Seeking Advice: Backend Project with Frontend Background & Tight Deadline

Hey Taro community,

I'm in a situation where I could use some perspective from experienced engineers. I recently started as an entry-level SWE (about 1 month in) with primarily frontend experience. My manager assigned me to a project that involves Docker, Kubernetes, Kafka and other backend/DevOps technologies that I'm not familiar with.

Current situation:

• Project has a tight deadline
• The team consists of just myself and a senior frontend engineer (also new to the company)
• Neither of us has significant backend or container orchestration experience
• I've been trying to learn these technologies while implementing the solution

Initially, I tried using AI tools to help bridge the knowledge gap and move quickly, but I realized I couldn't properly explain the code being generated, which made me uncomfortable. I even worked extra hours trying to catch up but ended up burning out temporarily.

Questions I'm struggling with:

1. Is it appropriate for me to suggest bringing in someone to the project (even if part-time) with backend expertise to help, given that I'm new to the company? If so, how do I frame this to my manager? The other engineer in my team is a senior engineer and he feels the same way about the project deadline but is also seemingly afraid to speak up since he is also new to the company.
2. How do I balance learning these new technologies thoroughly versus meeting the deadline?

Any advice from those who've been in similar situations would be greatly appreciated!