[Lone Sentry: The German Motorized Infantry Regiment, WW2 U.S. War Department Publication]
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The German Motorized Infantry Regiment
Military Intelligence Service, Special Series No. 4, October 17, 1942
[DISCLAIMER: The following text is taken from a WWII U.S. War Department Special Series publication. As with all wartime intelligence information, data may be incomplete or inaccurate. No attempt has been made to update or correct the text. Any views or opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the website.]

Foreword

This is a translation of a captured German field manual on the tactics of the motorized infantry regimnent and battalion when used as part of the German armored division. In accordance with the principle that "the chief task of motorized infantry is cooperation with tanks," the aim of the German command has been to weld their armored division into a homogeneous unit, and to mold the tactics of this division around the operation of the tank elements. These German instructions assume that the motorized infantry is equipped with support guns on self-propelled mounts, this equipment being adopted by the Germans as quickly as it can be designed and manufactured.

This document supplements The German Armored Division [Information Bulletin No. 18, Military Intelligence Service], which contains the German instructions for the armored division.


GERMAN WAR OFFICE
Provisional Instructions for the Employment and Tactics of the Motorized Infantry Regiment and Battalion
March 1, 1941

Principles which are common both to motorized infantry regiments and battalions, and to infantry regiments and battalions, are not mentioned in these "Provisional Instructions." A knowledge of H. Dv. 130/9 [Heeresdienstvorschrift, German (Army) training regulations], "Employment and Tactics of the Infantry," is therefore indispensable.

As long as the motorized infantry regiments and battalions are not (or only partly) equipped with armored personnel carriers, the instructions are valid only to a limited extent. This applies particularly to fighting from trucks. All cases in which employment and tactics are affected fundamentally by the lack of armored personnel carriers are indicated in the instructions.

Table of Contents

Section  I.  Nature and Tasks of Motorized Infantry
II.Weapons and Their Performances
III.Influence of Ground on Movement and Tactics
IV.Principles of Fire Employment
V.Principles of Tactical Employment
VI.Reconnaissance and Observation
VII.Movement
VIII.Deployment and Detrucking
IX.Attack
     A. General
     B. Attack without Deployment
     C. Prepared Attack
     D. Cooperation with Tanks
X.Pursuit
XI.Defense
XII.Breaking Contact
XIII.Fighting Under Special Conditions
     A. Attack against Fixed Defenses
     B. Opposed River Crossing
     C. At Night or in Fog
     D. Village Fighting
     E. In Woods and Mountains
XIV.Rest Period
XV.Organic Transportation
XVI.Combat Trains
XVII.Supply
  
Appendix 1.Organization of the Motorized Infantry Regiment
2.Example of the Battalion Advancing in Deployed Formation
3.Length of Columns in March Order
4.Guide for Daily Rates of Fuel Consumption

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