Huang Taiji thought about it carefully and found that this was indeed the case.
In order to facilitate the creation of pierced nails, the nail pieces are very small. In order to protect the gaps between the nail plates, we can only use layers of layers. The upper one presses the lower one, and the left one presses the right one. In this way, these repeated parts are the added dead weight. It's like wasting precious weight.
Of course, under the same protection, the lighter and more flexible the better.
Moreover, Zhajia also has a fatal weakness, which is that it cannot deal with the direct thrust of a spear.
Because the nail pieces are tied together with ropes, these nail-binding silk ribbons are exposed outside the nail pieces, because holes are punched in the four corners of the nail pieces, and the nail ropes must pass through these holes to connect, no matter how tight they are tied. The rope is also elastic.
When a spear comes to assassinate someone, especially a point-steel gun with a reinforced tip, as long as the spearman is well-trained and powerful, he can basically pass through the chest with one shot.
During the bloody battle in Hunhe, it was fully proved on the battlefield. At that time, the Shizhu chieftain soldiers led by Qin Liangyu's brother 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 shooting of firearms and bows and arrows of the slaves. The infantry array used four-meter-five long spears to confront the Eight Banners' cavalry.
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.
Until Li Yongfang dragged the Luzon bronze cannon from Shenyang City. Only under the ricochet bombardment of the spherical solid bullets of the 24-pound cannon, the spear array of the white-poled soldiers was broken.
The reason why the Jiannu slaves suffered such heavy losses lay in the way the armor was tied.
The spear tip gathered all the strength of the spearman, forming a huge pressure on the sharp spear tip. The nail plate will deform, after all, it is the small nail plate in front of you that bears the force. The stress on the surrounding nail pieces connected to it is seriously uneven. The elasticity of the nail rope is stretched, and the nail piece is curled and deformed. The sharp edge of the gun tip will cut the nail rope, causing a small piece of nail to fall off and deform.
The effect of armor-piercing protection against spears is not good, but the effect against sword slashes is better. However, if the opponent's sword cuts off the exposed armor rope, the armor will still fall off. Therefore, Jiannu's cloth armor simply gave up the use of armor ropes. Instead, he placed armor pieces inside two layers of compressed cotton sheets and riveted them with copper nails.
Although copper nails are not as easy to cut as armor rope. However, the dead weight was increased and the nail plate overlapping situation was not improved. Overall, instead of losing weight, the Eight Banners' armor actually increased in weight.
】
At this time, Huang Taiji had completely figured out why the Ming Dynasty's Jingying camp needed to replace this kind of armor stomach. Although the protective area of this kind of plate armor that covers the whole body is greatly increased, it is generally not heavier than the 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 nail pieces covering the upper of the shoe, so that the toes easily touched the heels.
Huang Tai was greatly surprised that these armored stomachs could actually reach 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 are made of folding leaves, circular axes, and spiral hinges. Moreover, these armor surfaces are all curved surfaces, and our Eight Banners' strong bows will bounce off when they hit them. These Plate armor is made of open-hearth steel. It has very good performance and is thinner than iron, but very strong and tough."
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 couldn't be put on anyway. Huang Taiji is a fat man with a very big belly. Although this set of plate armor is not tailor-made. But like later generations of ready-made clothes, they also have numbers. Only suitable for soldiers with a height of 165 to 175 and a weight of less than 150 pounds.
Huang Taiji tried to perform various movements wearing half of the plate armor, and found that it was very flexible and basically had no big impact. It is estimated that when fully worn, the weight will be about forty pounds. It's similar to the armor of the Eight Banners. But the protection is equivalent to triple armor. If the Eight Banners wore triple armor, the total weight would exceed 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 performance, it must be carburized and quenched to enhance the surface hardness. Daikin does not have these technologies at all. The best they can do is imitate it with iron sheets. The performance is too poor.
"Our set of Eight Banners standard cloth armor from Daikin costs eighty taels of silver. Ming's cloth armor 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 difficult to imitate. Without materials, what can I use to imitate. It is possible to use a small amount of materials to build a suit for Jia La E Zhen and above. Mass popularization is out of the question.
"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 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 by dismantling the captured Ming army armor, re-binding the armor pieces, and making a cloth-covered cotton-and-iron armor stomach. What is the virtue of the Ming army's armor pieces? You guys Don’t you know? The Ministry of Works and the generals are corrupt officials, and the quality of their work is extremely poor."
"Now that Liaodong is basically stable, it is also time to consider re-making armor for the soldiers. Use new armor plates to replace the poor quality armor plates that were originally captured by the Ming army. You will implement this matter and make all the Eight Banners The craftsmen of the flag were all integrated, and they found an open space in the city to make the armor. When winter comes this year, Ben Khan is planning to go to the Ming Dynasty for a walk."
