"Well, seeing is believing, Governor General and all my colleagues, please ask Lord Zhu to take us to the scene to see how the Zhejiang Army practices firearms and how these firearms give Lord Zhu the confidence to 'practice and use them to influence the situation of the war and be invincible in the world'. I am very curious."
Lord Huang smiled slightly and suggested to Zhang Jing and everyone else that they go to the Zhejiang Army's training site to take a look.
Zhang Jing nodded expressionlessly. Watching the Zhejiang Army's training was an important part of the inspection, so naturally no one would have any objection.
So, at the suggestion of Mr. Huang, everyone, led by Zhu Ping'an, went to the firearms training ground.
The further we go, the stronger the smell of burning gunpowder and the thicker the smoke.
We arrived at the place very quickly.
The first thing that caught everyone's eyes was a sea of black iron. The soldiers of the Zhejiang Army were all wearing full cotton armor, helmets with red tassels, and armor covered with copper nails, which sparkled brightly in the sun, looking extremely majestic.
An official saw this spectacular scene and couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise, "No way, everyone is wearing armor, this is a big deal, even the Beijing Army can't do this, is the Zhejiang Army so rich..."
At this moment, he couldn't help but doubt what Zhu Ping'an had just said. Did Zhu Ping'an make a lot of money by selling the secret knife and medicine? Otherwise, how could the armor rate of the Zhejiang Army be so high
"Master Liang, take a closer look. Do you see the shining copper nails on the armor? It is obvious that the Zhejiang Army soldiers are wearing cotton armor, not iron armor. It's just that the color of the cotton armor looks like iron armor."
The official next to him shook his head, pointed at the cotton armor on a Zhejiang soldier, and reminded him softly.
"Oh, oh, it's true." The official took a closer look at the armor on the soldiers and suddenly realized.
It turned out that the Zhejiang Army was wearing cheap cotton armor. The cost of cotton armor was so low that one set of iron armor could be exchanged for at least four or five sets of cotton armor.
Soldiers would fight over a set of iron armor, but cotton armor is not very attractive to them. This is the difference between the two.
Then, I felt balanced instantly.
Haha, if you ask me, wouldn’t it be great if you practiced less with firearms and used the money you saved to buy armor
"My dear nephew, you are short of silver, so why are all the soldiers wearing cotton armor?" Duke Wei couldn't help asking.
Everyone looked at Zhu Ping'an curiously.
"Uncle, our army is short of money, but no matter how short of money we are, we will not save money on weapons and equipment. The promotion of cotton armor is not because of the lack of money, but because of its excellent protective performance. The cotton armor produced by our army's equipment battalion is not much inferior to iron armor in defending against cold weapons, and its protective performance is far superior to iron armor in defending against firearms such as muskets. Moreover, cotton armor is lighter than iron armor and more flexible than iron armor, which can help soldiers fight on the battlefield." Zhu Ping'an explained to Duke Wei and everyone with a serious face.
"Can cotton armor have such excellent protective properties?" Duke Wei was skeptical.
Other officials were even more skeptical.
Practice is the only criterion for testing truth. Zhu Ping'an asked someone to bring ten new sets of cotton armor and two sets of iron armor.
Zhang Jing and others went forward to check the cotton armor and found that the cotton armor of the Zhejiang Army was very different from that of other military camps. The cotton armor of the Zhejiang Army was more sophisticated, or more professional. The cotton armor of other military camps was either simple cloth armor or cotton jackets, connected together, bloated and inconvenient, but the cotton armor of the Zhejiang Army was different, more professional, divided into seven parts: body armor, shoulder pads, armor sleeves, front guard, left guard, armor skirt, and heart guard.
Every part of the cotton armor is well-made, not bulky at all, very lean and convenient for fighting, but the protective area has not been reduced at all.
Heavy to start with.
Everyone was not a military novice, at least they were somewhat familiar with it, and they knew it was composite armor at a glance, and there must be a layer of iron sheet inside the cotton armor. With this layer of iron sheet, the protective performance of the cotton armor was not much worse.
Zhu Ping'an had ten sets of cotton armor and two sets of iron armor put on the scarecrow and verify it on the spot like last time.
First, verify the cold weapons such as swords and arrows.
Zhu Ping'an ordered two squads of soldiers to shoot arrows at the twelve sets of armor from twenty steps away. They shot three rounds in a row, and then asked Zhang Jing and others to come forward to verify.
The two sets of iron armor were naturally safe and sound, as the feather arrows could not penetrate the armor. However, the protective area of the iron armor was limited, and the two scarecrows had feather arrows stuck in their throats and crotches. Although three of the ten sets of cotton armor were shot with several holes by arrows, the arrows only broke through the first layer of cotton and were blocked by the iron lining. The other sets of cotton armor did not even break through the first layer of cotton. Moreover, due to the large protective area of the cotton armor, only one scarecrow was hit in the face by an arrow.
"Well, arrows can't penetrate it. This cotton armor is much stronger than the cotton armor of other camps. It's really not much inferior to the iron armor."
"Neck and crotch guards, except for the face, the whole body is protected, there are no exposed gaps, and the protection is more comprehensive than that of iron armor..."
Everyone looked at the cotton armor with excellent defense and couldn't help but feel a little surprised. The cotton armor of the Zhejiang Army was much stronger than that of other military camps.
"Zhang Bao, go forward and try to see if this cotton armor can withstand a blow from your sword." Lord Huang gestured to Zhang Bao.
Those who shot the arrows just now were all from the Zhejiang Army. He was somewhat suspicious whether they had let their guard down or deliberately held back some strength when shooting, not using their full strength. As the force was not high, the arrow naturally could not penetrate the cotton armor.
"Yes, sir." Zhang Bao clasped his fists and stepped forward.
Swish!
He randomly picked up a piece of cotton armor and slashed at it. A heavy "clang" sound was heard, and only a mark appeared on the cotton armor.
"Zhang Bao, you didn't eat enough, did you?" Wei Liangyi glared at Zhang Bao and said, "Watch me!"
After saying that, Wei Liangyi drew his sword, held it with both hands, changed into a set of cotton armor, and swung it down with force.
There was also a heavy "clang" sound, and a mark was left on the cotton armor, but it was only slightly deeper than Zhang Bao's.
Wei Liangyi was a little embarrassed.
The two sword strikes by Zhang Bao and Wei Liangyi further demonstrated to everyone the excellent protective capabilities of the cotton armor.
"Change to bird guns!"
Zhu Ping'an asked Zhang Jing and others to temporarily retreat to the sides, and ordered two squads of soldiers to shoot at the twelve sets of armor with bird guns from twenty steps away.
The two squads of soldiers skillfully loaded the primer, then took out an oil paper ammunition bag from the ammunition can, tore it open with their mouths, poured the gunpowder and bullets into the gun barrel, tamped it with a cleaning rod, then blew the matchlock, raised their muskets, aimed at the straw man covered in cotton and iron armor in front of them, and at the sergeant's order, they opened fire together.
There was a burst of gunfire, and the air was filled with smoke.
Everyone went forward to check the condition of the armor, and was surprised to find that the two sets of iron armor were completely destroyed, with several transparent holes made, while the cotton armor was completely blocked. Most of the bullets penetrated the first layer of cotton armor and got stuck in the iron sheet or the second layer of cotton armor.
Zhang Jing's eyes lit up. This cotton armor could also be promoted. It cost less than iron armor and had higher protection than iron armor...