"The Japanese pirates on the southeast coast often use Japanese knives. The Japanese knives have a long handle and a long blade. They can chop with both hands. Therefore, they are more powerful and very sharp..." Lu Bing will find a weapon on the southeast coast. The questions came one by one: "... Our Ming soldiers mostly use waist knives and spears. Japanese pirates fight with our swordsmen. Often our soldiers are hit by Japanese knives before they rush up. The two knives collide with each other several times. Our Da Ming's knives will be damaged. And if we fight against the pikemen, the sharpness of the knives can easily cut the barrel of the gun. In this way, no matter how hard the soldiers train, they are still difficult to resist, so that they lose more and win less."
"Yes, my lord can sum up these things. It's really hard, and I went to the battlefield to experience it." The old iron head said with a smile.
"So I'm here to ask if there is any way that can be avoided or even restrained." Lu Bing said.
"There are nothing more than two ways. The first is to improve the quality of our Daming weapons." The old iron head smiled and said, "However, this is actually impossible."
"Why is this? Could it be said that our Da Ming is not as good as Japan in making weapons?" Yang Sen was not convinced.
"We Da Ming can make better weapons than ordinary Japanese swords, but we can't mass produce them." The old iron head didn't mind Yang Sen's attitude, but said: "If you can't mass produce, you can't popularize the whole army."
"Why is this?" Lu Bing asked strangely.
"Let me explain this!" Qi Jingtong said, "Even if we have the method of making Japanese swords, we can't afford such a high cost, let alone popularize the army."
"Then do we have a method for making Japanese swords?" Lu Bing asked.
"The method of making Japanese swords is strictly confidential. I have built weapons for a lifetime, and I only know some of them." The old iron head explained: "In building weapons, Japanese swords deal with water vapor, dust, and ore in the air. The temperature of the furnace is extremely high. The real Japanese sword is made of three-layer steel, and it is not completely wrought iron. The temperature of the fire is also very important. The pig iron is early, and the late is too soft. It is not what many people think is made into steel. It is forged to a hardness between the two.
The Japanese sword is not made of a single piece of steel. It is a knife made of three different steels. The back, blade and body of the knife are made of different materials of metal, and then fitted with soil. The complexity is unimaginable.
The real top-grade Japanese swords are made of very sophisticated materials. The ore used in Japan is not owned by our East, but is called Nanban iron. Even ordinary Japanese swords use pure magnetite produced in the western part of Honshu Island, Japan.
They use a rather peculiar iron-making method to refining. When the steel is in the hands of the knifemaker, it is not yet possible to create the relevant knives, but must be returned to the furnace, decarburized or carburized, and cast into strips. At this time, it is the real build stage.
When making knives, it is necessary to heat this kind of bar steel material to red burning, hammer forging with all your heart, and repeatedly fold and prolong it by heating, ranging from seven or eight times to as many as 20 or 30 times. This standard has far exceeded The requirements of our Daming Weapons have been fulfilled. The purpose is to fold out the inclusions in the raw materials and make the texture uniform. "
"It sounds like it's not very difficult!" Yang Sen was still annoyed.
"It's easy to see flowers and it's hard to embroider!" The old Tietou took a sip of his wine, twisted a bean, and said, "Actually, it doesn't seem to be too difficult to forge a Japanese knife, but the problem is that those How does a skilled craftsman prevent rust, dust, air and other debris from contaminating the folded layer during folding? If there is debris during folding, it will cause the stack to fail to merge.
How to grasp the boundary between raw and wrought iron? Whether it is good steel or not is based on experience. It is difficult to do and understand without full experience. After such a discount, the weight of the original steel bar was reduced by almost half, and the court would not allow such a waste. "
"Then there is no other way?" Lu Bing asked.
"During the Song Dynasty, there used to be a cold forging method of armouring. Without heating, it was possible to forge iron to one-third of the original thickness by hitting it with a hammer. Of course, this technology is still Yes, but it’s used to make gold leaf and stick Buddha statues. However, cold forging and gold leaf are still not the same. Now it has been lost and it is difficult to recover." The old iron head sighed: "If you build a few weapons, forge them with your heart. The old man is sure to surpass the Japanese sword, but it is too difficult to equip the army in large quantities, and the court does not have so much silver."
"Uncle Tie said there is another way, what is it?" Lu Bing remembered that the old Tietou said there were two ways, and hurriedly asked another way.
"The other is restraint!" The old iron head took another sip and said: "He is longer, we are longer than him. He can cut off the gun, we just let him cut it continuously."
Lu Bing shook his head and said, "Unless the gun barrel is replaced with iron, but the cost is also high, and it is too heavy to be suitable for ordinary soldiers."
"My lord, have you ever heard of wolf corks?" Old Tie asked.
"I have never heard of it." Lu Bing shook his head, but Qi Jingtong's eyes lit up and said: "But it's a weapon used in Yiwu, Zhejiang's absenteeism."
With Qi Jingtong’s reminder, Lu Bing also thought of a weird weapon and said: "But it's a spear with many branches?"
"Exactly." The old iron head smiled.
Lu Bing thought for a while, but frowned again: "The style is to restrain the Japanese sword, but it is also expensive to make, and even heavier than the iron spear."
"There is a way to be old." The old iron head smiled: "It is made of iron if it is not practical. We just need it to be long enough and not so easy to be cut off."
"Exactly." Lu Bing nodded.
"There is a large bamboo in the south of the Yangtze River with many knots and branches. You can install an iron spear head on the top of the bamboo. The thorns on both sides are ironed with fire to have straight and hooks. Then pour it with tung oil and apply poison. Tietou said triumphantly.
When Lu Bing heard this, he couldn't help but clap his hands in applause: "Good idea, even though the Japanese pirate's long sword is sharp in battle, it cuts constantly soft branches."
"Okay! Old iron head, I didn't expect you to have such a good way!" Qi Jingtong was also overjoyed, saying: "The bamboo joints are deep in layers, and they can also block the penetration of the spear. If the wolf soldier is allowed to charge forward, the spear The soldiers followed right and left, and the big swords followed, and the Japanese pirates who would surely be able to kill were pissed off!"
The old iron head was a little sad, and said: "The old hometown is Zhejiang... When I was young, the Japanese pirates landed ashore and slaughtered our village. Because of my iron skills, I was not killed, but was taken into a boat. "