Re: Штуг
>А что именно там читать?
Abt.Nr. 890/36g. Kdos.
To: The Chief of Staff of the Army
After the concept of the creation of armored Sturmartillerie (assault artillery) met with the approval of the Chief of the General Staff, it seemed necessary to submit a tactical paper concerning the application of the Assault Artillery in addition to the technical development of the corresponding gun. Otherwise the situation will arise when we have the new weapon without knowing how to utilize it.
It concurrently be said, not only with us but with other States as well, that the lines of thought about the utilization of armored vehicles and the assault gun are not clear-cut, and are many times quite blurred. On the one hand, it is said that the armored vehicle should take full advantage of its speed to break through enemy infantry in order to cripple the enemy Artillery and higher headquarters, and also to get to the enemy reserves. On the other hand it is said that we cannot lose contact with the Infantry, without which the very success of an armored victory is in question. The Armor branch is of the opinion that it is the job of the Infantry to maintain contact, which means constant running for the Infantry, and therefore an impossibility. The Infantry wants to keep at least one wave of armor in their area, which in turn effects the speed of armor, and this is the very thing it uses for protection against enemy artillery.
Contrary to this it can be determined that although armor and assault artillery can be viewed as very similar weapons in a technical sense, they must be considered completely different branches in regards to tactics. No one in earlier times thought of attaching the Infantry to the Cavalry on the attack. And just as few people would have asked a Cavalryman to attack in cadence with the Infantry. It can therefore be easily concluded:
I. Armor units are combined arms units, whose composition makes it possible for them to fight independently to achieve their individual combat missions. If this quality is also applied to the armored vehicle branch, then during the attack they will have motorized artillery for the exploitation of the successes of the Infantry, and moreover the necessary technical troops at their disposal.
Tank units will be utilized in an independent role for strikes, most likely against the flanks and rear areas of the enemy, or at least on a fluid flank. They can also be given the mission of making a breakthrough of the enemy front. In any case, in order to attack independently they must have the necessary tools to fulfill the mission. As soon as one tries to couple them with other units, they lose the value of their very nature.
However, the possibilities for employing tank units is, as was in earlier times with the Cavalry, considerably limited by terrain. Among other types, this includes forested areas, mountains, riverbeds and swamps which limit or rule out their utilization.
It will also be virtually impossible for them to achieve a breakthrough of a well-prepared enemy front. In such an instance, their effect will be decisive if striking the enemy in a sensitive area and surprising him, in the case the enemy is not combat ready, or if they strike an already shattered enemy. To be utilized to their greatest advantage, they should be placed in a light Army (light Division, light Armored Division, light Motorized Infantry Division).
II. Tank Brigades, that is, true Armor brigades as one would better call them, are weapons of the main thrust of the attack. During the normal course of the attack, they should achieve a quick local victory within the framework of a Corps or Army. For this purpose, they should be coupled with the Infantry Division attacking in the main thrust, as opposed to tank units, which operate independently.
III. The Sturmartillerie, (equally true if they are in the form of armored vehicles or consist of armored and motorized field guns) is, on the other hand, a weapon to assist the normal Infantry Division. Their use during the attack corresponds to the Escort Artillery of the last war, that is, the elite of the light Artillery. In order to make them useful for other purposes, such as on the defensive, there is an additional requirement for the ability to be used as part of the normal Artillery — in an indirect fire role, into the main battle area (usually a distance of 1 kilometers) at a minimum. Finally, they would be a superb offensive anti-tank weapon, and could replace the divisional anti-tank element in this role.
Assault Artillery fights as Escort Artillery within the framework of the Infantry. It does not attack like the tank, does not break through, but carries the attack of the infantry forward by quickly eliminating the most dangerous objectives through direct fire. It does not fight in large numbers like the tank units, but is normally employed at platoon strength.
The platoon, or even the individual gun, makes a surprise appearance in and then quickly vanishes before it can become a target for the enemy artillery.
Being armored and motorized permits the assault artillery to fight in among the Infantry, which means the immediate combined effect at the right moment against decisive targets in a quantity which the artillery in rear positions is not able to deliver.
The gun must be able to take enemy machine gun emplacements out of action with a few rounds. It must also be able to knock out enemy tanks, in comparison to them it has inferior armor, but a superior ability to observe and shoot first.
Each infantry division should have at its disposal at least one battalion-sized unit of Sturmartillerie consisting of three batteries of six guns each. One might even consider dropping either the normal artillery battalion or the divisional anti-tank battalion.
Above all, it can be seen that the Sturmartillerie should not be utilized in the sphere of armor units, but rather in that of the normal Infantry Division. A clean separation of the two branches is necessary if the two do not want to operate according to the improper doctrines.
The Sturmartillerie is to be trained as Artillery units and will have to learn their mission as escort batteries in the environment of the Infanterie.
And finally in order to establish the tactical doctrinal basis, a battery from the Lehr-Inf.Btl. will be temporarily assigned to, and under the command of the Sturmartillerie for trial purposes in the interest of saving time. Initially, it should be sufficient for the battery to consist of six guns, on light tank chassis with temporarily mounted wooden guns, because the first order of business is the establishment and development of the tactics of this Sturmartillerie.
signed,
von Manstem
