Zhu Mingxia nodded slightly, not sure whether to express agreement or appreciation.
Hong Huangnan continued: "This uniform used to be called the Type 31 Northern Army Field Force winter uniform. The overall response from the Shandong detachment during use was quite good. The new winter uniform not only has better thermal insulation, but also has better waterproofing Moisture-proof performance, the Shandong detachment continuously marched, fought and camped in the wild in the severe cold of more than ten degrees below zero without serious frostbite or loss of personnel, which fully illustrates its success."
The "Type 31 Northern Area Army Field Force Winter Clothes" is put on a mannequin. It is a double-breasted trench coat made of high-quality British tweed, with a high stand-up collar, a waterproof hood, and trousers and buckskin boots.
Although the response from the Shandong detachment has been good, this garment is designed as a coat or windbreaker. In actual use, the troops basically wear it outside the first-year-style uniforms. It cannot simply be used directly as winter clothing.
"... Considering that our army's winter operations span a wide range, from the Guangdong and Guangxi regions where the temperature is basically above zero, to Liaodong where the temperature can reach more than 20 degrees below zero, they are all within the expected combat range of our army. The design of the new military uniforms We have to take the overall situation into consideration, so we made a completely new design this time.”
The five-style military uniforms referenced a variety of uniforms from the 19th and 20th centuries, and the final decision was to design only one type of regular uniform. Regular clothes are divided into spring, autumn and summer, and coats are issued in winter.
The army's spring and autumn uniforms are made of thin woolen fabric, gray-blue in color, with red dental floss. The uniforms are single-breasted and stand-up collar style. The jacket continues to adhere to the traditional layout of two pockets for soldiers and four pockets for officers. Officers and sergeants have shoulder and collar badges, while soldiers only have collar badges. The differences between the various arms are distinguished by the color of the collar insignia. In addition to using the colors of collar insignias to distinguish officers and non-commissioned officers, the epaulettes are also equipped with different military service patterns.
Both soldiers and officers in the field troops have the Arabic numerals of the battalion to which they belong embroidered on the left collar badge. The upper left sleeve of the coat is embroidered with a shield-shaped armband of the unit or service to which it belongs. Meritorious sleeve strips can be decorated from the elbows on both arms to the cuffs according to the officers and soldiers' individual meritorious services and awards.
The sleeves themselves are also the focus of decoration. According to different troops and arms, Hong Huangnan plans to decorate them with sleeve tapes, cuffs and decorative cufflinks of different colors and shapes.
Regardless of whether they are officers or soldiers, their bottoms are in the style of breeches and decorated with red trousers. Easy to put on, take off and move around. Senior officers are issued with boots, while others are issued with standard short boots or military shoes, which must be worn with integrated leggings made of canvas.
Because woolen cloth is not easy to clean, additional linen or cotton overalls are issued to wear over the woolen breeches. When the weather gets hotter and you haven’t started changing your clothes. You can also wear overalls directly.
There are two different styles of military caps. One is a traditional large-brimmed hat, but the hat ring is greatly reduced and the top of the hat is no longer upturned, returning to the traditional style of the early 20th century. The army adopts red cap wall, which is only used during military parades and garrison. Use imitation German mountain hat style during combat and training. Convenient to wear steel helmet or visor helmet. The cap emblem is a morning star emblem stamped from metal.
The battle cap has been modified according to the head shape of East Asians. If conditions permit, strings of different colors can be hung on the wall of the cap, and pompoms or feathers can also be inserted.
"Concerning the issue of wearing cords, pompoms and feathers, there are no specific regulations yet. I am working hard to collect and organize information in this area. The general idea is that in addition to being used to distinguish different arms and teams, it can also As a symbol of honor. Please pay attention to the buttons on this top."
Hong Huangnan pointed to the spring and autumn military uniform tops on the mannequin and explained.
"At first glance, there is no difference between the metal buttons on military uniform tops, but if we want to subdivide them, they can be divided into different arrangements such as a single button arrangement, a group of three buttons, a group of five buttons, etc., to distinguish the different arrangements. troops. The British...well, this is how the various regiments under the Royal Guards Brigade of the Australian Army of the Song Dynasty are distinguished..."
"What are the buttons made of?"
"Currently it is made of hardwood. We will consider using alloy stamped buttons when it is officially put into production."
"Have we become so wealthy?" Xi Yazhou frowned and commented, "Over there at the Planning Institute..."
"Punched metal buttons are much more durable, and after the uniforms are worn out, the buttons can be recycled. It's not a big problem."
"That's good, that's good."
Hong Huangnan continued to introduce that when the spring and autumn uniforms are worn in winter, woolen coats, cotton hats, cotton vests, gloves and warm socks will be issued depending on the climate conditions of the place of service. For officers and soldiers going to severe cold areas in Liaodong and other places, special "altitude cold uniforms" will be issued.
Summer clothing is roughly the same as spring and autumn clothing. The difference is that the top is changed to a small suit lapel style. The fabric is made of linen or hemp. Their breathability is better than cotton, and they absorb water quickly and dehydrate quickly, making them ideal for summer use. The texture of linen and hemp fabrics is stiffer than cotton, making them more powerful when used to make military uniforms.
"If we consider the expansion of the army in the future. The cost of woolen uniforms is too high, spring and autumn clothing can also be made of linen or hemp fabrics. Compared with cotton, linen fabrics are warmer in winter and cooler in summer. Disadvantages It’s linen that tears more easily than cotton.”
"This alone is not enough." Zhu Mingxia frowned, "Soldiers usually have to train and do hard work. How can it be used if it is easy to tear? Besides, there are so many scattered things on your hat, and there are so many on the sleeves. Dao Dao. It is easy to break during training and work - so the soldiers spend too much time sewing and mending."
"So we call it regular uniform." Hong Huangnan is confident about this issue. "In fact, you can understand this regular uniform as a simple dress to show off the mighty military appearance in major events or military operations. Everyday soldiers will wear it when training and working. Continue to wear the current OG cotton uniform.”
"The Soviet army's outdoor uniform, right?"
"Yes!" Hong Huangnan nodded repeatedly, not forgetting to flatter him, "Chief of Staff Xi is really knowledgeable and professional! We have been considering the equipment for the First Year uniforms for many years and have a large inventory. In the clothing factory, It would be a pity to waste the accumulated 1st year-style uniforms. So I plan to change the cotton 1st-year-style uniforms into the training uniforms of the 5th-year-style uniforms. Wear them during daily training and work. Regular clothes are only used when going out, military parades, etc. Wear it during group activities and combat.”
"Isn't linen too thin?" Xi Yazhou asked. The linen in his mind was the Dutch fine linen imported in large quantities by Appearance Company, which was light and cool and used to make shirts.
"The characteristic of linen fabric is that it can be made very soft, or it can be made heavy and elegant. In fact, many of the gorgeous and crisp military uniforms during the Napoleonic Wars were made of linen or hemp fabrics."
"I have a question, why use blue and gray as the Army's uniform color?" Zhu Mingxia asked.
"The dye colors that can currently be used industrially on a large scale are indigo. But this conflicts with the blue and white tone of the navy uniform; and black, which has been designated as the uniform color of the police. So we recommend dyeing it with indigo. A lighter blue-gray to distinguish it from the navy." A naturalized cadre of the textile printing and dyeing department said, "You can also use bright red, but the cost of cochineal dye is much more expensive, and in addition to indigo, linen fabrics , the dyeing effects of other colors are not very good.”
"So, in fact, the final mass equipment for the troops was linen blue and gray uniforms, right?"
"I can only say that our current infantry, artillery, cavalry and other major arms are all equipped with uniforms. There is no problem. It will be difficult to expand the scale." Hong Huangnan said, "Although the import price of baize is not high, the cost Better than cotton.”
“Are imported linens cheaper?”
"It's actually more expensive than cotton. But I've already mentioned the advantages of linen. It's a cheap, but relatively stiff fabric."
Xi Yazhou carefully looked at the Type 5 Army Infantry Private uniform on the mannequin. Judging from the visual effects alone, it was quite gorgeous, even the armed belt was white. He looked closer and wanted to know what material this white armed belt was made of. Hong Huangnan seemed to know what he was thinking and said:
"This is not dyed, it is bleached directly from the canvas."
Xi Yazhou nodded. Although it was not as gorgeous and majestic as he imagined, it was still pretty good.
"There are some Easter eggs here." Hong Huangnan clapped his hands in a mysterious manner, and two soldiers walked in carrying a mannequin. The color on his body immediately made everyone’s eyes brighten.
"Lobster soldiers." Hong Huangnan said.
The mannequin that appeared in front of Xi Yazhou and others was wearing a standard Type 5 army uniform. The color of the uniform was bright red, and the breeches remained blue-gray. The military cap is a black and white "bishop's hat" decorated with ornate copper nameplates and cords.
"The average height of our soldiers is only 1.60 meters, and with this hat, they are 1.80 meters tall." Hong Huangnan said jokingly, "I plan to use it to equip the grenadier company."
Both Xi Yazhou and Zhu Mingxia knew that the grenadier companies of each battalion selected strong men over 1.70 meters tall. Coupled with this hat and this bright red uniform, the visual impact was unprecedented.
"Why not use a bearskin hat?" Xi Yazhou breathed out softly, "There are also bears in Hainan. Even if the number is not enough, you can buy them from Huang Taiji."
"On the one hand, it's a cost issue. On the other hand, the bearskin hat has always been the symbol of the Guards. I don't think any of our troops is worthy of the title of the Old Guards." Hong Huangnan said, "It's still Let war tell us which battalions are worthy of this hat." (To be continued.)
