Ratzwiller (II)

Précis of a solution to a decision game from 1945

The post that follows provides a précis of a solution to a planning exercise conducted by the 781st Tank Battalion. It follows the first member of a three-part series, which poses the problem, and precedes the third member of the trio, which provides a verbatim copy of that solution.¹

Ratzwiller

Ratzwiller (III)

The Plan

The troops taking part in the attack on Ratzwiller are divided into a base of fire and an assault force.

The base of fire consists of a platoon of five light tanks, a platoon of five medium tanks, and a section of two towed anti-tank guns. (The anti-tank guns came from a tank destroyer battalion.)

The assault force consisted of a platoon of combat engineers, three rifle platoons, and two tank platoons. One of the tank platoons consisted of five garden-variety medium tanks, the other of five tanks of different types.

Of the five tanks in the mixed platoon, two light were tanks, two were medium tanks fitted with flame-throwers and multiple rocket launchers, and one was a medium tank that sported a flame-thrower (but no multiple rocket launcher).