choke element

Chapter 1037 Steel (Part )

"More than 600 sets of armor? Everyone has one?" Several officers were surprised.

"All of them! All of them!" A young soldier who was stabbed in the chest spat out a mouthful of blood foam and lifted up his robe to take a look.

Under his robe, the iron plate was chopped by the sharp blade, leaving a deep mark, but it did not split. The Mongolian warrior had just swung his sword with all his strength, intending to kill him with one blow, but not only did he fail, the recoil also bounced the scimitar high, giving the other men the opportunity to pounce on him and fight to the death.

"With armor like this, I can't die!" The soldier chuckled foolishly, perhaps shocked by the experience of escaping death, and his speech was completely incoherent.

A leader of a neighboring team took a step toward this place, but he didn't dare to move forward because of the rules of the battle formation. He stretched his neck and looked back and forth at Fang the blacksmith and his apprentices. The felt robes they were wearing were torn, and the cold light of their armor was revealed.

Everyone wearing armor means everyone has an extra life. No wonder these new soldiers are so brave and so easily motivated. No wonder they were slightly frightened when the enemy approached, but then they dared to fight against the Mongols!

"What about you?" the sign-holder turned around and asked, "Do you have armor too?"

"Yes!" Several soldiers pulled open their robes to show him the armor underneath. Only one person said indignantly, "Those blacksmiths have full body armor, and we only have one piece. It can protect us from the front, but not from the back!"

Someone slapped him on the head and yelled, "What's wrong with the blacksmith making better armor for his family? Just face the enemy head-on!"

It was the height of winter, and before leaving the city, everyone put on thick clothes, which could protect them from the cold and also provide some protection and even stop bleeding. Therefore, the grassroots officers who were temporarily reinforced did not notice that the new recruits were all tough guys.

It can be seen that this armor was a product of a last-minute rush. It has no armor plates or painted decorations. It only has two large pieces of rough iron plates connected front and back with leather ropes, leaving holes for sticking one's head out and stretching one's arms, while covering the entire chest and back.

If it were just a piece of iron, it would look even uglier, like a big turtle shell... No wonder the new soldiers hid it in their thick coats to avoid becoming turtles. But it worked! Like any good armor worn by an officer, it could stop the Mongolian cavalry's attacks!

Several officers exchanged glances and immediately thought that they might as well put them in more critical positions.

This is admittedly a bit unfair, but the soldiers on the battlefield are consumables, so we just need to consider where we can get more benefits by consuming them.

However, the Mongolian army was approaching rapidly, and the officers did not have time to adjust their troops. The second wave of attack had already been launched, this time with a large number of arrows leading the way, raining down from the sky. The soldiers either raised their shields, or raised their shoulder guards or elbow guards for defense, while those holding long spears bowed their heads slightly and used the top of their helmets to block. The officers shouted and ordered their subordinates to return to their original positions and concentrate on the battle.

In terms of the level of military equipment, the Great Zhou has always been superior to its peers. On the one hand, this is due to the complete inheritance of the Jin Dynasty's arsenal and military industrial sites. On the other hand, it is also due to the huge investment made by the court. Under normal circumstances, the main combat soldiers of the Zhou army are all wearing armor, and they are all excellent iron armor.

Relatively speaking, the three recruiting offices in the north were under greater military pressure, so their armor-wearing rate was higher than that of the three military command offices in the south. In the direction of the Henan Military Command, since the reorganization of a large number of former Red Coat Army members was not carried out quickly, the unified distribution of weapons and equipment was not rolled out.

Just like the few soldiers in front of us, some wore the standard armor of the Jin army, while others wore the Wuchui armor captured from the Song Dynasty in the early years. The clothes worn by ordinary soldiers were even more chaotic. After the Mongolian army came, Guo Zhongyuan urgently opened the armory and distributed weapons and armor. Because a large amount of equipment had been transported out to meet the needs of the war in the north, the remaining equipment could not be standardized.

If the strength of the Great Zhou was limited to this, the army's equipment would become less and less during the war, while the Mongols would gain more and more through looting, and the gap in strength between the two sides would soon widen.

Fortunately, Kaifeng is no longer the same Kaifeng as before. In other words, many cities in the Great Zhou Dynasty are no longer just consumption-oriented cities relying on government offices and wealthy families, but also production bases filled with factories, and Kaifeng is no exception. In the few short days of holding out without fighting, many workshops in the city were running day and night, turning the iron materials stored in the city into various weapons.

Not only armor, but also countless swords, spears and arrows were made. If it weren't for the local shortage of sulfur and the limited amount of sulfur bought from Japan, the workshop would have even tried to imitate the artillery.

In the central army formation, Deputy General Wen Sengda said with emotion: "When we went out of the city to form a battle array, we were most worried that we would be harassed by the Mongols before the battle array was formed. As a result, more than a dozen cannons fired at the same time and directly defeated the Tartars under the city... In the future, cannons will not only be used at sea, but also in the army... Now that the battle array is formed, the Tartars will definitely not be able to do anything to us!"

Having said that, seeing Wang Qingshan beside him waving his hand suddenly, as if he wanted to say something, Wen Sengda did not dare to neglect the old senior and asked hurriedly.

Wang Qingshan sighed, "It's nothing, I'm just a little bit uncomfortable. A few years ago, the Mongols invaded, and we only had a few warriors among hundreds of thousands of troops, but we didn't dare to face them head-on. The scene of thousands of warriors and tens of thousands of civilians being chased and killed by a few Mongolian cavalrymen like pigs and sheep seems like it happened just yesterday."

He looked around and sighed, "Who would have thought that the Mongols' desperate tricks would only bring them a few days of prestige. Their scattered troops have been entangled by the Central Plains military and civilians, and we have the confidence to fight their main force by gathering a few civilians!"

Guo Lu, who was standing behind Guo Zhongyuan with a bow and arrows in his hand, laughed and said, "The Mongols are also human beings. They have two eyes and a mouth, and they bleed when hit by swords. As long as we organize our own army well, there is no reason for the Mongols to act recklessly. Today, we will kill these Tartars and avenge the people of the Central Plains!"

Wang Qingshan nodded slightly.

He knew that Guo Luda was right. His momentary emotional fluctuations were unreasonable. Generally speaking, officers born in the northern border did have lingering fears about the Mongols. After all, they were at the bottom of the Jin Dynasty when it was at its weakest. They witnessed the nightmare brought by the Mongols and saw countless relatives die under their iron hooves.

Soldiers from other places were not afraid of the Tartars, and Guo Luda probably hated the Tanguts more; the Tartars were just stepping stones for him to establish the Great Zhou. Moreover, they were the kind of stepping stones that were defeated again and again, and caused trouble again and again, without knowing whether they would live or die.

Wang Qingshan thought that was a good idea.

He did not understand why the once terrifying Mongolian army was now so weak, nor did he understand why the once weak Haner suddenly became so brave and tenacious. It was useless to think too much. The Great Zhou Emperor Guo Ning must have understood the reason behind this, after all, the Great Zhou in front of him was created by him. It seemed that the young officers who had studied in the military academy also understood it. It was a pity that Wang Qingshan was old and his brain could not keep up with the ever-changing times, otherwise he would not have left the army for a time.

If he couldn't figure it out, he shouldn't think about it. He cheered himself up and decided to treat the Mongols as ordinary enemies like Guo Luda did, and then fight a decisive battle to destroy them.