The blade-resistant clothing developed by Li An was a type of soft, lightweight clothing that could effectively defend against the cutting and piercing of sharp weapons. However, it did not have much of a defensive effect against the heavier blows of the shield.
In terms of specific defensive weapons, the effect of defending against crossbows was undoubtedly the most ideal. Secondly, the effect of defending against ordinary small swords was also very good. As for large weapons such as modao and long spears, the defensive effect was very weak, far inferior to that of hard armor. As for blunt weapons such as maces and big iron hammers, such clothes had no defensive ability at all, as if they were not wearing them at all.
Therefore, if it was applied, it was very necessary to equip the troops who were often attacked by crossbows. For example, the light cavalry under Guo Ziyi's command needed such light armor very much.
Previously, Guo Ziyi had been conflicted about how to equip the cavalry under his command with armor. If they were equipped with armor that could resist the Horse Gang, the armor would be too heavy to effectively pursue the fleeing Horse Gang. If they were not equipped with armor, the Horse Gang would turn around and shoot arrows during the pursuit, causing great losses to the pursuing generals and soldiers of the Tang Dynasty. Many generals and soldiers of the Tang Dynasty would be hit by the arrows and fall off their horses. When the horses were hit by the arrows and fell to the ground, the soldiers would be thrown to the ground, thus causing serious injuries.
In short, because of the damage caused by crossbows, many generals and soldiers of the Tang Dynasty at the border had died an unnatural death. According to the statistics of the relevant border agencies, at least half of the soldiers died from arrow injuries. As long as the problem of arrow injuries was solved, the number of casualties at the border of the Tang Dynasty could be reduced by half. This was a very attractive data, which made generals like Guo Ziyi very excited.
How could one arrow be enough? Guo Ziyi shot arrows many times in succession, but every time, they were blocked by the clothes. None of the arrows could break through the defense of the clothes, and all of them fell to the ground.
"Good, it's really good. Let me have a good look."
Guo Ziyi excitedly threw away the crossbow in his hand and strode to the scarecrow. He took off the slightly damaged clothes and observed it very carefully. Every detail was carefully observed, especially the parts that were shot by the bow and arrow. Guo Ziyi naturally couldn't be careless because this was related to the lives of future soldiers.
In fact, the soft armor developed by Ang Lee was the cotton armor from the Song Dynasty. The technology content was not high. As long as there was enough cotton, enough manpower and materials, it could be mass produced at any time.
Speaking of cotton armors, the famous figure of the Song Dynasty, Huang Daopao, had to be mentioned. This old lady had improved the textile machine, which greatly improved the weaving standards of the Hua Xia. The cotton textile industry had been greatly developed, and the cotton disputes had also taken on a large scale.
On this basis, the cotton armor, a new kind of armor, naturally came into being. After all, there was too much cotton, and the leather of various animals was very rare. Iron armor was not only easy to rust, but also extremely cumbersome, which was not ideal.
The biggest advantage of cotton armor was that it was lighter than leather armor, and lighter than iron armor. Moreover, it was very warm. When worn in winter, it also had the function of cotton clothing. The price was also relatively low. During the financial crisis, it was used on a very large scale.
However, making cotton armor was not an easy task. The hardships involved could only be understood by those who were personally responsible for making it.
The steps of making cotton armor first needed to make cotton sheets, put a few kilograms of cotton wool into a special abrasive tool, soak it in water, and then repeatedly mold it. Then sew it into thin sheets with a thread net. The passing standard was that it would not expand under the sun.
During the making of the armor, several pieces of cotton were cut and stacked on top of each other. They were sewn into the skirt, armguard, and other components to form a full collar of armor. According to the material and sewing method, cotton armor was divided into two categories: cotton-iron composite armor and pure cotton armor. If they were to be compared to the torn clothing of the army in the future, pure cotton armor was equivalent to the Kevlar outer layer of the torn clothing, and the cotton-iron composite armor was equivalent to the Kevlar outer layer with a ceramic plate.
In terms of defense, the pure cotton armor's defense was naturally not as good as the cotton-iron composite armor, but its advantage was that it was lighter. Although the cotton-iron composite armor had amazing defense, it was too cumbersome. At least, the light cavalry would not be able to wear the cotton-iron composite armor.
As for the cotton-iron composite armor, it was divided into dark armor and bright armor. The dark armor was not much different from ordinary cotton-iron clothing. In fact, it was an armor that was inlaid with iron plates inside the cotton and then fixed with blister nails. On the other hand, the bright armor was made with cotton as the base, and metal plates were connected to it in the form of a nail. Or, it could be directly wrapped with iron mesh outside the cotton. This was the bright armor. The average cotton-iron composite armor weighed about seventy to eighty kilograms, which was equivalent to the weight of a relatively thin adult.
As the name implied, pure cotton armor was completely composed of molded cotton sheets, and its weight was only about thirty to forty kilograms. In general, pure cotton armor's combat performance was weak. The dark armor and light armor of the Ming and Qing dynasties were still in the category of iron armor, and were more practical armor.
The reason why the Ming and Qing dynasties had to equip cotton armor, or even the cotton-iron composite armor, was mainly to defend against the needs of muskets. Before muskets, iron armor could easily withstand the attack of crossbows. Although iron armor was cumbersome, the defensive effect was still very ideal. However, after the appearance of muskets, the power of muskets was much greater than that of crossbows, which caused iron armor to be penetrated by bullets. In order to defend against the damage of bullets to soldiers, cotton armor was invented.
Cotton had a soft characteristic. When it was hit by a bullet, it would have a certain amount of cushioning, which would greatly reduce the power of the bullet. After the bullet penetrated the cotton armor, the remaining power would not be enough to penetrate the armor behind. Therefore, the cotton-iron composite armor was very ideal for the defense of a flaming gun. It could greatly reduce the damage caused by the bullet to the soldiers.
Although the defense of pure cotton armor was relatively low, as long as the thickness was appropriate, it could also resist bullets, let alone arrows. The greatest advantage of cotton armor was to overcome hardness with softness.
However, in the summer, when the temperature was very high, wearing cotton armor would become unbearable. Iron armor was also unbearable. However, the Tang dynasty was vast and abundant in resources. In the summer, the army would naturally be equipped with a sufficient number of rattan armors. Rattan armors were also relatively light, and the most important thing was that they were cool. Wearing cotton armor in the summer could heat people to death, let alone fight. If they wore rattan armor in the winter, they would freeze to death. Therefore, different armors were used in different seasons. Cotton armor belonged to the winter combat uniform, while rattan armor was the summer combat uniform.
Ang Lee had long known that Guo Ziyi had equipped his troops with rattan armor with strong defense and light and flexible defense. For this reason, he did not hesitate to go to Central Sichuan and ask for it from the relevant personnel in Central Sichuan. If they did not give it to him, he would not leave. But now, it was the cold season of the Spring Festival, and the temperature was extremely low. It was unrealistic to use rattan armor. Only cotton armor with strong defense and good insulation was the best choice for soldiers.
In ancient times, large-scale wars often happened in the spring and autumn seasons. The main reason was that the spring and autumn seasons were neither cold nor hot, and the soldiers were most comfortable and had the highest combat effectiveness. If it was summer or winter, it would be either too hot or too cold, which would seriously restrict the combat effectiveness of the army. Especially for the attacking side, the spring and autumn seasons were the best seasons, while winter and summer were the seasons of truce.
"Assistant Minister Li, how high is the cost of such clothes?"
Guo Ziyi observed for a while and asked with great concern.
"The cost is relatively high, but compared with the armor of ordinary soldiers, it is not much worse."
Ang Lee pondered for a moment and then said.
It was not that this set of blade-proof clothes was cheap, but it was because the armors like the Mingguang Armor worn by ordinary soldiers of the Tang Dynasty were too expensive. In this way, the blade-proof clothes developed by Ang Lee were not very expensive. Within the range of the imperial court's affordability, they could be mass-produced and distributed so that ordinary soldiers in the front line could wear such blade-proof clothes. Thus, the casualty rate of ordinary soldiers would be greatly reduced, and more strength of the Tang Empire would be preserved.
"The price is similar to that of ordinary armor, but it is not that expensive! The imperial court should be able to afford it. It should be able to afford it. "
Guo Ziyi said happily, as excited as a child.
He had thought it through. He would risk his life to ask the imperial court for the blade-proof clothes so that the light cavalry at the border could be equipped with this new type of blade-proof clothes to replace the light and heavy armor. He believed that as long as he spoke earnestly and shamelessly asked a few more times, the imperial court would most likely agree. Even if it was not all of them, at least hundreds or thousands of them would be allocated.
"By the way, Assistant Minister Li, if we go all out in the production, how many sets of blade-proof clothes can we produce in a month?"
Guo Ziyi asked with great concern.
Ang Lee thought for a moment and said, "It's hard to say. If we mobilize all our forces and stop all other things, it won't be a problem to produce 10,000 sets of blade-proof clothes a month. But this is obviously unrealistic. Why, General Guo, are you so anxious to equip your troops with blade-proof clothes?"
Looking at Guo Ziyi's impatience, Ang Lee felt that he was quite cute. For the sake of the lives of ordinary soldiers, Guo Ziyi was also working hard.
In fact, whether the blade-proof soft armor was equipped or not, it did not have much impact on Guo Ziyi. He was a general and would never be hurt by ordinary bandits. As for the death of his soldiers, it was normal. The imperial court would not doubt his ability to command just because of the death of his soldiers. The death of a few soldiers was not a big deal for the imperial court. They just needed to spend more compensation.
But Guo Ziyi was different. He was a general who loved his soldiers as if they were his children. He would feel sad when he saw his soldiers die. As long as he could reduce the casualties of his soldiers, he would try his best to keep one more soldier alive.
"Of course. If the soldiers have no worries, they will work harder in the battle. It will be easier to wipe out the Horse Gang. Assistant Minister Li is also a man who has led soldiers. You should know how important this blade-proof soft armor is!"
Guo Ziyi said.
Obviously, a soldier's courage was directly proportional to his strength. That was why the stronger the soldier, the braver he would be in battle. Zilong's entire body was filled with courage because of his strength. If not, how could he go in and out so many times and rescue the second generation who was so happy that he forgot about his duties?
How could Ang Lee not know this? Therefore, Ang Lee thought of researching this blade-proof soft armor. In this way, the fighting capacity and mobility of the Tang Dynasty's light cavalry would be improved to a higher level. The blade-proof soft armor's ability to defend against swords and arrows was much stronger than that of ordinary light armor, but its weight was far less than that of light armor. In this way, the Tang Dynasty's light cavalry's mobility and defense capacity would be greatly improved. Needless to say, their fighting capacity would be improved at the same time. Their fighting capacity would not be improved by just one or two levels. Even if Guo Ziyi did not ask, Ang Lee would take the initiative to ask the imperial court to produce a large number of blade-proof soft armor to meet the defense needs of the Tang Dynasty's soldiers.
In addition, Li An refused to disclose the gun, which more or less made Guo Ziyi feel a little regretful. As compensation, he naturally had to disclose the defensive armor so that Li An would feel more comfortable in his heart.
"General Guo is right. This armor is specially developed for the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty. It's only a matter of time before it's ready for the army. Moreover, I will report it to the imperial court so that the first batch of blade-proof soft armor will be given to the Shuofang Army first to reduce your losses."
Ang Lee said.
"Good, good, good. That's great. With this blade-proof soft armor, the soldiers will have no reason not to pursue the Horse Gang with all their strength. If anyone finds an excuse again, I will punish them according to military law. The Horse Gang must be eliminated. This is my responsibility."
Guo Ziyi said happily.
"Haha! General Guo, don't be excited. There are many interesting and useful things down there. Let's go and have a look. "
Ang Lee said with a smile and continued to show Guo Ziyi around.
Because Guo Ziyi was a general, the parts Ang Lee showed him were basically related to military applications. First, they showed him the powerful advanced artillery. Then, they showed him the blade-proof soft armor, which was a kind of cotton armor, which could defend against arrows. Later, they showed him many improved weapons and equipment. Every one of them was very meaningful. After equipping the troops, they could have a great positive effect on the military strength of the Tang Dynasty.
In the future, weapons and equipment were frequently updated. Basically, there would be updates every year. Some large weapons would be updated every ten years at most. However, in an ancient society like the Tang Dynasty, weapons and equipment would not be updated. It was possible that the weapons would remain the same for hundreds of years. The weapons used when the country was founded would be the same when the country was destroyed. This was the limitation of the era and there was no way around it.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
