When 6 German Panthers Attacked in Fog — This 1-Inch Tank Destroyed Them All

Описание: Why Sergeant Henry Hartman attacked 6 German Panthers with a 1-inch armored tank during WW2 — and destroyed them all in 4 minutes at point-blank range. This World War 2 story reveals how speed defeated the most heavily armored tanks in Europe.

September 19, 1944. Sergeant Henry R. Hartman, M18 Hellcat commander, 704th Tank Destroyer Battalion, crouched in thick fog near Arracourt, France, facing the German 113th Panzer Brigade. His M18 had one inch of maximum armor against Panthers with five-point-five inches of frontal steel. When six Panthers emerged from the fog at thirty feet, Hartman attacked head-on. Every training manual said tank destroyers should use hit-and-run tactics. Tank crews across Third Army called the M18 the paper coffin.

They were all wrong.

What Hartman discovered that foggy morning wasn't about armor protection. It was about using zero visibility as armor in a way that contradicted everything Aberdeen Proving Ground taught. While other crews waited for orders, Hartman's gunner fired the first shot at sixty feet. Then the second Panther. Then the third. The M18's speed let them relocate after every shot. The Germans couldn't see them to shoot back.

This moment at Réchicourt-la-Petite would test whether tank destroyer doctrine actually worked in combat. Could speed defeat armor? Could maneuver overcome firepower? The answer would determine how American forces fought German Panthers for the rest of the war.

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