Chapter 128: Development of Technology: Cloth Covered Copper Armor
Shulot walked through the busy courtyard and headed to the northwest of the Shenqi Institute, where is the research area for armor equipment. The person in charge here is Matlar, an armor master from the Holy City, who is proficient in cotton.
Besides armor, he is especially good at leather armor.
The Mexica's cotton armor and leather armor technology is quite mature. Every young warrior will be equipped with Ichicawipili, which is a light cotton armor in the form of a vest. For second-level warriors and above, they will be equipped with different levels of Telavi.
Ziteli is a bright full-body cotton armor. The more elite senior warriors will transition from cotton armor to leather-inlaid cotton armor, or sleeveless lace-up leather armor.
The main reason why cotton armor is widely popular is the low production cost. Central America is one of the main origins of cotton and has extremely rich cotton seed resources. The ancestors of the Americas also have an astonishingly long history of domesticating cotton. In
During this era, the upland velvet cotton grown in various parts of Mexico was the most productive variety in the world, far exceeding the Indian cotton of the same period.
When the Spaniards arrived in Mexico and Yucatan, they discovered the production advantages of fine velvet cotton and brought it back to Eurasia, where it quickly spread and replaced the original Eurasian cotton.
Hulot knew that in later generations, 90% of the world's cotton production was upland cotton originating from Mexico. In fact, American civilization had no cattle or sheep, and lacked leather and wool, so it went very far in plant domestication.
. Corn pumpkins, potatoes and sweet potatoes, peanuts and strawberries, cassava and green beans, tomatoes and avocados, peppers and passion fruit, pineapples and dragon fruit, cocoa and sunflowers, tobacco and rubber, and high-yield short-staple cotton are all outstanding contributions of ancient American civilization to the world, which have completely changed the world.
Human life. This is another great form of civilization.
When Shulot walked into the nail-making workshop, the aroma of cotton lint hit his nostrils, making him feel light and relaxed.
The boy looked around. The craftsmen put several kilograms of cotton wool into the mold, soaked it in water and pressed it repeatedly, layer by layer, into thick sheets, that is, cotton sheets. At this time, the space in the middle of the workshop was filled with cotton sheets that were being dried.
If these cotton pieces do not swell after being exposed to the sun for a day, they are considered qualified and can be used to make cotton nails.
In the corner of the workshop, armor master Matlar was sitting next to a large pool, tanning a nearly four-meter-long crocodile skin. This is the fresh raw material that the warriors just sent from Tianhuo Island. Please make it.
Master Jia helped make the leather armor. Of course, since there is no thick cowhide, the leather armor here is still made by sticking leather on the surface of cotton armor.
Compared with cotton, leather materials are relatively rare. The only sources of leather for the Mexicans are the rare wild deer, coyotes, jaguars and huge crocodiles. Senior warriors with many years of experience will enter the mountains and forests.
, to try to ambush wild deer, chase tigers and wolves, and hunt predators, so as to make precious and tough leather armor for themselves. Leather armor has therefore become a symbol of high-level warriors.
Shulot strode closer and took a closer look. The crocodile skin had been soaked and washed, becoming soft and clean. The protein fibers in it had been fully stretched and expanded, and were now put into the leather tanning pool. The pool
The middle is filled with bark cut into small pieces, and a layer of oil floats on the water.
The boy smelled the slightly pungent smell, and then smelled the unique aroma of pine trees. He looked at the texture of the bark and found that it was indeed pine bark rich in tannins, and maybe some fir bark.
The tannin juice will flow into the water, then penetrate into the leather and combine with collagen, completely denaturing the protein structure, turning the leather into leather, making the leather tough and no longer rotten.
Matral vigorously turned over the crocodile skin in the pool, as if training a huge beast. This stirring process lasted for two quarters of an hour every day. After about a few weeks, the skin will become soft and can be taken out and patted again.
Knead. After the tanning is completed, it is washed, stretched and dried on a wooden frame. Finally, it is selectively smoothed, oiled, polished and kneaded until it is completely formed.
In the main hall where Shulot sits, there is a soft and tough jaguar skin, which is used as a cushion for him to work on the floor. Jaguar noble warriors also like to wear tiger skins, or make tiger skins into leather armor to show their bravery.
and strength.
Seeing His Highness coming, Matlar knelt down and saluted respectfully. He was about forty years old, with an ordinary appearance. There was a long diagonal claw mark on his face, which made him look quite fierce. This was from hunting tigers and leopards when he was young.
Traces of it. Looking at his thick fingers, thick calluses, and quick and powerful movements, he was obviously an excellent hunter.
Shulot immediately took two steps forward and held up the armor master with a smile.
Matral is an old man in the Holy City, whom the boy has known since childhood. He is a senior civilian warrior who is good at hunting and armor-making. In the end, he retired as a warrior and became an armor-making master. He has a high status in the Holy City army. The boy
The leather armor and deerskin boots were all made by him.
Matlar is a direct descendant who can be fully trusted. This time to establish the Divine Enlightenment Institute, Shulot specially invited the armor-making master from the Holy City to be responsible for the research of armor.
"Matral, has the armor I asked you to try made? How is its defense? How much labor does it cost?" Shulot asked seriously.
The armor master smiled gently and handed over the work in his hands to the apprentice. His personality was much better than Kushinki. At this time, he personally walked to the row of armors arranged on the wooden rack and explained to His Highness in detail.
"Your Highness, please take a look. Here are the cloth-covered bronze armor, cloth-covered paper armor, rattan armor, and finally the rattan plaque I made myself."
Shulot nodded slightly, looking forward to it. Cotton armor can effectively defend against obsidian weapons and arrows, but its defense against bronze weapons is weak, and it is difficult to resist the piercing of copper spears. The young man searched the various equipment in his memory.
Try to restore the Armor Master.
"The first is this kind of cloth-covered bronze armor. According to His Highness's suggestion, I nailed neatly arranged copper sheets on the inside, and then filled them with cotton sheets and leather. In order to save copper materials, the copper nails and copper sheets were concentrated on the chest
and the position of the two shoulders. The copper used for each cloth-covered bronze armor weighs between twenty and thirty kilograms. Including the cotton armor itself, it weighs thirty to forty kilograms.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! It can completely defend against the cutting of fighting sticks, but is slightly weaker against bludgeoning. As for bows and arrows, Tlaxcala bows and arrows are completely indestructible, and the Mexican longbow also needs
It can only be penetrated at close range. And against the copper axes and spears of the Tarascans, this kind of cloth-covered copper armor has amazing defensive power."
Having said this, Matlar admired sincerely, and the scars on his face trembled in surprise.
"However, as mentioned before, a cloth-covered bronze armor requires at least twenty kilograms of copper and more than ten kilograms of cotton. It requires specialized craftsmen to make copper sheets and copper nails, and then fix them on the cotton armor. The production cost
It is very expensive in terms of labor and labor. This kind of armor is also extremely heavy, and only elite warriors can bear it for a long time."
As he said that, Matlar brought the bronze ax of Tarasco for testing. He chopped it several times, but there was no fatal damage to the cloth-covered bronze armor. Then he changed it to a copper spear, stabbed it from the front a few times, and was immediately covered with cotton.
The copper plate underneath slides away. Only side attacks can be effective and fatal, and these positions will be defended by weapons and shields.
Touching the smooth copper nails on the surface of the cloth armor and feeling the hard copper inside, Shulot nodded with satisfaction and fell into deep thought.
In this era, due to its excellent performance and low cost, cloth armor has begun to be popularized in the Ming Dynasty. The elite frontier troops of the Ming army were equipped with a large number of cloth armor, which could even weigh forty to fifty kilograms, becoming
New type of heavy armor.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the Spaniards brought Mexican cotton to the world, and the cotton production of the Chinese Empire increased significantly, making cloth armor the standard equipment of the standing army. The proportion of iron armor equipment during the Ming and Qing Dynasties also
Therefore, it will exceed any previous dynasty, and there will always be tens of thousands of armored armies. The Jurchen headquarters after Lao Nu are all armored, and most of the equipment is cheap cloth-covered armor.
Cloth-covered iron armor has amazing defensive power against traditional swords. Compared with plate armor and pierced armor, it is much simpler and cheaper in terms of craftsmanship and cost, but its defensive power has not been reduced much. It is also particularly easy to repair and maintain, and can be popularized on a large scale.
In the standing army of the Eastern Empire. At the same time, filled cotton sheets can effectively defend against emerging firearms, similar to the most rudimentary body armor.
Later, Shulot shook his head and smiled bitterly. This kind of cheap and efficient equipment for the Ming Dynasty, but placed in the Mexican Alliance and Central American tribes, is extremely expensive and high-end equipment, a truly invincible heavy armor!
A pair of cloth-covered bronze armor consumes twenty or thirty kilograms of bronze. These bronzes are enough to make fifty five-tael spearheads and provide fifty village militias with weapons that can threaten the warriors. However, the alliance does not produce copper.
It is difficult to afford hundreds of heavy bronze armors. At the same time, making cloth-covered bronze armors also consumes a lot of labor.
More importantly, this technology skips the difficulty of forging and overweight problems of integral bronze armor. Once it flows into the hands of the Tarascans and pierces this layer of window paper, it will truly arm the enemies of the west.
The opponent's strength will increase exponentially, completely changing the military comparison between the two sides.
Thinking of thousands of cloth-covered bronze armor warriors, Shulot shuddered and shook his head again. He pondered for a moment, then asked Matlar to put away the cloth-covered bronze armor, and the production technology was temporarily sealed. When the Alliance West
After conquering and obtaining a stable copper mine, the cloth-covered copper armor will begin to be installed, bringing unexpected surprises and deep despair to the next war target.
Next, the young man looked at the cloth-covered paper armor, this new and ancient cheap equipment, with a heartfelt smile on his face.