A new type of machine gun was developed to fire an enormous new 13.2mm cartridge against tanks and aircraft. Recognising that this would trigger an inevitable arms race between projectiles and thicker and harder armour, efforts were also made to create specialised anti-tank weapons. Later, the Germans issued the armour-piercing 7.92mm 'K' bullet for rifles and machine guns. Soldiers experimented with reversed bullets, which British tests confirm were more effective at close range in penetrating armour plate. Aside from field artillery, the Germans had no real counter to this totally new threat. They showed the way forward in terms of breaking the deadlock of trench warfare and replacing the loss of the cavalry as mobile military units. Whilst primitive and slow-moving compared to modern tanks, they were resilient to (though not totally proof against) rifle, machine gun fire, and bursting artillery shells. The first use of tanks by the British during the Battle of the Somme in 1916 came as a shock to the Germans.
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