Shulot approached quickly and took a closer look. The cloth paper armor in front of him is brownish-gray, with a layer of cloth inside and outside, as thick as half the palm of your hand. It feels soft and solid to the touch, and you can vaguely smell the fragrance of the paper.

The boy then looked at the paper armor master Mattel in anticipation.

"How effective is this paper armor? How much does it cost? Is it easy to maintain?"

Trall also stroked the paper armor with his hand and explained with a smile.

"According to His Royal Highness's instructions, I used the cloth surface as the base, superimposed it on a non-sexual and extremely soft paper, about fifty sheets, and then added corn mortar to bond it, pasted a layer of cloth surface, and then beat it with a stone hammer and compacted it. Layers. Then stack 50 sheets of paper and a layer of cloth again, and continue to thicken and strengthen... This paper armor has a full four layers."

Having said that, the armor master first used the obsidian battle stick to swipe, and the cutting of the sharp piece could only cut through the first layer of paper armor, and the second layer penetrated halfway. The full swing of the bronze axe can cut through three to four layers, but it does no damage to the wooden frame under the fourth layer. Only the full thrust of the bronze spear can pierce the four layers, leaving a shallow mark on the wooden frame. The close-range shooting of the Tlaxcala bow can only break through two layers, and the impact kinetic energy is completely absorbed by the paper.

Demonstrating the defensive effect when dry, Maratl pondered and then assessed.

"This kind of paper armor is quite light, and its defense depends on two points. First, the more layers, the stronger the defense. It can be stacked to more than six layers, and it can even be compared with cloth copper armor! It's just too thick. , the action will be seriously affected. Second, if the paper armor absorbs water, its defense can be doubled, and the axe cannot be cut!"

Having said that, the armor master asked the apprentice to bring a large bucket of water and pour it evenly on the paper armor. The paper armor quickly absorbed water, completely soft, and the tentacles were wet. Afterwards, Xiuluot personally slashed with the copper axe, and the armor was soft and weak, and could not be slashed at all, and then replaced with the copper spear, it could only pierce a little.

Seeing this scene, the boy finally nodded in satisfaction.

Maratelle smiled and continued to introduce.

"His Royal Highness, this kind of cloth paper armor is not difficult to make, and apprentices can also participate in the production. It is just that the amount of paper required is huge, and the production is labor-intensive. Maintenance and repair are easy, just add paper and cloth to bond. Usually need Pay attention to fire prevention and don’t worry about it during the rainy season.”

Shirote pondered again, his eyes twinkling.

With the development of papermaking technology, paper armor began to be used on a large scale in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and became the standard armor of the local army in the Song Dynasty. In this era, most of the grass-roots soldiers of the Ming army were also equipped with paper armor, especially the navy army.

In fact, the characteristic of paper armor's double defense when it encounters water is very suitable for the standard equipment of the navy. In the long rainy season in Mexica, paper armor can also give full play to its advantages, and there is no need to worry about rust like metal armor. Hmm, probably need to watch out for bugs.

Technically speaking, paper armor is almost not difficult to manufacture, as long as there are sufficient raw materials and manpower, it can be manufactured on a large scale. The positioning of this armor is actually quite similar to the cotton armor. It's just that in this era of low productivity, the planting and output of cotton are limited after all, and cotton cloth is also circulated in Central American society as a currency, but it is not as easy to obtain as papermaking raw materials.

The commonly used raw materials for papermaking include bamboo, reed, bark, long grass, and jute, all of which do not need to occupy arable land, and can be solved by manpower survey during slack farming, giving full play to the manpower advantage of the Mexica Union.

After repeated consideration, Shulot made a decision and listed the paper armor as a standing stock, popularizing it in the longbow militia and the spear militia to be formed, and also used to strengthen the navy.

"Malater, this armor is positioned to be popularized on a large scale and used to arm thousands of elite militiamen. Similar to standard cotton armor, as long as the paper armor can effectively resist the samurai's battle stick in a battle That's it! I only need the cheapest two: two layers of paper armor to arm elite militiamen, and one layer of paper armor to arm sailors and navy.

According to this idea, you are ready to sort out the production method of paper armor in detail. Soon, I will set up a special workshop and dispatch hundreds of craftsmen to make paper armor in large quantities. You can recommend a workshop leader! "

Sherlot gave a serious order.

Malatel thought for a moment and bowed his head respectfully. He also needs to develop a new type of armor, just to push the big apprentice that the Holy City has followed all the way to this position. Thinking of this, the Armor Maker smiled, and the scars on his face trembled happily.

Then, he got up and moved, came to a pair of finely woven blue-brown rattan armor, and smiled again.

"His Royal Highness, this is a rattan armor made according to your wishes. The alliance has a tradition of making shields with green rattan, and there are some old rattan in stock. I used old rattan to weave this rattan armor. It took a long time, the most difficult one. It is the treatment of the joints. Fortunately, the finished product is very light, difficult to enter with a stick and axe, and has excellent defense!"

As he said that, Maratelle cut and swiped with the obsidian battle stick, and the rattan armor was unscathed. Then carefully chop with a copper axe, leaving a few scratches on the rattan armor. Finally, stabbed with a copper spear, the tip of the spear penetrated a little through the natural crevice of the rattan armor, and did no harm to the rattan armor itself.

Shulot looked closer and saw that the rattan armor was quite densely woven, and the natural gap between the rattan was only the size of a grain of rice. The master of the nail maker's swing brought the breeze, and a faint smell of fish oil rushed to his face, obviously it had been soaked in oil for a long time.

The young man watched for a moment, and asked with keen doubts.

"Malater, why don't you use your copper axe to slash with all your strength? Besides, how does this armor defend against bows and arrows?"

The armor maker smiled awkwardly, thought for a moment, and explained it truthfully.

"His Royal Highness, this rattan armor is different from other armors. Its defense relies on the material of the entire old rattan. Once severed, this rattan armor is almost impossible to maintain. There are not so many old rattans in stock, and the new rattan needs to be soaked in oil. One year..."

Hearing this, Shulot thought for a moment and sighed slightly.

The defense of rattan armor is between iron armor and leather armor, and excellent rattan armor is actually no less than iron armor. However, throughout the history of the celestial dynasty, rattan armor was only popularized in the southwestern borderlands and navy, and was even replaced by paper armor and cloth armor, which naturally had irreparable defects.

In practical applications, the most fatal flaw of rattan is not afraid of fire, but difficult to repair. Armor damage in battle is very common. After a battle, the tie armor and scale armor need to be replaced with iron sheets, the chain armor needs to be repaired with iron rings, and the paper armor and cloth armor are refilled with materials, but the rattan armor cannot. Its defense relies entirely on the material of the old vine itself, and once it breaks, it can only be remade.

And the production of rattan armor is very long. Green vines should be soaked in water for half a month, dried for a few days, and soaked in oil for a year. After weaving into nails, the surface needs to be hardened, which is very labor-intensive. At the same time, the firmness of the rattan shell is proportional to the age of the green rattan. The new rattan is brittle and easy to break, and the old rattan is tough and wear-resistant, but it is a rare raw material.

In addition, there are natural gaps in the rattan armor, so the defense against bows and arrows is very low. The tough old rattan is not easy to bend, so most rattan armors cannot do movable joints, and they look like a large vest when worn on the body, which looks quite ancient.

Seeing His Highness's increasingly gloomy face, Maratelle froze in her heart and hurriedly stepped forward to remedy it.

"His Royal Highness, in fact, the alliance has a lot of experience with the use of ivy. In my opinion, it is actually very suitable for making shields and helmets."

With that said, the Armor Master took a helmet woven from old rattan and handed it to His Highness respectfully.

Shirot took the rattan helmet and stroked the tough surface. He tested it several times with the copper axe, and it was indeed very strong. Then, the boy tried to put the rattan helmet on his head, which was just the right size. This helmet is extremely lightweight and much more comfortable than animal-type wooden helmets, and there are breathable pores on it, which can effectively dissipate heat and ventilate.

Shirot remembered the wooden helmet he wore when he went out last time, sweating like rain when it was hot, and then feeling the comfort of the rattan helmet, so he nodded slowly.

Malatel smiled slightly and demonstrated the shield's defense to His Highness again.

As a combat consumable, rattan tokens can be woven from readily available new rattan. As a shield, the natural gap in the shield is no longer a weakness.

The armor maker first stabbed the copper spear vigorously. The copper spear pierced through the shield, but was caught by the shield and could not be pulled out.

"In this case, the samurai on the opposite side can only give up their weapons, and the samurai on our side can give up their shields."

Speaking of which, Maratelle smiled. Then, he shot the bow and arrow at the shield, the arrow inserted into the gap of the shield, and the kinetic energy was also absorbed.

Seeing this, the young man nodded slightly. Compared with rattan armor, rattan cards are indeed cheaper and more practical. The buffering power of this shield can also effectively defend against primary firearms. It is no wonder that it was fully popularized in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Xiulote thought for a while, and commanded again solemnly.

"Malater, since this is the case, the rattan armor will be put on hold for the time being. You can sort out the production methods of rattan helmets and rattan tablets, and recommend a person in charge. Next, I will also equip new troops on a large scale. There is no need to use all old rattan helmets for rattan helmets. , similar to the shield, while maintaining a certain defensive power, it is the first to be cheap and popular!"

The armor maker once again took the lead with a smile. This time, it was time to consider supporting the filial two apprentices.

The young man pondered in his heart and summed up his experience in choosing military equipment.

Just as the power of a long-range weapon is the product of the pull and the pull distance. The power of weapons and equipment is also the product of the power of a single piece of equipment and the total number of equipment. The number advantage is the most important decisive effect of the weapon.

In 1441, the minimum price of a set of Milanese full-body plate armor was 72 livres, which was half the price of two hundred years ago. The annual maintenance cost of a set of plate armor also requires at least a dozen silver coins. This kind of expensive equipment can only be afforded by landed nobles with more than two hundred acres of land for a long time.

Compared with the expensive plate armor, the ordinary leather armor of the same period is only 1-2 silver coins. Since there is no need to worry about rust, the maintenance cost is also extremely low.

And a plate armored knight leads fifty commoner light knights against the same number of leather armored knights with the same martial arts. Exhausted, he was pushed to the ground by numerous enemies and stabbed to death with a dagger.

In complex actual battles, the assumption of such limited conditions does not make much sense, but only to illustrate a point: the real commander cannot rely solely on the quality of equipment, thus ignoring the quantity of equipment.

For the empire, military strength is a competition of national strength. Behind each legion is the huge human and material resources that support the legion. The number of equipment of the legion will be jointly determined by the manufacturing and maintenance costs. The manufacturing cost will determine the production scale. The maintenance cost will continue to consume the empire's finances, and both will consume the national power at the same time. The military system cannot be sustained without a strong empire, without the millions of people and artisans behind the legion.

This is also the reason why cloth armor replaces Zhajia and scale armor, which is cheap to manufacture and low to maintain. And the popularity of paper armor and cotton armor is also here.

So far, for the next new army, Shulot already has a comprehensive equipment plan.

These elite militiamen will be armed with bronze spears, rattan tokens or longbows, and wear rattan helmets and thick paper armor. Their equipment defense will be infinitely close to that of ordinary samurai, but the cost of construction and daily maintenance will be greatly reduced. With the help of new weapons and equipment and new tactics, the elite militia will truly enter the stage of history, and with their huge numbers, change the direction of war and even the pattern of the entire society.

Finally, in the endless war, a new class is about to rise!

Sherlot looked into the distance with emotion. In the sky, birds from the north are migrating south to spend the warm winter here. At the highest point, an eagle spread its wings and flew high, looking at the vast land. Under the eagle, is a group of flying geese, and countless fluttering birds, flying to the whole world!