In a combined arms team "support" is mutual.
Thanks.
I remember Daddy mentioning that once they were able to listen in on the radio frequency being used by our armor during a battle.
He said it was downright chilling.
Not so during WW II. The primary mission of the Armored Force was to exploit breakthroughs and dash for the enemies rear areas, as a mechanized substitute for the horse cavalry role. Their near simultaneous task was in the infantry support role by eliminating enemy gun emplacements , machine gun positions, light armored vehicles and soft targets of all types. This explains the ubiquitous Sherman tank, which was robust, mechanically reliable and mobile, with a main gun that had a good high explosive round, and a relatively weak anti-armor round.
The job of engaging enemy tanks was to be handled by TANK DESTROYER units, such as the fully tracked M-10 and M-36 Gun Motor carriages, and the towed 37 mm, 57 mm and 3 inch anti-tank guns.
In actual practice, the tank destroyers and tanks had their roles intermixed, often unsuitably if courageously performed. This was particularly true of the lightly armored gun motor carriages, which because they looked like tanks and could fire high explosives, led them to be USED as tanks when tanks werent available. The army abandoned the tank destroyer concept after the war and focused on a universal armored fighting vehicle known as the main battle tank to handle both roles.