As for the nail plate itself, there is no doubt that the thicker the nail plate, the stronger the defense. There is no need to doubt this even without testing it.

In addition to thickness, other variables of the nail plate include the shape of the nail plate and the holes in the nail plate for stringing.

In terms of shape, there are various shapes such as square, circle, rhombus, rectangle, etc.

As for the rope holes, the number, location, and shape of the rope holes are also different variables.

To calculate the requirements for the test, round, square, and rhombus armor pieces of the same length are required. Thirty pieces of each type are needed, and ninety pieces are needed.

Nail plates with the same width but different lengths are required. There must be at least five length types, fifty pieces for each type, and two hundred and fifty pieces are required.

Two hundred nail pieces with the same aspect ratio but different sizes are required.

There are also tests involving rope holes, which also require hundreds of pieces.

Each type of sample tested requires a large number of nails with exactly the same thickness and shape. This exact consistency is very troublesome.

When testing the strength of paper, the method for making paper of the same thickness and specifications was to fill bamboo tubes of the same size with the same volume of paper pulp, then pour it on the same size net, and use the wooden board to brush it evenly. This ensures that each paper pulp is made.

Every piece of paper is extremely consistent.

This method can be used to make paper. It is difficult to make the nail pieces exactly the same thickness. The only solution is to cast them.

Ordinary casting is not enough, and extremely delicate molds must be used, so delicate that there can be no difference at all.

Having such an exquisite mold is still not enough, because usually during casting, the mold is tightened or loosened, and the thickness of the object can vary greatly. Therefore, for the testing needs, it is necessary to create the most top-notch and most precise casting mold.

After assigning the task to the entire craftsman camp, the craftsman leaders gathered together to discuss and concluded that the molds cast with yellow clay or sand were not enough, so they decided to use iron as the molds.

Use wrought iron. Wrought iron is soft and easy to cut and polish. Wrought iron is also heat-resistant.

Use wrought iron to make the mold and cast it with pig iron. The heat of the pig iron will not melt the wrought iron.

After having an idea, the craftsmen collected the wrought iron blocks they could find in the camp and hammered them into a flat shape the size of a eucalyptus board. The flatness caused by hammer forging was far from being truly flat. Later, the craftsmen continued

Use a hard iron scraper to smooth the entire template bit by bit.

While doing this step, Li Mengxi happened to come over and saw the craftsmen's smoothing method. A word popped into Li Mengxi's mind, [manual scraping and grinding]. It is said that in the machinery manufacturing industry, the top molds are all made manually.

Finely refined machinery cannot achieve top-level precision.

The processing level of the craftsman camp has reached this level.

Craftsmen may already have the skills to refine artifacts, but there has never been a need for refinement. Now the demand is gradually increasing, which has pushed back the development of technology.

The mold has not yet been successfully manufactured, but Li Mengxi is already extremely confident in this casting.

——

Two days later, with the joint efforts of all the most powerful craftsmen in the camp, the iron mold casting was completed.

Li Mengxi took the time to check out the iron mold. The top-grade mold carefully crafted by the craftsmen was ground almost bit by bit. It was smooth and almost like a mirror surface, and there was no doubt about its accuracy.

Finally, the craftsmen burned a new furnace of molten iron and began to cast various types of armor pieces as instructed.

One day later, a large number of extremely regular cast iron armor pieces were cast.

The strength of armor pieces made of cast iron is definitely poor, but even if it is poor, it will not affect the test.

When it came time for the test, Li Mengxi found a flat place, and the craftsmen carried the [guillotine] and placed it properly on the flat ground.

There is a sharp iron awl hanging on the beam of the guillotine, and a collar of iron armor is placed underneath. When the rope is loosened, the iron awl is connected to the rope and falls straight down from the beam with a clatter. The iron awl falls with great force.

, when it fell to the bottom, there was a pop, the iron armor could not withstand the huge impact force, and it was easily penetrated through two layers.

The power is amazing.

The guillotine was inspected and found to be normal, and the test began.

The first item is to measure the relationship between armor plate size and defense power.

There are two kinds of nail plates, one is one inch wide and two inches long, and the other is two inches wide and four inches long. These two kinds of nail plates have the same thickness, the same shape, and the same proportions. The only difference is the size.

.

First, widen the nail plate by one inch and two inches, and pull the iron cone to a distance of one inch from the height of the nail plate.

Then let go of the rope and let the iron cone fall freely.

The height of one inch is very low, so the force of the fall is not great. The iron cone fell, bending the armor piece and cutting a small hole in it.

Then, the large armor piece was widened by two inches and four inches long, and the iron cone was still hanging at a height of one inch. The rope was loosened, and the iron cone was allowed to fall freely.

After the first set of tests, Li Mengxi compared the two armor plates. From the deformation point of view, the large armor plate had greater deformation, which was expected; but what was unexpected was the ability of the small armor plate to defend against puncture.

It's actually strong.

Both armor plates were attacked by a large iron cone falling from a height of one inch. The hole punctured by the small armor plate was the size of a grain of rice, while the hole punctured by the large armor plate was the size of a soybean.

The difference in deformation is easy to understand, just like tachyons. Long tachyons are easier to break, and shorter ones are more difficult to break.

But in the face of puncture attacks, why the small nail plate performs better, I don't understand.

From the test, it can be seen that small nail plates have low deformation, which may be due to smaller deformation and stronger defense. In other words, Li Mengxi believes that the nail plates are "broken", such as a straight stick and a pull

Curved sticks, the two sticks are of the same thickness, and if you hit the two sticks with the same force, the bent stick will be broken more easily.

From this, it is speculated that Li Mengxi's understanding is that the large armor plates become larger, just like a stick that has been bent, and are easier to be destroyed.

I don’t know whether the principle is like this, but the results of the test are like this. Anyway, after testing, small nail plates are better at resisting puncture attacks.

To avoid this being an accidental result, Li Mengxi continued to conduct the same test dozens of times.

After some testing, the results are obvious. Small nail plates have smaller deformation and stronger defense than large nail plates.

From this, we may come to a conclusion - the smaller the armor piece, the stronger the protection against stabbing.

On the actual battlefield, in addition to stabbing attacks, armor also suffered slashing and blunt blows.

I changed the blade head, replaced the large iron awl on the guillotine with a large axe, and tried again with armor pieces of different sizes.

The test results yielded unexpected results.

When testing the piercing attack before, the iron cone was only one inch high. At a height of one inch, the iron cone could already pierce armor.

But the big iron ax was used. The iron ax fell from a height of one inch and only bent the armor piece from the middle. The armor piece was not completely damaged. In other words, in actual combat, the armor piece did not crack or touch the armor.

The person will not be hurt.

Li Mengxi had some enlightenment. It seemed that guns and arrows were stronger armor-piercing weapons than swords. If he thought about it more carefully, he realized that this was a pressure.

The area of ​​action of gun blades and arrows on the armor is only a small point, while the area of ​​action of swords is a line, and it is not just a line. Swords cannot only cut on one piece of armor, but often on multiple

On the armor, this makes the pressure exerted by the sword on the armor less sharp than the blades of guns and arrows.

At a distance of one inch, the ax blade could not cut through the armor. Then it was raised half an inch, and then to two inches. At a height of two inches, the heavy ax blade fell, finally leaving traces of cuts on the armor.

Dozens of sets of tests again. The large nail plate tested was two inches wide and four inches long. The small nail plate was one inch wide and two inches long. After the test, detailed comparisons were made. The comparison results were the same as the previous stabbings. It was still the big nail plate.

The slices are more easily deformed, and large nail slices are easier to cut.

Li Mengxi once again determined that the larger the armor piece is, the greater its deformation will be when attacked, the more it will be pulled, and the easier it will be destroyed.

When it comes to the blunt impact test, the blunt impact test is different from the sharp weapon. It is difficult for a blunt impact to completely destroy the structure of the armor, but it can transfer the force to the human body through the armor.

Therefore, the method for blunt impact testing has changed.

Before the test, first braid the nail pieces into towel-sized pieces, bring over the wet mud embryo that was prepared earlier, and place the nail pieces on top of it.

Then, the big iron ball falls freely.

Wet dirt acts like ballistic gel, amplifying the damage.

After dozens of tests, the comparison is obvious. When the hammer hits it, the shape of the mud under the large armor plate becomes smaller, which shows that the large armor plate has a better protective effect against blunt blows.

At this point, the variable test of nail size is over.

It has been measured that small armor plates have strong defense against punctures and cuts, while large armor plates have strong defense against blunt objects or impact forces.

There are advantages to big nail plates, and there are advantages to small nails. This is a dilemma. Li Mengxi can't decide whether it is better to make large nail plates or small nail plates.

If something is unclear, analyze it and use the controlled variable method. Also use the controlled variable method.

Question, what are the variables of armor? There are combat situations, manufacturing speed, flexibility, etc.

Due to combat needs, infantry and cavalry have different needs for armor.

Regarding the manufacturing speed, the manufacturing speed of large nail pieces and small nail pieces is also different.

In terms of flexibility, the flexibility of large nail plates and small nail plates is also different.

So, let’s analyze it.

As for infantry, infantry mostly face damage from arrows and swords and guns, so at this time, it is better for infantry to have smaller armor plates. Tests show that the smaller the armor plates, the better the defense against punctures and slashes.

Strong.

This is how the infantry's armor and stomach are.

When it comes to cavalry, the most feared weapon of cavalry is the spear. When infantry fight in hand-to-hand combat, the spear only has a piercing power, but it can reach such a high speed as cavalry and war horses. If the war horse is poked by the spear while charging, it will not only cause puncture damage, but also the spear.

More powerful impact force.

That is to say, for cavalry, when cavalry fights, the enemy's weapon attack naturally has a huge impact.
To be continued...