World War: Battleship Arms Dealers

Chen Feng gestured for him to enter: "Seeing is believing, General. Rather than me describing it here, you should all see it for yourselves."

Wilhelm II rose to his feet, his scepter striking the floor with a crisp sound. "Then go see. Now."

The emperor's attitude determined the pace of the talks. Ten minutes later, three motorcades emerged from Dolmabahçe Palace, speeding north along the Bosphorus coastal road under the escort of military and police. The German motorcade consisted of five black Mercedes-Benz sedans, the Ottoman motorcade of six American-made Ford sedans, and the Lanfang motorcade of four domestically produced Dongfeng armored vehicles. Each motorcade was escorted by motorcycles, and all intersections along the route were cordoned off.

Chen Feng and Wilhelm II rode in the same car—this was at the Kaiser's insistence. In the spacious back seat of the Mercedes-Benz, the two men who would decide the fate of their respective countries sat side by side, separated by an invisible chasm.

Outside the window, the streetscape of Istanbul rushed past: magnificent mosques, dilapidated residential areas, shops boarded up, crowds queuing for rations, and faded war propaganda posters on the walls—"Fight for the Sultan and the Caliph!" "Defeat the treacherous British!"

Looking out the window, Wilhelm II suddenly said, "I visited Istanbul twenty years ago. Back then, the city was full of vitality. Sultan Abdul Hamid II received me at Yildez Palace, and we discussed the Baghdad railway plan... At that time, we both believed that the alliance between Germany and the Ottomans would change the world."

His voice carried a distant longing, but more so a bittersweet feeling.

"And now?" Chen Feng asked.

"Now?" Wilhelm II turned his head and stared at Chen Feng. "Now the Ottoman Empire is dying, and Germany... is bleeding too. Every day, every hour, every minute. The mud on the Western Front is swallowing my soldiers, the British sea noose is tightening around the empire's throat, and the termites at home are gnawing at the last reserves."

He leaned closer, his pale blue eyes fixed on Chen Feng: "Your Excellency, do you know what I hate most? It's not the British, not the French, not even those Russian barbarians. What I hate most is time. Time is on their side. They can wait, they can wear us down, they can slowly erode us with the resources of their colonies. But Germany... cannot afford to wait."

Chen Feng met the emperor's gaze without flinching: "Therefore, Your Majesty needs a way to break the deadlock."

"Yes!" Wilhelm II slammed his cane heavily on the truck floor. "By any means necessary! If your 'tank' is truly effective, Germany will buy it, will buy a lot! Money? Technology? Territory? We can discuss anything you want! But the condition is—it must truly change the battlefield!"

This blatant eagerness is a major diplomatic taboo in normal times. But Wilhelm II, in the third year of the war, couldn't afford to worry about that anymore. The meat grinder of Verdun, the bloody Battle of the Somme, the rising anti-war sentiment at home... he desperately needed a victory, any kind of victory.

Chen Feng nodded: "I understand His Majesty's urgency. That's why I'm here. But please allow me to speak frankly—a single weapon cannot win a war; it requires supporting tactics, training, and logistics, and needs to be integrated into a complete combat system."

"Then sell it all!" Wilhelm II declared without hesitation. "Tanks, tactics, training, logistics! All bundled together! Germany will take it all! As long as you can reduce the number of my soldiers who die, as long as you can break through those damned trenches!"

The vehicle then left the highway and turned onto a hidden dirt road. Ahead lay an open area surrounded by barbed wire, guarded at the entrance by Lanfang soldiers. This place had originally been a training ground for the Ottoman army, but had now been temporarily converted into a testing ground.

The convoy stopped. Everyone got out of the vehicles.

Liu Yongfu had arrived ahead of time and was directing the technical staff to make final preparations. The test range was about 800 meters long and 400 meters wide, simulating a typical western battlefield environment: three barbed wire obstacles, a trench 2 meters wide and 1.5 meters deep, a simulated "no man's land" (filled with shell craters and obstacles), and a "machine gun bunker" built with sandbags and concrete blocks.

Even more eye-catching were the two steel monsters parked in the center of the venue.

Wilhelm II strode over first, followed closely by Falkenhall. The Emperor circled the first carriage, his eyes widening.

It was indeed a monster. The diamond-shaped hull was about six meters long, two and a half meters wide, and two and a half meters high. The hull was covered with riveted steel plates, painted in a tan camouflage pattern. The tracks on both sides wrapped around the entire hull from the top, like a giant metal caterpillar. The front of the hull was sloped, with a small rotating turret on top, mounting two machine guns. The rear of the hull was the engine compartment, and the exhaust pipe was emitting wisps of blue smoke.

"This is... a tank?" Wilhelm II reached out and touched the armor plate. The steel plate was cold, and the rivets were protruding.

"Prototype vehicle number one, the basic model," Liu Yongfu introduced. "It has a combat weight of 18 tons and a crew of 6: commander, driver, gunner, loader, and two machine gunners. The main armament consists of two 7.92 mm machine guns mounted on the turret, with 5000 rounds of ammunition. The thickest part of the armor is 16 mm, which can withstand rifle bullets and shrapnel."

"What about speed?" Falkin asked urgently.

"Maximum speed on highways is 25 km/h, and off-road speed is 8 to 15 km/h, depending on the terrain. Range is 80 km."

"16mm armor..." Lieutenant General Bayer, the Ordnance Director, frowned. "Only protects against rifles? What about machine guns? Heavy machine guns?"

Liu Yongfu pointed to the second vehicle: "So we have an improved version, vehicle number two."

Everyone looked at the second vehicle. It was larger and longer than the first one, with smoother body lines. The most significant difference was the turret—larger and thicker, and instead of a machine gun, it was mounted on a short-barreled 37mm cannon.

"The second improved version has a combat weight of 22 tons," Liu Yongfu continued. "The frontal armor has been increased to 30 millimeters, with an angled arrangement, and the equivalent thickness is equivalent to 45 millimeters of vertical armor. This is sufficient to withstand heavy machine gun bullets and fragments from small and medium caliber artillery. The main armament is a 37mm short-barreled cannon with 80 rounds of ammunition, and the secondary armament consists of three machine guns."

Falkenhayn's eyes lit up: "A 37mm cannon...can it penetrate a machine gun bunker?"

"Theoretically, it's possible, if the distance is close enough," Liu Yongfu said honestly. "But its main purpose is suppression, not destruction. The true value of a tank lies in its mobility and protection—it can advance under machine gun fire, roll over barbed wire, cross trenches, and deliver infantry to enemy positions."

Wilhelm II couldn't wait any longer: "Demonstrate! Let's begin the demonstration now!"