Company Officer's Handbook Of The German Army - All Gauge Page

DEFENSIVE PRINCIPLES 17
attacks are directed, if possible, at the flanks of the penetrations.
Small, close-range tank-hunting detachments are formed for active
defense against armored vehicles, and they may operate forward
of the main line of resistance. But German manuals prescribe
that all arms must be prepared to engage tanks at close range, and
therefore must learn to use approved methods and equipment. German
infantry is trained to remain under cover (Panzerdeckung)
until hostile tanks have passed, and then to emerge and attack the
enemy infantry that follows the tanks. If enemy tanks penetrate,
the Germans counterattack with special, mobile groups equipped
with .a large number of antitank weapons. These groups are held
ready in the depth of the position, especially in the rear of vulnerable
sectors, and attack the flanks and rear of the enemy tank force.
If a break-through occurs, the reaction is an immediate and heavy
counterattack, which is supported by heavy fire from all infantry
support weapons and artillery, including assault guns and other
artillery on self-propelled mounts. The Germans have stated that
assault artillery, when employed in the defense, must be held as a
counterattack reserve under the control of a sector commander.
9. TANKS IN DEFENSE
In employing tanks in the defensive, the Germans apply the same
general principle of concentrating tanks as laid down for the attack
(see par. 2, p. 5), except that the tanks must be prepared for tankversus-tank
action. When a German armored force is compelled to
assume a defensive role by an enemy armored attack, it will usually,
if time permits, deploy its antitank guns and part of its tank force
as a screen. Behind this screen the artillery is deployed, the main
tank force and its motorized infantry being held as a mobile reserve.
Whenever a situation makes it necessary, however, the Germans
depart from their principle of concentrating tanks, giving them
static missions in the coordinated fire plan of a defensive position.
For instance, tanks may be dug in or driven into specially built tank
emplacements, so that they are virtually converted into armored
pillboxes.
On one occasion on the Eastern Front it was reported that a
company of Tigerstanks took up defensive positions (presumably