Standing on the high platform of the Chinese Army against the cold wind, Zhou Jun looked far into the distance and towards the city in the distance.
The tall Li Siye stood quietly beside Zhou Jun.
Zhou Jun asked Li Siye: "How far was the tunnel dug yesterday?"
Li Siye: "Commander, I dug five feet."
Zhou Jun: "How far is it from the city wall?"
Li Siye: "It's about twenty feet away."
Zhou Jun frowned and said: "Twenty feet...that is to say, it will take at least five days to dig under the city wall..."
Seeing this, Li Siye raised his hand to Zhou Jun and said, "Commander, there is frozen soil outside Fanyang City, which is hard and difficult to break. The soldiers can only use fire to soften the soil first, and then dig tunnels, so the progress is a little slow."
Zhou Jun: "It doesn't matter if you go slower. Tell the feint attack team led by Li Guangbi to make a more realistic siege posture every day. Don't let the enemies in the city see the flaw."
Li Siye: "Yes."
Zhou Jun descended from the high platform and, under Wang Hong's escort, walked into the Chinese army's tent.
Guo Ziyi and a group of generals gathered at the desk in the tent, looking at something and talking about it.
Zhou Jun took off his outer robe, walked towards the generals, and asked, "What are you looking at?"
When Guo Ziyi and other generals heard this, they quickly stood aside and praised the commander-in-chief.
Zhou Jun walked to the desk and saw clearly what was on it. It turned out to be a pair of cotton armor recently produced by Anxi.
Cotton armor is different from iron armor in that it is made of cotton, linen, fabric and other materials. It includes main parts such as armor body, armor sleeves, armor skirt, as well as accessories such as forearms and calf sheaths. The surface of the armor is dyed with dye
It is painted with colors and has large copper and iron armor bubbles nailed to the joints.
Anxi's cotton armor is based on the traditional cotton armor, and is lined with a layer of iron armor and lock buckles in the interlayer to enhance the defense against piercing objects such as bows, arrows, crossbow arrows and so on.
Therefore, Anxi Mianjia is more similar to the cotton-iron composite armor used by the Manchu and Qing cavalry than the early cotton armor from the Song and Yuan Dynasties.
Guo Ziyi looked at the cotton armor on the desk and asked Zhou Jun: "Commander, I heard that this armor was made by Anxi Bai Diezi?"
Zhou Jun: "Not bad."
Guo Ziyi: "I wonder how much the output is? How many sets of armor can be made in one year?"
Zhou Jun: "Cotton fields have only been promoted for three or four years. The output of unprocessed rough cotton in Anxi last year was about 800,000 jins. If it is used to make armor, it will be about 6,000 sets."
Guo Ziyi bowed and said: "Commander, use cotton as armor. This thing is very good and should be promoted throughout the world."
Zhou Jun: "Oh, tell me, what are the benefits?"
Guo Ziyi held up his hands and said: "First of all, cotton armor is lighter than iron armor. Whether it is worn by soldiers or horses, it is more conducive to war."
"Take the Tang Dynasty's border army as an example. All soldiers wear mail, battle skirts, arm coverings and other equipment, weighing a total of forty-five kilograms. Their helmets and headbands weigh seven kilograms, and their necks, heart and ribs are protected.
It weighs five kilograms, the bow and quiver weighs ten kilograms, the waist knife weighs three and a half kilograms, the thorn bones weigh three kilograms, the quiver weighs one kilogram, and the battle hook with the skin and clothes on top and bottom weighs eight kilograms, totaling eighty-eight and a half kilograms."
"To make a suit of cotton armor, you only need to take seven pounds of cotton, sew it with cloth like a jacket, put your arms five inches past your shoulders, and cover your knees with thick threads row by row, sew them tightly into water, soak them, pick them up, spread them on the ground, and use
It can be used once it is firmly kicked. Even if the whole body is inlaid with iron armor pieces and lock buckles in the mezzanine, the total weight will not exceed fifteen kilograms."
"The weight of fifteen kilograms, for ordinary soldiers, is equivalent to nothing when worn on the body. Running, jumping, running long distances, climbing high walls, it can almost be regarded as wearing no armor."
"Second, armor made of cotton and iron is different from iron armor in terms of protection. The iron armor used in traditional heavy steps can protect against crossbows and long soldiers, but it cannot protect against heavy weapons such as caltrops, hand hammers, and spears.
Etc., the protection is poor. However, the cotton armor is made of solid bullets, and its protection against heavy weapons is better than that of iron armor. It also protects long soldiers well, but it has poor protection against sharp weapons such as crossbows. But inlaid with iron plates, it can be very
It would be better to improve this weakness, but it would still be considered unsatisfactory.”
"Thirdly, most of the Tang army's border troubles came from the north, and the northern frontiers were all bitterly cold places, with dripping water turning into ice, and few things to keep out the cold. If you wear iron armor on your body, it won't take long for frost to form, and if the soldiers fall asleep, they often fall asleep in the middle of the night.
They will freeze to death and never wake up. But Mianjia is better at combining cold protection and protection into one, which greatly reduces the risk of soldiers freezing to death and reduces the burden on the army."
Zhou Jun nodded and asked: "Besides these, is there anything else?"
Li Siye entered the tent at this time. Hearing this, he said: "Commander, speaking of the benefits of Mianjia, I will tell you one more thing."
Zhou Jun: "Say."
Li Siye: "This cotton armor is easy to make and the price is very low. If the raw materials are sufficient and the weaver is skilled, one person can make a full set of armor in seven days. But if you want to make a set of iron armor, it will take thirty
It takes a hundred days for a famous craftsman to finish it."
When Guo Ziyi heard this, he was filled with emotion and said to Zhou Jun: "Commander, if the army's sergeants and every war horse can wear cotton armor, then the Tang army will be invincible against the northern tribes."
When Zhou Jun heard this, he remembered something and asked Guo Ziyi: "What's going on in Boling City where Pugu Huai'en is stationed?"
Guo Ziyi: "According to the report from Kuai Ma, the battle in Boling was extremely fierce. The rebel generals Shi Siming and Li Guiren were all elite rebels. The war only started for seven days, and three thousand Tang troops were killed in the city. Someone heard that,
In order to boost morale and resist the rebel army, Pugu Huai'en has led his personal guards and personally climbed to the tower to supervise the battle."
Zhou Jun: "At the beginning, I asked Pugu Huai'en to stay in Boling for two months. Now that the appointment period has passed halfway, the progress of the war on Fan Yang's side should also be accelerated."
When Guo Ziyi heard this, he couldn't help but said: "Commander, I dare to ask. The commander sends out troops to feign attack every day while digging tunnels. The defender in the city is not mediocre and will definitely be suspicious. As long as he is inside the city wall,
Place a few large jars and arrange for soldiers to monitor the movements underground from time to time. Once our army digs a tunnel into the city, the enemy will be able to detect the location of the tunnel and see through our army's strategy of digging a tunnel into the city."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Hearing this, Zhou Jun asked with a smile: "Who told you that I dug tunnels to enter the city?"
Guo Ziyi was stunned: "Isn't digging the tunnel to enter the city?"
Zhou Jun shook his head and said: "It doesn't take much time. In five more days, as long as the tunnel is dug below the city wall, Fan Yang City will be destroyed."
When the generals in the tent heard this, they looked at each other in disbelief. However, due to the commander's status, no one dared to question him.
Only Li Siye, who knew it well, stood beside Zhou Jun, looked at the others, touched his chin, and smiled playfully.
Seeing this, Guo Ziyi couldn't ask any more questions, so she bowed to Zhou Jun and said, "Since the commander-in-chief has said this, Ziyi has no doubts anymore."
While they were talking, a guard came outside the door to tell him that a messenger had arrived from Liangzhou City.
Zhou Jun looked at the letter brought by the guard and asked casually: "Who wrote the letter?"
Guard: "Zhongshu Province, Minister Kong."
Zhou Jun was stunned and said: "Kong You?"
Opening the letter, Zhou Jun only read a few lines, his body trembled slightly, and his eyes opened to their maximum size unconsciously.
In order to prevent the generals in the tent from noticing him, Zhou Jun quickly regained his composure and tried his best to keep his face calm. However, the joints of his palms that were holding on to the desk turned pale due to the exertion.
After reading the letter, Zhou Jun stood up calmly and said to the generals: "In the past few days, you will prepare your troops and be ready to attack the city at any time."
After the meeting, Zhou Jun returned to his tent. Unable to control his anger any longer, he overturned the desk in the tent and shouted angrily: "Bastard!"
Wang Hong came over after hearing the sound and saw the mess in the tent. He asked in shock: "Your Majesty...?"
Zhou Junqiang calmed down his breathing and asked Wang Hong in a deep voice: "Where is the messenger from Liangzhou now?"
Wang Hong: "Have a rest in the back camp."
Zhou Jun: "Send the order to secretly block all news from Liangzhou!"