I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 538: The Uselessness of Armor

In fact, Zhu Houxuan did not want to recruit so many people, and the capital was a region with relatively developed railways. Even if the current railway technology was relatively rudimentary, it could save a lot of manpower. It was said that it would be enough to recruit 300,000 or 400,000 people to do logistics work, but who could blame them for the current season and weather? The difficulty of transportation and the amount of materials needed have increased a lot, so so many civilians had to be recruited.

The commander of Guan Dali's guards was a man named Ma Desheng. He reorganized the team immediately after taking over.

Ma Desheng didn't have much time left. He had only a little over a day to reorganize and train the team before they had to carry out their military mission.

The soldiers of this army come from many places, but the veterans all have good military qualities and their morale is very high. The medals of honor on their chests can clearly show each person's qualifications and honors.

So Ma Desheng quickly set up a framework. He selected officers based on each person's medal of honor. No one was dissatisfied because at that time the Guards' medals of honor were not very valuable and each medal was a reflection of real achievement.

Soon after they were reorganized, a group of civilians brought them weapons in carts.
"Wow! Zhengde Sixteen-style!" Guan Dali picked up a musket and couldn't let it go. "I've heard that the Guards have replaced their muskets with new ones. I've also seen the pattern of the Zhengde Sixteen-style in the newspaper. I've always wanted to play with it. Today I finally got my wish."

Guns are the romance of men, both in ancient and modern times.
Guan Dali retired during the Battle of Mobei. When he was serving, he was still using a matchlock rifle. Only after he retired did the Guards begin to change their equipment.

Xia Songshan also picked up a Zhengde Sixteen-style rifle and started playing with it. He hadn't played with a gun for more than ten years, but with the guidance of people around him, he quickly became proficient in it.

"Looking at the number on the handle, this musket was produced not long ago. It's still a new gun!" Xia Songshan was very satisfied with the musket in his hand.

The Zhengde Type 16 was a flintlock rifle, much simpler than the matchlock rifle they had used in previous service.

The gunpowder and lead bullets delivered were sufficient. The gunpowder was the familiar fixed-charge gunpowder, and the sighting structure of the musket was also the same as the previous matchlock gun, so the veterans quickly loaded the gunpowder and then started shooting at the open ground. The air was soon filled with the smell of gunpowder.

In addition to the fire gun, each of them was given a Zhengde 18-style saber, but Guan Dali felt something was wrong.
Finally, he couldn't help but stop a quartermaster who came to deliver weapons and asked the question he was most concerned about: "Where is the armor? Where is the armor?"

"Armor?" The quartermaster asked in confusion, "These are all the equipment. There is no armor?"

The old soldiers around also noticed the commotion and gathered around. After hearing what the quartermaster said, they couldn't help but make a noise.
"How can we fight without armor?"

"Yes! The reason why the Imperial Guards are victorious in every battle is because of their strong armor and powerful guns. If we only have powerful guns but no strong armor, our combat effectiveness will be reduced."

"Without armor, I don't know how to fight."

"Yeah, why is there no armor?"

"Where is our A? Did you embezzle him?"

"." The veterans surrounded the quartermaster and talked at once.

The quartermaster was speechless. There was indeed no armor among the weapons and equipment he was responsible for transporting. He had no idea how to explain it.
Fortunately, Ma Desheng noticed the situation here and quickly rushed over to rescue the quartermaster. The first-class bayonet assault medal on Ma Desheng's chest gave him extremely high prestige among the veterans. The veterans obeyed the order and stepped aside to continue familiarizing themselves with their weapons.

"Tell me the truth, is it true that our battalion was not equipped with armor?" Ma Desheng's face was not very good either.

"No, not only do you not have any, I also don't see any other troops being equipped with armor!" said the quartermaster with a sad face.

Ma Desheng's face turned even worse. As a recipient of the First Class Hand-to-Hand Assault Medal, he knew the role of armor in combat.
At this moment, a messenger came running over and said, "Captain Ma, His Royal Highness has ordered all officers above the rank of battalion commander to attend a military meeting."

Ma Desheng's eyes lit up. He could ask His Highness about the armor issue during the meeting. He couldn't get anything out of the quartermaster anyway.

He quickly arrived at the camp where Zhu Houxuan was. All officers above the rank of battalion commander of the Old Guards had come here, a total of less than 200 people.

After arriving, the issue that everyone was most concerned about was the armor, and many people vaguely guessed the reason.

Zhu Houxuan did not let the officers wait too long and soon appeared in the big tent.
The officers asked Zhu Houxuan the question that concerned them most, which was armor.

Facing the officers' questions, Zhu Houxuan spread his hands and said, "As for helmets, the factory in Tangshan is working overtime to produce them urgently. A batch will be shipped here soon to equip the soldiers, but there is really no armor. The production process of armor is rather complicated and time is too tight. There is simply no time to produce enough armor."

Zhu Houxun's words caused an uproar among the officers present. Although they had a premonition in their hearts, they still felt disappointed when they got the answer from Zhu Houxun.

Zhu Houxuan had anticipated this and raised his voice, saying, "Everyone, be quiet!"

The officers were very disciplined and soon calmed down.

"The complicated production of armor is only one of the reasons, but not the main reason. The main reason is that I think armor is not very useful when facing an army like the Guards. It is better not to equip armor and wear military uniforms on the battlefield. This can also improve mobility and help keep warm in such weather." Zhu Houxuan continued.

This statement was simply an outrageous statement to the officers.

Zhu Houxuan's words once again sparked a discussion among the officers, but unlike before, many officers had a thoughtful look on their faces.
"The muskets equipped by the guards in the capital are the same as the ones you have received, they are all Zhengde Type 16 infantry muskets, and the equipment rate has reached more than 80%. This type of musket has a very strong armor-piercing ability. The plate armor that the guards are currently equipped with can't block a bullet fired by the Zhengde Type 16 infantry musket. Since wearing plate armor can't block bullets, why bother wearing armor? The guards wearing plate armor are actually on an equal footing with us soldiers who don't wear plate armor." Zhu Houxuan said.

(End of this chapter)