The nasty German "Major" is wearing Colonel tabs on his collars, not Major insignia
They aren't in a tank unit, they are Tank Destroyers, the M18 Hellcat made by Buick.
Carpet bombing is the term for the aerial attack.
The film was released on November 11th, 2014 to capitalize on Fury (2014), which was released in the U.S. on October 17th, 2014.