People who have not personally experienced the difference will have a hard time understanding what the concept of "there is strength in numbers" really is.
Let's take the daily travel of adventurers as an example - unlike professional soldiers who belong to the system, adventurers in Rigar usually do not have baggage troops to carry supplies for them. This makes almost every adventurer an excellent wilderness survival expert and a master of weight calculation.
Adventurers rarely wear knight-like full-body armor. One reason is that most ordinary adventurers who have not joined a mercenary group are engaged in more security tasks in the countryside rather than frontal battlefields, so they rely more on their own skills through swordsmanship. Blocking and teamwork save lives, not armor.
The biggest difference between a small group street fight of a few or even a dozen people and a frontal battlefield legion conflict is the scale. This sounds like a correct nonsense, but the size of the scale actually has a great impact on every individual involved.
The larger the scale, the more people involved on both sides, and the harder it is to coordinate—which means chaos occurs more often.
In a battle between a dozen people versus a dozen people, you can eliminate or avoid dangers as much as possible through factors such as personnel coordination. A good team can even defeat the opponent without taking any damage. But when the number of people increases to a thousand, this slight tactical advantage does not mean much.
Let’s use a more straightforward example: when the opponent has two archers, you can eliminate this threat by tactically planning to kill them or avoid the archers’ shooting angle; but when the opponent has 200 As an archer, wearing armor that can withstand arrows for passive protection will be a more effective option.
The more a mercenary group tends to fight against people, the closer its equipment is to that of a regular army, with higher armor coverage. The armor of ordinary individuals or small groups of adventurers is always lighter. In addition to the fact that they rely more on the protection of their companions and their own sword skills to block and dodge, there is another more practical reason.
I can't carry it.
The military doctrine of the classical Lamantic era, based on the improved standards of Consul Marius, stipulates that the weight of a heavily armored soldier is about 30 kilograms in today's Rigal standard unit.
This 30 kilograms of equipment includes armor, helmets, throwing guns, large shields, short swords, daggers and various living supplies. This is the limit of load that most humans can carry, and how painful it is to carry it and march on foot according to the extreme standard. This can be seen from the fact that the Lamanite hoplites mocked themselves as "Marius's mules, hardworking and hardworking."
Today's Rigal knights also carry a load of this magnitude, but what is different from the Laman heavy infantry is that their armor has been greatly strengthened. At least 25 kilograms of the 30 kilograms of weight are allocated to the full body plate armor. Counting the weapons, there is no additional weight to bear the daily necessities.
Therefore, the knights of Rigar relied heavily on the support of infantry and baggage troops. Even in high-speed marches, they needed to bring a few more horses as pack horses.
Such a luxury is naturally not something that most adventurers from lower class backgrounds can possess. Don’t look at the fact that our Mr. Sage and the girl from Luoan always had pack horses available in Rigar, so we think this is the norm - most adventures. In fact, visitors can only walk on foot carrying their own belongings or rent a carriage.
And considering that they are always tasked with going to remote areas, these 30 kilograms of load cannot always be piled up, otherwise they will stumble to death and become crippled even if they climb a mountain.
The weight of most Rigal adventurers is similar to the weight of the weapon system of the Kazuto samurai, which is about 20 to 25 kilograms.
But adventurers will always control the weight of their equipment to about 15 kilograms, because they still have to make room for bedding, canopies, eating pots, and maintenance supplies.
A long sword usually weighs between 1.3 and 1.5 kilograms, a fist shield weighs less than 1 kilogram, and the laminated basswood round shield favored by the Northern Skeen weighs about 3 kilograms. If you want to use a sword and shield configuration, use the more common kite shield on the West Coast with a one-handed sword. The weight of a combination is always about 4 kilograms. This, coupled with a short-sleeved chain mail suit - which usually weighs 8-9 kilograms, depending on the size of the user - is close to the 15 kilogram limit.
And on this basis, plus some scattered metal protective gear for joints, an extra dagger or some throwing knives, it is actually almost over the standard.
With this in mind, you'll understand why boil-hardened leather armor is so popular among adventurers—steel armor certainly offers greater protection, especially from impacts that can break your bones, but they also tend to heavier. For adventurers who mainly rely on their own sword skills to block and counterattack, light armor such as thick and tough hardened leather armor or layered soft armor can block the cutting and slashing of the opponent's sharp weapons without causing the flesh to rip open with blood with just one scratch. Cross current will meet the needs.
——Of course, another reason is that softer leather and fabric armor before hardening is easier to make, so the price for tailor-made armor is more affordable. It's almost the same as second-hand steel armor that doesn't fit well and is uncomfortable.
For the same reason, you rarely see adventurers wearing helmets. Although the head is very important and most people will aim at the opponent's head in battle, the burdens brought by helmets in terms of vision, breathing, and weight-bearing often make adventurers who do not often participate in frontal battlefields choose to give up them.
In fact, even knights in full plate armor or similarly heavily armored warriors in Crescent Continent always wear only light helmets or hats during the march. Only before charging, the attendants will wear the heavy helmets and fix them. .
But let’s get back to where we started.
As a combat professional, armor and weapons cannot be compromised no matter what - this is a guy who eats and protects his life. If he is greedy for lightness and comfort, he will not be able to do this for a long time. Therefore, 15 kilograms is almost the minimum, and after this part of the equipment occupies such a large space, the remaining weight share is really not much.
It is a relief to travel light in the hot summer. In winter, the thermal equipment alone will take up about 5 kilograms - this is usually composed of shearling sheepskin, thick wool blanket and oil-waxed waterproof canvas. Because of its large size, It is also very inconvenient to carry. Including water utensils, cooking utensils, rations and maintenance supplies, it is so full that there is no extra space.
——But all this is based on single-player equipment.
The more the merrier. When traveling as a team, many things are shared by the team, so the weight of a single person can actually be reduced a lot.
Vehicles or beasts of burden that are inconvenient or too luxurious for a single player can also be considered.
Pots, although larger and heavier, can be removed from a single player's equipment. The same goes for food rations. Drinking water is usually carried separately due to convenience issues, but in general, everyone's burden can be reduced a lot when there is a team.
This kind of pressure that team members bear on each other is not limited to weight-bearing, but is also reflected in labor and combat.
People always think that one against many is a proof of excellent combat effectiveness. Although this is indeed the case, truly excellent combat professionals often work hard to avoid this situation. Because there is one more enemy to face, there will be one more level of variables. An experienced swordsman is one who can gain numerical superiority or control the situation by temporarily repelling one person through footwork and position, and concentrate on facing an enemy.
The advantage of numbers cannot be ignored. If an archer misses when shooting an arrow, he may miss an excellent opportunity. When two people shoot a bow, even if one person misses, there is another person who can rely on them.
A good and well-connected team can achieve certain goals that individuals can never achieve.
For example, complete a building that is difficult for a single person to achieve, and defeat an opponent that is difficult for a single person to defeat.
or.
As the world descends into chaos, maintain relative stability and peace and travel through areas that would be dangerous for a single player.
——After leaving Minamata, the group changed from their previous relatively low-key approach. The samurai all wore their weapons visible to the naked eye, assuming a posture ready for battle at any time.
This sharp-edged stance would have originally made them stand out from the crowd, but now it's strange that they don't.
The world is changing so fast that the conservative Qingtian family samurai and his entourage are overwhelmed:
As of August 15, 1332 of the Creation Calendar of Rigal and 4164 of the Great Lunar Calendar - five days have passed since the riots that occurred in Minamata from the night to the early morning of August 10. Minamata residents were worried about retaliation from the aristocracy.
Didn't happen.
The reason is naturally that Xinjing is currently struggling due to the loss of contact with Taizhou. For more than a week since August 7, Xinjing has tried to contact this important military town through various channels. Although Minamata is an important seaport, it is only a node in the north-central Jeju territory. It is far less important than losing an entire production and a heavily-armed directly-governed prefecture.
And according to Henry's guess, most of the big shots are from above.
He has a scornful attitude towards the so-called "common people suppressing the superiors".
The sage's statement sounds a bit absurd, but if you think about it carefully, it is indeed possible.
The class barrier has always been two-way - while the common people lack trust in the nobles, the Chinese and nobles in Crescent Continent also have a disdain and contempt for these low-level people.
How can civilians who have always been submissive have the ability and courage to raise a flag of rebellion? ——Such a knowledge based on pride and arrogance is deeply rooted in the minds of the samurai. If anyone controls the flow of information, it will become a small matter, then even if the Chinese in nearby city-states hear about what happened in Minamata There is a high probability that they will not take things seriously.
So a surprising and even somewhat incomprehensible scene happened - for five days, no Chinese family, including the cities adjacent to Minamata in Jeju territory, paid attention to the Minamata incident. None of them even thought the matter was big enough to be reported to Xinjing.
It wasn't until the remnant soldiers of the Minamata tribe fled with scars that they realized that the matter was far bigger than they imagined or believed.
But it was also at this time that the riot team led by the original group of Minamata fishermen had already arrived at the city.
When the nobles thought that this matter was no big deal, they could sit back and relax.
The panic among the civilians around Minamata spread in waves and uncontrollably snowballed.
If the version that finally reached the nobles was a version that omitted major events and reduced it to trivial matters, the version circulated among common people about the incident on the night of August 10th in Minamata was overly exaggerated.
"The nobles are going to arrest the civilians in this area. Anyone who wants to save their loved ones, please rise up to resist or flee!" Such voices spread quickly, and those who fled from Minamata clearly had not witnessed that scene with their own eyes. The people also swore that the news was conclusive.
As a result, the precedent was set and the team led by fishermen expanded rapidly. Some civilians believed that this was to protect their families, while others who had been oppressed by the nobles earlier and felt resentful also took the opportunity to decide to take revenge.
During the 5th, rebels from civilian backgrounds around Minamata.
It actually expanded to 70,000 people.
"Extremely clever, using asymmetric information to add fuel to the fire." - When the sage heard a civilian boasting about the size of their "army", he made this evaluation of the person behind the scenes who was stirring up trouble.
The "truth" sold at both ends is omitted on one side and embellished on the other.
Taking advantage of the time when the nobles reacted slowly, the rebels who could have been killed at a small scale thrived.
This sounds a bit unbelievable, because there are several city-states around Minamata and there are also a large number of gentry and Chinese people. As long as one person is willing to go to the private sector to observe the panicked people, they will be able to realize that the problem is far from what the report says. negligible".
But that's the beauty of this approach.
It has identified the solid class gap that has been formed in Japanese society for thousands of years, and it has identified that not even one of these nobles will actually roll up their sleeves and go to the ground to investigate.
So such a ridiculous and incredible scene came true.
When the size of the rebels and the panic and hostility of the people everywhere finally reached a point where they could no longer be hidden, the nobles finally noticed belatedly.
The conflict can no longer be controlled to a scale of hundreds or even thousands of people.
A mob of tens of thousands of people, even if most of them had no martial arts training and only had miscellaneous weapons such as hoes, axes, and sickles, the overwhelming momentum when they came to the city was enough to make the warriors of the directly-governed states who had not fought in actual combat for many years salivate.
The confusion brought about by the huge numbers gave birth to ill will, and when an ungrateful Chinese ordered arrows to be fired from the towers at the unruly people.
A bloody era where everyone is in danger has finally begun in Crescent Continent.
On August 17, the battle in New Moon Continent, known as the Jeju Prefecture Incident in history, began, and the warriors won without any doubt. Armed with long-range weapons such as bows and arrows and the advantage of city towers, they successfully defeated the mob of tens of thousands of civilians.
However, the tragic scene of corpses strewn in the fields and the civilians who were exiled to the surrounding territories with injuries completely confirmed what the previous rumor mongers said that "nobles would kill civilians."
The civilians who had previously thought that the matter had nothing to do with them saw their neighbor's grandma crying as she looked at the relics brought back from her son who died after running away to fight in the war. For the first time, they felt this for the first time. Threatened with death.
On August 20, a group of civilians retaliated and attacked a family of Jeju nobles who were traveling. No one in the family was spared, and the weapons and armor used to protect Ashigaru were also taken away.
The other nobles who learned the news were determined to fight back, but they did not bother to call the matter a battle, and only referred to it as "Rat Hunting".
Antagonism and hatred quickly grew in the thinking of blood debt.
And in the midst of all this chaos, our sage and the Qingtian family.
Neither side is affiliated.
They must become a self-sufficient, independent island.
Because getting involved in either party will ruin the more important purpose.
Let Xinjing see the truth, as time goes by, it becomes more and more important.
