Aztec Eternals

The sky is bright and the white clouds are far away. Surrounded by chilling warriors, the voice of the king seemed to come from a distant kingdom of God, carrying an undeniable majesty.

Tiripi lowered his head and pursed his lips, and slowly pulled out a green-gold bronze sword from the bottom of the weapon rack. Then, he bowed down and carefully held the bronze sword above his head with both hands.

"Your Majesty, this is a bronze sword that was cast after making a clay model according to your drawings! According to your instructions, during the casting process, I focused on increasing the tin content and added some lead. This sword The sword is quite sharp, it can not only pierce leather armor, but also cut through cotton armor."

Having said that, Tilippi looked hesitant and hesitated to speak. It's just that he kept his head bowed and bowed, but he didn't let the king see it.

The king stretched out his hand, took the bronze sword, held it across his chest, and examined it carefully. According to the design in his memory, this sword is a standard Qin sword style. The length of the sword is about one arm, about 60 centimeters, the width of the sword is about one finger, and the widest point is no more than 6 centimeters, and the thickness of the sword is half a knuckle, about 1 centimeter. The length of the hilt is about 15 cm, which can be held with one hand or with both hands. The entire Qin sword is shaped like a willow leaf, with a total of 8 facets, which are slightly thickened in the middle, and the edge is glowing with awe-inspiring coldness.

"Well, the King of Qin swept Liuhe, and the tiger looked at He Xiongzai!"

Xiulot was very interested, gently stroking the sharp blade, with a heartfelt smile on his face. Qin Jian with black armor, long soldiers and great crossbows, familiar film and television images emerged in the king's mind, which also corresponded to the king's ambition at this time! He inspected it for a while, then smiled and said to Black Wolf Toltek.

"This Qin sword has just been forged, and it has not yet shown its strength. Hei Lang, you are my favorite general, and you are used to fighting on the battlefield. Come and test the sword for me!"

Toltek bowed his head and saluted, eager to try. He first took the sword in his hand, tested the feel, then felt the sharp edge of the sword with his fingers, and nodded. Then, Hei Lang frowned and asked suspiciously.

"Your Highness, what does 'Qin' mean?"

"Haha! This 'Qin' is a ferocious beast with strict discipline, a pack of raging black wolves. 'Qin' is like a black wolf, and it is your name!"

Hearing this, Toltek beamed with joy. He held Qin Jian and strode towards the wooden man who was inspecting weapons. There have long been personal guards who put leather armor on the wooden man. Holding the sword in one hand, Hei Lang steadied his figure for a while, then rushed forward suddenly, and let out a roar.

"break!"

"Tear!" A short cold light flashed, Qin Jian straight forward, and suddenly pierced the wooden man's leather armor. The sharp sword head sank several inches. Hei Lang nodded in satisfaction, then pulled out Qin Jian and held it diagonally in his hand. He took a step back, held the sword in both hands, took a deep breath, and slashed vigorously again!

"cut!"

"Tear!" Under the blessing of majestic power, Qin Jian flashed a sharp sword light, and the sound of wind could almost be heard in the rush. Afterwards, the blade and the armor, after a short pause, smoothly cut through the leather armor, leaving a cut mark of nearly ten centimeters!

"Master Heilang is really brave!"

Seeing this sharp blow, the surrounding guards all admired him. Shulot also nodded with a smile.

Toltec stayed where he was. He held Qin Jian horizontally in his hand again, frowning deeply, carefully inspecting the stressed sword body.

"Huh? The cut just now. How does it feel?"

"Hei Lang, this Qin sword is extremely sharp and extremely tough. I intend to use it on a large scale on the battlefield, how about it?"

Xiulot beckoned, signaling Hei Lang to come over. He smiled and looked at Ai Jiang.

"Your Highness, this sword is indeed extremely sharp, but it is tough, please let me try it for you!"

Hei Lang looked at the sword for a moment, then swung it twice in the air, confirming his judgment more and more. He returned to the king and raised his head to propose.

"Huh? Try the sword for me? Yes!"

Shulot was slightly taken aback. He raised his hand, signaling Hei Lang to let go.

Toltek found a personal guard and asked the opponent to hold the sword with both hands. Then, he took out the extended baton behind his back, held it vertically with both hands, and raised it above his head. The brave Heilang adjusted the angle of the obsidian sharp piece, then let out another loud shout, and slashed down vigorously.

"Break!"

"Clang! Crack! Clang!" The sharp obsidian baton slashed at the center of the bronze sword, and the sound of metal and stone clashing suddenly resounded, followed by an unusually crisp sound of metal breaking, followed by the tremor of the broken sword falling to the ground!

"What!"

Shulot's eyes widened in shock. Right in front of his eyes, Qin Shi's bronze sword was completely broken from the middle, turning into a useless scrap soldier. When he looked carefully, the fracture was quite neat, revealing the dense texture of bronze, as if it had been cut by a diamond saw blade.

"Your Majesty, forgive me!"

Seeing this scene, Tiripi fell to his knees with a "plop". He argued loudly.

"Your Majesty, ah, this alliance's high-grade obsidian is much sharper than the kingdom's ordinary bronze! Moreover, the long sword you provided is long and thin. In order to keep it sharp, you added too much tin to me. It seems that there are flaws in the design of this bronze long sword, and it cannot be used for a long time on the battlefield!"

"Um?!"

"Uh, forgive me, Your Majesty!"

Shulot turned around suddenly and gave Tilippi a hard look. Immediately, the foundry master felt a chill in his heart, and his whole body lay flat on the ground, tightly shutting his mouth. His elder brother, Chalape, also knelt down with sweat on his forehead.

"Why is this happening?"

The young king grabbed the bronze broken blade and examined it carefully for a moment. The cold light on the edge of the broken sword is still there, but the fracture in the middle is somewhat deformed, obviously lacking in toughness. He took the refined battle stick in Hei Lang's hand again, and looked at the somewhat worn obsidian sharp slices on it, the dots of gold were shining in the sun, dazzling the streamer.

Seeing this, Xiulot was a little annoyed. He paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, lost in thought for a long time.

"Mohs Hardness Scale"

Mohs hardness is the relative ability of one object to inscribe on another object, and more reflects the degree of sharpness. The Mohs hardness of obsidian is between 5.2-6.2. It is a natural glass, but it is easy to break. The Mohs hardness of copper is only 3, and the Mohs hardness of bronze is between 5-6. The Mohs hardness of iron is 4, that of carbon steel is 5.5-6, and that of manganese steel is 6.5.

From these figures, it can be seen that there is no obvious difference in sharpness among obsidian war sticks, bronze swords, and steel swords, but the cost of obtaining them and the degree of toughness are vastly different. Steel swords are cheap to manufacture, and even if they are bent more than 40 degrees in battle, they can still bounce back. The cost of a bronze sword is much higher, and the toughness of the metal decreases rapidly as the hardness increases, and it will break when bent at a medium angle under high hardness. The output of obsidian is completely limited by its natural origin, and its toughness is seriously insufficient. As long as a battle is over, the sharp blades on the baton will be completely worn out.

Xiu Luote knew that the hardness of top-grade obsidian was around 6, which was similar to high-hardness jade, and it would not surprise him that it could outperform early bronze swords with immature heat treatment. But to his surprise, the bronze Qin sword on which he had placed high hopes was so fragile that it could not be used for a long time on the battlefield!

"Insufficient toughness, easy to break, it shouldn't be! The length of this bronze sword is only 60 cm. The bronze Qin sword in the late Warring States period was 90 cm longer! After being unearthed in the Terracotta Army, it is still sharp and strong. It must be some kind of craftsmanship. problem!"

"The high tin is sharp, the low tin is strong, and the bronze Qin sword has both, sharp and strong! How to maintain a sharp edge while also maintaining a strong middle?"

Xiulot thought hard for a long time. Memories of the past surged into his mind one after another, bringing him many flashes of inspiration, and the answer seemed to come out. However, there are some secrets that cannot be figured out for a while. After a while, the king still shook his head helplessly.

"Toltek, how do you use this style of bronze sword?"

"Your Highness, the bronze long sword is sharp and easy to break. Compared with the battle stick, it does not have much advantage. You can use a half-arm-length short sword instead for close-quarters assassination!"

Toltek recalled the scene on the battlefield and said loudly.

"However, at this distance, a bronze hatchet is usually used. Whether it is leather armor or cotton armor, it can be split with one axe! In daily marches, the hatchet can be used to chop grass and trees that block the road, and it can also be used to cut down fire. Firewood uses less bronze, so the hatchet is more convenient!"

Shulot thought for a moment, then nodded slowly. The Tarasco royal army encountered during the Western Expedition had bronze spears, bronze two-handed axes, and bronze hatchets, but no bronze long swords. Naturally, there are objective reasons. Then he looked at the two masters who were kneeling on the ground, and his tone was slightly mild.

"It's not your fault. Get up!"

"Tirippi, you continue to organize your manpower and study the casting of bronze swords. The final product must be sharp and solid. Don't argue, this is Wang Ling! I can tell you with certainty that through some mixed means, this is It can be done! Chalape, you get involved too."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Xiuluo nodded. Chalape quickly beckoned and asked the apprentice to take away the broken bronze sword. With a smile on his face, he quickly and respectfully changed the topic.

"Your Majesty, your wisdom is as deep as the sky, and your majesty is as dazzling as the sun! According to the sample armor you gave us, the new cloth-covered bronze armor has been successfully imitated!"

While talking, Chalape took a set of heavy cloth-covered dark armor from the apprentice with his laborious hands, and the two showed it to the king together. The outer layer of this set of armor is made of blue cloth, the inner layer is filled with cotton, and the dense bronze sheets are nailed with copper nails. The upper end of the armor is sewn with expanded shoulder pads, and the lower part has an extended armor skirt. In general, the overall style of the cloth face armor is very similar to the common Ming armor of this period.

"Your Majesty, this is a long body armor with extremely strong protection! The bronze piece is about half the size of a palm, and there are two hundred and forty armor pieces. The forged armor piece contains about one-tenth of the tin, so try to keep it as tough as possible. According to the suggestion of the warrior commander who is as brave as a holy eagle, the armor pieces are preferentially distributed on the weak chest, abdomen, shoulders, ribs and waist. A total of 13 catties of cotton, 32 catties of bronze, and 45 catties of weight were used. ! Look, it's hard for arrows to penetrate, hard for axes and spears, it's really a divine armor bestowed by the gods!"

Hearing this, Xiulot was taken aback and shouted loudly.

"Forty-five catties?! Such heavy armor! Toltek, try its defense!"

"Obey!"

Two personal guards put heavy long body armor on the wooden man next to him. Toltek licked his lips, held his stick in both hands, and walked in front of the armor. Then, he shouted loudly, exerted all his strength, and violently swung the battle stick in his hand.

"break!"

"cut!"

"Smash!"

Toltek slashed with all his strength, and the baton let out a terrifying whistling in the air, and then hit the heavy armor, making a huge "bang bang" sound. After a few blows, Hei Lang panted heavily, looked at the long body armor in front of him, and suddenly showed shock. I saw that the outer cloth surface had been cut by sharp blades, and the inner bronze sheet was partially deformed, but the whole heavy armor was almost intact!

"Good, very good!"

Seeing the defense of the heavy armor, Shulot was overjoyed. he called again.

"Change the longbow!"

Toltek nodded, looking serious. He stepped back cautiously, put on the refined copper arrow, and drew the full hundred-pound longbow, it was like an arrow like lightning!

"Ding!" The copper arrow pierced the cloth, hit the long body armor, and then bounced away.

"60 steps, lossless."

"Ding!" It bounced again.

"50 steps, lossless."

"Ding! Tear!" The copper arrow hung on the long body armor, and the arrow slightly sank into the armor.

"40 steps, slight damage."

"Ding! Bang!" Toltek gritted his teeth fiercely. He replaced the armor-piercing arrow with a thick arrowhead, shot again with all his strength, and finally pierced the heavy armor in front of him!

"30 steps, break armor!" The inspector's bodyguard shouted loudly, and Hei Lang's tense face relaxed.

Xiuluo nodded. He signaled his personal guards to bring the long body armor, only to see two broken pieces of bronze armor, the rest were still intact. This kind of damage is very easy to repair, just replace the nail piece and nail it again. The king nodded in satisfaction.

"Not bad. Very good! Hei Lang, you tried it yourself, how about this armor?"

Toltek looked solemn. He thought for a moment before speaking in a low voice.

"A senior warrior wearing this armor can deal with me for a while."

Hearing this, Xiulot laughed out loud.

"Haha! Hei Lang, what if you are wearing this armor?"

Toltek held his head high, looked around, and said confidently.

"Then as long as my physical strength is not exhausted, I will be an invincible warrior in the world!"

While speaking, Hei Lang turned his head, just in time to see the samurai commander who was smiling but not smiling. He opened his mouth and added the next two words.

"one"

"Haha, good! Hei Lang, after repairing, this heavy armor will be yours!"

Xiulot smiled and waved his hand. A look of joy appeared on Toltek's face. Then, the king put away his smile and asked solemnly again.

"Hei Lang, what if a thousand sturdy warriors are selected and all wear such heavy armor?"

Hearing this, Toltek was taken aback. In a large-scale battle, if there are a thousand elites wearing heavy armor and forming a formation. They were not afraid of arrows, axes and spears, and they didn't need shields for defense. They waved their sticks freely and faced the Chinese army commander's flag that was attacking each other.

"Your Highness, if there are a thousand warriors who can wear this armor and fight for two moments, they will be invincible!"