   "Halt!" Major Erich Kleiner of the 2nd Panzer Division stood up in his halftrack and signalled the column behind him to stop. He surveyed the scene ahead. A burning American truck lay overturned on the narrow road just ahead, blocking passage. They could skirt it by going into the field, but it didn't look right to Kleiner. It looked contrived -- like an ambush. He looked around carefully, then told his driver to proceed alone. Better to lose one halftrack than a whole tank column.
   Gingerly the driver picked his way around the wreck and back onto the road. They proceeded another hundred yards then stopped. Nothing happened. Kleiner turned and waved to the lead Panther. It started forward, moved off the road, turned -- and then an explosion ripped off its left track. Mines! The Panther behind it stopped, backed up -- and hit another mine, shattering an idler wheel. Kleiner grabbed his radio mike. "Achtung! Everybody be ready for an ambush! Be ready to pull out FAST!" Tank turrets swung left and right, infantry jumped off of tanks, and everybody waited. Nothing happened. After several tense minutes, Kleiner signalled, "Achtung, lead four tanks guard, everybody else up front to clear the mess."
   He walked back to the two crippled Panthers. Two men were already setting up a mine detector. Several others were hauling some cable towards the burning truck; they would pull it out of the way. The crews of the crippled tanks were surveying the damage, discussing how to effect repairs. Kleiner smiled with pride at the cool efficiency of his little battalion.
   One glance showed that the two tanks would take several hours to repair. He couldn't leave them unprotected, so he detached a platoon of infantry, two halftracks, and one good tank to remain with them. The rest would continue on as soon as the road was cleared.
/Mines
     A mine is a buried explosive device rigged to explode when somebody steps on it. Its simplest form is a steel can about the size of a soup can, filled with a pound of explosive and several pounds of steel pieces for shrapnel. A detonator on the top of the mine explodes when enough pressure is placed on it. A mine like this will seldom kill; instead, it will blow off a foot or a leg. 
     There are many variations on the theme. The German S-mine, called the "Bouncing Betty" by the Americans, did not go off immediately after being stepped on; instead, it waited a few seconds, then detonated a small charge that popped it about 4 feet into the air before the main charge went off. This greatly increased the mine's lethality.
     Mines were also rigged as booby traps by attaching tripwires to the detonators. The tripwire could then be attached to a doorknob, an enemy body, or a promising souvenir. Some mines were made of wood, glass, or bakelite to foil metal detectors.
     Anti-tank mines were much bigger than anti-personnel mines, weighing 20 pounds with 12 pounds of TNT. Their detonators required pressures of several hundred pounds so that such a mine would not be wasted on a passing soldier. They seldom destroyed a tank, but they could certainly blow off a track and immobilize it temporarily.
     Mines are best used as part of an integrated defense. Mines immobilize or slow down an advancing enemy, keeping him in the killing zone of your other weapons longer./