War Park 2021-12-06 12:50
Adapted from War Park Chinese Weibo News Release:
So, which country has the best tank riding skill?
During World War II, the German army greatly promoted the concept of total combat, integrating infantry, tank, artillery, aircraft into joint offensive units. This three-dimensional attack allowed the Germans to complete many lightning-fast battles in the early days of the war. The foreign journalists created a new term from what they saw, calling this the Blitz.
Throughout World War II, however, the German Army was able to mechanize only a small number of elite units, some of which were motorized. Faced with a total of about 13.6 million personnel in the German army, their factories produced only 16,000 SdKhz 251 semi-track armored vehicles, 70,000 Opel Blitz trucks. Thus their infantry maintained a high road march rate throughout the war, and much of their logistics still rely on horses.
It has to be well known here that infantry has another type of mobility and military model enthusiasts enjoy re-enacting - tank riding. But in real combat tank riding is very dangerous, the high profile of the tank makes it easy to attract enemy fire, the infantry on the tank is vulnerable to machine guns and high-explosive shells attack. At the same time tanks encounter unexpected situations, firing or releasing smoke bombs can cause damage to the infantry riders. So it is often nicknamed as the outer armor of human flesh.
Above: Stug 3 with about 27 infantrymen on board.
For German infantry, there are not many opportunities to ride tanks. Most of the time it's a "ride" and getting off at certain distance from the battlefield and then moving on foot into the combat zone.
Above: Paratroopers taking a ride on the Tiger tank.
Later stages of the war, the beaten Germans formed temporary battle groups, mixing soldiers and tanks. In addition to the fighting, soldiers will ride on the entire tank.
The U.S. and British tanks have large and flat spaces, and infantry will ride tanks to their destinations. But it is still limited in carrying infantry to combat sites.
Unlike other countries, the Soviet Red Army used infantry-riding tank assault tactics. As the Soviet slope armor is not easy to stand, Soviet tanks are welded with hand and hooks that are easy for infantry to hold on to. These infantrymen on tank assaults train regularly with tank crews to familiarize themselves with the tanks so that they can fire on the move.
This month War Park launched the German Defence Force's nine-man tank riders and striped camouflage Grey Tiger tanks.
KU081-KU089 9 German Wehrmacht tank riders comprising a total of 2 MG34 machine guns, 2 MP40 submachine guns and 5 98k riflemen.
Original Chinese text on War Park Weibo follows:
坦克骑乘技术哪家强？ 战争公园十二月新品
战争公园 2021-12-06 12:50
第二次世界大战中，德国军队极大地推动战斗理念，将步兵坦克火炮飞机整合为联合进攻部队。这种立体式进攻让德军在战争初期完成了许多如闪电般的速战速决，使得外国新闻工作者为所目睹的景象创造出了一个新的名词“闪电战”。
然而整个二战期间，德国陆军仅能对小部分精锐部队完成机械化改造，部分部队实现摩托化。面对总人数约为1360万的德国陆军，251半履带装甲车仅生产了约1.6万辆，欧宝闪电卡车仅生产了约7万辆，整场战争中步兵维持着较高徒步率，后勤仍基本依靠马匹。
这里就不得不说，步兵另外一种军模爱好者喜闻乐见的机动方式——坦克骑乘。但在实战中坦克骑乘是非常危险的，坦克的高轮廓容易吸引敌人的火力，坦克上的步兵容易受到机枪和高爆炮弹的攻击。同时坦克遇到突发情况，开火或者释放烟雾弹都会对外侧步兵造成伤害。所以经常被戏称为——人肉外挂装甲。
对于德军步兵，骑乘坦克的机会并不多。大多数情况下是“搭顺风车”，在离战场一定距离时下车，步行进入战斗区域。上图中一辆三号突击炮搭乘约27名步兵。
战争后期，被打的七零八落的德军会临时组建战斗群，将能看到的士兵和坦克混编在一起。除了发生战斗期间，士兵则会全程骑乘坦克行军。上图中部分伞兵随虎式坦克一起行动。
美英坦克车身的空间较大且平坦，步兵同样也会骑乘坦克前往目的地。但依然仅限于搭载步兵到达战斗地点。
与其他国家不同的是，苏联红军真实存在并使用步兵骑乘坦克突击的战术。由于苏系倾斜装甲不方便站立，苏联坦克上焊有不少方便步兵固定的把手和挂钩。这些骑乘坦克突击的步兵会与坦克乘员一起训练，以便熟悉坦克，使得坦克可以在移动中开火。
本月战争公园推出了德国防军车载兵9人以及条纹灰虎式坦克。
KU081~KU089德国国防军车载兵9人，火力配置共2挺MG34机枪、2把MP40冲锋枪和5把98k步枪