Rise From the Humble

After entering the twelfth lunar month, the weather has become even colder. Although Taohuaji is located in the south, it is still located in the north. It is not only invaded by the cold from the north, but also the humidity from the south of the Yangtze River, making it damp, cold, and bone-chilling.

Especially since there was a northerly wind last night and a small burst of sleet and snow in the middle of the night. This morning it is even wetter and colder.

When Zhu Ping'an inspected the Zhejiang Army's morning exercises in the morning, he found that more than 30 soldiers were pulled out by the supervisory team to beat them with military sticks because they were not wearing armor.

The Zhejiang Army's drill regulations stipulate that during morning drills, not only must they be fully armed, but they must also bear twenty kilograms of weight.

The reason why they carry an extra twenty kilograms of weight is because the Zhejiang Army currently does not have enough armor, and most of them can only wear half armor.

According to the military system, the full uniform of the Ming Dynasty's regular frontier troops weighed eighty-eight and a half kilograms. The specific armament is as follows: the body armor, battle skirt, armbands and other gear weighed a total of forty-five kilograms, and the helmet and headband weighed seven kilograms. The item protects the heart and flanks with a quiver that weighs five kilograms, the bow and quiver weighs ten kilograms, the waist knife weighs three and a half kilograms, the thorn bone weighs three kilograms, the quiver weighs one kilogram, and the battle hook with the skin on and off the clothes weighs eight kilograms in total. The total weight of all the weapons is exactly eighty-eight and a half kilograms.

The Zhejiang army currently has insufficient armor. There are only 280 pairs of mail armor. Most of them are incomplete armor and simple cloth armor. There is no arm covering, neck guard, heart guard, side guard, caltrop bone, etc. The Zhejiang army's full armor only weighed about forty kilograms, so an extra twenty kilograms of weight was added.

The reason why these soldiers don't wear armor is because they think the armor is too heavy and they want to be lazy? !

no.

Zhu Pingan noticed that although these soldiers were not wearing armor, they consciously carried an extra thirty kilograms of weight. The other armored soldiers carried twenty kilograms, but they carried a full fifty kilograms.

"Why would you rather carry more weight than wear armor?"

Zhu Pingan asked curiously. Judging from their conscious increase in weight, they were not lazy because they disliked the heavy armor.

"Sir, it's not that we don't wear armor, it's just that it's too cold. The armor is like ice pimples and we can't bear it with it on."

The unarmored soldier rubbed his chin and replied with an aggrieved look.

"Armor is life-saving. If you don't wear armor because it's too cold on the battlefield, a casualty can kill you. It will be too late to regret it by then. Ten days ago, Hu Yushi led his troops to stop the Japanese pirates in the Cherry Orchard. It was precisely because the soldiers were suspicious of It was cold and cold, so I took off my armor to warm myself up by the fire, and was attacked by Japanese pirates. I was completely defeated, and more than half of them were killed or injured! The lessons from the past are still there. The blood in front of the cherry orchard has not yet dried, and you have forgotten the lesson?! You have to overcome the cold, it is better than losing it. Kill your life!" Zhu Ping'an gave them a serious lesson.

"Yes, this is what you have learned from me." The soldiers realized their mistake and put on their armor on the spot, grinning with their teeth covered in ice.

So cold? !

Zhu Ping'an asked for a pair of iron helmets and armor in an attitude of seeking verification, and put it on himself.

Nest grass!

It’s so cold! ! ! The moment the iron armor came into contact with his body, all the hairs on Zhu Pingan's body stood up!

cold!

very cold!

At this moment, Zhu Ping'an had a deeper understanding of the poem written by Cen Shen: "The general's horns and bows cannot be controlled, and the protective armor is cold and cold." The moment the armor was put on his body, he felt as cold as if he had stepped into an ice cellar.

No wonder they would rather carry more weight than wear armor. In this damn weather, wearing armor is really a challenge!

Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but think about this.

A set of armor weighs forty or fifty kilograms. In this kind of ghost weather, the armor is as cold as a ghost. And although we are in the cold weapon era, fire guns and bird guns are increasingly used on the battlefield. Many elite Japanese pirates were equipped with iron cannons (actually Japanese-style muskets), and the armor's protection against muskets was seriously insufficient. Even with heavy armor, it would be vulnerable to being shot by fire cannons. The difference between wearing armor and not wearing armor was not much greater. If you think about it this way, wearing armor is not worth it.

But if you don't wear armor, it won't work. At this stage, cold weapons are still the main ones, and armor's protection against cold weapons is still very strong.

Is there a way to get the best of both worlds? !

Zhu Pingan suddenly began to think, is there any good method in history?

Oh, I remembered, cotton armor! It's cotton armor! When Zhu Ping'an thought about history, he first thought of cotton armor.

Cotton armor began to appear in the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, there were only a small amount of cotton armor, and the quality of the cotton armor was not high. However, cotton armor has relatively good buffering and protective properties against firearms, so it began to move toward the stage of history.

In fact, during the Jiajing period, many armies of the Ming Dynasty were also equipped with cotton armor, but the number was not large. It began to gradually increase during the Longqing period. During the Chongzhen period, which was the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, cotton armor began to be popularized in large numbers. In the Manchu and Qing dynasties, the early Manchu and Qing Dynasties captured the Ming army's cotton armor, and then it became Loyal fans of cotton armor, after years of development and improvement, the Manchu and Qing Dynasties determined cotton armor as standard equipment, and the shape was gradually fixed, divided into multiple parts such as body armor, front guard, armor sleeves, cape, left guard and so on. During the Qing Dynasty, when the Qing army conquered Junggar and conquered Jinchuan and Jinchuan, Mian Jiadu made great achievements.

Don’t think that cotton armor is simple and inferior. In fact, when it comes to protection, cotton armor is even better than iron armor. Not only is its protection against firearms excellent, but its protection against cold weapons is not as good as iron armor. Give more. The quality of mature cotton armor can be such that it will not absorb water when it rains, cannot be cut through by sharp blades, and cannot be penetrated by muskets!

Moreover, cotton armor has advantages that even iron armor cannot match. First, cotton armor is warm and comfortable to wear, and it has much less restrictions on the physical movements of soldiers. Second, cotton armor is cheap and a set of composite Cotton armor requires about seven or eight kilograms of cotton, lined with iron sheets and fixed with copper nails on the outside. The cost is several times lower than that of iron armor, and its weight is also several times lighter than that of iron armor. In the Ming Dynasty, cotton was grown everywhere, and the material It is easy to obtain; thirdly, cotton armor is easy to maintain and the leather is durable. This is not the case with iron armor. It rains and the ground is wet, so iron armor is easy to embroider and is not durable. The several carts of tattered armor brought from the Linhuai Marquis Naval Camp are examples.

In addition, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the whole of China would fall into the Little Ice Age. The weather was colder than usual, and it even snowed in Guangdong. The Ming Dynasty used more force in the north, where it was colder and cotton armor was more adaptable.

The early popularization of cotton armor would be a great benefit to the Ming Dynasty's border troops, and also a great benefit to the Ming Dynasty.

The cost of cotton armor is low. Four or five sets of cotton armor can be made for the cost of one set of iron armor. In this way, the cost is low, and the armor wearing rate is high; the armor wearing rate is high, the survival rate of the Ming army is high, and the combat effectiveness on the battlefield will also be improved. Quite a few.

When it comes to cotton armor, there is no doubt that the cotton armor from the late Manchu and Qing Dynasties is of high quality and the production process is more practical and mature.

So, come out and Manqing Mianjia! Zhu Pingan's eyes lit up and he made up his mind. The maturity and popularization of cotton armor starts with our Zhejiang Army!