US vs German Squads (Mid-1944) Who was Superior? | Animated History

on a sweltering July morning in 1944 a squad of US Army infantryman marches into an abandoned French town although their squad leader is vigilant his senses are more used to the cramped alleyways of inner-city Boston than the rural French architecture that now surrounds him and his squad as he gazes down the street he hesitates momentarily raising his fists to a halt something is wrong is it the lack of birdsong perhaps there was a footstep nearby or was it just the wind whistling through the empty streets he tenses up certain that something is out of the ordinary but he is unable to decide exactly how to proceed his indecision proves fatal as it gives the concealed German mg42 gunner the perfect opportunity to line up an opening burst centered directly on the hapless staff sergeant [Music] that my first wish is supporting another first done enough angst and present his own tenacious Alafia the south gearing right his patronage from when I engage my own perfect honesty may 2000 Scouten wants its country behind house with my own adjusted for me notifier Ostergard Archer engineers can turn against me - to the routing engagements in that one direction is a loafer a la una first shows the vector minor fear from John Porter Boyle not famous that monotone scores only game in Atlanta they did rayon and a 400-foot when that on the 2005 not later on do it as their leader Falls the other Americans scatter but more gunshots ring out from nearby buildings dropping both their grenadiers and an unfortunate rifleman the streets offer adequate cover though and a nine remaining men cower in confusion as the mg42 chews up the masonry around them the trapped soldiers desperately return fire at the advancing column but they are unable to break the Germans formation or silence their gunner before we begin our analysis I'd like to take a minute to talk about our sponsor expressvpn as the owner of an online business protecting my identity online is a very important matter as is having 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than recounting an event we're giving a perspective today we'll be examining this question in 1944 between the United States and Germany who had the superior regular infantry squad using modern day insight can one gather enough evidence to get a definitive answer maybe not in a single YouTube video however we can look at the facts and at least try to get a basic idea of who had the edge and of course this is ultimately just our opinion and the events depicted are entirely fictional so then how did we make our judgment our team researched the tactics mentality training and weapons of both armies as they were in mid-1944 and we have used this information to develop a program which simulates thousands of squad level engagements our simulations ignore outside variables like supplies and support from other branches in order to give each 10 to 12 man squad a level playing field to test their abilities in this video we will choose three random simulations to demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages which each side had the third and final simulation will reveal which squad ultimately won more American squad is still pinned down from the German machine gunner but all is not lost thinking quickly the American assistant squad leader a burly Texan known for his quick temper Prime's a grenade from his belt and flings it out into the street the sudden violent explosion sends up a plume of smoke and dust and with a harsh bellow the Texan rallies his men for a counter-attack while the German NCO yells for his stunned gunner to resume firing the Americans plunge through the concealing haze created by the grenade and enter close combat brandishing bayonets on their m1 garand attention recruits we here in the US military take a soldier to be seized that's why we're only Army in the world to issue our troops gas-operated semi-automatic m1 garand rifles men armed with this weapon can send every bullet and it's a ground internal magazine downrange as fast as you can pull the trigger load it with a powerful 30-odd 6 Springfield cartridge m1 lets each soldier knock out its target up to 450 meters away as they charge several riflemen throw more grenades while the VAR operator closes down the building concealing the German machine gunner suppressing him at a crucial moment flushed from their cover by the explosions several German riflemen are quickly shot dead but others retain the presence of mind to return fire in the ensuing chaos the German NCO rallies the machine-gun crew and the Americans are caught in the crossfire when the smoke clears the American squad will have been reduced to only a few injured survivors but their coordination and bravery in the face of the ambush have cost the Germans several casualties as well a good effort from the Americans but what went wrong first the Americans left themselves vulnerable to an ambush and as a result they lost their noncommissioned officer but their extensive training allowed them to regroup effectively without a leader in the face of the overwhelming firepower of the mg42 but despite the heroic Texan sergeants best efforts the heavily experienced group inferior or squad leader maintained his fire superiority and overwhelmed the Americans now let's speed up the simulation a bit and analyze another engagement a sudden shout of alarm makes the American squad instinctively dive for cover saving the lives of a half-dozen men as the mg42 opens fire the German squad leader swears at his Swabian dialect as the enemy takes cover and then orders the gunner to fire in bursts not wanting his machine gun this centerpiece of the German squad to overheat at a critical moment the Americans begin exchanging rounds with their opponents their m1 garand and the VA are issuing a retort to the mg42 and the car 98ks what could be better than the m1 garand how about a genuine made in America magazines that m1918 browning automatic rifle this lovely chatterbox is there to support you and your brothers on the panel field sorry kraut our boys won't be visiting GI Jesus today and remember private with only 20 rounds per magazine you'd better master the fine art of trigger discipline while the Germans are engaged the American squad leader issues a series of quick orders splitting his 12 man squad into three smaller groups choosing to direct from the rear he stays with his machine gunner grenadiers and two riflemen leaning out of cover to spray his Thompson submachine gun down the street meanwhile the assistant squad leader leads the two other elements on a flanking maneuver then a nervous rifleman stumbles over a loose cobblestone because of his inexperience he has forgotten to take his finger off the trigger of his weapon and it accidentally discharges startling the Germans and drawing their attention to the right flank unsure what to do several German riflemen continue supporting the mg42 but others realize the danger and turn to fire on the seven Americans caught in the open only the Bavarian squad leader realizes that they are in danger of being flanked so he turns his mp40 on the enemy [Music] they sang the ostriches ground write a short magazine container simple and all wiser since foil metal instrumental storage canal D alpha buffer of the Endora under of its the earth the Machine systolic firstly it perfected and comforting abandoned Elena guide net profit Medina deflation fire hotter from fill furniture for me notice divine air for on the fire on the dragonfly tone in private file da cunha rotating the American Grenadier fires a smoke grenade in a high arc in front of the German position slightly adjusting his aim he fires a frag grenade a few feet beyond the smoke though he is unaware he has just killed the German squad leader with the thick phosphorus smoke obscuring their position the Americans on the left advanced quickly one is cut down by a wild verse from the mg42 but within moments they have closed the gap the fight is short and brutal with the Americans in the center joining in as soon as the mg42 is silenced without a leader and surrounded by a ring of American steel the remaining Germans are all too eager to surrender in this engagement we got to see the Americans showcasing their signature tactic fire and move while one group exposes themselves to advance the rest of the squad draws and suppresses enemy fire from behind cover the German tactics emphasized supporting the mg42 and concentrating the entire squads firepower on a single target but the Americans spread themselves too thin for the Germans to have any clear targets a perfect counter to this tactic now let's skip ahead to the final battle of the simulation and find out which infantry was truly superior in a cool steady downpour a German squad marches briskly through the fog as they pass a partially demolished church their leader calls for them to regroup and catch their breath before anyone can open their canteen though the crack of an m1 garand plates the stillness as the American squad launches into an ambush the Germans quickly retreat behind the rubble of the church and as the American infantrymen break cover the Germans are quickly cornered their squad leader orders his machine gunner to the top of the cracked bell tower while his rifle and steadily hoard bullets down the cratered stream he frantically spray is his mp40 downrange but the Americans continue to gain ground finally the mg42 erupts to life from above as the German buzzsaw suppresses his rifleman the American Staff Sergeant sees two of them cut down before his eyes understanding the severity of the situation he throws away his cigarette orders his squad to take cover and they duck into the alleyways behind abandoned vehicles as he assesses the situation seeing an opportunity to separate the overextended Americans the German squad leader pushes out of the church his squad focuses its fire on an overturned truck his men scattered by the enemy machine-gun the American Staff Sergeant gives new orders to a rifleman and a Grenadier after they disappeared down an alleyway he shouts at the rest of his squad to focus all of their fire on the mg42 you know what an arm's suck in the Mafia and the US Army sergeant has in common besides bravado both wield an m1a1 variant good old Chicago typewriter commonly referred to as the Tommy gun this weapon dispenses justice to America's enemies blistering 700 rounds per minute we tucked away that clumsy drum magazine and now it takes between 10 and 30 rounds stick magazines stay close to Sarge and see the Jerry turn and run as the mg42 buzzes over their heads and cuts through the rain the two detached Americans emerge from behind the church after shaking the water out of the chambers of their rifles they load fresh clips and sneak through a wooden door in the back of the sanctuary just before they make it to the stairs however the German squad leaders spots them and orders three of his men to give chase as they climb up the stairs in pursue a shot rings out and the lead German falls backwards nearly knocking the other two down but not before they returned fire at the Grenadier who leans back into cover knowing that the Germans have to manually cycle their rifles between each shot the Grenadier immediately reappears and takes both of them out before they even have a chance to react back outside their squad is in a desperate situation the second-in-command has sustained a head wound the VAR gunner has been shot in the stomach and the squad leaders matches are wet which makes the predicament all more severe suddenly there's a commotion from the bell tower screaming in German followed by the explosion of a hand grenade flakes of plasters splash onto the street as the entire tower begins to lean panicking the Germans flee from the battlefield as it crashes onto their form the staff sergeant picks himself up and while checking his pockets for spare matchbox orders his remaining men to tend to the wounded this concludes our simulation the Americans winning this fight represents our belief that the late war United States infantry squad was marginally superior to the German equivalent the average US soldier received more training their cohesion was better their tactics more adaptable and their semi-automatic rifles gave them a distinct advantage the German squad based its tactics around the mg42 a machine gun which outclassed the American var in many respects but this created an easily exploited weakness if the mg42 was taken out results from our simulations show the United States winning 54% of the time and Germany winning 46% of the time this narrow margin of victory for the Americans goes to show how closely matched these two forces truly were as we saw the Americans failed to successfully ambush the Germans and with the mg42 deployed high up in the bell tower the Americans were almost completely immobilized but in the close quarters of the church we saw just how much an advantage the semi-automatic m1 garand had over the bolt-action kar98k when the grenadiers neutralized three German riflemen this video is the first in a new series on this channel comparing different armies throughout history and we plan to use this program to simulate many more matchups in the future leave a comment below telling us what to forces from history we should pit against each other in the next episode and as always thanks for watching [Music]

Channel: The Armchair Historian

Views: 1,073,171

Rating: 4.7170405 out of 5

Keywords: World war two history, united states army squad, german army squad, squad tactics, ww2 strategy, world war two tactics, military tactics, army organization, how good was the german army?, how good was the american army?, america vs germany, america against germany, united states vs germany, us vs german infantry, german vs us infantry, usa infantry, german infantry, american infantry, world war two combat, second world war

Id: lBjlcA6XRWE

Length: 16min 54sec (1014 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 27 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Anonemus7]

A lot of his fan base is pretty horrible. I had to leave his discord due to the sheer amount of Wehraboos.

[u/Destroyer_Radford]

The biggest problem, imo, with trying to compare US and German units, is the US was very homogeneous when it came to quality of training for units, barring obvious specialized exceptions like the airborne and Rangers. Like even the cooks and clerks were expected to be competent combatants if required, with all units up to a certain standard.

Meanwhile the German units vary so wildly in terms of quality that trying to take an "average" German unit probably does give you the sort of unit used in this comparison because, frankly, the best of the best for Germany is, at best, above average for a US unit, while there's so many garbage units the average is dragged pretty far down lol.

[u/TheGoldenCaulk]

AH was basically asking for it with the unusually un-academic method chosen to illustrate the results. I get what he was going for, he wanted to avoid sitting in front of an excel sheet reading figures, but this leaves a lot to pick at whether you agree with the result or not. A series like this has potential, and I hope he'll recognize the few valuable criticisms in the comments and use them to improve.

[u/ciobril]

Red army: giant multitute of diferent weapons and complex tactics along with 40% female members and flexible chain structure with the main issue of being fucking massive and having the advantage of a centrally planned economy

US army:giant technological advancements over any other army plus greater economical power im such a way thag they were capable of giving most soldiers semi automatic sand costly submachinguns

Nazis: I dont know they had meth and were fast and thats it, their tanks were more hesvy than what their transmisions alowed them and had such horrible supply chains that they relied on fucking horses

Winner that nazis obv because fuck history Im a facist for a reason

[u/ZDTreefur]

I do find the debate between the MG in a squad vs. an Automatic Rifle interesting, though. In WWII it was very pronounced, with the army using the BAR, while the Germans opted for the MG42. very different doctrines and strategies. After the war the US army adopted the MG strategy as well, but recently the marine corp has switched completely back to the Automatic rifle strategy, equipping their men with the M27 IAR, replacing the SAW.

Honestly I've always felt that more focused accurate shots was more useful than a big brrrrrrrrrrr that the squad needs to focus on defending, revolving around it. I like that the Marine Corp went back to their roots of over 80 years ago, I just wish the army would follow suit after they choose their next squad weapon.

[u/Thebunkerparodie]

didn't he fell for the hitler should have listened to his general recently? also the problem with compiring units is that they are way too much parameter to take into account (ideology, the state of the logistic,the weapon they had etc)