Chapter 260 Armor Works, Royal Guards

"Haha!"

Xuluot laughed loudly and shook his head slightly. His laughter was full of joy and pride; his head shook with a broad mind. After a while, he looked at the master craftsman Chalape with approval.

"Chalape, this long heavy armor is very good! How much work and time does it take to make a set of such armor?"

Hearing this, Chalape smiled embarrassedly and looked at his cousin. Tilipi scratched his head and said with an estimate.

"Your Majesty, the cloth-covered long bronze heavy armor uses 13 kilograms of cotton and 32 kilograms of bronze. To make cotton armor, you need to soak the cotton, pat it repeatedly into thin sheets, and then sew it into two layers of cotton cloth after drying. In this way, the front and back are covered to hide the weak seams of the armor. It takes 2 working days and 5 days in total, a total of 10 working days. This step is relatively simple, but the sewing is a little time-consuming and can be completed by a strong woman.

Next, you need to use bronze to make 240 armor plates. The production of armor plates is quite complicated, not only casting, but also forging, and the size must be appropriate. It takes a total of 8 working days and 5 days , a total of 40 working days. This step is quite physically demanding, but the craftsmanship requirements are not high, and can be done by strong craftsmen apprentices.

Finally, arrange the armor pieces in order, embed them into the cotton armor, fix them with copper nails inside and outside, and adjust them appropriately to complete the long heavy armor. This step takes 2 working days and 5 working days, a total of 10 working days. At this step, integration and molding require craftsmanship, and must be done by senior craftsmen! "

"A set of cloth heavy armor requires 60 working days"

Hearing this, Xiu Luote's expression moved slightly, and he nodded slowly.

Counting the excavation and smelting of copper mines, the planting and collection of cotton, and the consumption of charcoal and material damage during the production process, the manpower and material resources consumed by a set of heavy armor are amazing, and continuous repairs and maintenance must be provided in the future. In fact, cloth heavy armor has been the easiest and cheapest type of heavy armor in the evolution of armor for thousands of years. Its damage repair and rust prevention maintenance are very simple. In comparison, the production time and maintenance cost of pierced armor and scale armor are several times more.

In this era, Europe in the late 15th century was entering the fast lane of rapid development of metal craftsmanship. The iron smelting furnaces in the Italian city-states were as high as 4.5-6 meters, which could provide high-quality wrought iron and even ordinary steel on a large scale. The southern states of the Holy Roman Empire were the centers of armor production, and they had already used hydraulic forging hammers on a large scale to fully reduce the manpower consumption in armor making.

Even so, according to the workshop records and armor prices of this era, it still took 150 working days to forge a full-body knight plate armor, and the price often exceeded that of a small manor. Because on the rough embryos forged by hydraulic forging, a large number of experienced craftsmen were still needed to hammer out the curvature of the plate armor surface and polish the outer layer. The plate breastplate commonly seen in infantry takes 50 working days to manufacture, and the main defense is the integral steel plate on the chest and back, which is also the classic shape of the Spanish conquerors. The cloth padded jacket armor commonly seen in British archers takes 25 working days to make, and is filled with linen or wool inside, and the process is similar to cotton armor.

The above three types, plate armor, plate breastplate, and thick cloth armor, are easy to produce and maintain on a large scale. They are widely popular in the European world, targeting knights, elite soldiers, and ordinary militia respectively. Although traditional chain mail and lacquered leather armor both have considerable defensive power, they are extremely cumbersome to make. Under the same defense, their man-day costs are far higher, and the maintenance costs are extremely high, and they have gradually been ignored by the era of development and change.

Of course, at the end of the 15th century, the European continent was in the ascendant, scientific and technological progress was accumulating, and various productive forces had not yet developed. Compared with the populous Asian countries, there was still a clear gap. By the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century, European metal technology was fully mature, heat treatment further improved the hardness of armor, large-scale hydraulic machinery was spread all over the riverside, and simplified civilian plate armor began to become popular. That was the real era of great colonization and expansion.

By that time, the production cost of a set of civilian plate armor was reduced to 50 man-days, and the plate breastplate only required 20 man-days. The armor rate of the armies of various countries rose sharply, and since then, it has formed a clear advantage over the Asian countries. With cheap heavy armor, heavy matchlock guns, and large artillery, hundreds of Western colonists can build strongholds in various countries on the Asian continent and resist sieges by enemy forces several times or even ten times their number.

"After the 17th century, that was the nightmare of non-European travelers, the hell of Native Americans. Fortunately, I still have time!"

Xuluot thought about it for a moment and sighed. Then, he looked serious again and looked at the master craftsmen in front of him.

"Charappe, Tilipi, although this heavy armor is good, it is a bit too heavy and requires extremely high physical strength from the warriors. Only truly elite warriors can fight in heavy armor for a long time. The sample armor I gave you is lighter, only more than 30 kilograms. Do you have a finished imitation?"

"Of course there is! Your Majesty, look!"

Charappe waved his hand, and a craftsman came forward with an exquisite half-length bronze armor. Then, he personally held up the armor and presented it to the king.

This cloth armor is similar to a vest and is extremely beautifully decorated. Its surface is inlaid with gold particles and silver threads, which, together with dense copper nails, outline a pattern like eagle feathers. In order to be presented to the king, its inner armor plates are specially processed in detail to be more like scale armor, without affecting the wearer's flexible movements.

"Your Majesty, this is a fine medium armor that my two brothers have prepared for you based on the suggestion of the Holy Eagle Warrior Captain! It covers half of the body, with 16 pounds of bronze and 9 pounds of cotton, a total of 25 pounds. Each piece of armor inside is made by us, solid and dense; the outer layer invites a master to carve a winged eagle. Your Majesty, this kind of armor of the gods is only qualified to be worn by gods, please try it on!"

Xuluote was a little surprised. He took the exquisite medium armor in front of him, checked it for a moment, and put it on with the help of the warrior captain. The inside of the armor is also sewn with a special thin lining, all of which are high-quality short-staple cotton cloth, which is quite comfortable to wear.

The cloth medium armor is shaped like a short sleeve or a vest, which can only cover half of the body, and also reduces the number of nails on the back, weakening the defense of non-vital parts. However, this kind of medium armor is only more than 20 pounds, not cumbersome at all, and can be worn for a long time without affecting the actions of strong warriors.

Xiuluot moved his hands and feet, feeling the sense of security brought by the bronze armor on his body, and nodded with satisfaction.

"Very good, you are thoughtful! Bertard, you too!"

Chalape bowed his head respectfully, and his smile became brighter. The chief warrior just smiled faintly.

"Tiripi, if these decorations are removed, how many hours of work does it take to make an ordinary cloth medium armor?"

Tilipi clenched his fingers and calculated for a moment.

"Your Majesty, the cloth half-body bronze medium armor weighs about 25 kilograms. Its defense is only slightly inferior to that of heavy armor, but it is still much stronger than leather armor. The number of bronze armor pieces is about half of that of heavy armor, and the working hours for forging and nailing can also be halved. In general, it is about 30 working days."

Xiuluot nodded. He looked at the chief warrior.

"Bertard, how much of the defense ability of this medium armor is that of heavy armor?"

The chief warrior thought about it and answered in detail.

"A warrior who is good at fighting can flexibly use the defense of different parts of the body. In large-scale warrior battles, the back and lower limbs are difficult to be attacked by the enemy, and endurance is also very important. In this way, it is about 70% of heavy armor!"

"70% of defense, 50% of cost."

Xuluot pondered for a moment, and then made a decision!

"Charappe, Tilipi, listen to the order!"

The two master craftsmen immediately knelt on the ground.

"The Kingdom's personal army is about to be organized, and 500 sets of heavy armor and 2,000 sets of medium armor are needed! Now it is September. If the material supply is sufficient, can it be completed before the January festival?"

Charappe calculated a little, and then looked embarrassed. Beside him, Tilipi had already replied directly.

"Your Majesty, there is definitely not enough time! The festival is in mid-January, which is only four months away. The bronze workshop has only six or seven hundred people. Even if most of the tasks are stopped, only five hundred workers can be assembled. And five hundred heavy armors need five hundred workers in two months, and two thousand medium armors need five hundred workers in four months, at least half a year to complete!"

Xuluot's face sank. He has begun to organize the kingdom's personal army. As a reliable force directly under his control, it will gradually become the main promotion channel for senior officers.

The first batch of personal army is scheduled to have 2,500 people. Among them, 500 jaguar warriors will wear heavy armor and use two-handed war sticks, and the remaining 2,000 personal guards will wear medium armor and carry longbows and copper arrows. Among the 2,000 personal guards, 500 are from previous followers, and 1,000 are from the elite of the northern army, mainly the royal longbow warriors.

Another 500 people were selected from the first few batches of Tarasco surrendered, and some of the elite children of Prepecha who surrendered were recruited. In the subsequent plan, the number of personal troops from Prepecha will gradually increase, and meritorious soldiers from various departments will also be included. On the one hand, this shows that the king treats everyone equally, and on the other hand, like the Mongolian Qiexue Army, it has the effect of uniting the various departments of the kingdom and serving as a reserve camp for officers.

"After the festival, the legions of the fiefdom will be dispatched. Before that, 2,500 sets of armor must be completed!"

The king issued a clear order. Then, he thought for a while and looked at the samurai leader.

"During the Western Expedition, the Legion captured a large number of craftsmen in Ivachio. There should be quite a few coppersmiths among them?"

"Yes, Your Highness. They are all stationed near the base of the Legion in the capital, serving the armies nearby. There should be four or five hundred coppersmiths, who mainly make various copper utensils, tools and trade goods. However, in Ivachio, they are coppersmiths, not bronze craftsmen."

"Well, the copper trade of the vassal state can be temporarily slowed down, and the copper mines must be centrally allocated. They all have a certain craft foundation, Chalape. I will give you another 300 coppersmiths to forge armor plates, and summon tailors from the capital to sew cotton armor for you. Later, I will give you another 200 apprentices from the Mexica craftsmen who migrated here! Whether it is copper, tin or charcoal, I will give you priority in supplying it!"

Hearing such generous conditions, the bitterness on Chalape's face became even more intense. He kowtowed deeply to the ground, waiting for the expected request.

"Before the January festival, in four months, make 2,500 sets of qualified armor! This is a military order! I will send my personal guards to supervise. Well, do you have confidence?"

"Your Majesty, obey your will. I will work hard to spur everyone and will not let you down!"

Xuluot smiled with satisfaction. He looked forward, and the vertical furnace for smelting bronze was running. The fire was blazing, steaming out curling smoke and gushing out dark red light. The firelight reflected in the king's eyes, making his pupils become hot. Bronze, steel, metal is the hope of the future!

After a while, the king took a few steps, and the armor on his body clanged. He came to a batch of brand new bronze utensils, with a serious expression, and reached out to take out a strange yet familiar farm tool.

The farm tool is divided into two parts. The front part is a wooden stick with a copper tip and a footrest, which is used to poke holes in the ground. It is called a lei. The back part is a digging tool shaped like a shovel, with a bronze sharp blade, called a shu. The lei and shu are connected by wooden wedges, and there is a rope pulled by someone at the front. In this way, the lei is the handle of the shu, and the shu is the crown of the lei, which can not only break the soil but also plow the grooves.

"Your Majesty, who is as wise as God's revelation!"

Charape got up quickly and followed quickly. At this moment, he was full of sincere admiration and smile again.

"This is the two-person copper plow that I made by hand according to your design!"

I spent a lot of time these two days collecting data on armor and watching related literature and videos. To be honest, I was surprised. The European plate armor in the 17th century exceeded my imagination in terms of production and defense. It is very touching! At that time, the Dutch began to produce civilian plate armor in units of thousands, and the calculation data of defensive kinetic energy was amazing. Well, it was a turning point in the times when European military science really began to lead Asia.