This FURY scene is BAD & here is why

by Panzer
So, I finally watched Fury, it originally was released in 2014 and some might argue I am bit
late for that, but since I am historian, I can assure you, I am not. I only lasted 45
minutes. As such in this video, we particularly look at the US and German tactics of the first
major engagement in the movie, when the US tank platoon combined with US infantry attacks a German
anti-tank position. To be sure, also checked with a former German Leopard 2 gunner and an
infantry combat veteran about these topics. So, before I dive into the tactical parts,
I will tell you some positives about this movie. I think in terms of aesthetics, it's really well
done, it goes for the grimy, dirty and ugly war look. There it pulls no punches. It is no glory,
but all guts and those guts are mostly spilled on the ground.
Similarly, in terms of vehicles, uniforms and the overall historical look, it is excellent as well.
Now I won't be nitpicking about historical details, I will look mainly at basic military
tactics and particularly its internal consistency in the movie itself.
I will not talk about what I consider minor details with regards to a fictional product
like a movie or game, namely the spacing and distances between vehicles, these are
generally not historically accurate, because you would not see much, e.g, here is a formation
according to the a German Tank Company Manual, see the spaces, yes about 50 m between each tank,
if you try to get that on a camera you barely see any tanks. If you want to get your hands on that
manual, you can grab a copy and also support this channel, it contains both the German original text
and a proper English translation side by side. Anyway, lets get on to it.
So, let us take a look at the anti-tank scene. It is an attack, where a US tank platoon consisting
of 4 tanks attacks with the help of US infantry attacks a German anti-tank positions, which has 2
Pak 40 75mm guns, a MG 42 machine gun and several soldiers defending it. Note that the German unit
was also capable of trapping a previous US infantry unit in the field and destroying US
halftracks trying to help out the infantry. The US objective of this new attack is pick up those
US troops up and destroy the German unit. The scene starts around 30 minutes into
the movie and takes about 5 minutes, a link to the whole scene is linked in
the description if you are interested. Yet, we start a bit earlier, namely at
the mission briefing. It starts off, which the commanding officer noting that he called for
10 tanks, but Brad Pitt only arrived with 4. Then he explains that his men are trapped in a field by
machine guns, he sent his tracks in referring to halftracks, which are lightly armored,
so safe against small arms fire, but not very much else. Those were taken out by German
anti-tank guns. He then notes the position of 2 German anti-tank guns and a possible third one.
Then they talk about the follow-up mission, which is taking a town. There he mentions that he had
two observers, noting “I had eyes there, gone. There, gone.” From my understanding this means
the German were able to take out those observers. So, now to the actual attack against the German
anti-tank position. We see two clearly destroyed burning halftracks, this is important, since
that means the Germans know the range of these vehicles. The US tanks move across the field,
bypass the halftracks and pick up the infantry that is trapped in the field,
they move closer to the German position. So, the Germans can clearly see the US