As Li Yongfang's order was issued, most of the infantry in the rear were light infantry without armor. They were tasked with providing fire support for the heavily armored heavy infantry in front.
Li Yongfang had a total of five hundred heavily armored cavalry soldiers as his bodyguards. Three thousand heavily armored cloth soldiers serve as the core main force, and 12,000 light infantry wearing cotton armor serve as common soldiers.
The army on the Jiannu side was very good at archery, and their level far exceeded that of the Mongols. Whether they are Jianzhou soldiers, Mongolian soldiers or Han soldiers, they are all equipped with bows and arrows.
In the Ming Dynasty, there were only a handful of people who could shoot a tiger-powered bow, and there were only a few among the ten thousand soldiers.
However, the twelve-power tiger force bow can only rank third among the Hou Jin Army. In the entire army of Houjin, there were 20,000 to 30,000 archers capable of drawing more than 13 strength, and the most elite white-armored soldiers generally had more than 16 strength!
Although An Sanxi can shoot an 18-power bow at his limit, there are probably hundreds of people who have reached this level in Houjin.
The maximum weight of English longbowmen in history was 150 pounds. But the average level of Jiannu's ordinary heavy archers exceeds this. If the slaves were allowed to go to Europe to fight against Britain and France, they would probably be crushed.
The English longbowmen could shoot through the fine plate armor of the French heavy knights, and the slaves had no problem at all. What was even more crazy about them was that they actually gave the infantry hard bow equipment to the cavalry.
Friends who are familiar with bow and arrow sports know that cavalry generally use soft bows and arrows. Bows and arrows over 70 pounds (a little more than five strength.) are extremely difficult to control on horseback. This is common sense.
Ordinary Mongolian herdsmen use cavalry bows with only five strengths and weigh more than 60 pounds. Light arrows are generally used. The Ming Dynasty is actually not that good either. Not even as good as the Mongols. By the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the quality of the army had declined drastically and became even more unbearable.
There were many powerful generals in the Ming Dynasty. Although Lu Xiangsheng was a scholar with a Jinshi background, he could draw a 12-power bow, but he usually only used a 9-power bow.
It is said that Lu Xiangsheng had extremely thick arm bones and was a famous archer at that time. He only used a nine-power bow. As for ordinary soldiers, infantry generally has less than eight forces, and cavalry, like the Mongols, also uses soft bows with five forces.
It’s not that the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty didn’t work hard, it’s that the slave-building forces were really strong.
Xu Guangqi recorded, "The thief is within five steps (8 meters) and shoots exclusively at the face and side (ribs). Every shot will kill him. Who can resist the enemy?"
The reason why the Later Jin Army was outstanding was that they used the hard bows used by infantry on cavalry. To counteract the bumps on their horses' backs, they often fired arrows at close range. Because they were not good at riding and shooting, they were actually mounted infantry. Also used were large infantry bows.
A large number of battlefield records show that they often rushed to within ten meters on horseback, and then used tiger-power bows to release arrows.
With a force of two hundred kilograms, he fired a heavy armor-piercing arrow one meter long. Moreover, the arrow clusters made of fine steel are also triangular armor-piercing arrows with reinforced arrow tips. The tip of the missing arrow is terrifyingly powerful per unit area.
In this case, even the fine plate armor of the French Templars was shot through.
Even the work of the Italian plate armor master fell to his knees.
In fact, Yang Fan is still a little worried about his modern aluminum alloy plate armor. The biggest advantages of this kind of plate armor are its light weight and high strength.
After all, for infantry, mobility is extremely important. If you can't walk if you wear it, it won't work. Infantry walks on two legs. From this point, light weight is more important.
At least, so far, the design of aluminum alloy plate armor has been very successful against the Mongols. Although in terms of metal properties, aluminum alloys also have many problems.
The tensile strength of aluminum alloy exceeds that of steel, but its toughness is much worse than steel.
Simply put, aluminum alloys are harder but more brittle, while steel is soft but more ductile.
Used on car frames in the event of a collision. When the stress limit of the structural member is also exceeded, the steel will resist the war step by step until one soldier is killed, and its elasticity can offset part of the impact force. The aluminum alloy will break directly, collapse instantly, and "surrender" directly.
Moreover, it doesn’t matter if the aluminum alloy is made thicker. Three millimeters is just right. If it is thicker, it will not change the properties of the metal. It will still be brittle and easy to break under strong force.
In the previous battles on the grassland, because the Mongolian bows and arrows were all soft bows, they easily blocked the opponent's arrows. However, how it performs under twelve forces or even more blows has not been tested in actual combat.
In human history, aluminum alloy armor has never been used on a large scale, and there is no experience to follow. It can be used against the Mongols, but not necessarily against the Jiannu.
In fact, Yang Fan is still cautious.
Are there any materials that are lightweight and have good performance? The answer is yes.
Titanium alloy weighs only two-thirds of steel and twice as heavy as aluminum alloy. Aluminum alloy is only one-third the weight of steel. However, the hardness of titanium alloy is far higher than that of other materials, and its toughness and mechanical impact resistance are also frighteningly high, and its corrosion resistance is almost perfect.
Why doesn't Yang Fan equip it? The reason is very simple. The cost is too high. This is a rare metal and the price is scary. And it cannot be processed without a high-performance forging machine.
If you spend this money in vain, you might as well wear Kevlar body armor and stab-proof clothing. On the contrary, it doesn’t cost much money.
In modern society, aluminum alloys are, after all, cheap, simple to process, and very cost-effective. It doesn’t rust yet and is maintenance-free. Yang Fan is perfect for equipping low-value infantry and militia.
Therefore, Yang Fan's infantry and militia are equipped with aluminum alloy plate armor, and his elite cavalry are all equipped with Kevlar stab-proof clothing, body armor, and helmets.
Following Li Yongfang's order, the three thousand archers from Jiannu's rear team immediately bent their bows, nocked arrows, and began to shoot.
Yang Fan looked through the telescope. Fortunately, the archers of Han Banner were not as good as Jiannu. They used eight-power bows, and a few used ten-power bows. It shouldn't be a big problem.
Rest, rest, rest! A dense rain of arrows fell from the sky. It clattered onto the infantry's plate armor.
The front of the aluminum alloy plate armor is three millimeters thick and has various arc and tile shapes, and the structural design strength is also very good. No penetration.
The militiamen were a little panicked early on, but quickly stabilized.
Arrows fell, and the militiamen's charge horn sounded.
When the soldiers heard the sound of the trumpet, they immediately and automatically restored the order of the queue as if they were conditioned reflexes. Because, in long-term training, the biggest training item is queueing. When you hear the sound of bugles or whistles, you will know what to do according to different tones.
It almost becomes a reflex and muscle memory.
Li Yongfang looked at the well-trained team on the opposite side, their faces gloomy as if they were about to get wet.
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510. The Showdown of the Strongest Heavy Infantry - Free Reading.
