Chapter 444: Time Is Not Germany's Friend

Chen Feng made a "please" gesture: "Seeing is better than hearing a hundred reports, General. Rather than me describing it here, you should see it with your own eyes."

Wilhelm II rose, his scepter striking the floor with a crisp sound: "Then let's go see it. Right now."

The emperor's attitude set the pace of the talks. Ten minutes later, three convoys left the Dolmabahçe Palace, and under a military‑police escort they sped north along the Bosphorus coastal road. The Deguo convoy consisted of five black Mercedes sedans, the Osman Diguo convoy six American‑made Ford sedans, and the Lanfang convoy four domestically produced "Dongfeng" armored cars. Motorbike escorts flanked the convoys front and rear, and every intersection along the route was under martial law.

Chen Feng and Wilhelm II rode together in one car—this was insisted upon by the German Emperor. In the spacious rear seat of the Mercedes, the two men who decide their nations' fates sat side by side, separated by an invisible chasm.

Outside the window, Istanbul's streets rushed backward: majestic mosques, dilapidated residential blocks, shops sealed with wooden planks, crowds queuing for rations, and faded war posters on the walls—"Fight for the Sultan and the Caliph!" "Defeat the treacherous Yingguo!"

Wilhelm II looked out the window and suddenly said, "Twenty years ago I came to Istanbul. Back then the city was still vibrant. Sultan Abdul Hamid II received me at the Yıldız Palace, and we discussed the Baghdad railway plan… At that time we both believed that the alliance of Deguo and the Osman Diguo would change the world."

His voice carried a distant nostalgia, but more so bitterness.

"And now?" Chen Feng asked.

"Now?" Wilhelm II turned his head, staring at Chen Feng, "Now the Osman Diguo is dying, and Deguo… is also bleeding. Every day, every hour, every minute. The mud of the Western Front devours my soldiers, Yingguo's sea blockades tighten the empire's throat, and domestic parasites gnaw at the last reserves."

He leaned closer, his pale blue eyes fixed on Chen Feng: "President, do you know what I despise most? Not the Yingguo, not the Faguo, not even those Russian barbarians. What I despise most is Time. Time stands on their side. They can wait, they can wear us down, they can use colonial resources to grind us to death. And Deguo… cannot wait."

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

"Yes!" Wilhelm II's staff thudded heavily on the carriage floor, "Any means! If that 'tank' of yours truly works, Deguo will buy it, and buy a lot! Money? Technology? Territory? Anything you want can be negotiated! But the condition—it must really be able to change the battlefield!"

Such naked urgency is a diplomatic taboo under normal circumstances. But in the third year of the war, Wilhelm II could no longer afford that. The grinding machine of Verdun, the bloodshed on the Somme, the rising anti‑war voices at home… he needed a victory desperately, any form of victory.

Chen Feng nodded: "I understand Your Majesty's urgency. That's why I'm here. But allow me to be frank—a single weapon cannot win a war; it needs accompanying tactics, training, logistics, and must be integrated into a complete operational system."

"Then sell it all together!" Wilhelm II said without hesitation, "Tanks, tactics, training, logistics! Bundle it! Deguo will take the whole order! As long as you can make my soldiers die less, as long as you can break those damned trenches!"

At that moment the car left the highway and turned onto a hidden dirt road. Ahead a fenced clearing appeared, surrounded by barbed wire, with Lanfang soldiers guarding the entrance. This had been an Osman Diguo army training ground, now temporarily converted into a test field.

The convoy stopped. Everyone got out.

Liu Yongfu had arrived early and was directing technicians in the final preparations. The test field measured about 800 meters long and 400 meters wide, simulating a typical Western Front battlefield: three barbed‑wire obstacles, a trench two meters wide and 1.5 meters deep, a simulated "no‑man's land" littered with craters and obstacles, and a "machine‑gun bunker" built from sandbags and concrete blocks.

Even more striking were the two steel monsters parked in the center of the field.

Wilhelm II was the first to stride over, with Fa Jinhang close behind. The emperor circled the first vehicle, his eyes widening.

It truly was a monster. The rhomboid hull measured about six meters long, 2.5 meters wide, and 2.8 meters high. Its body was sheathed in riveted steel plates painted a soil‑colored camouflage. Tracks ran over the top of the hull on both sides like massive metal caterpillars. The front of the hull sloped, and a small rotating turret sat atop it, equipped with two machine guns. The rear housed the engine compartment, its exhaust emitting a faint blue smoke.

"So this is… a tank?" Wilhelm II reached out to touch the armor plate. The steel was icy, the Rivet protruding.

"Prototype No. 1, basic model," Liu Yongfu introduced. "Combat weight 18 tons, crew of six: commander, driver, gunner, loader, and two machine‑gunners. The main armament is the two 7.92 mm machine guns mounted on the turret, with 5,000 rounds of ammunition. The thickest armor is 16 mm, capable of stopping rifle bullets and shrapnel."

"What about speed?" Fa Jinhang asked urgently.

"Maximum road speed 25 km/h, off‑road 8 to 15 km/h depending on terrain. Range 80 km."

"Sixteen‑mm armor…" Major General Bayer frowned, "Only stops rifles? What about machine guns? Heavy machine guns?"

Liu Yongfu pointed to the second vehicle: "So we have an improved version, Model 2."

Everyone looked at the second one. It was larger and longer than Model 1, with smoother lines. The most noticeable difference was the turret—bigger, thicker, and instead of machine guns it mounted a short‑barrel 37 mm cannon.

"Model 2 improved version, combat weight 22 tons," Liu Yongfu continued. "Frontal armor increased to 30 mm, sloped, giving an effective thickness equivalent to 45 mm of vertical armor. That can stop heavy‑machine‑gun fire and fragments from medium‑small caliber artillery. The main weapon is a 37 mm short‑barrel cannon with 80 rounds, and the secondary armament consists of three machine guns."

Fa Jinhang's eyes lit up: "A 37 mm gun… can pierce a machine‑gun bunker?"

"Theoretically yes, if the range is close enough," Liu Yongfu said honestly. "But its primary use is suppression, not destruction. A tank's true value lies in mobility and protection—it can advance under machine‑gun fire, roll over barbed wire, cross trenches, and deliver infantry right up to the enemy lines."

Wilhelm II could no longer wait: "Demonstration! Start the demonstration right now!"