The tank was a weapon born out of desperation in the First World War.
The heavy reliance on machine guns, barbed wire, and trench fortifications made it nearly impossible for infantry to advance without sustaining devastating losses. Every attempt to break through the enemy's iron wall of defenses only led to blood-soaked stalemates.
At the Battle of the Somme, when the British and French launched their assault against the German lines, they were met with impenetrable barriers of wire and earthworks. Unable to breach the German defenses, they were cut down mercilessly by machine guns and artillery. In just a single day, over sixty thousand men fell—dead or wounded.
Faced with this slaughter, Britain began developing a weapon that could overcome trenches, crush barbed wire, and protect its crew from enemy fire. It was first called a "landship"—but soon the world would know it by its true name: the tank.
The first of its kind was the Mark I, a hulking iron beast that looked more like a rolling fortress than a machine of war. To conceal its purpose from spies, the British had even spread rumors that it was merely a giant "water tank." But on the battlefield, there was no mistaking its nature.
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"Quick! Inform the soldiers—return to your positions! Measure the distance of those tanks!"
The German commander's voice carried across the trenches. The appearance of tanks was enough to shake even the bravest soldier's heart. Though primitive compared to the sleek armored monsters of later wars, these iron beasts were terrifying in their novelty.
Five of them now rolled steadily forward. Five tanks—for just a single German battalion. It was as if the British were mocking them, showing them how insignificant they were. In the Battle of the Somme, an army of more than a million men had committed only eighteen tanks. Now, five had been deployed against just a few hundred Germans.
The message was clear.
Every German soldier in the trench felt the weight of that threat.
"Anti-tank group!"
Lin Yu's eyes narrowed. His heart stirred, but he did not panic.
To him, these First World War tanks were little more than lumbering iron coffins. Compared to the steel giants of future generations—the Leopard 2s, the Challengers, the Type 99s—these were crude prototypes, laughably slow and fragile.
But for now, they were still deadly.
Lin Yu searched his memory, recalling everything he knew about the Mark I.
Mark I Tank
Weight: 28 tons
Armament: 2 × 57mm Hotchkiss 6-pounder guns, 4 × machine guns
Crew: 8 men
Armor: 6 mm (sides), 12–15 mm (front)
Its guns were mounted on the sides rather than in a turret, and its design was meant to act as a mobile fortress—capable of crushing trenches and suppressing infantry with machine-gun fire. Against ordinary rifles and machine guns, it was invulnerable. Wherever these tanks advanced, the German line faltered.
But this was no longer 1916. It was 1918. And Germany now had an answer.
"Bring up the anti-tank gun!"
Moments later, three soldiers lugged forward the Mauser M1918 T-Gewehr, the world's first true anti-tank rifle. Nearly as heavy as a machine gun, it fired massive 13.2×92mm rounds capable of piercing 15 mm of armor at 300 meters.
Lin Yu's eyes lit up. Perfect.
The Mark I's armor was thickest at the front, but its sides were barely six millimeters. At that thickness, the T-Gewehr would slice through it like paper.
He steadied the massive weapon, recalling every diagram he'd seen in future records. The driver's compartment—if he could kill the driver, the tank would be crippled.
The British infantry laid down covering fire as their tanks advanced, bullets whipping through the air. The ground shook as the iron beasts crawled closer, belching smoke and fire.
Lin Yu ignored it all. His world narrowed to the crosshairs of his weapon, fixed on the lumbering target before him.
One thousand meters.
Five hundred meters.
Four hundred.
The tanks, still confident in their armor, lumbered ever closer—never realizing they were walking into the jaws of death.
Three hundred meters.
Lin Yu exhaled slowly, finger tightening on the trigger.
Bang!
The thunder of the shot silenced the battlefield. For a moment, the world itself seemed to stop.
The era of the tank had met its first true challenger.
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