military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (06/07/89)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) mcdaniel@uicsrd.csrd.uiuc.edu (Tim McDaniel) writes: > > >What can urban civilians do >to attack troops, given the "usual" equipment in foreign cities (i.e. >guns are not usually available)? For example, I've heard that large >rocks or cement blocks can be used to detrack tanks, which then are >more vulnerable if infantry is absent. Molotov cocktails have been >used to some good effect in Beijing. What other things can be done? A good reference for some of this, if it's still available, is _Men Against Tanks_ by John Weeks. It details the history of antitank warfare, and, in addition to discussing conventional techniques (antitank rifles, AT guns, missiles, etc) goes into some length of ad-hoc antiarmor warfare. In particular, it details the techniques taught to the British Home Guard. The best way to take out a tank is with fire. You can asphyxiate the engine, the crew, or both, or just force the crew to bail out. Molotov cocktails probably top the list, but the Home Guard went so far as to bury entire drums of gasoline, er, petrol, as antitank weapons. 6 seconds of immolation would suffice to stop a 1940 tank. One technique was Fougasses, 40-gallon oil drums buried, with some guncotton and incendiary packed behind them. They would produce a 10'x30yd flame. Fougasses were also used in Vietnam, at least, according to "The Green Berets". It relies, obviously, on the tank being already immobilized. Unsupported armor is really quite vunerable to personnel. Visibility is limited, especially to the sides and rear. The Panther, for example, had a blind spot starting some 40 feet from the tank. Covering the vision blocks with mud or paint renders the crew blind (and terrified); machineguns can be disabled with sledgehammers or crowbars, and the main gun can be taken out by putting rocks in the barrel. Removing the radio aerial leave the crew out of touch. Large rocks, or poles, can be wedged in the tracks to immobilize the beast. The biggest trick is to find people brave enough to engage 40 tons of angry steel. Tank crews are very aware of these hazards, too. During the Spanish Civil war, for example, a couple of neat psychological tricks were employed. In one case, inverted pie plates were placed on the main road through a town. The tanks arrived, and the crews were unwilling to drive over them, or to get out and investigate; the column was delayed for some time. In another case, a clothesline was strung across a main street, with sheets hanging from it. Again, the tank crews refused to dismount, instead spraying the area with machinegun fire for some time. The column was delayed for over an hour, until heavy tanks made their way forward through the traffic jam, and cut the line with an HE blast. In both cases, of course, supporting infantry would have quickly discovered the ruse. That's the key; to separate the tanks from their infantry support. This is perhaps easiest in city fighting, which also provides lots of cover from which to assault the tank. It's also facilitated by poorly- trained, inexperienced soldiers, which may well be the case in Beijing. Some of the footage I saw on the news included burning APC's, and rioters smashing the vision blocks of an armored vehicle with iron bars; it appears the Chinese learn quickly... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bill Thacker moderator, sci.military military@att.att.com (614) 860-5294 "War is a matter of vital importance to the State; the province of life or death; the road to survival or ruin. It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied." - Sun Tzu