Tank design is an endless battle, not only to defeat existing enemy tanks, but also to deal with future challengers. But no tank can stay at the top of the food chain forever, and even a tank with the most powerful guns and the thickest armor will sooner or later encounter weapons that can penetrate that armor, or more powerful tanks that can't penetrate the opponent's armor. But until then, the enemy will always come up with some clever tactics to defeat the technical advantage you have. That's what happened when the Germans encountered the legendary T-34 tank in the summer of 1941.
T-34 Phobia
They were impressed by the first encounter between the German army and the T-34 tank. In July 1941, Otto Carius, the later German tank ace, recalled his first encounter with these tanks: "When the Russians first appeared in front of us in the T-34, we were astonished. The T-34 has good armor, an ideal bulletproof shape and a large 76.2 mm long barrel gun. This made them a major threat to German tanks until the end of the war. But what do you want us to do with these massive monsters? Our 37mm anti-tank guns were like knocking on them like a stepping stone, hitting the T-34s with nothing, and the Russians could still stay inside and play cards undisturbed. Our only rescue was the 88 mm anti-aircraft gun, the only one that could penetrate the latest Russian tanks at that time."
The 88 mm anti-aircraft gun was indeed an effective weapon against the T-34. The German upper echelons instructed that armor-piercing shells should be fired from 1,000 meters into the turret of the T-34. If it is to shoot its hull, it should be fired from a closer range of 100-800 meters. If it is a 105 mm gun, it can shoot at the turret of the T-34 from a distance of 1200 meters, but if it is aimed at the hull, it is shortened to 800 meters to shoot.
Calius was not the one to give an opinion on the T-34, and his superior, Major General Heinz Gedek of the Wehrmacht, recalled: "Since we really didn't have any weapons on hand to deal with the T-34, we relied heavily on the 88 mm guns of the Air Force. However, they also have a problem, that is, they are too large and stand there like a huge barn. Although they are able to effectively penetrate the T-34, when the enemy finds them, it is difficult to escape. When the 88 mm gun exposed its target, it was subjected to retaliatory fire and suffered heavy casualties. And they are also needed elsewhere on the front line for air defense operations, so they are not always available."
So before waiting for a comparable tank to be produced (such as the later Tiger tank), the Germans had to use their brains to find other ways to deal with the T-34. Due to their small silhouette and good bouncing appearance, the T-34's long range (ranges between 1,000 and 2,000 meters given in various German documents) were a no-brainer. At the same time, the T-34 is faster than the German tanks, so it is difficult to get around them, and you can only penetrate the T-34 from the side at close range. To this end, the Germans came up with the following tactics:
Infantry to tanks
Although later in the war German soldiers had at least the opportunity to hit a T-34 at close range from a building window with an iron fist, fighting tanks with small arms on an open battlefield was entirely different. The infantry had to figure out some way to deal with the tanks themselves.
The first is to look for dead spots around the T-34 tank. In the anti-T-34 instruction manual, the large circle shows the safe range of an infantryman facing the tank's main gun, while the small circle shows his safe range when facing the tank group's self-defense light weapons. If the infantry is within 19 meters in front of the tank or 40 meters behind, it will not be damaged by the T-34 main gun and the coaxial machine gun. At a distance of 5 meters in front and 8 meters behind, the light weapons of the tank crew could not hurt him.
German infantry could use armor-piercing bullets when hunting the T-34. Riflemen receive 10 s.m.k.h bullets (armor-piercing bullets with a tungsten carbide core), and the gunner is given 100 such bullets. Under the command of the officers, the machine gunner and the rifleman fired these bullets at the hatch and observation hole of the tank at a range of 400 meters and 1000 meters, respectively. This tactic will not paralyze the enemy tank, but can blind it.
Above, a German infantryman is practicing how to blind a fake T-34 tank with smoke grenades. German training emphasized that under this attack tactic, the tanks were blind even if all the observational equipment worked properly. Attacking a tank at close range requires a lot of courage, and the best way to teach an infantryman not to be afraid of a tank is to have him sit in the tank and try to look around and feel the narrow vision of the tank members. The Germans used this technique in practical training.
Like the Red Army, the Germans were required to hide in trenches or foxholes and wait for enemy tanks to approach before climbing out to attack. They would climb up the rear of the tank, then use an axe to cut through the shutters of the transmission chamber, throw a grenade into it, or pour gasoline into it. If the soldier happened to have no axe or gasoline, he could also grab a handful of mud, climb up the tank and smear it on its observation window. However, the German Infantry Anti-Tank Manual did not indicate the success rate of the above method, nor did it instruct them on how to deal with the infantry that accompanied the advance of enemy tanks, because it would discourage them from a little courage.
Of course, there are also more traditional infantry anti-tank weapons, such as incendiary bombs or grenades. The Germans instructed that two grenades should be tied together with ropes and then wrapped around the gun barrels as they approached the tanks. Grenades can blow up the barrel and disable the sight. The Germans were also equipped with smoke bombs, which could incapacitate the crew for a short period of time. If the tank tracks are blown off, smoke grenades thrown at it will also force the occupants to leave the tank.
The Germans did not have many examples of infantry adopting these tactics in actual combat, because it was too dangerous. At the same time, T-34 tanks often fought in groups, accompanied by infantry. It was not until later that the Germans distributed anti-tank bazookas such as iron fists, and the number of Soviet tanks destroyed by individual soldiers rose sharply. However, the above tactics show once again: how bold people are, how crazy the tactics are.