Aztec Eternals

Shulot walked through the busy courtyard to the northwest of the Divine Revelation Institute, which was the research area for armor equipment. The person in charge here is Matrall, a master armor maker from the Holy City. Apart from being proficient in cotton armor, he is especially good at leather armor.

The cotton armor and leather armor technology of the Mexica is quite mature. Every young samurai is equipped with an ichkavipili, a light cotton armor in the form of a waistcoat. Warriors above the second level are equipped with different levels of Travistri, that is, brightly colored full-body cotton armor. The more elite veteran warriors will transition from cotton armor to cotton armor inlaid with leather, or sleeveless leather armor with straps.

The main reason why cotton armor is widely popular is the low production cost. Central America is one of the most important origins of cotton, with extremely rich cotton seed resources, and the history of domestication of cotton by American ancestors is also amazing. During this era, the upland cotton grown in various parts of Mexico was the most productive variety in the world, far surpassing the Indian cotton of the same period.

When the Spaniards arrived in Mexico and Yucatan, they found that the production advantage of fine-staple cotton here would be brought back to the Eurasian continent in turn, and then quickly spread to replace the original Eurasian cotton.

Xiulot knows that in later generations, 90% of the world's cotton production is upland cotton originally from Mexico. In fact, American civilization has no cattle and sheep, and lacks leather and wool, so it has gone 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, pineapple and dragon fruit, cocoa sunflowers, tobacco rubber, and high-yielding linters are all outstanding contributions of ancient American civilizations to the world and have completely changed mankind. life. This is another great form of civilization.

When Shulot stepped into the armor-making workshop, the aroma of cotton fat came to the nostrils, making people feel light and relaxed.

The teenager looked around, and the craftsmen put several catties of cotton wool into the mould, soaked in water and repeatedly molded it, and pressed it layer by layer into a thick sheet, that is, a cotton sheet. At this time, the space in the middle of the workshop is full of cotton sheets being dried. If these cotton sheets do not swell after being exposed to the sun for a day, they are considered qualified and can be used to make cotton armor.

In the corner of the workshop, the master armorer Matral was sitting by a large pool, tanning a nearly four-meter-long crocodile skin. This is the fresh raw material that the samurai just sent from Tianhuo Island. Please ask the master armor maker to help 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 the cotton armor.

Compared with cotton, the material of leather is more rare. The only sources of hide for the Mexica were the rare wild deer, coyotes, jaguars, and huge crocodiles. Years of experienced warriors will go into 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 thus become a symbol of high-level warriors.

Xiulot strode closer and watched carefully. The crocodile skin has been soaked and washed to become soft and clean, the protein fibers in it have been fully stretched and swollen, and is now placed in the tanning tank. The pool was filled with bark cut into small pieces, and a layer of grease floated on the water.

The boy sniffed the slightly pungent smell, and smelled the unique aroma of pine trees. He looked at the texture of the bark again, and it was indeed tannin-rich pine bark, possibly some fir bark. The tannin juice in the bark will flow into the water, then permeate into the skin and combine with collagen, completely denature the structure of the protein, turn the skin into leather, and make the leather tough and no longer corrupt.

Matral vigorously flipped the crocodile skin in the pool, as if training a huge beast. This stirring process lasts for two quarters of an hour every day. After about a few weeks, the skin will soften and can be taken out and patted and rubbed again. After tanning, they are washed and stretched to dry on wooden frames. Finally, it is selectively polished and oiled, polished and softened until it is fully formed.

In the hall where Xiu Luote sat, there was a piece of soft and tough jaguar skin, which was 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, Matral knelt down respectfully and saluted. He was probably in his forties, with an ordinary appearance. There was a slanted claw mark on his face, which looked quite fierce. This was the mark left by hunting tigers and leopards when he was young. Looking at his thick fingers, thick calluses, and quick and powerful movements, he was obviously an excellent hunter.

Shulot immediately took two steps forward, smiling and holding up the armor master.

Matral is an old man in the holy city, whom he has known since childhood. He is a senior civilian warrior who is good at hunting and armor making. He finally retired from a warrior and became a master armor maker. He has a high status in the Holy City army. The boy's leather armor and moccasin boots were made by him.

Matral is a direct descendant who can be fully trusted. This time, Xiulot specially invited the armor master from the holy city to be in charge of the research of the armor.

"Matral, is the armor I asked you to try ready? How about its defense? How much labor is it?" Xiulot asked seriously.

The master armor maker smiled gently, and handed over the work to the apprentice. His personality was much better than that of Kuxinji. At this time, he personally walked to the row of armors arranged on the wooden frame and explained to His Highness in detail.

"Please look, Your Highness. Here are the cloth-covered bronze armor, cloth-covered paper armor, rattan armor that you requested to make, and finally the rattan plate that I made myself."

Shulot nodded slightly, looking forward. 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 boy searched all kinds of equipment in his memory, trying to restore the armor master.

"The first is this cloth-covered copper 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 are concentrated on the front chest And the position of the shoulders. Each pair of cloth-faced bronze armor uses copper between 20 and 30 jin, and the cotton armor itself weighs 30 to 40 jin.

It is fully defended against the cutting of the baton and slightly weaker against the bludgeoning. For bows and arrows, Tlaxcala bows and arrows are completely indestructible, and the Mexica longbow also needs to be shot at close range. As for the copper axes and spears of the Tarascos, the defense of this cloth-covered copper armor is amazing. "

Speaking of this, Matral admired sincerely, the scars on his face trembling in surprise.

"However, as I said before, a pair of cloth-covered copper armor requires at least 20 catties of copper and more than 10 catties of cotton. Special craftsmen are required to make copper sheets and copper nails, and then fix them on the cotton armor. The production cost The cost and labor are very high. This kind of armor is also extremely heavy, and only elite warriors can bear it for a long time."

As he said that, the Tarasco bronze ax that Matral used to test was hacked several times, and the cloth-covered bronze armor did not cause fatal damage. Then he switched to a copper spear, stabbed it a few times in the front, and was then slid away by the copper sheet under the cotton face. Only a sideways attack can be effective and lethal, and these positions will be defended with weapons and shields.

Touching the smooth copper nails on the surface of the cloth mask and feeling the hard copper inside, Shulot nodded in satisfaction and fell into deep thought.

In this era, due to its excellent performance and low cost, cloth face armor has begun to be popularized in Ming Dynasty. The elite border troops of the Ming army were equipped with a large amount of cloth armor, which could even weigh forty to fifty catties, becoming a new type of heavy armor.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the Spaniards brought the cotton of the Mexica to the world, and the cotton production of the Celestial Dynasty would be greatly increased, so that the cloth face armor became the standard equipment of the standing army. The proportion of armored equipment during the Ming and Qing Dynasties will also exceed that of any previous dynasty, and there are tens of thousands of armored troops at every turn. After the old slave, the Jurchen Headquarters is full of armor, and most of them are equipped with cheap cloth armor.

Cloth-faced iron armor is surprisingly effective 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 does not decrease much, and it is especially easy to repair and maintain, and can be widely used in the standing army of the Eastern Empire. At the same time, the filled cotton sheet can effectively defend against emerging firearms, which is similar to the most basic body armor.

Afterwards, Shulot shook his head and smiled wryly. This kind of cheap and efficient equipment for Ming Dynasty was placed in the Mexica Alliance and Central America, but it was extremely expensive high-level equipment, and it was truly invincible heavy armor!

A pair of cloth-faced bronze armor consumes 20 to 30 catties of bronze, which are enough to make fifty fifty-two spearheads, providing fifty village militiamen with weapons that can threaten warriors. However, the alliance does not produce copper, so it is difficult to afford hundreds of heavy copper armor. At the same time, the labor required to make cloth-covered copper armor is also very large.

More importantly, this technique skips the forging difficulty and overweight problems of the overall bronze armor. Once it flows into the hands of the Tarascos and pierces this layer of window paper, it will truly arm the enemies of the West. The strength of the opponent will increase exponentially, completely changing the military balance between the two sides.

Thinking of the thousands of cloth-covered bronze armored warriors, Shulot shuddered and shook his head again. After pondering for a moment, he asked Matral to put away the cloth-covered bronze armor, and the production technology was temporarily sealed. And when the alliance marches west and obtains a stable copper mine, the cloth-faced copper armor will start to be installed, bringing unexpected surprises and deep despair to the next war goal.

Next, the boy looked at the paper armor, a new and old cheap equipment, with a sincere smile on his face.