Assuming that all of their tanks were operational (unlikely) a German Heavy Tank Battalion in WWII had 45 tanks, with an additional 8–11 SPAAGs, 5 Recovery Vehicles, and 11 armored half tracks. These would be pretty much the entirety of what the Abrams would have to destroy without being disabled.
Assuming the heaviest tanks available at the time, the Germans would be operation Tiger II’s, which were equipped with the 8.8 cm KwK 43, and boasted an impressive (for the time) 100–185mm of sloped rolled homogeneous steel armor (RHA) from the front. The gun was one of the best, if not the best, anti-tank guns used in WWII and had an approximate armor penetration of ~238mm RHA equivalent at 100 meters.
By comparison, the M1 (we’ll say an M1A1 since you didn’t specify) has 600mm of RHA (that is, how much protection the armor offers in terms of rolled steel, even though it is a newer composite armor), and packs the Rheinmetall L/44 120mm gun , firing APFSDS and HEAT rounds with a penetration of 540mm RHA equivalent and 600mm RHA equivalent at 2000 meters. It is also faster than the Tiger II, has a better fire control system, and far superior situational awareness. It can carry 40 rounds for the main gun, though it will have to pause to transfer rounds from the commander’s side of the tank to the loader’s side in order to fire all 40. We’ll assume they are smart enough to load up on APFSDS rounds exclusively since those are the main anti-tank armament of the Abrams series.
The Abrams is a far more maneuverable vehicle, and assuming the commander is on top of his game, the enemy will never get close enough to fire accurately. He’ll control when and where the engagements happen, and with one resupply run can carry enough ammo to wipe out the German battalion. Even if he messes up, the Germans have to get pretty lucky, their best anti-tank rounds won’t penetrate the Abrams except from behind, and the 120mm rounds will go through their armor like butter. The Abrams can probably maintain a higher fire rate, and is way less likely to miss. The Abrams has the advantage of making every engagement at it’s leisure, at ranges of over 2km, while the Germans will have trouble spotting and engaging at that distance, the Abrams will be able to see them easily thanks to its infrared optics and fire control suite.
All in all, it is likely to survive the engagement, but strange things happen in war, so it’s impossible to say for sure, 100% of the time.
– Hunter Rogers