Chapter 42 (1/2)
In the next half month, Jingzhou was calm.
With the army of the imperial court converging one after another, the total force was close to 200000. Luo Yanxiong, Marquis of Pingjiang, was the commander in chief to confront Wu zhence and Chen Bing.
Wars at this level begin with small-scale exploratory engagement, and last for a long time, usually lasting for several months before the final decision is made.
Zhao Yuanjin was concentrating on training the new army and preparing to send troops again. With Qin Feng's unremitting support in logistics materials, as well as sharp weapons such as Mo Dao, three bow bed crossbow, and return gun, the war will be irresistible.
For a while, Qin Feng went to the main world to buy what he needed.
When he came back 20 days later, Zhu Yuntai called for ten guards.
In the heavily guarded courtyard, ten sets of black armor are neatly arranged on the shelves. The fish scale shaped armor leaves are dense and neat, and there are matching inner armor and weapon blades, which twinkle in the sun with the unique faint cold light of metal.
”Young master, the workmanship of these armours looks exquisite and meticulous, and it must cost a lot of money, isn't it?”
Zhu Yuntai looked at it for a moment, but his face could not hide his surprise. He had been working in the army for a long time. Naturally, he understood how precious and rare such armor was. If he could equip it in batches, it would create a huge advantage
”This armour is called” Iron Pagoda ”. You may as well take it in your hand.” Qin Feng said with a smile.
The counsellor hesitated and tried to take off a suit of armor. Unexpectedly, he found that the armor, which looked very strong in defense, was so light that it was not very hard for him to hold it. Let alone those strong guards.
The armor of the cold weapon age was extremely heavy, because it was made of iron armor with strips or nails.
The average weight of medium and light armor is between 10 and 25 kg, and the weight of heavy armor is between 30 and 50 kg. Among them, the representative ones are iron Fu Tu of Jin State in Song Dynasty, and bu Renjia of song army.
In terms of the conditions at that time, the defense performance of these heavy armor was very good, but the defects were also obvious. High cost, too heavy, heavy burden on the physical fitness of the soldiers, and the flexibility is greatly limited.
Qin Feng had a general understanding of the cost of weapons in the world. A suit of full body armor with good defense performance, weighing about 18 kg and costing 150 Liang silver, was a rather expensive military equipment. If it is a better heavy armour, the cost will increase a lot.
Even the elite soldiers in the imperial court of the Qi Dynasty could not afford to be equipped with such armor. Most soldiers only had relatively simple half body light armor or leather armor. Unless it is the guards and the pinnacles who defend the emperor, then everyone can be equipped with full body armor.
As for the economic strength of the vassals, the ordinary soldiers had no such treatment except some elite Pro army.
Of course, there is another better choice, paper armour. The new book of Tang records the invention of paper armour in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. There are 13 kinds of armour in Tang Dynasty, such as Mingguang, Guangyao, Xilin, Shanwen, wuliao, Suozi, etc. Other kinds of armour are made of cloth, silk, wood, etc. In Tang Dynasty, the armor of soldiers was not only strong and light, but also gorgeous and beautiful. The appearance of the armor was generally painted with gold paint and various patterns, which was shining and used to equip the army. It appeared to be a neat and powerful army.
Paper armour began to be used in large scale in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and even became one of the standard armour styles of the song and Ming armies, with 30000 sets of paper armour customized at one go. In history, local officials applied for 100 sets of iron armour to replace 50 sets of high-quality paper armour. According to the new Tang Dynasty book, it is said that ”the strength of the arrow can not be holes”. It can be seen that the advantages of paper armour are strong and light. In particular, the use of water soldiers is more common.
Today, Zhao Yuanjin's army also has paper armor, and the number is still quite large. The defect of this thing is its low durability and easy to rot after passing water. Of course, in this chaotic time when human life is as cheap as grass, even soldiers are cannon fodder consumables on the battlefield, so this defect is nothing.
However, Qin Feng didn't want to make do with it at the beginning. He found a European metal crafts processing and manufacturing company in the main world and sent them the drawings, and soon received a positive response.
If there is a business, the merchants will not refuse at will. Moreover, with the level of modern industrial technology, there is no pressure to process and produce this ancient armor.