Huang Taiji thought about it carefully and found that this was indeed the case.
In order to make it easier to make nails, the nail pieces are very small. In order to protect the gaps between the nail pieces, we can only use layers of layers. The upper ones press the lower ones, and the left ones press the right ones. In this way, these repeated parts are added.
Dead weight means a waste of precious weight.
Of course, under the same protective power, the lighter and more flexible the armor is, the better.
Moreover, Zhajia also has a fatal weakness, which is that it cannot withstand the direct thrust of a spear.
Because the nail plates are tied together with ropes, these nail-binding silk ribbons are exposed outside the nail plates. Because holes are punched in the four corners of the nail plates, the nail ropes must pass through these holes to connect. No matter how tight they are, the ropes are still there.
flexible.
When a spear comes to assassinate someone, especially a point-steel spear with a reinforced tip, as long as the spearman is well-trained and powerful, he can basically pass through the chest with one shot.
This was fully proven on the battlefield during the bloody battle of Hunhe River. The Shizhu chieftain soldiers led by Qin Liangyu's brother at that time were elite soldiers with more than ten years of experience in using long guns in chieftain melees.
They wore iron armor on the inside and wrapped in quilts for marching and camping on the outside, which could effectively resist the firing of firearms and bows and arrows of the Jiannu. They formed infantry formations and used four-meter-five-meter long spears to fight against the cavalry of the Eight Banners.
The Eight Banners' cavalry was stabbed to death and captured more than 3,000 people in the first battle.
A large number of noble officers were captured and killed.
It was not until Li Yongfang dragged the Luzon Bronze Cannon from Shenyang City. Under the ricochet bombardment of the spherical solid bullets from the 24-pound cannon, he broke through the spear formation of the white-armed soldiers.
The reason why the Jiannu slaves suffered such heavy losses lay in the way the armor was tied.
The spear tip brings together all the strength of the spearman, forming a huge pressure on the sharp spear tip. The armor plate will deform, after all, the force is exerted on the small armor plate in front of it. The surrounding armor plates connected to it are affected by the force.
If the force is seriously uneven, the elasticity of the nail rope will be stretched, and the nail pieces will be curled and deformed. The sharp edge of the gun tip will cut the nail rope, causing a small piece of nail piece to fall off and deform.
Armor-piercing protective spears are not very effective, but they are more effective at defending against knife cuts. However, if the opponent's sword cuts off the exposed armor-tying rope, the armor pieces will still fall off. Therefore, Jiannu's cloth-faced armor is simply abandoned.
Instead of using nail rope, nail pieces are placed inside two layers of compressed cotton sheets and riveted with copper nails.
Although the copper nails are not as easy to cut as the armor ropes, they increase the dead weight, and the overlapping situation of the armor pieces is not improved. Overall, not only is there no weight loss, the Eight Banners' armor actually increases in weight.
At this time, Huang Taiji had completely figured out why the Ming Dynasty's capital camp needed to change to this kind of armor. Although this kind of plate armor that covers the whole body has greatly increased the protective area, it is generally not heavier than piercing armor.
"My whole body is wrapped, does it affect my movement? On the battlefield, it won't work if I can't move well." Huang Taiji asked.
Fan Wencheng sighed: "The craftsmen of the Southern Dynasties are so clever. I have never seen such exquisitely made armor. Look."
Fan Wencheng bent the segments covering the upper of the shoe so that the toes could easily touch the heels.
Huang Tai was greatly surprised that these armors could actually move to such a level.
Then he saw that the structures on the back of his fingers could also move freely, and his shoulders, elbows, waist, knees, and ankles all moved freely.
"Khan, look at these connections, they use folding leaves, circular axes, and spiral hinges. Moreover, these armor surfaces are all corrugated arc surfaces, and our Eight Banners' strong bows will bounce off directly when they hit them. These
Plate armor is made of open-hearth steel. It has very good performance and is thinner than iron, but has great strength and toughness."
Huang Taiji was very jealous when he saw it and planned to try it on.
As a result, the lower body was put on, but the upper body could not be put on no matter what. Huang Taiji was a fat man with a very big belly. Although this set of plate armor was not tailor-made, it was the same as later generations of ready-made clothes, with numbers. It was only suitable for height.
Soldiers between 165 and 175, weighing less than 150 kilograms.
Huang Taiji tried to do various movements wearing half-body plate armor, and found that it was very flexible and basically had no big impact. It is estimated that if it is fully worn, the weight will be about 40 kilograms. It is similar to the armor of the Eight Banners. But the protection is not as strong as the triple armor.
Armor is equivalent. If the Eight Banners wore triple armor, the total weight would be over sixty kilograms.
"What a good thing. Can we make this ourselves?" Huang Taiji asked as he took off his plate armor with the help of his own soldiers. "
Fan Wencheng looked bitter and said: "It is very difficult for us to make it ourselves. If it is made of iron, the performance will definitely decrease. If the material is not a problem, use steel. We don't have so much steel. And this kind of armor needs to be hammered.
Knock it out bit by bit. If you are not an experienced craftsman, I am afraid that it cannot be done. Even if you can do it, it will be time-consuming and labor-intensive. The cost of this set of plate armor is hundreds of taels of silver."
Huang Taiji was shocked. He didn't expect that although this plate armor was good, it was too expensive.
The material and processing of this thing are expensive, and to achieve this kind of performance, it must be carburized and quenched to strengthen the surface hardness. Daikin does not have these technologies at all. The best they can do is imitate them with iron sheets. The performance is too poor.
"Our set of Eight Banners standard cloth armor from Daikin costs eight taels of silver. The cloth armor from Da Ming costs fifteen taels of silver. Why is this plate armor so expensive?"
Fan Wencheng said: "The main reason is that the sources of materials are scarce, the price is very high, and it takes too many hours to make, so the price naturally goes up."
Huang Taiji knew that the Ming Dynasty strictly prohibited ironware from flowing into Liaodong, let alone open-hearth steel. It seems that it is difficult to imitate. Without materials, what can be used to imitate. It is possible to use a small amount of materials to build a suit for Jia La E Zhen or above. On a large scale.
Popularization is totally useless.
"How about we use local iron to make it? Can the cost be reduced?"
Fan Wencheng thought for a while and said: "It is also very difficult. Our craftsmen cannot make those rotating shafts, folding leaves and spiral hinges of the same quality. These are parts that are easy to wear. We have tested and found that what we made can only be used a few times."
It will be damaged and it will not be used at all. However, increasing the area of the nail plate is an idea that can be used for reference. Increasing the area of a single nail plate can indeed reduce the weight."
Huang Taiji thought for a while and said: "The armor of the Eight Banners now is made of cloth covered with cotton and iron by dismantling the captured Ming army armor and re-binding the armor pieces. What is the virtue of the Ming army's armor pieces? What do you still think?"
Don’t you know? The Ministry of Industry and the generals are corrupt officials, and the quality of their work is extremely poor."
"Now that Liaodong is basically stable, it's time to consider re-making armors for the soldiers. Use new armor plates to replace the poor quality armor plates that were captured by the Ming army. You will implement this matter and make all the Eight Banners
The flag craftsmen all gathered together, found an open space in the city, and quickly made the armor. When winter comes this year, Ben Khan is planning to go to the Ming Dynasty for a walk."
