Compilation of assault guns in Barbarossa plan

During the Battle of Barbarossa, the Army's independent assault artillery group was an independent assault artillery group belonging to the Northern Army Group.

Marshal Leeb Ritter William, Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Army Group, has always given the impression that his duties are limited to supporting the main front in several battles since the outbreak of World War II, and the invasion of the Soviet Union by the Barbarossa is no exception. This can also be seen from the number of armored divisions of the most elite German troops at that time. At the beginning of the "Barbarossa" campaign, there were 19 armored divisions on the entire eastern front, of which only three divisions were assigned to the northern army group.

The distribution of the independent assault artillery groups of the Northern Army Group is as follows: the 659th, 660th, 666th and 667th assault artillery companies, and the185th assault artillery battalion. Nominally, there are a large number of assault artillery groups, but except for 185 battalion, all other troops are six assault artillery units. With the development of the campaign, including the change of the moving route of troops, some independent assault artillery groups belonging to the Central Army Group were temporarily placed under the command of the Northern Army Group. In order not to deviate from the center of this paper, only the combat action and vehicle painting of the independent assault gun group belonging to the Northern Group Army at the beginning of the "Barbarossa" campaign are introduced. In the following, the independent assault artillery group is based on its establishment and is called independent assault artillery company, battalion and brigade.

Army Independent 659th Assault Artillery Company

Company 659 was established on April 8, 1940/KLOC-0. It is the second actual independent assault artillery group of the National Defence Force. On May 6, at 438+00, at the beginning of the French campaign, the troops, under the command of the first commander, Captain Freire (Baron) von Wentz Fran belk, broke into France from the Kang Yaxin area. After clearing the machine gun bunkers and defensive positions of the French army on the attack route, they crossed the Maas River near Fumai. After that, the combat footprint of the 659th Battalion ran through the whole campaign stage, but at the end of the French campaign on June 13, the company commander, Captain Fran belk, was killed by a stray bullet from the French army. Since then, the troops have been stationed in France to rest, and it was not until February 194 1 that they returned to the barracks of the Utapa assault artillery school to reorganize their personnel and equipment. At the beginning of June, Captain Shepard Steiner, a member of the Army's Utapau Assault Artillery Training Corps, became the new commander of the Army.

1941in mid-June, the independent 659th assault artillery company entered the offensive position in East Prussia and was incorporated into the 2nd Army under the command of General Graf (Earl) von Brockdorff Alefeld (under its jurisdiction 12, 32, 12 1 2). On June 22nd, the 659th Company, accompanied by the 2nd Army, crossed the border between East Prussia and Lithuania. In the deployment of front-line troops, the 2nd Army was assigned to the 16 Army, located on the right wing slightly away from the main force of the Army. The 659th Company was ordered to be under the command of the 1st12nd Infantry Division of Major General von Zedritz Kelpach.

The battle course of Company 659 can be roughly summarized as: crossing the Cecil Mehmel River, reaching the Duna River, and then entering Latvia. On July 8 194 1, it crossed the old Russian-Latvian border, entered Russia, and went to the south of Lake Ilimeni, where it encountered a large number of Soviet troops.

After August 10, Company 659 joined the battle sequence to attack Ugro. In late August, he was instructed by the 2nd Army Command to leave the command of 12 Division. The troops were moved to the area between the Lovach River and the Pela River at the source of Ilimeni Lake, and then they fought for months without any rest. The army ushered in the first Russian winter in Demjan.

1942 65438+ 10, the exhausted remnants of company 659 were ordered to return home. 1942 10 The independent 287th Assault Artillery Company was newly established on the basis of the personnel of the 659th Company, and was immediately sent to Rhodes Island in the Aegean Sea and incorporated into the 1 Company of the tank battalion of Rhodes Assault Division.

Army Independent 660th Assault Artillery Company

As the third independent assault artillery group of the National Defence Force, Company 660, like Company 659 of the Brother Army, started receiving vehicles and training personnel in Zenna, south of Utapao, on April 8 1940. The 3rd Infantry Division, under the command of the first commander Captain Otto Heinrich Tokmet, attacked Luxembourg on May 65, 2003. After the Battle of France, the troops moved to the Netherlands to prepare for the "Sea Lion Plan" to attack the British mainland. However, because the "Sea Lion Project" was put on hold indefinitely, the 660th Company was transferred to East Prussia at the beginning of 194 1.

At the beginning of the "Barbarossa" campaign, the 660th Company, the 659th Brotherhood Regiment and the 2nd Army under the command of General Allerfield. The 660th company is under the command of 12 1 infantry division. Major General Renzley, the division commander, had already won the Blue Cross, representing the highest honor of Prussian soldiers, in World War I, and was an experienced infantry commander.

The battle course of the 660th Company can be summarized as follows: it entered Lithuania with 12 1 Infantry Division, crossed the Cecil Mehmel River, and then advanced to Dargabu Biris (now Dunabao, Latvia). It crossed the Duna River here and entered the Soviet Union. After conquering Pskov State (now Priesca Wa), it was temporarily rested, and then it was pushed to the front line of Luga, and the target was directed at Leningrad.

In order to alleviate the positive pressure of Leningrad, the Soviet army launched a counterattack against the attacking Germans. The 660th company was ordered to conduct a war of resistance in Ya 'Su Lusha, stara. In the end, the Soviet army failed to achieve its strategic goal. Since September, in order to cooperate with the central army group to seize the "typhoon campaign" in Moscow, the offensive troops of the northern army group on the front line of Leningrad have turned into siege operations. At the same time, a considerable number of troops belonging to the Northern Army, including the 660th Company, moved south and were transferred to participate in the Moscow campaign. The last advance of the 660th company in the typhoon campaign was Kalinin. In the information about the fighting near Kalinin, there is also the combat record of this unit. In order to cover the retreating infantry, Captain Tarchinsky of the 660th Company rushed to the T-34 tank cluster that brought great shock to the Germans at that time. After a brief exchange of fire, 1T-34 tank and BT tank were destroyed, and then the subsequent shells fired by T-34 hit and caught fire. Lieutenant and BT tank. This battle scene in the vast snow and fog was captured in time by the accompanying army PK personnel. In the 1980s, the book Armor on Russian Land published by Bozen Publishing House published the photos captured continuously at that time. Because the photos are fuzzy, we can only judge that the assault gun is type A, and the winter painting of the assault gun can't recognize the military emblem or even the nationality symbol.

65438+In mid-February, Captain Buckley, who succeeded Captain Tokmet as the 660th company commander, commanded the troops to resist the superior forces and counterattack of the Soviet Union in the ice and snow of Russia.

1942 65438+1At the beginning of October, the remnants of the independent 660th assault gun company, which lost all its vehicles in the Russian winter war, withdrew to Germany. 1 in March, 942, part of the former 660th company was incorporated into the 600th assault artillery battalion1company.

Independent 665th assault battery company

The Fourth Independent 665 Assault Artillery Company of the National Defence Force was established in Utapao on 9 May. 1940. Although the Ministry, which completed the reorganization and personnel training, went into the French battlefield in Sevlingen on June 10, the second stage of the battle on the western front was drawing to a close, and the 665th Company symbolically "fought" for a week in the relatively calm Rorainuwodi theater. Then transfer to Mons in southern Belgium.

During the "Barbarossa" campaign, the operational course of this department was little known. At the beginning of the campaign, it was placed under the command of the 28th Army together with the 667th Assault Artillery Company. The first commander, Palel Shi, was killed in the battle near Lake Ilimeni in summer. 194 1 At the end of the year, the troops withdrew from the front line. 1942 in March, it was reorganized into the second company of the independent 600th assault artillery battalion.

Independent 666 assault gun company

On May 20, when several independent assault artillery groups formed by the Germans in advance were fighting fiercely with infantry on the French battlefield, the fifth independent artillery company of the National Defence Force was established in Seine. The first commander was Captain Alfred Miao La of the former Second Artillery Training Regiment. Captain Miao La won the Oak Leaf Knight Cross a few years later and was one of the most outstanding German assault artillery in World War II.

When the army regrouped, the French campaign ended. The 666th Company moved to the Belgian coast, ready to attack Britain. After the "Sea Lion" was basically cancelled, the troops were transferred to East Prussia in February of 194 1 2000, and were placed under the command of the 206th Infantry Division, where they continued their training.

On June 22nd, 194 1, the independent 666th assault artillery company quickly crossed the west bank of Lake Theo in Vesto and invaded Lithuania with the 94th Infantry Regiment of the 32nd Infantry Division, which was attached half a month ago.

Although the surface around Lake Theo in Vesto is soft, which greatly affects the mobility of armored forces, Company 666 still entered about 40 kilometers before June 22nd and reached the main road between Visky and Marianopoli in Vilka. On 24th, it advanced to Cheshire Mehmel River, and the engineers of the 32nd Infantry Division successfully crossed the river after erecting a pontoon bridge with a load of 20 tons in Unas.

By the beginning of July, when I arrived in Shinuhiyi, Dhaka, the combat effectiveness had been reduced to less than two platoons, leaving only two assault guns, two of which needed to be repaired and two were completely lost. After entering Latvia, the 666th Battalion crossed the Davogawa River in Lava, Colas. After entering Russia, under the suppression of Soviet artillery fire on the other side, assault guns and auxiliary vehicles crossed the river with a water depth of 90cm and successfully broke through Stalin's defense line.

In July 1 1, Company 666 was separated from the command of the 32nd Infantry Division and placed under the command of 12 1 Infantry Division. At that time, the same division was replaced by Major General Wendell, a former division commander who died in battle. The assault artillery company incorporated into 12 1 division advanced the battle group to support the 407th Infantry Regiment to conquer the city of Cora Si Nuo on 19.

On July 24th, the 666th Company was incorporated into the advance battle group of the 2nd Army fighting in Helm area. The main force of the same battle group is the 89th Infantry Regiment under the 12 Infantry Division, under the command of Major General Dritz von Cai. The task assigned to the assault artillery unit is to take an infantry company deep into Lokone, north of Vilkill Luke, seize the iron bridge on the Lovat River before the Soviet troops arrive, and hold the bridgehead until the battle group arrives. On 24th, after a bloody battle, Company 666 seized the Lovat River Railway Bridge and dispersed the Soviet guards. After the advance battle group of the 2nd Army arrived, it completed the encirclement of Soviet troops in Helm area.

Before the encirclement battle ended, on August 5, the 666th Company was urgently transferred to the 16 Army on the west bank of Lake Ilimeni, hundreds of kilometers north. A few days after the assault guns loaded by the heavy equipment transport vehicle traveled to the destination, the number of mobile assault guns had dropped to three, and then they were temporarily placed in the 1 platoon of the 659th assault gun company, which was also heavily consumed, under the command of Captain Bielefeldt. At that time, Bielefeldt platoon had no assault guns to fight.

On August 10, the mixed battle group of two assault gun companies arrived in the front line area of Muxiga, and immediately threw themselves into the front line on the east bank of Lake Iliminee after receiving ammunition and oil supplies. The assault gun accompanied the infantry of the 45th Regiment of the 2 1 Infantry Division to attack Simsk, which was located there, in order to support the battle that was strategically attacking the northern end of the Ilimine Lake and attacking Ugro.

After the new Battle of Ugoro came to an end, we had a short rest for a few days, got some vehicles, and the 666th Company was supplemented with personnel, and was assigned to the battle group led by Major von grasso of 2 1 Division to conquer the railway hub and strategic hub between Leningrad and Moscow-Teudvo. Subsequently, the battle sequence of Company 666 was temporarily divided into two parts. 1 and the second platoon accompanied the 18 motorized infantry division under the command of Major General Hailin back to Leningrad theater. The third platoon is temporarily stationed in Volkhov, belonging to the 2 1 Infantry Division and under the command of Lieutenant General Spilhammer.

On August 28th, the ministries of Company 666 were recalled to the 2nd Army. Assault guns and auxiliary vehicles trudged in the autumn rainstorm and the ensuing Russian mud sea. When they returned to Helm, it was already September 9, and they had fought there for a summer. The concentrated troops were assigned to the 12 infantry division, which had been struggling for months for the first time since the launch of the "Barbarossa" campaign. After spending a rare quiet and leisurely whole September in the warm sunshine, Company 666, with sufficient supplies, was ordered to set out on June 54381October 9. The assault artillery group was once again divided into two parts. 1 platoon belonged to the 27th Infantry Regiment, and the 2nd and 3rd platoon belonged to the 48th Infantry Regiment, and went into battle in the southwest of Lake rigoli.

10 10/7, the 666th assault battery, which was reconvened by subordinate ministries, attacked Kuldik along with the 3rd Battalion of 27th Infantry Regiment. The Soviet artillery fire was unexpectedly fierce, and the minefield buried by the Soviet army in the front line hindered the advance of the assault artillery group. Commander Captain Miao La's assault gun ran over the mine and the track was blown off. As an infantry soldier, Xing Lei, there were no heavy casualties. Unfortunately, the Sd.kfz.253 light armored communication observation vehicle along with it ran over a powerful anti-tank mine, and the driver and two signalmen were killed on the spot. After Miao La led the assault artillery to rescue the wounded, he climbed out of the minefield with the crater as a bunker. The lieutenant then suggested to Major General von Zedritz Krpach that assault guns should not be forced to pass through the minefield, and vehicles that broke down in the minefield should be evacuated. With the consent of the teachers, Miao La personally boarded the recycling car and led the maintenance troops. With the cooperation of the engineers, he pulled out three immovable assault guns from the minefield by the afterglow of the sunset. The two cars that rushed to the front line were too close to the Soviet front line to be recycled, so they had to be abandoned. During the rest of June, 5438+00, Company 666 fought hard with three surviving assault guns.

On June165438+1October1day, Captain Miao La received a transfer and returned to the Second Artillery Training Regiment where he was born. Command was handed over to his successor, Captain Gonzekai.

65438+At the end of February, the 666th assault artillery company attacked westward, advancing to the Dono area between Pskov (now Priesca tile) and Stalyarusa, and then stopped the Soviet counterattack on the flank of Leningrad south of Ilimeni Lake. The first winter after entering Russia was spent in endless snow tug-of-war.

1in March, 942, the assault gun was sent to Demjan to take part in the rescue operation through the frozen ice on the Lovach River which was injected into Lake Ilimeni.

On the second day of Easter, 1942, the 666th company, the only armored unit in the theater, and the 1 battalion of the independent 203rd tank regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Fraier von Mei Sen Bach, launched an attack on the encirclement, but failed under the suppression of Soviet superior artillery fire and in front of cleverly set anti-tank gun positions. The equipment and personnel suffered heavy losses. Five of the seven assault guns of the 666th Company, which had just been fully replenished, were completely lost, and the company commander, Captain Gonzekai, was seriously injured. This battle almost destroyed the combat effectiveness of the assault gun company. At the beginning of April, the 666th Company, under the leadership of the new company commander, Captain Lin Kai, supplemented by emergency supplies, re-entered the clean-up battle in Demjan. Shortly after the attack began, Captain Lin Kai was wounded and retreated, and the troops under the command of Captain Nauzer fell into the encirclement of Demjan.

Subsequently, the independent 666th assault artillery company, under the command of the successor company commander Captain Fiarlut, was reorganized into the 1 company of the independent184th assault artillery battalion, which was located in the encirclement of Demjan.

Lu Junzhang was selected as "three Arabic numerals' 6' arranged in a concentric ring" by the first company commander, Captain Miao La. There are still many patterns in which Arabic numerals are arranged like this in the German Chapter.

For a long time, the military chapter of Company 666 only appeared in the official German compilation sequence. Recently, three concentric rings "6" engraved on the white shield frame were found very accidentally on some postcards annotated "Commemorating the War in the West". Unfortunately, there are very few photos with the theme clearly marked as "This assault gun (vehicle) belongs to the independent 666th assault gun company", and it is impossible to confirm whether the vehicle is painted with the army seal in these photos with not too bright patterns and not too bright light.

In some photos of vehicles belonging to this unit taken during 1940, the following identification features can be confirmed: a long white cross is drawn on the nationality sign, and a narrow banner is placed on both sides of the battle room. Behind them are two preparatory load-bearing wheels equipped side by side. The spare load-bearing wheel and its mounting frame are the standard equipment of Company 666, but it is still unknown whether this practice is applicable to the East Line.

Independent 667 assault gun company

At the beginning of the "Barbarossa" campaign, this unit belonged to the Northern Army Group. Please refer to relevant descriptions for its combat history, vehicle painting and identification marks.

These assault artillery groups belong to a series of combat troops with experimental purposes, which were originally established by the German Defence Forces. Vehicle painting and tactical identification signs have some common features. However, the photos of these early assault artillery groups are quite rare, so only the confirmed identification marks are introduced.

There are differences in the size and thickness of the nationality cross sign, but the color is a hollow cross inside the white banner. In the black-and-white documentaries of the same period filmed by some military PK personnel, the combination mode of white national cross symbols was confirmed. 1) a hollow cross with wide interval and medium size, and the vehicle nickname written by the occupant; 2) A cross with a narrow hollow space and a slender banner and a two-digit Arabic numeral gun number. In addition, the tactical identification sign was painted on the passenger passage door at the back of Sd.kfz.253 semi-tracked command vehicle, and they took photos together. It is worth noting that these tactical identification signs use the "diamond" pattern representing tank units and the "arrow" pattern representing artillery units. This sign shows that the assault artillery unit was widely used in the German army after the second half of 1943.

During this period, military emblems were rarely painted on vehicles. In some photos, you can vaguely observe the pattern similar to the military emblem on the assault gun, but it is not clear enough to confirm.

In addition to the special examples mentioned above, tactical identification marks are painted on the number. III assault gun is still dominated by the combination pattern of "crawler" widely used before the middle of 1943 and "three vertical, two short and one long" representing the gun. The center of "crawler" is marked with Arabic numerals of Theory of Three Represents Army serial number.

IndependentNo. 185 assault artillery battalion

1940 10 In August, Independent Battalion 185 and Battalion 184 were established in Zena, as the first battalion-level assault artillery unit in the German Defence Force, with the first battalion commander as Major Lichfield. The fully equipped 185 Battalion moved to East Prussia in early June, and was stationed in Fort bruns and Heinligenber successively, and conducted assault gun driving and shooting training at the army training ground in Stabrak.

At the beginning of the "Barbarossa" campaign, the independent 16 assault artillery battalion was assigned to the left of the central army group, and the 18 army under the command of General Von Kuchler belonged to General Von Burt. Judging from the configuration of mechanized troops in the northern army group, three armored divisions are concentrated in the fourth armored cluster, which is the main attack of the front line in the central direction, and the army groups on its two wings are assigned to the assault artillery group.

On June 22nd, the 1 85th Battalion, which was deployed in Heydekeruk area of Lan Province before the war, entered Lithuania as the offensive pioneer of1Army. The assault artillery group marched northeast, passing through Xiaulliang without major fighting, and reached the old Lithuanian-Latvian border between JoNisski and Boisika. On June 27th, 18 Army Command instructed 1 Army to send vanguard troops to seize and stabilize the bridgehead position near Liga, the capital of Latvia. 1 Army, with the 43rd Infantry Regiment of 1 Infantry Division as the main force, quickly formed the following battle groups. At the same time, the 185 battalion is the only armored force under this battle group.

At the beginning of the battle, the assault artillery group was mainly engaged in the task of covering the flank of the battle group. After the Soviet assault attempt was shattered, the 5th assault gun of the 3rd Company, led by Captain geissler, with a small number of infantry, broke into the western suburb of Liga at 29 1020, and quickly passed the temporary pontoon bridge across the Dawugawa River (Duna River) built by the Soviet Union in Liga, reaching the east bank of the river near the city. Soon after, Soviet commandos blew up the pontoon, and the pontoon was blown up. Captain geissler ordered assault guns and infantry to be deployed around the adjacent railway bridge. The assault guns fanned out, and the infantry were alert to the situation and positions around the river. Then, Captain geissler reported to the battle group headquarters that the bridgehead had been established. Soon after, the Soviet army in Lijia city on the east bank of the bridge launched an attack on the bridgehead position, accompanied by large-scale artillery fire, and took the opportunity to blow up the railway bridge. Although the bridge experienced explosive explosion and direct hit by shells, it did not collapse immediately, but stood for 48 hours. Facts have proved that these 48 hours are very important for the personnel of Company 3 of Qiaodong 185 Battalion. The driver of Sd.kfz.252 ammunition transport vehicle belonging to Company 3 tried several times to drive the vehicle to the other side for ammunition replenishment, but they were all hindered by the suppression of Soviet artillery fire and the huge crater blasted in the center of the bridge and had to return to the west bank. Due to the lack of effective means of crossing the river, ammunition can never be supplied to the third company on the other side.

In the next two days, the Soviet offensive became more and more fierce. On the first day, after all the shells were exhausted, the assault gun group was supported by MG34 and MP40 and grenades on board for a day and a night. Finally, they had to give up assault guns and small bridgehead positions. The third company personnel and the surviving infantry, led by Captain geissler, climbed the crumbling railway bridge and evacuated to the west bank of the Davugawa River. Geissler relied on the heroic performance of 65438+ in these two days. At noon on July 1, the 667th Engineering Corps under the command of Colonel Ullas bolger built a pontoon bridge on the Davugawa River under the cover of the air force Stuka dive bomber. The crew of the 3rd assault gun company took the lead to return to the east coast, regained the assault gun temporarily abandoned a day ago, quickly replenished ammunition and oil, and entered the city of Liga with the 1 infantry division battle group. After fighting until the evening of that day, Liga, the capital of Latvia, fell into the hands of the Germans. Soviet troops in this area were cut off by the fall of La Liga in July 194 1 2008, and eventually faced the fate of total annihilation. Three years later, in 1944, the Soviet army launched the "Kurland" campaign in the same area, retaken Liga after a bloody battle, and finally won the battle.

On the other hand, the 1 Company, the 2 nd Company of 185 Battalion and the Battalion Command used the pontoon bridge of friendly neighboring troops to cross the river in Yau Nierjava area on the upper reaches of Davugawa River, and attacked eastward as the vanguard assault group of 18 Army. As usual, in the Chudlekova region, troops crossed the Beligaya River with the help of pontoons and entered Russian territory. Then the troops marched north, targeting Estonia.

After 185 Battalion occupied Dolpat, west of Pepper Lake, the second company led by Captain Kraft continued northward to Mstova by the lake. It is less than 10 km from Barents Sea.

The third company, which was delayed for several days in La Liga, was transferred to attack Tallinn, Estonia, which was already behind the front line. 1, Company 2 was sent to the direction of Narva River. The Narva River is also the old border between Estonia and Russia. The battalion crossed the city of Narva in hermanns Brook, a northern suburb of Narwa, re-entered Russian territory and attacked Petrov, a coastal city in the Gulf of Finland opposite Leningrad and Kronstadt. Tongcheng is famous for the Summer Palace built by Peter the Great.

During the Long March, on August 25th, Captain Kraft of the Second Company was awarded the Knight's Cross on September 29th for his outstanding performance in fighting in southern Coatley. At Camp 185, only Captain Kraft and the aforementioned Captain geissler of 194 1 won the Knights Cross. Captain Kraft was the second commander of 185 battalion after Major Lickfield in the summer of 1942.

The battle of the Independent 185 assault artillery battalion in the whole "Barbarossa" campaign ended here. After Petrov was captured, the troops moved to Vargovo in the rear to rest. Later, it was rumored to have participated in the initial siege of Leningrad, but the historical records of the troops until 1942 were not recorded in detail.

The military chapter of 185 Battalion was personally selected by Major Lickfield, the first battalion commander. Because the major himself was born and raised in Hamburg, the pattern of the military chapter adopted the combination of medieval castles and moats with deep historical roots in Hamburg. The military emblem pattern provided below is the formula symbol of this unit. So far, it has not been confirmed that this unit painted this symbol on the short barrel III assault gun during the "Barbarossa" campaign. However, according to the practice of assault artillery units, the military seal will appear in a larger size on the Sd.kfz.253 command vehicle of the battalion commander and the vehicles of the units directly under the battalion commander and company commander, and the spraying position will usually be at the lower right of the front of the vehicle. For historical photos and painting examples, please refer to 197 assault gun group Sd.kfz.253 command vehicle.

Among the assault artillery units belonging to the Northern Army, the unit that can clearly confirm the relevant tactical identification marks and historical photos is also 185 Battalion. These historical photos come from the photo collection Der Russlandkrieg compiled by Paul Carrel, a famous German diplomatic press officer during World War II. There is a photo in the data set marked "Assault guns that broke into Liga, the capital of Latvia". The white "triangle" mark and the gun number in capital letters can be clearly confirmed from the side of the battle room of this short barrel III assault gun. At the beginning, it can only be judged that it belongs to 185 battalion through the shooting records of photos and war history data. After confirming the photos of vehicles painted with "square" signs, the problem of distinguishing the company signs of 185 battalion gradually became clear. After we collected the connection signs of "triangle" and "square", the remaining connection signs were presumed to be "round" according to the practice of German military camp establishment. But I can't find the real car photo with the "circle" logo. Just as this article was being sorted out, the assault gun painted with the "round" logo was finally found and provided to readers.

The remaining task is how to match these three signs with the three companies of 185 battalion. We can get a good reference from the sequence of GD tank regiment of the known "Great German" Panzergrenadier Division. In the symbol sequence of GD tank battalion companies, 1 company is square, 2 company is round and 3 company is triangle. From this point of view, combined with the war history record of 185 battalion, it can be proved that the "assault gun with triangular logo" that broke into Liga, the capital of Latvia, belongs to Sanlian. At the same time, the ownership of 185 battalion vehicles has also been strongly proved by history.

Usually, the spraying parts of the division logo are: the front and rear upturned mud baffles on the right side of the car body, and the rear and upper sides of the battle room. As a special case, in recent years, it was judged that the E-type III assault gun of 185 Battalion 1 Company was salvaged from the river near St. Petersburg (Old Leningrad) in Russia, and its "square" logo was even sprayed on the driving wheel. There is no historical evidence for such meticulous marking on vehicles, but it does reflect the rigorous (even a little stubborn) style of Germans from one side.

In the painting project of other independent assault gun companies belonging to the Northern Group Army mentioned above, it was indicated that the identification marks of the "assault gun" units could not be confirmed in the vehicle photos of 185 battalion.

Different from the Arabic numeral "car number" used by tank troops, the number of assault artillery units was expressed in capital English letters in the early stage of the war. This also fully shows that the tactical application of early assault guns completely followed the tactical rules of traditional artillery. 185 Battalion vehicle gun number adopts capital letters "A"-"F" according to the gun (vehicle) quota index of assault gun group company. The painting parts are: the front of the left and right sides of the battle room (larger in size), and the hatch cover of the manual starting port of the engine at the rear of the car body (smaller in size).

Regarding the related usage of the auxiliary vehicle number, according to the vehicle quota index of the assault gun group company, it should be used for the command of the assault gun. Observing Sd.kfz.253, each company should have four cars. We only observed the Arabic numerals with the word "3" on a photo of this car. As for the number of Sd.kfz.252 ammunition transport vehicles, it is difficult to guess because there are no photo samples.

The national cross is sprayed on the 9mm thick inclined additional armor plates on both sides of the battle room in the form of long white lines.