The Combatants II: German Grenadiers

The standard infantry (Grenadier) battalions of the German army had an organization similar to that of the U. S. Army. The battalion had three rifle companies and one weapons company. However, the Germans used larger-caliber mortars and equipped every squad with a belt-fed machine-gun that had a very high rate of fire.

Thus, in a battalion versus battalion fight, the Germans could generate a considerably greater weight of metal and high explosives than their allied opponents. This ability contributed to the defensive ability (and reputation) of the German forces in no small fashion. As mentioned before, the Germans were the first to understand that weight of fire on a battlefield counts for more than good marksmanship.

Rather than walk through the calculations again, I'll simply post the relevant figures and a final total, against which the figures for the U. S. Infantry Battalion can be compared. Total weapons in a German battalion, their rate of fire per minute, and the projectile weight in grams, follows:

Rifle, Kar98: 288 each, 20 rpm, 12.83 grams
Light Machine-Gun, MG42: 39 each, 250 rpm, 12.83 grams
Sub Machine-Gun, MP40: 84 each, 150 rpm, 8 grams
Heavy Machine-Gun, MG42: 12 each, 500 rpm, 12.83 grams
Mortar, 8cm: 6 each, 8 rpm, 3500 grams
Mortar, 12cm: 4 each, 6 rpm, 16000 grams

The battalion total weight of fire is 890.13 Kilograms, or 1,958.43 pounds. Note what a difference the large-caliber mortars and belt-fed machine-guns make: The German battalion can generate almost twice the weight of fire as a U. S. Infantry battalion in one minute.