Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 417: Plate Armor
Facing Xu Huang's attack, the cavalry led by Zhang Xiu chose to charge and collide without hesitation!
Xu Huang had not expected that Zhang Xiu would be so direct, but... his cavalry was of equal number to that of the enemy, and he had additional infantry to cooperate in the fight, so he would not be afraid of a head-on confrontation.
Xu Huang even thought in his heart, the cavalry collided so fiercely? In fact, they wanted to force him to turn first and then dampen his spirit, or take advantage of the situation to attack his infantry and cause a rout!
A showdown of the brave?
Xu Huang said... Not afraid!
Five hundred steps, three hundred steps, one hundred steps...
The distance between the two sides was rapidly closing, and at the same time Xu Huang could see the difference in the opponent's armor - it was not scale armor, chain mail, or lamellar armor... The overall color was smooth and uniform, and except , it was a whole piece!
The first thing that puzzled Xu Huang was not why the enemy's armor was so complete, but... why did the color of this cloth armor look like metal? And it was also reflective?
That’s right, the first 300 riders were all wearing “plate armor”!
Before the problem of the source of true qi is solved, the "stamping machine" cannot be used on a large scale, but the hydraulic press and the experimental true qi press are already in place.
This also made the emergence of "plate armor" possible.
Not only does it not have the weaknesses of chain mail and scale armor, but the thickness of the steel plates on the entire body is only three to five millimeters except for the joints, which is one millimeter . This makes the weight of the full body plate armor only 65% of that of infantry armor, making it possible to equip cavalry. At the same time, its defense exceeds that of full-coverage chain mail and scale armor!
Historically, based on the experience of Western plate armor knights, swords and spears can only attack the gaps against plate armor. As for bows and arrows, as long as you are not too unlucky, you can ignore them. As for muskets... early muskets with low kinetic energy bullets can resist, but early rifles can't resist at all.
Of course, the fact that the plate armor is not broken does not mean that the person is not injured. The heavy halberd, blade hammer, and armor-piercing sword are also magical tools for opening cans.
However, when these ungrindable plates first appeared, during the 100 years or so of prosperity, especially in the early days of industrialization, the smelting industry developed rapidly and stamping machines appeared, making the cost of a set of plate armor only equivalent to the weekly salary of an ordinary worker.
The Qi machine of the Chu State still faces the problem of insufficient Qi source and lack of mass production, so they only made "a little bit" to try it out.
Zhang Xiu had a large number of cavalrymen under his command, and they were derived from the Western Liang Iron Cavalry. In the assessment of the Chu State, they were considered "medium-armored" cavalry, which was between the real heavy and light cavalry.
The weight of the plate armor means it is "heavy armor". Not only are the soldiers wearing plate armor, but the war horses also have special armor. It looks like... the change from a small motorcycle to a heavy motorcycle.
As for weapons, Xu Huang soon felt it...
When the two sides were sixty steps apart, they started shooting almost at the same time - cavalry could only be equipped with short bows, so shooting speed was a higher priority. Considering that the Chu army had always been well-equipped, Xu Huang chose to shoot when they were sixty steps apart.
The same is true for Zhang Xiu, because...
The heavy cavalry in plate armor in front were not equipped with bows and arrows, but double Huang crossbows - one Huang crossbow was equipped on each side of the warhorse!
A special improved version for cavalry, the magazine has been loaded in advance. After taking it out and pulling the trigger, the magazine will make a clanging sound, and seven arrows can be fired in a row!
The ingeniously designed buckle allows the crossbow to be hung directly back on the warhorse after use without affecting subsequent charges and close combat.
Because loading arrows and changing magazines of repeating crossbows are cumbersome, each rider is equipped with two pairs. After using them, they are basically ready for hand-to-hand combat!
It seemed that the number of cavalry on both sides was about the same, but at 60 steps, Zhang Xiu's "firepower" overwhelmed Xu Huang...
What's even more unreasonable is that many people from Xu Huang's side fell down, while not a single person from Zhang Xiu's side was missing!
Especially when the distance is closer, you can hear the metallic sound of arrows hitting the plate armor, and... see the opponent's crazy armor!
Xu Huang's eyes widened at this moment...
What the hell is this? It's not cloth armor!
It’s really armor!
From head to toe, from hair and eye hair to sweat and leg hair, not a single hair is exposed, and it's a whole piece of armor?
How heavy is this?
At least a thousand catties, right? (A Chinese catty is roughly equivalent to half a catty.)
It’s not that Xu Huang didn’t think about the thickness issue, but if this thing really only weighs a hundred pounds, wouldn’t it take the craftsmen several months to hammer one?
As for the issue of steel consumables, it is put second...
In fact, Xu Huang already felt a little regretful at this time. Perhaps... he should have avoided it.
However, the two sides had almost collided with each other, and it was too late for Xu Huang to turn around, so he could only grit his teeth and continue charging.
There was no more time for Xu Huang to react, and the two sides collided!
The cavalry under Xu Huang's command still used typical Western Liang cavalry weapons - large lances, which were mainly used to thrust forward using the force of the charge.
Zhang Xiu's cavalry was originally like this. They were also equipped with scimitars. After breaking into the enemy's formation, they simply abandoned their guns and used swords. Having money means being willful.
There were only three hundred heavy cavalrymen in plate armor, and their weapons were mace spears, a kind of long-handled hard- headed hammer with a leaf hammer with a spear tip at the front and a spear head at the tail!
Generally speaking, weapons such as hammers and spears will become difficult to wield in close combat because they are too long, and the hammer head must be swung to have attack power.
The highly defensive plate armor meant they didn't have to worry about the weakness of long weapons after breaking through the enemy lines. They could ignore the swords and axes around them and wield their hammers and spears calmly!
When charging, the hammer is not used to stab, but to swing sideways to injure the enemy with the momentum of the charge.
As for the collision in front of us...
Even when Zhang Xiu was about to kill his enemy, the plate cavalry did not swing their hammers a second time!
Originally, the sergeants and squad leaders of these plate cavalry were not sure how useful the armor on their bodies would be, they just thought it looked good.
A head-on cavalry confrontation is obviously a test of courage. These heavy cavalrymen who can wear plate armor are the elite veterans under Zhang Xiu's command. They have been fighting and training for years, which is why they are so determined.
In fact, at this moment, Zhang Xiu somewhat recognized Xu Huang's ability to lead troops.
But in the next moment, the role of plate armor became apparent...
The grassroots generals in the front row, who originally thought they were going to suffer heavy losses, found that they only had to give the order to swing their weapons, and then... with a series of clanging sounds, they had already killed all the opponent's cavalry!
Xu Huang then discovered that these iron cans...
Not to mention that Ji Zao's soldiers were attacking, although Xu Huang succeeded in killing the enemy with his axe, his arms were numb from the shock, and the enemy's body flew back almost intact - normally, Xu Huang's axe should have cut the soldier in half!
As for ordinary Ji-made soldiers, they were unable to cause effective damage to the plate armor. It should be noted that the army had no experience in fighting against plate armor at this time. Even though Xu Huang was known for his strict discipline, he still could not hide the panic of the army at this time...
