Chapter 129 The Development of Technology: Cheap Paper Armor

Xiulot quickly approached and took a closer look. The cloth-covered paper armor in front of him was brown-gray, with a layer of cloth inside and outside, as thick as half a palm, soft and solid to the touch, and faintly smelled the fragrance of paper.

The boy then looked expectantly at the paper armor master Matral.

"How effective is this paper armor? How much does it cost? Is it easy to maintain?"

Traal also stroked the paper armor with his hand, and explained with a smile.

"According to His Highness's instructions, I used the cloth surface as the base, superimposed dozens of sheets of paper with extremely soft properties, then added corn mortar to glue it together, pasted a layer of cloth surface, and then beat and compacted it with a stone hammer to form a Layers. Then stack dozens of sheets of paper and a layer of cloth, and continue to thicken and strengthen this piece of paper armor, which will have a total of four layers!"

As he said that, the master armor maker swung the obsidian baton first. The cutting of the sharp blade could only cut through the first layer of paper armor, and the second layer penetrated halfway. The full swing of the bronze ax can cut through three to four floors, but it does not damage the wooden frame below the fourth floor. Only the full force of the bronze spear can pierce through the four layers, leaving shallow marks on the wooden frame. A close-range shot from a Tlaxcala bow can only break through two layers, and the kinetic energy of the impact is completely absorbed by the paper.

Demonstrating the defensive effect when dry, Maratel thought for a while, and then continued to evaluate.

"This kind of paper armor is quite light, and its defense depends on two points. First, the more layers it has, the stronger its defense will be. Stacking more than six layers can even compare with cloth copper armor! It's just that it's too thick. , the movement will be seriously affected. Second, if the paper armor absorbs water and gets wet, its defense power can be doubled, and the ax cannot cut through it!"

With that said, the master armor maker asked the apprentice to bring a large bucket of water and pour it evenly on the paper armor. The paper armor gradually absorbed water until it was completely soft, and the tentacles were moist. Afterwards, Xiulot swung the copper ax to slash, and the armor was soft and unable to cut at all, and it could only penetrate a little with the copper spear.

Seeing this scene, the boy finally nodded in satisfaction. After thinking about it, he shook his head again.

"Marater, this is a simplified cloth-covered paper armor. You just use paper tendons as the filling in the cloth. Next, you still need to soak the oil to change the structure of the paper and prevent it from rotting due to moisture. Then paint the outer layer. , to prevent the paper tendons from absorbing too much water, and finally brush lime to prevent fire.

However, a truly excellent paper armor needs to be soaked in oil for several months, painted several layers inside and outside, and finally blended with lime. Metal is nailed at the key points, and paper bars are forged into pieces. It is as strong as hardwood, comparable to iron armor, and can also be waterproof and moisture-proof. However, the production cost will be too high, so let's do it according to your design! "

Hearing this, Maratel bowed his head to be taught, smiled silently, and continued to introduce.

"Your Highness, this kind of cloth-covered paper armor is not difficult to make, and apprentices can also participate in the manufacture. It's just that the amount of paper required is huge, and the production is labor-intensive. Maintenance and repair are easy, just add paper and cloth to glue it together. Usually need Pay attention to fire prevention, don't worry during the rainy season."

Shulot pondered again, his eyes flickering.

With the development of papermaking technology, paper armor began to be used on a large scale in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and became the standard armor of local armies in the Song Dynasty. In this era, most of the grassroots soldiers of the Ming army were also equipped with paper armor, especially the navy army was the most common.

In fact, paper armor is light and waterproof, and its defense is strengthened when wet, which is very suitable as the standard equipment of the navy. In the long rainy season in Mexica, paper armor can also give full play to this advantage, and there is no need to worry about rust like metal armor. Hmm, maybe need to pay attention to insect repellent.

Technically speaking, paper armor has almost no difficulty in manufacturing, as long as there are sufficient raw materials and manpower, it can be manufactured on a large scale. The positioning of this kind of armor is actually quite similar to that of cotton armor. It’s just that in this era of low productivity, the cultivation and output of cotton is limited after all, and cotton cloth is also used as currency to circulate in Central American society. On the contrary, it is not as easy to obtain as raw materials for papermaking.

The commonly used raw materials for papermaking include bamboo, reed, bark, long grass, and jute. They do not need to occupy arable land, and can be solved by manpower recruitment during the slack season, giving full play to the manpower advantages of the Mexica Alliance.

After repeated consideration, Xiulot made a decision to list the paper armor as a standing item, and spread it to the longbow militia and spear militia to be formed, and it was also used to strengthen the navy.

"Marater, this type of armor is positioned for mass adoption and is used to arm tens of thousands of elite militiamen. Similar to standard cotton armor, paper armor can effectively resist a warrior's baton in a single battle. That’s it! I only need the cheapest two types: two layers of paper armor armed elite militia, and one layer of paper armor armed boat division and navy.

According to this idea, you should prepare yourself and sort out the production method of the paper armor in detail. Soon, I will set up a special workshop, recruit hundreds of craftsmen, and make paper armor in large quantities. You can recommend a workshop leader! "

Shulot ordered solemnly.

Maratel thought for a moment, bowed his head respectfully and accepted the order. He also needs to develop a new type of armor, just to push the big apprentice who followed all the way from the holy city to this position. Thinking of this, the master armor maker smiled, and the scars on his face trembled happily.

Afterwards, he got up and moved, came to a pair of finely woven yellow-brown rattan armor, and introduced it with a smile again.

"Your Highness, this is a rattan armor made according to your wishes. The alliance has a tradition of making shields with green vines, and there are some old vines in stock. I used old vines to weave this rattan armor. It took a long time, the most difficult It is the treatment of the joints. Fortunately, the finished product is very light, hard to penetrate with a stick and axe, and has excellent defense!"

As he said that, Maratel cut and swung the obsidian baton, leaving the rattan armor unscathed. Then chop carefully with a copper axe, leaving slight scratches on the rattan armor. Finally, a copper spear was used to stab it, and the tip of the spear penetrated a little through the natural gap of the rattan armor, without harming the rattan armor itself.

Xiulot took a closer look, and saw that the vine armor was quite finely woven, the old vines were dark yellow to brown, and the natural gaps between the vines were only the size of rice grains. The master armor maker's swing brought a breeze, and a faint smell of fish oil rushed towards him, obviously soaked in oil for a long time.

The young man watched for a moment, then asked questions keenly.

"Marater, why don't you use your copper ax to slash with all your strength? Besides, how does this kind of armor defend against bows and arrows?"

The master armor maker smiled awkwardly, thought for a while, and explained truthfully.

"Your Highness, this vine armor is different from other armors. Its defense depends entirely on the material of the whole old vine. Once it is cut off vigorously, this vine armor is almost impossible to repair. There are not so many old vines in stock, and the new vines need to be soaked in oil. a year."

Hearing this, Xiulot thought for a moment, then sighed slightly.

The defensive power of rattan armor is between iron armor and leather armor, and excellent rattan armor is actually no less than iron armor. But throughout the history of the Celestial Dynasty, rattan armor was only popularized in the southwestern frontier and navy, and was even replaced by paper armor and cloth face armor later. Naturally, it has irreparable defects.

In practical application, the most fatal defect of rattan armor is not that it is afraid of fire, but that it is difficult to repair. Damage to armor in combat is common. After a battle, the armor and scale armor need to be replaced with iron sheets, the chain mail armor needs to repair the iron ring, and the paper armor and cloth armor need to be refilled with materials, but rattan armor cannot. Its defense depends entirely on the material of the old vine itself, once broken, it can only be remade.

And the production time of rattan armor is extremely long. Ivy should be soaked in water for half a month, dried in the sun for several days, and soaked in oil for a year. After weaving into armor, the surface needs to be hardened, which is very labor-intensive. In addition, the firmness of rattan armor is directly proportional to the age of the green vines. New vines are brittle and easy to break, while old vines are tough and wear-resistant, but the raw materials are rare.

In addition, there will be natural gaps in the rattan armor, so the defense against bows and arrows is very low. The tough old vines are not easy to bend, so most of the rattan armor can't make movable joints, and it looks like a large vest when worn on the body, which looks quite ancient.

Seeing His Highness's gradually gloomy face, Maratel's heart trembled, and he hurried forward to make amends.

"Your Highness, the Alliance has already had a lot of experience in using ivy. In my opinion, it is actually very suitable for making shields and helmets."

As he spoke, the armor master brought a pair of helmets woven from old vines, and handed them to His Highness respectfully.

Shulot took the rattan helmet and stroked the dark surface, feeling tough. He tested it several times with a copper axe, and it was indeed extremely strong. Then the boy tried to put the cane helmet on his head, and it was just the right size. This kind of helmet is extremely light, much more comfortable than the animal-shaped wooden helmet, and has air-permeable pores on it, which can effectively ventilate and dissipate heat.

Shulot remembered the wooden helmet he wore during the last expedition, sweating profusely in the hot weather, feeling oppressed and oppressed. He felt the comfort of the rattan helmet again, so he nodded slowly.

Maratel smiled slightly, and demonstrated the defense of the shield to His Highness again.

As a battle consumable, a shield can be woven from readily available new vines. As a shield, the natural gaps on the rattan shield are no longer weak points.

The armor master first stabbed the bronze spear vigorously. The bronze spear pierced through the shield, but was caught by the shield and could not be pulled out.

"In this case, the warriors on the opposite side can only give up their weapons, while our warriors give up their shields."

Speaking of which, Maratel smiled. Then, he shot a bow and arrow at the rattan, and the arrow penetrated into the gap of the rattan, and the kinetic energy was also absorbed.

Seeing this, the boy nodded slightly. Compared with rattan armor, rattan brand is indeed cheaper and more practical. The cushioning power of this kind of rattan can also effectively defend against primary firearms. No wonder it was fully popularized in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and there were a lot of people in the standing army.

Shulot thought for a while, and ordered again solemnly.

"Maarter, since this is the case, the rattan armor will be temporarily put on hold. You sort out the production methods of rattan helmets and rattan plates, and recommend a person in charge. Next, I will also equip the new army on a large scale. Rattan helmets do not need to use all old rattan , similar to the rattan card, while maintaining a certain degree of defense, it is cheap and popular first!"

The armor maker accepted the order again with a smile. This time, it was time to consider supporting his filial second apprentice.

The young man thought in his heart, summing up his experience in choosing military equipment.

Just like the power of a long-range weapon is the product of pulling force and pulling distance. The power of military equipment is also the product of the power of a single piece of equipment and the total number of equipment. The quantity advantage is the most important decisive factor in the selection of military equipment!

In 1441, the minimum price of a set of Milanese full-body plate armor was 72 livres, which was already half cheaper than two hundred years ago. And the annual maintenance cost of a set of plate armor also needs at least a dozen silver coins. Only nobles with more than 200 acres of land could afford such expensive equipment for a long time.

Compared with the expensive plate armor, the ordinary leather armor of the same period only costs 1-2 silver coins. Since there is no need to worry about rust, the maintenance cost is also extremely low. The financial resources spent on a set of plate armor are enough to be worth dozens of sets of ordinary leather armor. Therefore, in the European war in the 15th century, the elite infantry armed with leather armor was dozens of times that of the plate armored knights, and it was the real source of combat power of a legion.

Of course, Continental's technology is developing rapidly. With the large-scale application of hydraulic machinery and the advancement of blast furnace ironmaking technology, the cost of manufacturing and maintaining plate armor is rapidly decreasing in Europe. In the 17th century, after the emergence and popularization of cheap plate armor, the combat effectiveness of the European Army Corps will rise rapidly. At that time, the colonists will have an equipment advantage over the traditional Asian countries and establish a series of colonial strongholds in the East.

All in all, an excellent commander never puts the quality of equipment first, thus ignoring the quantity of equipment. He needs to think more about the cost performance of legion equipment. There are even times when human life is often less valuable than equipment.

For an empire, military strength is a competition of national power. Behind every legion is the huge manpower and material resources supporting the legion. The number of equipment in the legion will be determined by the cost of manufacturing and maintenance. Manufacturing costs determine the scale of production, while maintenance costs will continue to consume the empire's finances, and both will consume national power at the same time. Without a powerful empire, without the millions of people and craftsmen behind the legion, the huge military system cannot be maintained.

This is why cloth armor replaced pike and scale armor, cheap to make and easy to maintain. The popularity of paper armor and cotton armor also lies in this. The Eastern Empire has hundreds of thousands of troops, which is beyond the reach of European states. Every bit of cost reduction can greatly reduce the financial pressure of the empire, and the rulers will naturally make choices.

So far, Xiulot has a comprehensive equipment plan for the next new army.

These elite militiamen will hold bronze spears, rattan plates or longbows, wear rattan helmets, and wear cloth-faced paper armor. Their equipment defense will be infinitely close to that of ordinary warriors, but their construction cost and daily maintenance will be greatly reduced. With the help of new weapons and equipment and new tactics, the elite militia will truly enter the stage of history, and with their huge numbers, they will change the direction of war and even the pattern of the entire society.

In the foreseeable future, in the continuous war, a new class is about to rise!

Thoughts were flying, Shulot looked into the distance with emotion. In the sky, the birds of the north are migrating south to spend the warm winter here. At the highest point, an eagle spread its wings and looked at the vast land. Below the eagle, there are a group of flying geese and countless birds flapping their wings. They are mighty, covering the sky and the sun, crossing the mountains and the big lake, and flying over the whole world!

Please recommend, please support! NOTE: I have included diagrams and instructions at the end of this chapter. Historically, the name of paper armor and cotton armor is the same, but in fact there are many types, the production process and effect will be completely different, and the cost will also vary greatly. The refined paper armor required by Qi Jiguang in the Ming Dynasty was extremely labor-intensive and complicated, and its defense was superior to that of ordinary iron armor. However, the ordinary paper armor of the township soldiers in the Song Dynasty was simple and cheap, and its defense was similar to that of cotton armor. In this chapter, it is the ordinary cloth-covered paper armor that will be popularized on a large scale.