However, the spear's quilt did not solve the problem that the long handle was too long to exert its piercing power. Kira Yoshi decided to shorten the length of the spear to 2.7 meters. The shortening of the length of the spear did not reduce the piercing power. On the contrary, it could greatly improve the performance of the spear. Effective, a spear of this length can be used with one hand, and it also retains the basic properties of anti-cavalry. It can be used with a vine shield to block long-handled whips without any problem.
Then came the drill. The horse warriors practiced repeatedly for half a month before they gradually adapted to the gun-shield combat method. The one-and-a-half-room gun was a bit longer than the ordinary large-body gun, and shorter than the three-room gun made of cork. There are many, and the gun body is made of hardwood to make it easier to stab. Kira Yoshitoki has always believed that there is no point in the existence of a spear that cannot stab the enemy.
In a new round of small competition in early May, four teams of trained horseback warriors holding sword shields, spear shields, hammer shields, and ax shields faced off against Saijo Bei's elite Ashigaru. The result was a one-sided victory. Victory, Saijo didn't expect this weapon to have such a ferocious assault power. He was defeated for a while. It was the first time for many people to encounter such a bizarre way of using weapons. The original countermeasures were completely useless against this new weapon. , which made the Ashigaru people feel unconvinced.
They felt that something made of wood could not mean anything. I used a wooden knife and stick and you used a wooden shield. Of course, it was an advantage. But during the subsequent demonstration, these people quickly shut up. The powerful destructive power surprised them. The destructive power was enough, but the sword and shield soldiers and the ax shield soldiers were good at cutting off long-handled gun shafts and slashing at close range. This was almost unsolvable for the Ashigaru.
There are also very annoying things like Fujiki shields. The ashigaru have no way to use this kind of shield. No matter how experienced the spear ashigaru are, these horseback samurai can always find a gap to attack with long handles. Even many horseback samurai frequently attack Use the technique of blocking the attack, and once they are allowed to attack at close range, it will turn into a one-sided massacre.
The vine shield is an important part of the construction of Kira Yoshitoki's new military unit. It is made of a whole piece of hardwood, and then wrapped around the shield repeatedly with vines. Finally, it is repeatedly smeared with tung oil and exposed to the sun, and finally it is made into a vine shield. The shield is as long as Nearly one meter and weighing twelve kilograms, it can easily protect the upper body and torso. Of course, it is disgusted by the ashigaru. Compared with thin wooden boards such as bamboo bundles and walking shields, which are not suitable for carrying, this kind of rattan shield is obviously more powerful and more durable. practical.
But a new problem emerged. Because the three-room gun was too long, it was neither easy to attack nor use a shield. Originally, the three-room long gun handle was the best means of defense, but after being broken through by the shield soldiers, it became the biggest burden. , in the end, Mikawa and Omi Ryobei had a tacit understanding to abandon the bulky Sanma guns and use new weapons uniformly.
There are new differences in what weapons to use. Most Mikawabi choose to use gun shields. They have been trained how to use guns since they were young. This one-and-a-half-year-long new spear is just what they like. After wearing the shield, they only need to strengthen their lower limbs. With the defense, you can improve your own defense to a level comparable to the defense that a high-level warrior wears in the world.
Omi Bei and a small number of Mikawa Bei were also intimidated by the other three weapons, and the scimitar with a larger arc than the katana seemed to have good attack power during the experiment, but almost everyone did not think highly of him. The cost is too high and it is easy to curl the blade in the battle formation, so it is not the best choice.
Moreover, it overlaps with the function of the katana, and can only be used as a server at most. On the contrary, it is the least favored combination. Some guys who originally wanted to use this combination immediately gave up trying after being persuaded by their companions.
The combination of the other two weapons has caused controversy. There has been endless debate about whether to use a tomahawk or a mace. Although the tomahawk lacks armor-breaking power, it can easily break through the gun array, while the mace seems to be only used with mounted warriors.
The combat effectiveness of the Hatamoto samurai can only be demonstrated when fighting, so almost everyone chooses a battle axe.
"What is going on? Why are their choices different from what I expected?" Seeing this unexpected result, Kira Yoshi felt unable to understand.
He always thought that he would be able to shock everyone by showing these four combinations. He didn't dare to say that he would bow down as soon as the tiger's body was shaken. At least he would have to cheer with joy, but it is obvious that these experienced standing ashigaru are all experienced
As an old man, I can see at a glance that the practicality of swords and shields is far less than imagined, especially when samurai swords tend to curl when cutting armor, and when chopping armored enemies, the blades are easily embedded in the armor and cannot be pulled out, etc.
Solved today.
A famous sword can easily cut through armor, but only a swordsman like Kira Yoshitoki or a swordsman like Chujo Tokihide can afford to equip it. Ordinary samurai cannot prevent the blade from getting embedded when using inferior tachi.
The embarrassing problem of not being able to pull out the armor was a problem that even a samurai sword couldn't solve. Of course, this cheap scimitar couldn't solve it either, so it was the first to be abandoned.
The failure of the mace hit Kira Yoshitoki somewhat, and the reason they gave was also very realistic. Japan is basically all light-armored units, and there are not many medium-armored and heavy-armored units that need to break armor. Except for mounted samurai and horsemen.
Except for samurai warriors, most of them have light armor made of bamboo and wood. You can do it with a thick-edged battle axe. The hammer handle of the mace is too short and is not as easy to use as imagined, so the mace is somewhat redundant.
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Since some people said that the mace was too short, he ordered the design of a new mace staff. This weapon has a 1.2-meter-long hardwood handle with a cast iron spike head on it, and a sharp hammer on the other side.
The awl is used to break armor. The entire weapon only weighs ten kilograms. It does not have the huge weight of the legendary war hammer. On the contrary, it is very light and compact. There are two mace series, long and short.
In desperation, Kira Yoshitoki had no choice but to put away the scimitar and mace, and compiled the mace and scimitar as ashigaru's secondary weapons. Although it was only half the success and not the full success, this time the military
Equipment reform still played an important role. He also improved the weapons of the horseback warriors. The previous cavalry short lance was lengthened into a cavalry long lance. It was also equipped with a scimitar, a heavy cane bow, and other secondary weapons based on personal preferences.
As new weapons were distributed, the mounted samurai team was organized into cavalry equipment. The samurai warriors on horseback started training with the new weapons. Their new training subjects started with the most basic hacking of scarecrows on horseback. Thirty riders were divided into a group.
At the same time, they assaulted and chopped down hundreds of scarecrows erected on a long road. It only took less than a month to master the technique of chopping up scarecrows.
Of course, they were still far from the level where Mamluk hit a candied date hanging in the air when galloping, but this result had already surprised Kiragi. Then he ordered to increase the difficulty of training, and the galloping
The number of scarecrows on the road was increased several times. At the same time, wooden stakes were set up every 15 meters on the road. There were a row of scarecrows on the left and right sides between the two wooden stakes. The training requirements were to let them chop the piles left and right along the road.
scarecrow.
This is to train their horse control skills, spear skills, and sword skills. It requires high coordination and proficient horse skills. This is a huge challenge for them, which brings them a lot of trouble.
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ps: Many people think this is too exaggerated! If you continue to play like this, wouldn’t it be possible to equip 10,000 people without any hindrance? In fact, no, Japan has a serious iron shortage, and not everyone can afford this kind of equipment.
The other most important point is that without the military structure of the Kira family, the military service system gathered by a group of retainers cannot be used at all, not to mention that this kind of equipment requires extremely high training and discipline.
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How many elites does the Kira family have? There are only so many elites to fully equip it. If it were to equip large-scale equipment, the economy would definitely be overwhelmed (the damage rate of equipment on the battlefield is very high), and there are not that many elites to equip it.
You must know that the results of using sophisticated equipment for the Mamluks are completely incomparable to that of a peasant who has only experienced 20 days of rough military training.
If it is given to the Mamluk, it is a killing machine. If it is given to the farmer, the result is probably that the unlucky guy will be caught up and killed by the enemy while escaping because of the heavy armor.