lot of powder to move rounds down range (not necessary and wasteful with HE) and heat up quickly. The 8H63 fired modified 81mm mortar bombs and could effectively have replaced not only the PAK 38, PAK 97/38 & PAK 40 in the regimental anti-tank company but also the 75mm infantry guns in the infantry gun company for a considerable savings in logistics, production and manpower.

Painting Miniature German Infantry Timelapse