Company Officer's Handbook Of The German Army - Command and ...

OFFENSIVE PRINCIPLES 7
grenadiers, who dismount from their combat vehicles as close as
possible to the point where they must engage the enemy. (See fig.
4.) The objectives of the second wave are the enemy's antitank
defenses and infantry positions, which are attacked with highexplosive
and machine-gun fire. The third wave, accompanied by
the remainder of the panzer grenadiers, mops up.
The introduction of the heavy tank (Pz.Kpfw. Tiger) has led to
a modification of German tactics, and reports from the Eastern
Front indicate that Tiger tanks were sometimes used there in an
independent role. The Tiger tank has been employed mainly to
provide support for light and medium tanks. In one action in the
Tunisian Campaign, however, lighter tanks formed the spearhead
of an attack, but when Allied tanks came within range, the lighter
German tanks deployed to the flanks and the Tiger tanks engaged.
In one attack in Russia, Tiger tanks were reported to have been
used to obtain a battering-ram effect in an attack in the Byelgorod-
Orel sector. A force of 20 to 30 Tiger tanks led the attack, followed
by 40 to 60 self-propelled guns. Behind the guns were German light
and medium tanks and some Czech light tanks used as mounts for
guns of approximately 75-mm caliber. German light and medium
tanks were also used to cover the flanks.
3. TOWN AND STREET FIGHTING
In attacking a town or village, the Germans will employ flanking
and encircling tactics (see fig. 5, p. 8); one of their primary missions
is to cut off water, electricity, and gas supplies. While carrying out
the flanking maneuver, the Germans will endeavor to pin down the
defenders with heavy artillery fire.
If a direct assault must be made on the town, the Germans favor
laying heavy supporting fire on the forward edge of the community,
especially on detached groups of buildings and isolated houses. The
assaulting troops most likely will be divided into a number of
columns and make a series of coordinated parallel attacks. Attacks
from opposite directions and conflicting angles are avoided on the
ground that they lead to confusion and to firing on friendly troops.
The columns will be subdivided into assault groups and mop-up
groups. Assault detachments of engineers equipped with demolition