There was one other thing that von Schroif had noticed during this training, and it exercised his mind greatly. He was blind in one eye. That is to say, because of the position of his cupola on the left-hand side of the turret, there was an area to his right which rendered him completely unsighted.
“How could this be? How could any commander operate with a blind spot?” He was going to have to speak to Kurt. For now, his mind focused on the immediate task at hand: gunnery practice. The first part of the exercise would use a Panzerstellung, an 88 mounted in a concrete turret.
The first practice involved a target with a range over 1,200 metres. Using the knife and fork technique, von Schroif and Knispel scored highly. Simply put, the fork technique was a way of eating up a target. They would drop one shell in front of the target, noting its position. Then they would drop another 400 metres behind, again noting its position. They could then divide the distance between the two into four sections of 100 metres, add 100 metres to the first shot, and the third shot would be deadly accurate. If they were unable to see the terrain behind the target, then they would use the knife technique. This was more difficult, but essentially involved dropping the second shot in front of the first, again in front of the target, and then using these two locations to estimate the distance of the final shot.
Added to this was the beauty of the Acht-acht, which, with its wonderful flat trajectory, meant that the gunner only had to lift the barrel a little to gain more distance. This was bread and butter stuff to Michael Knispel, his obvious prowess inevitably impressing his instructors so highly with his ability at under 1,200 metres that there was talk of retaining “the Prussian cannoneer”, as he was now known at Paderborn!
This, of course, was never communicated to Knispel personally, but was suggested to von Schroif. Unfortunately, results over the next few days were not all that they could be, but good enough to pass. Experienced, well-balanced crews were everything, and once one had secured the services of a top-class gunner like Michael Knispel, one did not let him go lightly. There were Ivans to fight, and Knispel was a born fighter.
Occasionally, after training, if the weather was acceptable, the crew would take their evening meal down by the river and talk and reminisce until the sun went down. At other times, tired and careworn, they would sit in silence, just watching the gentle flow, each man deep in his own thoughts, a situation every soldier knows.
On this particular night though, Otto Wohl was in fine form, regaling his comrades with tales of the Munich drinking halls, of scrapes and women, and too much drink. In the middle of one story about heading home late at night, he abruptly broke off and asked von Schroif about his own family situation, at which point the rest of the group started to listen in earnest. Not through any motive that was ill-mannered or intrusive, but simply out of great interest. In all the time they had known Hans von Schroif, they had never once heard him speak about these matters. The boss, truly, kept himself to himself.
“So, boss,” asked Otto, “what was your father like?” Only Otto could have asked a question like this. Coming from any other man, it would have seemed impudent.
“My father,” started Hans slowly, “was born in Berchtesgaden, as I was, and I think he took his nature from that area. A very proud man, who loved his family. He owned an estate and took his living from the land. But I don’t remember ever having to break into his house after a drinking expedition! I don’t think I would have survived such an experience! But I think of him often, and I can see parts of him in me.”
“Is he...?” continued Otto.
“No,” answered Hans, second guessing the question. “Those Red bastards took his estate from him and he never recovered. By the time we chased them out of Munich, it was too late. He thought he’d lost everything. He took his own life.”
The conversation ended there. It had gone too far.
Korsak was surrounded by his attentive subordinates. He stood by a makeshift blackboard, carefully outlining his strategy for the next action.
“The key to the entire action will be surprise. Everyone must understand that. The trap will only be sprung once the fascists have been drawn over the river and lulled into a false sense of security by our apparent retreat. The camouflage of five hundred tanks across a wide area is crucial to the operation, and presents a number of problems with certain unique features created by the general summer background, the operational characteristics of the tanks, and in the conditions of employing them in combat.”
Korsak paused and surveyed his audience. Satisfied that they were paying proper attention, he carried on.
“This will influence the work to be done to camouflage them. In winter, the snow makes things easy. In summer, we must work even harder. A factor which must be considered of vital importance from the point of view of camouflage and concealment is the greater clearness of the sky; this helps reconnaissance activity by enemy aviation. In view of the fact that vehicles can be spotted by the shadow they cast, they should move on the side of the road nearest to the sun, so that their shadow falls on the road, which is darker than the grass next to the road.
“Movement along the roads, especially at great speeds and over dry and dusty earth, gives itself away by clouds of dust. For this reason, all movement of vehicles towards their attack positions must be at low speeds, especially over sandy ground. The tracks left by the tank treads in the dust stand out clearly as two parallel strips with tread impressions. These must be obliterated by teams tasked with sweeping the roads leading to the assembly areas. When tracks are left on the grass verge of the existing road it is necessary, instead of sweeping, to remove them with the aid of spades and rakes.”
Pausing briefly to ensure himself of the continued attention of his audience, Korsak went on to list the minute details of the operation.
“When the tanks pass through places where turns are unavoidable, little heaps of upturned earth appear everywhere; these are characteristic marks and betray the movement of tanks. To prevent this, turns must be made gradually in a wide arc whenever practicable, or else the heaps of earth which are formed must be cleared away. The reflection from the lenses of the tank headlights will also give away their movement. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to cover the headlights with green fabric covers, or some other material.
“Finally, among the most important factors betraying the movement of tanks to ground observers is the clank of the tracks. Unlike the fascists, our tracks are of all-metal construction. The noise of these can be heard better at night as the temperature falls. Naturally, when operations are in the immediate vicinity of the enemy, you must make full use of all the ordinary precautions employed in summer for the prevention of noise.
“The peculiar characteristic of inhabited areas from the point of view of camouflage is the motley appearance of the landscape due to the presence of dwelling places, barns, gardens, roads, and paths. This wealth and variety of outline affords considerable opportunities for concealing the position of tanks from air and ground observation by the enemy.”
The listeners were impressed by Korsak’s uncanny attention to detail and his grasp of the fact that a battle could be lost by what appeared to be insignificant consideration. They would have been less relaxed had they been aware that Korsak considered them to be an idle, feckless bunch of incompetents. Normally he would have shown no hesitation in having them all shot as an example to the others. However, time was against him and Korsak had decided to work with the material he had. He therefore adopted a mild approach.
“You have not made the best of the time available to you, comrades. I am disappointed by this. I see tanks in winter camouflage. By the end of today the tanks are to be painted to avoid observation. The open country is characterised by a profusion of variegated colour. Two-colour disruptive summer paint is to be used where the ground presents a variety of colour, where there are forests, underbrush, small settlements, exposed patches of earth, etc. Painting in two colours with large spots can be und
ertaken by painting only part of the tank surface, leaving about a third of the tank’s surface in the original green; the new scheme must either be green and dark grey, or green and brown. It is necessary to avoid mechanical repetition of patterns and colours. Make sure this is done.”
With some of the detail out of the way, Korsak moved on to give his orders concerning the concealment of his force.
“Once the vehicles are in attack position, for camouflage you must use nets made of cord which have fastened to them irregular green and brown patches of fabric, about 1 metre across. But the construction of these camouflage masks involves special considerations dependent on the characteristics of the background. The principal camouflage materials employed are irregularly shaped pieces of fabric or painted green matting. In addition to the green patches, dark patches should be fastened to the material to give the appearance of bushes, tree tops, or other natural ground features. For dark patches one may use tree branches and other similar materials. As with covers, the use of brown patches alone, or of a combination of green and dark patches, will depend entirely on the terrain and the coloration of the surroundings.”
Korsak noticed an enhanced level of interest as he began to detail an unusual feature of the plan.
“Those of you who have been responsible for their construction will know we shall also be using dummy tanks during the forthcoming operation. Their purpose is, of course, to draw the attention of the enemy air forces to the dummy tanks and has the aim to deceive the enemy concerning the disposition, types, and character of our real tank activity. They will lure the Stukas away from our tank forces, which will be fully concealed.
“As a rule, all vehicles in attack positions should be placed under the roofs of sheds and barns, leaving the dummy tanks exposed to draw in aerial attacks in the open. Where there is an insufficient number of such structures, or where the size of the vehicles makes it impossible to place them in the existing shelters, it will be necessary to build shelters resembling the existing structures in the given locality. The roofs of these shelters must be covered with a layer of hay so that they will not look any different from the roofs of the existing structures.
“These camouflage structures may be built either as additions to existing structures or as separate structures. The separate camouflage structures should be situated along laid-out paths, and the tracks of the caterpillars which lead to the place where the tanks are stationed should be swept or dragged so as to resemble an ordinary road.
“Woods, orchards, and brushwood can be used for camouflage, but leafy woods offer the best concealment in summer and completely hide the vehicles from air observation.
“Finally, if no covers of any kind are available, the vehicles should be covered with branches, straw, hay, and the like, and earth placed on top in irregular patches. When the tanks are stationed in open, flat country, then the camouflage of the tanks can be achieved by scattering here and there patches of pine needles, straw, and rubbish... The ground should also be laid bare, as tanks which are painted a dark colour will not be easily discovered against a dark background, either by visual air observation or by the study of aerial photographs.”
Korsak was not a man to leave any detail unattended, and as he continued with his briefing his audience was becoming more and more impressed by the meticulous manner in which he approached the preparations.
“In open country, the ground assumes a naturally mottled appearance; when the tank is stationed in a gully, it is to be covered with solid green covers of any kind of fabric or matting painted green and brown, or by the regulation net, with green and black patches attached to it.”
His audience expected this to be the end of the briefing, but they had not worked with Kommissar Dimitri Korsak. There was much more to come.
“Now, comrades, let us consider our tactics...”
The day at Paderborn was an important one. Instead of firing from fixed positions, the crew was now to practice firing from the tank itself. In order to locate the target, they roamed over the range. Bobby Junge was sure he had a grip of her now.
For von Schroif, the thought process was quite simple: “Preparation! Observation! Penetration! And don’t push her too hard, let her live within herself.”
Hans eventually found the target they were searching for – an old French Char B in a stationary position.
“Target spotted. 700 metres.”
“800,” replied Michael, giving his best estimate.
“Average 750,” replied Hans. “Anti-tank 39.”
“Mo-Fu-Fa-La-Ba,” replied the crew in turn as hatches and lamps were checked before firing, after which Otto Wohl loaded and Bobby Junge stopped her in her tracks.
Then von Schroif gave a new turret position and Knispel rotated the turret, Otto set the gear emergency lever up, Bobby accelerated, and Karl set the selector lever for the turret position. Then more measurements.
“750.”
Michael adjusted range, aiming for the centre of the target.
“Fire!”
“Direct hit!” exclaimed von Schroif proudly, but he had not really expected anything else. “Satisfying, but strangely unsatisfying,” he thought. “We need to be a little more stretched.”
“Wendorff,” he barked through the intercom, “request moving target!”
Wendorff duly did so and the instructors indicated that they would roll an old Soviet truck down the hill.
“Junge, take her back 500 metres.”
This was ambitious. Taking a shot at a moving target over 1,200 metres was not usually attempted in the field. After reversing the prescribed 500 metres, Bobby Junge then positioned the tank in the direction of the target.
Hans, through his binoculars, could see the truck being readied and then, with an almighty heave, being pushed down the hill by a small team who scattered like rabbits, all running back up the hill as fast as they could.
Now this was going to be difficult, and not just because of the distance, but because the truck, as it hurtled down the hill, would be accelerating. Normally, the calculations for hitting a moving target involved estimating the speed of the target and deciding how far in front of the target to aim the shot. In firing at a moving target at over 200 metres, the gunner did not aim at where the target was, but where it was going to be!
Many would consider this request to be folly, the result of overconfidence or cockiness, but the opposite was in fact true. Hans knew that, if you pushed yourself further on the training ground, anything within those parameters that were encountered on the battlefield could be approached with more confidence. He also knew that, at these kinds of distances and circumstances, the science would be of absolutely no help. Gunnery in this situation was more of an art, and Michael Knispel was an artist. A landscape artist whose brush was his gun, his shells his paint.
Knispel estimated the speed of the truck at 10 km/h, giving a lead on the main reticule – by the book – of three notches. But the target was starting to speed up. Throw the book out the window! Just feel the notches.
“Ready?”
“Target acquired,” answered Knispel.
“Fire!”
The high-explosive round hurtled towards its target with the expectant instruction team watching... waiting... from the safety of their foxholes. Then, boom! A direct hit with high-explosive and the target was blown to smithereens! A loud cheer, not just from the crew in the tank, but also from the watching instructors who were enjoying the novelty, and the fireworks!
CHAPTER 7
KERCH
On the plains of the Kerch peninsula the fireworks were very real; the green flares rising into the pre-dawn sky indicated that the combat teams had done their work. Voss prepared to push the attack. He thought very briefly that it would have been good to get von Schroif’s input, they had worked as a very effective team since the invasion of Poland, but he reassured himself that the plan was a sound one, and he was sure that the mission could not have been compromised.
T
he battalion workshop had worked overtime, and the new batch of Panzer IVs with the long-barrelled Panzerkamfwagenkanone had arrived at the railhead and were being rushed to the front. New tanks were heartily welcome, but with them, Voss knew only too well, would come new crews, unused to the ways of the frontline. A repeat of the tactics which had brought him a much lauded victory at Hill 15 was out of the question. Ivan was a fast learner and would be vigilant, watching for a repeat. Voss was ordered to force the issue, and his objective from division was to seize the vital bridge and push on to the town of Chersoniev.
The officers gathered to hear the briefing seemed suddenly so much younger. Had it not been so depressing, Voss would have laughed to himself as he realised that was because they were younger. The days when mature and experienced officers like von Schroif could be relied upon to instinctively understand their duties and define their own parameters were over. As each day took its bloody toll, the dismal reality was that the experienced officer cadre was becoming thinner and thinner. Looking at the circle of young faces, Voss began to carefully outline the battle plan once more.
“The advance Vorausabteilung will operate much further forward than usual, providing combat reconnaissance in strength, and will be supported by a battery of Sturmgeschütz. The Vorausabteilung will seize the bridge in a surprise attack. This group will be followed by a heavily reinforced attack group, and this main Angriffsgruppe will incorporate a force of fifty tanks, advancing to the jump-off point by forced marches, with its infantry riding on tanks.
“The Luftwaffe assures me that they have destroyed large concentrations of enemy armour which they discovered in the open. We do not therefore anticipate strong armoured resistance. However, the main attack by the Angriffsgruppe will only go ahead in the event that the bridge is seized and a wide perimeter is held by the Vorausabteilung. It is vital that the bridge is secured. A strong detachment of anti-tank guns and infantry has therefore been detailed to advance as a bridge guard. In the event of a strong Russian counterattack, the consequences of being trapped on the other side of the river do not bear thinking about.”
Tiger Command! Page 13
