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heinrich55 -> RE: The Roar of the Maus - The Biggest and Baddest (10/11/2011 1:19:26 AM)
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EPILOGUE
There is no doubt in Major Staudt’s mind that the make-up of his small kampfgruppe was all that tilted the balance of the battle. His men were all instructors and teachers of their craft. They were skilled at gunnery and showed accurate kill rates out to 700 meters or farther. Some kills were out close to the kilometer mark, especially for the Elefant with its 8.8 cm. gun.
Yes, he has suffered losses, all men he knows personally. The loss of both the scout halftrack units is particularly hard to take, as they gave their lives to give him advance notice of the avenues taken by the rushing Soviet tanks. He had hoped to bring them all back this day, knowing in his heart that that simply would not happen. He is exhilarated that his losses are far lower than he anticipated.
To his own crew, he spreads praise and appreciation. They had 3 kills to their credit, and rings will be painted on their barrel to show they shared in the day’s action.
Thinking back, he can only believe that three critical moves on his part turned the day.
Having Captain Kohl force his way through dense woods on the left flank put them finally into a position where they could take enemy tanks in the flank on the east end. It took forever for them to arrive there, but when they did, they had some excellent shooting opportunities.
Ordering Leutnant Schmidt to ride his Elefant along the south edge of the central wooded area was initially intended to give him a shooting position to face east towards Zossen. That was the expected attack location. Instead, the Leutnant was only partway there when the Soviets roared in from the south, pushing across the wide field there in an attempt to gain the southern suburbs of Baruth and take the kampfgruppe in the right flank.
Schmidt was alerted to this threat by the scout halftracks, who then all perished while trying to extract themselves from the fast assault that overran them. Schmidt turned to face the onslaught, firing repeatedly at targets in the 800 meter to 1 kilometer range and was so successful that the remaining survivors pushed into the woods to escape his accurate gunnery. When they did this they were slowed considerably.
This allowed the reinforcement group of Zuckermann’s Panzer Mark IV tanks to reverse course and swing back into the southern suburb. Baedeker’s Jagdpanzer also rushed there, going from left flank to right flank. Tense moments ensued where the Mark IVs and the Jadgpanzer hunted – and were hunted by - the infiltrating Soviet tanks between the buildings. For the loss of two Mark IV panzers, all the enemy tanks were wiped out and the suburb and the flank secured.
A sad note accompanied the end of the battle. Sgt. Hagen was bringing his giant Maus back down the road, flush with victory, when the transmission tore itself apart. The Maus had fought a gallant battle, standing up to some of the best Soviet tanks and utterly crushing them, only to collapse after the fighting was over. The weight was just too much for the weak powertrain.
A call went to Kummersdorf for towing apparatus. There was none. Immediate reports were of more Soviet armor columns approaching. The Major sadly gave the order to destroy the Maus, over the understandable protestations of Sgt. Hagen and his crew. With tears in his eyes, “Admiral” Hagen oversaw the destruction of his beloved land battleship.
The Maus would fight no more.
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