Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 453 Technology: Strange Blade
In an iron smelter outside Zhongshan City, Su Ze was checking the newly forged long sword.

Murong Shaozong, who was following Su Ze, looked at the double-edged sword, which was ten feet long.

It is said that this long sword was designed by Duke Su himself, and Murong Shaozong did not understand what use such a weapon would have on the battlefield.

"Saber?"

Chen Chong, who was following behind Su Ze, suddenly asked.

Murong Shaozong looked at Su Ze. The saber of the Han Dynasty was a ritual vessel used in sacrifices to heaven and earth. Could it be that Duke Su had gone to the trouble of setting up this iron smelting plant just to make ritual vessels?
Based on Murong Shaozong's understanding of Su Ze, his own duke was a man of extreme pragmatism. He was very perfunctory in his daily sacrificial activities. How could he create ritual vessels specifically for sacrificial activities?
Is it used on the battlefield?

This kind of long sword with sharp edges on both sides is not suitable for cavalry to hold, and its effect is not as good as that of a long spear. Considering Duke Su's understanding of warfare, he should not have created such useless equipment.

Murong Shaozong really couldn't understand it.

At this time, Su Ze was watching the blacksmith forging weapons with great interest.

Su Ze asked:

"Is it charcoal?"

"The coal would make the weapons brittle and break easily, and the charcoal is needed to get the furnace to the right temperature."

Su Ze nodded slightly. Su Ganjiang ([Weaponsmith who strives for perfection]) was the person in charge of this workshop appointed by Su Ze. Since it was a professional matter, Su Ze would definitely trust professionals.

Then Su Ze saw Su Ganjiang wrapping the red-forged iron block around another iron block, and then began to forge it quickly with a hammer.

Su Ganjiang explained:

"The biggest fear of a double-edged weapon is chipping and breaking, so I forged more layers of hard iron and wrapped it with soft iron. This way the blade is stronger and less likely to deform on the battlefield. This method is called the sandwich steel method. Although the forging process is more complicated, the resulting knife is more durable."

Su Ze seemed to understand, he only proposed the appearance of the Mo Dao, but in order to make such a weapon, there are so many technical details.

Su Gan knocked the mixed iron ingots into the shape of a Mo Dao blank and began to forge it repeatedly. With these forgings, the blade finally took shape.

"My Lord, we have reached the final step."

Su Ganjiang took the knife blank to a pool. He quickly smeared yellow mud on the knife body, but did not smear mud on the red-hot blade. Then he quickly put the whole knife into the pool.

When the fiery red hot knife blank comes into contact with water, it quickly vaporizes the water and white steam rises.

Su Gan waited until the blade had cooled down completely before taking the knife out of the water.

Su Ganjiang said:
"The difficulty of a double-edged long sword lies in the blade and the body of the sword."

"The blade needs to be hard and sharp, but too hard will break easily. The blade, on the other hand, needs to be resilient so that it doesn't break or snap when it collides with the enemy's blade."

Su Ze listened very carefully. No wonder the Mo Dao was rarely used after the Tang Dynasty. This weapon was just like the Dahuang Crossbow of the Han Dynasty. It was too troublesome to make.

If it weren't for the followers spawned by the system and the system's new research function, Su Ze would not have been able to create the Mo Dao in advance.

However, the iron smelting technology in the Northern Wei Dynasty had developed to a similar level, and was only a step away from producing the Mo Dao. Su Ze simply raised the demand for a weapon like the Mo Dao, and the craftsmen quickly achieved a technological breakthrough.

Murong Shaozong and Chen Chong also each picked up a finished Mo Dao.

Grasping it in his hand, he swung it and chopped it twice. Murong Shaozong couldn't help but exclaimed:

"Good knife!"

This Mo Dao is simply a work of art.

But Murong Shaozong was used to cavalry warfare. He held up the Mo Dao and said:

"My Lord, it is better to use a spear or a lance at this moment."

After Murong Shaozong finished speaking, Wanqi Chounu and Chen Chong nodded. They were both cavalry generals and they all saw the problem with the Modao weapon. This weapon was not suitable for fighting on horseback.

Su Ze smiled and said:

"This weapon is not meant for fighting on horseback. The Mo Dao is equipped for infantry."

Infantry?

Everyone suddenly understood, but then a new question arose: Why did Duke Su want to build an infantry force?

Wanqi Chounu was a straightforward person, he said directly:
"My Lord, our army is composed of elite cavalry, as is Erzhu Rong. Why do we need to train infantry? Can these infantry fight well?"

Murong Shaozong also nodded slightly. They were all cavalry generals. In this era, cavalry always looked down on infantry.

This is understandable. Nowadays, the best armor is for cavalry, the best horses are for cavalry, and the best weapons are for cavalry.

Whether Han or Hu people, they are proud to be cavalrymen.

The most outstanding generals were also cavalry generals.

Even the armor on the cavalry's horses was more expensive than a full set of equipment for the infantry.

Su Ze clearly has the most elite cavalry in the world under his command, so why does he want to form an infantry?
Su Ze said:

"This Duke also wants more cavalry, but there are no horses."

Everyone understood what he meant. The absence of horses did not mean a lack of war horses.

Su Ze controlled the Hexi Corridor and was the Khan of the grassland, so he had no shortage of horses.

But what was lacking was a well-bred horse capable of carrying the iron lump into battle.

Su Ze tried his best to collect all kinds of good horses, and only then was he able to put together a few armored and heavily armored cavalry units. He simply could not gather more.

Moreover, on the battlefield, war horses are actually consumables.

There is no other way. Only a heavy and strong horse can carry armored cavalry into battle.

Once such a warhorse is injured, it is basically scrapped.

No matter how well a warhorse is maintained in normal times, it will be consumed in large quantities on the battlefield. Moreover, once most of the excellent warhorses are injured, they will be unable to continue serving due to their excessive weight and will be eliminated from the battlefield.

In the era of advanced medical technology before Su Ze traveled through time, there was no way to treat purebred racehorses. Many winning horses worth millions were euthanized due to hoof injuries, not to mention on the battlefield.

Relying on breeding at the Hexi Ranch and several ranches in Guanzhong, and the purchase of excellent BMWs by the An Niangzi Merchant Group in the vast sea and the Western Regions, Su Ze was able to maintain the current size of his cavalry, but there is no hope of further expanding the army.

Since it was impossible to expand the cavalry unit on a large scale in a short period of time, Su Ze naturally thought of the infantry.

In fact, it is not that infantry cannot fight against cavalry.

The most famous one is the Iron Pagoda, the armored cavalry that Yue Family Army used against the Jin Dynasty in later generations.

Yue Fei's army had both cavalry and infantry, and Yue Fei also attached great importance to the role of heavy armored infantry in fighting against cavalry.

Well-trained heavy infantry may not be unable to fight against cavalry.

People in later generations often ridiculed the lax military preparations of the Song Dynasty, but few people knew that the Song Dynasty was also the peak period of cold weapon manufacturing.

The characteristic of the weapons manufacturing industry in the Song Dynasty is that the upper limit is extremely high and the lower limit is extremely low.

This naturally depends on the time.

The lower limit was the Jing Kang period. Because coal was used to smelt iron, the weapons contained sulfur and were easy to break. The Song army at that time collapsed on the battlefield.

However, the upper limit of the Song Dynasty's manufacturing capabilities was also very high. For example, the heavy infantry armor of the Song Dynasty, which is recorded in history - the Bu Ren Jia, was made of iron armor plates connected by leather strips or nails. It was a typical lamellar armor. The whole set of armor usually weighed more than 50 kilograms. Wearing this armor could block most attacks on the battlefield.

Su Ze set up a large number of iron smelters in Dingzhou and Hengzhou, and also asked these iron smelters to research smelting and forging heavy infantry armor. The purpose was to train a heavy armored infantry capable of fighting against cavalry.

There is no other way. When fighting for the dragon, everyone is fighting hard and every resource must be invested in the battlefield.

After Su Ze gained control of the north and obtained a strategic advantage over Erzhu Rong in Hebei, he also faced the problem of insufficient troops.

Even if these heavily armored infantrymen could not confront Erzhu Rong's elite cavalry head-on, they would be enough to defend the city.

My sworn brother really didn't give me any chance to breathe.
-
In early November, Erzhu Rong led his troops to attack Ji County.

Upon receiving the news, Chen Qingzhi led the White Robe Army from Hanoi to support Ji County, regardless of the epidemic still spreading in the army.

Su Ze did not have much confidence in Chen Qianzhi and could only say that this famous general of the Southern Dynasty was really at a disadvantage.

However, the fact that Chen Qianzhi was able to achieve such an victory with only 7,000 white-robed soldiers was already a military miracle, and he lived up to the title of White-robed General.

It’s a pity that he met Erzhu Rong.

Epidemics were rampant in Chen Qianzhi's army; this was because the timing was not right.

Most of Chen Qianzhi's troops were from the south. They had been fighting in the north for a long time and were unfamiliar with the terrain and soil in the north. This meant that they were not at a good advantage in terms of location.

The pseudo-imperial court was unpopular in Luoyang, and the Hanoi region was also dissatisfied with Chen Qianzhi. It had no support.

The time, place and people are not right. If the situation were reversed, Su Ze would not know how to fight this battle.

But Chen Qianzhi still led the troops.

On November 15, Chen Qingzhi and Erzhu Rong fought outside the city of Jijun. Erzhu Rong once defeated Chen Qingzhi's vanguard army. Gao Huan was about to attack Chen Qingzhi's central army, but was blocked by Chen Qingzhi who reorganized the defeated vanguard army.

The battle lasted from day to evening, and finally both sides withdrew their troops. Erzhu Rong was unable to break through the Ji County defense line.

This time, they encountered Chen Qingzhi, which made the generals under Erzhu Rong somewhat dejected. In the past, Erzhu's cavalry always won the victory as soon as they set out, even when facing Ge Rong's million-strong army.

But today we are unable to defeat Chen Qianzhi’s seven thousand white-robed soldiers.

But Erzhu Rong was very excited. Since he started his rebellion, the only opponent worthy of mention was Xing Gao, and now Chen Qianzhi joined the fray.

Erzhu Rong cheered up and personally visited Chen Qianzhi's camp at night.

But Chen Qianzhi was indeed a famous general, and the camp was well guarded, leaving no chance for them to take advantage.

Erzhu Rong was convinced now, and said to his sworn brother Yuan Tianmu:
"I never thought that the Southern Dynasty would have such a great general."

The next day, Erzhu Rong did not attack Chen Qianzhi again, but summoned all the generals to discuss ways to defeat the enemy.

When everyone was at a loss, Gao Huan stood up and said:
"General, I have a plan."

(End of this chapter)