 The example of the ironclads had some bearing on the history of the tank , as ironclad warships became an inspiration for ideas of <unk> and other armored vehicles . H. G. Wells , in his short story The Land Ironclads , published in The Strand Magazine in December 1903 , described the use of large , armoured cross @-@ country vehicles , armed with cannon and machine guns , and equipped with <unk> wheels 
