Chapter 37 Chain Armor
Mu Ying moved to the target three times in a row, placed the armor thirty steps in front of her, and then penetrated it in one fell swoop.
Seeing this result, not only Mu Ying's eyes lit up. Even Wei Guogong Xu Da was slightly moved.
Without him, thirty steps is too close. Thirty steps on the battlefield is only a few breaths. It can be said that at this distance, even if the fire gunner can kill the opponent, he will not be able to stop the charging enemy.
It has been said before that a crossbowman can only fire once if he takes thirty steps.
It has greatly improved the situation on the battlefield.
He Xi was also slightly surprised by this situation.
In his impression, no armor could stop a musket. Otherwise, wouldn’t the canned armor of Western knights become popular in the world? But it turns out that it was firearms that made armor obsolete, not the other way around.
He thought about it carefully and probably had some guesses in his mind.
First, firearms in the early Ming Dynasty were far from mature. In He Xi's opinion, the firecracker used by Mu Ying was just a large iron pipe with a wooden handle inlaid at the end. And the wooden handle is also elevated. It can only be held with both hands, and the recoil is supported by both hands, with no shoulder support at all.
It looks uncomfortable.
This is only in terms of design, other aspects include the processing strength of the gun barrel. The efficacy of gunpowder, etc. Far from mature. Even just the beginning.
Therefore, the power of the Huomen Gun at this time is not too great.
Second, what He Xi created was not iron armor, but steel armor. One word difference makes a world of difference.
Before that, even armor made from pig iron was iron armor. And generally speaking, iron armor is enough. Especially for cold weapons, steel armor is a bit redundant. Not to mention, more than a hundred pieces of armor were changed into more than a dozen.
To fit the body.
Each piece of large armor has its own curvature. Fits the human body. As a result, the armor's structural strength is stronger than the armor pieces nailed together.
That's why.
Only then can this outstanding effect be achieved.
Duke Xu Da of Wei stepped forward to take a closer look and said: "With this armor, the war will be changed in the future."
He Xi smiled and said: "My lord, the people below are very capable and have come up with two weapons. It's just that I have never been on the battlefield. I don't know if they are suitable for use. I would like to ask you generals to give them a taste."
The prince smiled and said: "Brother He, you are trying to show me how careless you are. Bring it to the elders to see."
He Xi said: "Yes."
Then he gave an order and brought two things.
An armor that looks like clothing, but this clothing is made of wire. It looks like tiny iron rings woven together.
Xu Da took a look and said, "Chain armor?"
He Xi said: "Exactly."
Xu Da picked up the chain armor, weighed it, then pulled out a dagger from his body and stabbed it in. Although the chain armor had no support, it immediately deformed. But the sharp dagger is difficult to move on the chain armor.
Xu Da said: "Yes, it is a treasure armor. It's just a little different from the chain armor I saw before."
He Xi said: "The Duke Mingjian, this armor is different from the Western Regions chainmail. The Western Regions chainmail is made. This one is really made up."
"Made it up?" Xu Da didn't believe it.
He Xi said: "Prince, Duke, and princes, would you like to see how this armor is made?"
The prince said: "Brother He, please stop showing off."
He Xi waved his hand, and two craftsmen immediately brought over a wooden frame. The wooden frame was not tall. It is only one foot wide, and there is an iron piece on it, which seems to have a small eye in the middle piece. A craftsman fixed the steel ingot around it and began to turn the handle. But after a while, a piece of iron wire, no, a steel wire, was pressed out. After a while, a steel wire came out.
Just like the same method, in a moment. A handful of steel wire is ready.
The craftsman immediately began to weave. After a while, these steel wires were woven into a one-foot-square armor.
Xu Da took it and took a look. Compared with the previous armor, it was exactly the same.
"This------" Xu Da thought to himself: "Fortunately He Xi was not born in troubled times, otherwise one person could be worth a hundred thousand troops."
Chain armor is not a rare armor, it was introduced from the Western Regions. During the Yuan Dynasty, Mongolian nobles liked everything. The best thing about this armor is that it is light and can be worn under clothes. It is also very useful in preventing cuts from swords and crossbows.
In martial arts novels, various soft armors are based on this.
But this armor is also difficult to make. The reason why it is called chain armor is actually because the armor is like a chain, with flat iron rings connected one ring after another to form a whole. Each hoop needs to be crafted individually, and the smaller the hoop, the lighter it will be. Counting this, there are thousands of tiny iron rings on a suit of armor. It has to be a perfect fit, and ordinary blacksmiths simply can't make it.
This is more of a work of art than a piece of armor.
But now, it's different.
This is actually a by-product of the water hammer process.
When designing water hammer, craftsmen encountered a problem. That is, the heavier the water hammer, the better the forging effect. However, it is discussed that the heavier the water hammer is, the stronger the ropes and fixing devices used to lift and lower the water hammer will be.
So I decided to replace everything with iron parts.
There is no big problem if some mechanical devices are changed from wood to iron. But what about the rope?
So He Xi came up with an idea to use an iron rope.
There is no need for He Xi to say anything next. In the processing of gold and silver jewelry. Wire drawing machines have long been used to draw gold and silver into wires. But before that, it was not used in iron processing. The reason is simple: iron is hard and has poor ductility. Wrought iron has good ductility, but is too soft to withstand it.
Nowadays, steel is more troublesome to process than gold and silver. But overall it can be said that it is impossible.
So the craftsmen built a wire drawing machine overnight and pulled out the wire. Then dozens of steel wires are braided together and fixed to become the steel cable used on the water hammer. In this way, the water hammer has greater pressure, and the nail plate is ready in three or two strokes.
And He Xi felt that this alone was a bit wasteful. So a craftsman suggested it. Make chainmail from steel wire.
In fact, there is no need for craftsmen to do specific things. Just raise some steel wire and let the craftsmen's wives weave it. Just do one or two processing at the end.
What's the difference in defense between this chain armor and the Western Region's chain armor? He Xi didn't know. But he saw an advantage, that is, production is too convenient.
Just use a wire drawing tool to draw the steel into wire. Then just let the women and children knit. Men farming and women weaving were the traditional production model of the Ming Dynasty. That woman can't knit. The use of the wire drawing tool does not require any skills, it only requires a lot of strength.
It can be said that as long as there is sufficient steel supply. He Xi didn't even know how many steel wire armors could be produced in three months. Although the defensive power is not as good as the serious steel armor. But it's much better than nothing.
To be honest, the armor has been simplified to this level. It is more convenient than Southwest Tengjia. There is a lot of need for rattan nails in the southwest. You need to select rattan, dry it in the sun, weave it, soak it in oil, and so on. And this chainmail only needs to be braided.
As a general, Xu Da's eyes looked at He Xi completely changed now.
Before that, Xu Da only regarded He Xi as a junior. All the kindness to He Xi was for Zhu Yuanzhang and the prince's face. Xu Da was a generous man and naturally would not embarrass the younger generation. But things are different now.
He simply regarded He Xi as Liu Bowen and Li Shanchang.
Yes. In many things, He Xijue is not as good as Liu Bowen and Li Shan. However, in terms of weapons alone, the two of them are definitely not as good as He Xi's. If you can achieve the ultimate in one aspect, you deserve respect.
It even seemed to Xu Da that if He Xi had been born more than 20 years ago, Li Shanchang might not be able to surpass Li Shanchang's current status.
Fu Youde's eyes flashed fiercely and he glanced at his son. Then he carefully tasted the chainmail in his hand. It seems that the weaving pattern on it is unique in the world and worthy of General Zhengnan's careful consideration.
Fu Zhong, who only knew his father, felt a dull pain in his butt.
Because he recalled the previous experience of being beaten.
Fu Zhong's character is actually a replica of Fu Youde's character. Fu Youde is a good fighter, but he doesn't know how to be a father. He regarded his son as his own soldier, governed the family by military law, and never showed mercy. Fu Zhong was beaten frequently from childhood to adulthood.
But today, he knew it very well. His previous judgment misled Fu Youde. Let Fu Youde find fault as soon as he comes up. Although it looked wrong from behind, I immediately retracted it. But everyone is smart, no one can see it. Just don’t say it.
At this moment, Fu Youde did not dare to say a word, wishing that others would forget him. This face is lost here today.
How could Fu Zhong, the culprit, not be beaten after he returned?
Knowing that Fu Zhong also felt that he was wronged, when he met He Xi that day, He Xi clearly knew nothing. It's only been half a month, and this situation has already happened.
"That's right." Fu Zhong lowered his head and thought through gritted teeth: "This He Xi is sinister and cunning. He is clearly interested in Princess Anqing. That's why he set a trap for me. One thing in front of him and another behind his back. Just wait for me. .”
Not to mention, Fu Zhong hated He Xi to death.
Just talk about the prince.
Before the prince came, he was mentally prepared.
He has great trust in his father. Since my father said that He Xi is talented in this area. That must be it. But the prince never expected that He Xi could do this. The armor from before is just that. Although it is a bit strange, it is still within the scope of cognition, but this new chain armor is different.
It should be noted that not all of the Ming Dynasty's more than three million troops had armor. But once this kind of chain armor comes out, it will not be difficult for everyone in the world to have armor.
