For a long time, military fans have had an unofficial ranking of the armies of the countries in World War II, basically the First and Exclusive First Gear of the German Army, the Second Gear of the United States and the Soviet Union, the Third Gear of Japan, followed by Italy, the United Kingdom and other countries, and finally the Chinese Army.
Regardless of how military fans line up, the ferocity of the German Army is unquestionable, after all, it swept across Europe and nearly defeated Moscow in 1941. The strength of the German army came from advanced weapons, adequate logistics, and excellent tactics. The German squads with machine guns as the core were extremely efficient in tactics and had both offensive and defensive capabilities, influencing the infantry tactics of many later countries.
What was the formation of the German infantry squad in World War II? What weapons are they holding? How did the German infantry squad formation and tactics change from 1939 to 1945?
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="3" >, the wehrmacht infantry squad establishment</h1>
In the modern army, an infantry squad is generally about 12 people, of which two main and deputy squad leaders are commanders, and the remaining 10 soldiers are the combat strength. During World War II, infantry squads around the world remained at this level, with 12-man squads in the U.S. Army, 10 in the British and Germans, and 11-man squads in the Soviets.
An infantry squad was commanded by the head and deputy squad leader, and the rest were divided into machine gunners, ammunition men, snipers, riflemen, and so on. In the German Army of World War II, infantry squads were simply divided into machine gunners and riflemen. 10 people is the limit of the number of soldiers that front-line non-commissioned officers can command, which is the experience summed up on the battlefield, and the 10-man infantry is divided into three groups, each with different tasks.
Before the start of World War II, Germany also had 13-man infantry squads, which were also divided into machine gun groups and rifle groups. At that time, the German machine gun group consisted of 4 men, one shooter carrying a gun, three deputy shooters carrying bullets and supporting tripods, and also responsible for excavating machine gun positions at the time of the war. Of the remaining 9 men, 7 were riflemen, fighting under the leadership of the deputy squad leader, who was in charge of commanding the machine gun group and coordinating the overall situation.
After the start of World War II, the Germans quickly replaced the heavy MG08/15 machine guns with mg34 machine guns, which liberated the machine gun groups of infantry squads. From this time on, the German army began to introduce 10-man infantry squads, the machine gun group was reduced by two, and the rest of the configuration remained basically unchanged. The German machine gun set used an MG34/42 general purpose machine gun, infantry used a kar98K rifle, and squad leaders and deputy squad leaders carried MP submachine guns.
In terms of ammunition, the German squad leader was armed with an MP submachine gun, carrying six 32-round magazines, six infantrymen and one rifle with 60 rounds of ammunition, plus two grenades.
The machine gunners were tired, and the main and deputy shooters of the German machine gun group used the Ruger pistol, but the front shooter had to carry the machine gun and a 50-round drum, and the deputy shooter had to carry 500 rounds of ammunition. There was also a rifleman as an ammunition man, carrying two 300-round ammunition boxes, and his burden was the heaviest in the entire class.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="5" > second, german offensive and defensive tactics with machine guns as the core</h1>
The German 10-man infantry squad was basically maintained until the end of World War II, and the German infantry code was based on machine guns as the core tactics, with strong firepower and high offensive efficiency under the condition of sufficient ammunition supply.
The Germans were led by the squad leader with a machine gun group, and the deputy squad leader with a rifle group, and once they encountered the enemy situation, the machine gun group immediately seized the position and set up a gun to prepare for fire suppression.
At this time, the deputy machine gunner and the ammunition man were in place, and if the terrain was rough, they had to shovel the machine gun to dig out the flat ground for the machine gun, and then stand by with the gun. After the machine gun shooter was ready to shoot, the soldiers of the infantry group, led by the deputy squad leader, quickly unfolded and moved on both sides of the machine gun.
The squad leader stood next to the machine gunner, with binoculars in hand, directing the direction of the shooting, and giving orders to the riflemen, or covering the shooting, or attacking, or retreating. In the case of offensive combat, the riflemen follow the machine gun to shoot, and advance as they fight.
The German MG34 and the subsequent improved MG42 had a very fast rate of fire, the secondary shooter and the ammunition hand must be inseparable, they both kept an eye on the use of the machine gun at any time, once the barrel was overheated or the ammunition was exhausted, the deputy shooter was responsible for replacing the barrel, and the ammunition hand was fired. When the orthoper is killed, the deputy shooter shoots in his place, and if the deputy shooter dies, the ammunition man continues to the top.
A fully stocked and well-stocked German infantry squad was very effective, carrying more than 2,100 rounds of ammunition and 20 grenades, which was able to withstand the firepower of a company of the Chinese army at that time. Soldiers hit by the German MG34 machine gun is absolutely impossible to survive, this machine gun has a rate of fire of more than 800 rounds / min, each hit the human body is a few holes, coupled with its "snort" like a chainsaw sound, the suppression is very terrible.
An MG34 machine gun can completely suppress a 50-100 meter trench, or an enemy fortification, and the riflemen advance under the cover of machine guns, fighting as they go. After approaching the enemy bunker, the deputy squad leader called on the soldiers to take the initiative to attack the stronghold, and if no one took the initiative, the deputy squad leader named it. As the soldiers approached the bunker, they threw grenades to kill and wound the enemy before taking up positions with bayonet-mounted rifles.
When the infantry advanced beyond the range of machine gun fire, the machine gun group must immediately carry the gun forward and re-establish the fire point in front. On the way to the infantry attack, the mortar squad of the platoon will shell the support and suppress the enemy's fire points.
During defensive warfare, German infantry squads also relied entirely on machine guns, with riflemen dodging fire in trenches or fortifications, and roaring machine guns suppressing enemy infantry attacks. Without artillery or tanks, it would have been almost impossible for infantry to take the German defensive line, and the Soviets had repeatedly attacked the German 9th Army at the Battle of Lezhev in 1942, but after paying millions of casualties, they could not take it, and countless young soldiers fell under the roaring "Nazi chainsaw".
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="7" > third, tactics change with firepower, and the machine gun eventually gives way to the automatic rifle</h1>
In the early days of World War II, the German infantry squad tactics were not out of the way, and the French quarter was defeated in 40 days, along with the British Army. On the Eastern Front, Germany and the 1941 blitzkrieg against the Soviet Union, the early stage of the fight was smooth, the fighters opened the way in the sky, the tanks divided the enemy, the infantry surrounded and annihilated the Soviet army in the rear, and the war destroyed millions of Soviet troops in only half a year.
The Soviets were at first far inferior to the Germans, with only one DT light machine gun in the squad, a semi-automatic rifle in the squad leader and the rest of the soldiers with rifles. When the Soviet counteroffensive began at the end of 1943, the Soviets were heavily equipped with SVT semi-automatic rifles and Bobosha submachine guns, which improved infantry firepower.
Also in 1943, the German army and the US army in North Africa, although the US army is basically a new recruit egg, but the US army is very strong, it really makes the German army suffer. The Machine Guns of the Americans were not as strong as the Germans, but the American soldiers were armed with semi-automatic weapons, each holding a Garand rifle, and the fire density was stronger than that of the German infantry.
The Germans were not unaware of their poor individual firepower, and at that time the Germans in the European theater had already used submachine guns in large quantities, whether it was their own MP40 or the captured Bobosha in the Soviet Union.
Although Europe is the world of submachine guns, Germany did not regard submachine guns as the future of the army, and Germany began to equip the STG44 automatic rifle in 1944, which was the world's first automatic rifle for large-scale installation of the army. StG44 has a capacity of 30 rounds, although the rate of fire is not as good as the submachine gun, but it can shoot accurately at a distance of 300 meters, and it can also be suppressed at close range, one shot and two uses.
After 1944, the German army had a serious shortage of manpower, and although Germany had already begun general mobilization orders, it was still difficult for the front-line troops to be full. At this time, the number of Infantry Squads of the German Army was maintained at about 7 people, some units even had only 5 people, the machine gun group was directly abolished, and the elite troops were each armed with a submachine gun or automatic rifle.
The tactics of the German infantry squads also changed, no longer the whole squad carried machine guns, but a squad was divided into two groups, one group covered a group of attacks, alternately advancing with each other, relying on the powerful firepower of STG44 to kill and injure the enemy. This tactic was more flexible and maneuverable, almost the same as today's infantry tactics.
After the end of World War II, countries around the world began to develop and equip automatic rifles, which gradually became the main weapon of the army infantry, liberating the infantry from "machine gun tactics". Since then, the number of infantry squads of the various armies has decreased, but the firepower has been greatly enhanced.
Text/Shogakuno
Resources:
1. "Single Soldier Blade: Individual Weapons and Equipment of the German Army in World War II", anon
2. "Early Members of the General Machine Gun Family - MG34 and MG42 General Machine Guns", Han Kuiyuan