Aztec Eternals

The weather is clear and cloudless, the breeze is blowing slightly cold, it is a suitable day for work.

Shulot walked out of the gorgeous main hall, and noise and commotion came from all directions. He heard heated arguments, coordinated shouts, and the sound of tools cutting wood. The air is filled with the smell of wood and leather.

The young man looked around, and the Prince Texcoco's mansion had completely changed. The beautiful garden was flattened, and work tables and equipment were placed; the exquisite houses were transformed, and various raw materials and tools were piled up; pits for drying wood and earth kilns for firing utensils were also built at the corners; the only The only thing that remains unchanged is the toilet covered with hay and marl, maybe you can try to pile up nitrate.

Shulot strode forward. Along the way, everyone bowed their heads and saluted. The boy waved his hand, signaling the craftsmen to continue. He has already told everyone to put the work at hand first, and there is no need to pay homage. In the Divine Revelation Institute at this time, the craftsmen were shuttling back and forth, sweating profusely, and the warriors were armed and guarded, and everything was running efficiently.

At the center of the oracle is the hall where he works. The rest of the region is divided into north and south, the inner layer to the north is conducting military technology research, and the outer layer to the south is improving civilian technology.

After a while, Shulot came to the weapons research area in the northeast. A master carpenter in a plain robe is working intently.

He operated a large bow with a bow arm, put a two-feathered short and thick arrow on the arrow path in the center of the bow arm, then pulled the bow string vigorously, fixed it on the slot at the back of the bow arm, and finally flattened it He bowed his body, aimed at the human-shaped grass target thirty steps away, and pulled the trigger under the bow arm. With a sound of "buzz", the short and thick arrow crossed the slightly swaying trajectory, and pierced the left shoulder of the human-shaped grass target, penetrating nearly halfway.

Xiulot watched the master carpenter's operation and nodded slightly.

"Kushinki, you've done a good job! You are worthy of a family of craftsmen inherited in the name of carpenters."

Hearing the sound not far away, the master carpenter Kuxinji turned around. He was tall and strong, with an old and serious face, without a smile. His hair was already grizzled, and his gestures looked more like a veteran warrior, apparently having received orthodox warrior education.

Seeing His Highness, Kuxinki simply followed the etiquette of a warrior. Immediately, he replied loudly, with dissatisfaction in his words.

"Your Highness, how does the crossbow you are talking about keep the shooting stable? In order to shoot the arrows flat, you can only use two unstable arrows. The arrow body is thick and short, and the distance of thirty steps has been deflected like this! How can you say that the range is hundreds of paces?"

Facing the imposing master carpenter, Xiuluot was speechless, how could he remember the specific bow and crossbow design clearly.

That's right, this is the most important research item in the weapons zone, the crossbow. And Kuxinji is the main person in charge of weapons research.

In the Nahua language, Cushingi means professional carpenter, which is an inherited honorary title recognized by the royal family. The artisan family in the capital has continued for generations, and only master carpenters with important status in the main branch of the family and skilled carpenters can inherit the name.

As a master carpenter, Kusinki originally worked in the Craftsmanship Center with a respected status. Since he was a child, he has surpassed Kuod, an old carpenter in the family branch. As a result, Kuod returned with the king this time. Because he presided over the development of the longbow, he became the director of craftsmen, and even the master craftsman was under management.

Seeing the smug face of his old brother, Kuxinji couldn't bear this tone. Just as Xiulot was setting up a new artisan center, he volunteered to join. The master carpenter came to vote, and the young man was overjoyed, and he also entrusted him with the heavy responsibility of weapon research.

The current weapon research includes: the development of wooden crossbows, the improvement of spears and throwing guns, the research of burning rockets, and the trial production of gunpowder on Tianhuo Island.

It only took Kuxinji two days to modify the manufacturing process of the three-meter bronze spear.

The spearhead of the bronze spear weighs about half a catty, with blades on both sides, which can be cut a little outside the thrust. The difficulty of the spear body lies in the wood processing. Hardwood is used as a rod, which is less elastic and easy to break, so it needs to be soaked in oil to increase rigidity. And every time the length of the spear body increases by one meter, the difficulty of processing increases exponentially, and the labor required also increases rapidly.

In terms of the alliance's current productivity and battlefield needs, a three-meter spear is sufficient.

Later, the master carpenter improved the throwing spear into two types, heavy throwing spear and light throwing spear, according to Xiulot's request. However, the so-called light and heavy here are only relative terms, and they all belong to the heavy javelin as a whole.

The boy's inspiration naturally came from the ancient Roman legions who were good at using javelins.

The length of the light throwing gun is between one meter and five to two meters, and the diameter is about three centimeters. It uses flint as the tip of the gun, assisted by a spear thrower, and has a shooting distance of 20 to 30 steps. It focuses on killing lightly armored militiamen or conducting tactical harassment. Its cost is low, and it will be equipped in large numbers for lightly armed javelin skirmishers.

The length of the heavy-duty throwing gun is between one meter and one meter five. It is thicker and heavier, and the sharp obsidian is used as the tip of the spear. The best shooting distance should be within twenty steps. Xiulot considered casting a shot on the front end of the spear to increase the weight and shooting power of the spear. In future plans, each Mexica warrior should have two heavy throwing spears inserted inside the shield. Facing the phalanx of enemy warriors in cotton and leather armor, throw two rounds of dense javelins at close range first, and then charge into battle after throwing.

Xiulot has tested the power of the heavy javelin: it can shoot through the leather armor within twenty steps, and immediately make the person in the middle lose its combat effectiveness. Or stick it on the shield to force the opposite warrior to abandon the shield. When you have enough metal, you can completely move closer to the Roman legion.

As for the burning vertical rockets, they were prepared for the water battle against the Tarascos, and they are still just concepts. Craftsmen test different fuels while waiting for gunpowder to be made.

The boy's idea comes from the battle of Tang Island in Song Dynasty and Jin Dynasty. The power of early gunpowder was more focused on burning than detonating. Binding gunpowder wrapped in paper tubes to arrow shafts to propel arrows and set fire to the enemy’s wooden ships should be a relatively safe and reliable naval warfare plan, and it has also been tested in actual combat.

When the purity and power of gunpowder are further improved, simple wooden cannons with copper hoops can be put on the agenda. And with enough copper ore, you can try to make more difficult bronze cannons. As for the more difficult arquebus, it will take a long time and technological progress.

Xiulot's thoughts returned from the detailed plan, and the current weapon focus is on the research and mass production of crossbows.

The young man had investigated the legions directly under the royal family, and there were always a small number of warriors who could skillfully use bows and arrows. Only a few thousand bow warriors could be recruited out of 50,000 people. After all, it takes years to practice the longbow. To quickly increase the long-range strike force, in addition to recruiting tribal hunters who are good at shooting, they can only rely on crossbows that are easy to operate and aim.

A week ago, Schlott gave Kusinki a general description of the concept and structure of the crossbow: adding a crossbow arm to the bow. The bow body is fixed at the front end of the crossbow arm, and a ditch-shaped arrow path for placing arrow clusters is left in the middle, and a crossbow machine is installed at the rear end. The upper part of the crossbow is a hook for hanging the string, and the lower end is a connected trigger, which controls the release of the string.

This is the young man's understanding of the crossbow, and the rest has to be explored by the master carpenter himself. Kusinki held his breath in his heart and worked day and night. But in just a few days, he made a simple wooden crossbow into shape, but this weapon seems to be far from enough compared to Kuod's longbow.

Facing the dissatisfied master craftsman who asked questions, Xiulot couldn't speak. He took the simple wooden crossbow in Kuxinji's hand and looked at it carefully.

The curved length of the crossbow arm is about 1.5 meters, and it is also made of single wood. The boy should be fir after smelling it. The bowstring is about 1.23 meters, rough to the touch, and made of silk and hemp fabric. The ditch-shaped arrows are horizontal, so only the left and right arrows can be installed. The wooden crossbow was under tremendous force, and it seemed that the hook had been slightly deformed.

Shulot tried to wind the string again. The pulling force of this simple wooden crossbow was only about 90 pounds, which was not as good as the Mexica longbow that had been improved to more than 100 pounds, but it was still stronger than the Tlaxcala bow.

Then, the boy aimed at the humanoid grass target thirty paces away, and pulled the trigger. This time, the crossbow arrow drew a downward trajectory and pierced into the straw target's right leg. Kuxinji next to him turned dark, while marksman Bertard raised his mouth.

Seeing this scene, Shulot fell into deep thought. Facing the familiar crossbow, he closed his eyes and began to recall the vague details in his memory, from museums to film and television works, to books he had read. Everyone was respectful and silent, with expectations and awe in their eyes, waiting for His Highness to communicate with the gods and receive the "divine enlightenment" from heaven again.

After a long time, the boy finally opened his eyes. He looked at the master carpenter with clear and bright eyes, and smiled slightly.

The writing is relatively detailed, and the search for information will be slower.