New weapons of World War I, the birth of the King of Land War Tank and the God of War Artillery

This time I am talking about the heavy artillery among the "King of Land War" tanks and "God of War" artillery that appeared in World War I!

First is the "King of Land Warfare" tank!

In 1915, fierce fighting was raging on the Western Front in Europe. Due to the huge power of machine guns, the losses of the attacking side far exceeded that of the defending side. In this case, the British and French allied forces and the German army fell into a stalemate in the trenches. war!

Both sides are trying their best to break through the other side's defense and break this deadlock!

Among them, a British man made a suggestion. No one expected that this suggestion would change the entire history of mankind and also bring about huge changes in the mode of war!

This character is Lieutenant Colonel Swinton. He proposed to develop a new weapon that organically combines firepower (suppressing enemy troops), cross-country (quickly breaking through the opponent's defense line), and protection (can withstand machine gun fire)!

After the plan came out, the British Army believed that this tractor plus machine gun (early tanks were so crude) weapons were completely useless and would only be a waste of money!

But Churchill, then Lord of the Admiralty, had a keen eye for talent! Think this weapon is sure to be a huge success! Not only did he order the establishment of a "Land Battleship Committee", he also invested huge amounts of money!

Therefore, the tank, a land weapon with the title of "King of Land Warfare", was regarded as a joke by the Army and was developed at the expense of the unrelated Navy!

In September 1915, after the prototype was produced, it was called the "Little Vagabond". The entire vehicle weighs 18 tons and has an armor thickness of 6 mm (even though it is so thin, it was enough at the time!) In terms of firepower, it is equipped with several machine guns next to the tracks! (There was no rotating turret at that time)

It is worth mentioning that the British Navy codenamed this new weapon "Water Tank", which is transliterated as "tank"! Since then, the name has been widely accepted and is still used today.

On September 15, 1916, tanks entered the battlefield for the first time and participated in the tragic Battle of the Somme. Due to malfunctions and other reasons, of the 48 tanks invested, only a few were actually fighting!

But it was a huge psychological shock to the German army! For the first time, they encountered an enemy that couldn't be destroyed no matter how hard they fired with machine guns! Those enemies sat in the "iron lumps" and fired at them wildly with machine guns. Those "attacking troops' nightmare" barbed wire fences and machine guns had no effect on the tanks, and they easily broke through the defense line that usually required tens of thousands of casualties to break through. !

By the end of World War I, tanks gradually solved many problems such as malfunctions, and made more and more military exploits! France and Germany also learned from the United Kingdom and had "Reno" and "A7V" tanks respectively. Among them, the French "Reno" tank pioneered the standard configuration of today's tanks-the rotating turret, which became a milestone in the history of tanks!

After the end of World War I, the German High Command reported to Congress that tanks were the number one factor in Germany’s defeat!

During World War II, tanks became a must-have land weapon for any country and became the well-deserved "King of Land Warfare"!

The next thing I want to talk about is the heavy artillery in the "God of War" artillery!

Speaking of modern heavy artillery, we have to mention Germany. The Germans really have a soft spot for artillery. Their artillery was also the highest level in the world at the time!

The most famous heavy artillery of World War I was the "Paris Cannon"! The Paris Cannon was not made in France. On the contrary, it was made in Germany. It got its name because the Germans used it to bombard Paris!

This cannon was modified from a naval artillery in 1918, towards the end of World War I.

It was built to boost the declining morale of the German army and intimidate the French army!

In order to directly attack Paris, the French capital, within the German-occupied areas, the Germans worked hard to splice multiple gun barrels together. The length of the gun barrel reached 36 meters, which was taller than a ten-story building!

The maximum range of the cannon reaches an unbelievable 131 kilometers! This range is now beyond the reach of many heavy artillery. It is hard to believe that such a product would have appeared more than a hundred years ago!

But at that time, although this cannon frightened the French, it was unable to reverse the tide of World War I! Germany is still defeated!

However, the Germans, who had a love for heavy artillery, developed an even crazier "Gustav" heavy artillery during World War II, which was so powerful that it could destroy a fortress with one shot!

Human thinking and creativity are truly unimaginable!