By the end of the day, 20,000 British soldiers were dead and 40,000 wounded. However, scores of heavy German machine guns had survived the artillery onslaught, and the infantry were massacred. During the preceding week, 250,000 Allied shells had pounded German positions near the Somme, and 100,000 British soldiers poured out of their trenches and into no-man’s-land on July 1, expecting to find the way cleared for them. On July 1, the British launched a massive offensive against German forces in the Somme River region of France. However, General Douglas Haig, commander of Allied forces at the Somme, saw the promise of this new instrument of war and ordered the war department to produce hundreds more. At Flers Courcelette, some of the 40 or so primitive tanks advanced over a mile into enemy lines but were too slow to hold their positions during the German counterattack and subject to mechanical breakdown. Operation Michael, Germany's last offensive of the Great War, proved how wrong they were.During the Battle of the Somme, the British launch a major offensive against the Germans, employing tanks for the first time in history. They believed the foot soldier and the artillery bombardment would carry the war. Despite hard lessons learned against British and French tanks, the German high command remained trapped in a pre-1914 mindset. Germany produced 20 A7V tanks, which didn't feature much in German battle plans. They only made one variant during the war, the A7V. History's first tank versus tank battle was the only one of its kind during the First World War. As the English Mk IV tanks slowly crawled into view, Biltz gave the order: "Fire!" He had 17 men crammed inside the humongous "land battleship," all of them perspiring in the heat. His tank, named Nixe, sported a 57mm main gun and six Maxim machine guns. The other two tanks in his command flanked him on either side. His A7V tank stood astride the main railway line to Amiens. He was going to engage enemy tanks with his tank. Leutnant Wilhelm Biltz saw the three British tanks lumbering towards him and instantly knew he was about to do make history.
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