In the history of China's military development, the heavy infantry of the Southern Song Dynasty undoubtedly pushed the role of this branch of the army in history to a peak. No Central Plains dynasty has ever been able to fight the powerful cavalry of the nomads through an army with infantry as the main force like the Song Dynasty, and can also stop the enemy's offensive through some partial victories, and keep half of the rivers and mountains south of the Yangtze River for 152 years.

The infantry of the Song Dynasty was able to accomplish the feat of riding on foot, which was inseparable from its excellent armament. Putting aside the strategic and tactical problems, in the face-to-face battle between the middle and lower generals of the two armies, the Song army used strong crossbows, heavy axes, and iron armor, which can be used from far and near, and have both offensive and defensive weapons and excellent armor, so that it lasted militarily as a dynasty that occupied half of the country for a century and a half.

In other words, the heavy infantry, as the main force of the Song army, could be said to be fearless in the face of the enemy's light cavalry harassment. The arrows fired by the enemy hussars could not penetrate the iron armor they had. It is difficult to form large-scale effective killing. And if these light cavalry charge into battle, then these heavy infantry armed with sharp weapons will soon be able to tear these light cavalry to pieces.

Even in the face of an overwhelming charge of armored cavalry, the heavy infantry was fully capable of responding effectively. The only drawback of this hoplite is that it is too slow. However, if you can fight with the light cavalry, this combination has a huge tactical advantage.

Li Liang was in the blacksmith shop of the workshop, holding a small file in his hand, and was carefully polishing the armor leaves that were piled up in front of him like a hill. After polishing each piece, he threw it into the bamboo basket beside him. In the blink of an eye, the nail leaves in the bamboo basket are also piled up.

Li Yanzhi only drew a sketch for Li Liang. However, Li Liang spent a lot of thought in order to realize this sketch. The sketch is only a cursory drawing of the various parts that need to be made of an iron armor, but what is the size of each part, how big the shape of the nail leaves is made, and what kind of method is used to connect the nail leaves in series and fix them on the armor to make them firm and have excellent protection, even if they are shot with some bows and crossbows on the battlefield, the knife and axe still maintain a certain integrity, which is a problem that Li Liang conceived and refined.

Li Yanzhi went to the workshop every day to check the progress of Li Liang's production of this heavy armor. Although Li Liang is doing it every day, but in terms of the current progress, Li Yanzhi feels that it is still too early to see the finished product.

Winter is the time of agricultural slack, and in Li Yanzhi's eyes, this is also a good time to train troops. The original hundreds of cavalry soldiers in Lingju County have been equipped with wooden riding bows, spears and lances and other easy-to-make stabbing weapons. The new school yard for the cavalry was chosen in a valley on the west side of the county. Liu Jiwu served as the head of these hundred or so horsemen.

And the hundred or so new horsemen selected by Zhou Xing from among the foot soldiers began to practice basic skills such as riding with Tao Heng as the leader. Although Tao Heng is the elite cavalry official of the Chen An Department in Longxi, he came to train these new rookies, so he naturally came easily.

In addition, the hundred or so strong foot soldiers were also gathered and began to familiarize themselves with the newly made long-bladed long knives. Because the productivity of the workshop is limited after all, it is not possible to distribute a long knife to each person for the time being. However, the soldiers who got this new weapon were a little surprised for a while.

These people were personally led by Li Yanzhi in the exercises. After all, the traditional heavy infantry is armed with shields and halberds, and lays out a tight formation to deal with cavalry. There is no one like this who holds a long knife in both hands and uses it against cavalry. Except for Li Yanzhi, no one knows how such an elite army will be trained and how it will be used on the battlefield.

In the eyes of Tao Heng and Liu Jiwu, who led the cavalry, Li Yanzhi's approach was really crazy. The accurate and ferocious archery skills of the Hun cavalry, they all saw with their own eyes. Therefore, if you want to rely on the shield and only rely on the defensive power of the armor to defend against these arrow rains, it is inevitable that in the eyes of the two, it will be a bit of a fool's dream.

Rao is like this, but Li Yanzhi does not defend it. Before the iron armor had yet to be manufactured, he led the foot soldiers in sword training. Particular attention is paid to stabbing and diagonal slashing. After all, on the battlefield, if you are in a tight formation, these two means of attack are almost the only means of attack.

Li Yanzhi trained these foot soldiers very happily. He worked with the carpenters in the army and the carpenters in the workshop to make hundreds of wooden dummies, and then trained them in knife skills, requiring each of them to complete 500 stabs and 500 diagonal slashes a day. At the camp and school yard, the sound of crackling and chopping wood was heard continuously.

This kind of exercise is very boring and laborious. Many soldiers were angry in their hearts, so they poured their anger on those wooden dummies. For a while, after the end of the daily drill, there would be many dummies of the soldiers who were cut into several pieces. Debris flew and almost covered the ground near the school grounds with a layer of wood chips.

However, it was not long before the time came the next day, and they would be shocked to find that the dummy, which had been slashed to pieces yesterday, would be replaced with a new one, looking at them sarcastically at the school field. For a time, everyone was overwhelmed.

However, Li Yanzhi himself appreciated this kind of behavior. The soldiers who cut the dummy soon discovered that they had always received some special treatment in the next day's meal—the beef and mutton that had been cured into jerky before became a reward for them at the table. Li Yanzhi also said to them that if they worked so hard in the exercise, if they could go to the battlefield one day and be so brave, then any enemy would not be afraid.

Anyway, there was no shortage of carpenters in the county, and in addition to making bows and crossbows, these carpenters brought the soldiers of the battalion to make these dummies, which was relatively not a laborious task at all.

Within a few days, Li Liang sent someone to report the iron armor that Li Yanzhi had ordered him to make. Now that it has been completed, Li Yanzhi is invited to inspect it and put forward some suggestions for improvement. When Li Yanzhi heard this, he was also overjoyed, so he immediately went to the workshop. When I entered the door, I saw a group of craftsmen gathered together, looking at the things in front of me from time to time and marveling.

Li Yanzhi stepped forward and pushed everyone away, and a pair of black and shiny iron armor appeared in front of him. Li Liang stood aside, quite proud. However, when he saw Li Yanzhi coming, Li Liang didn't dare to hold it up, so he hurriedly stepped forward to greet him. However, Li Yanzhi's gaze stayed on the armor on the shelf, and he seemed to be completely unaware of Li Liang's courtesy.

Li Liang was treated as air to hang aside, but he himself was not ashamed or annoyed, and he still looked happy. Li Yanzhi carefully inspected the iron armor. The predecessor armor was made from a single piece of cowhide embellished with armor leaves. The back armor is made up of two slightly narrower pieces of cowhide joined together and embellished with armor leaves. to increase the flexibility of the armor-piercing person. In addition to the body armor, the helmet, cape and skirt armor are also well-made.

Li Yanzhi took a closer look at the skirt armor again. The skirt armor is also made of cowhide with nail leaves, and the length is long enough to cover the calf. Li Yanzhi looked around, but in his heart he was very satisfied with this iron armor. He raised his head, but he was meeting Li Liang's inquiring gaze, but Li Yanzhi did not hide his satisfaction at all, and applauded again and again. In addition to Li Liang's respectful attitude, a smug smile also appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Li Yanzhi grabbed Li Liang with one hand, took Li Liang aside, and then asked, "Now your blacksmith, are your family members in Lingju County?" ”

Li Liang thought for a while and said, "There are a few people who are not in this county, but they ...... But it's all in the county. What does Sima think? ”

Li Yanzhi frowned and pondered for a while, and then said, "Let those blacksmiths whose families are not in this county go to make swords." This iron armor ......"

Li Yanzhi paused, and then said, "...... It must be done by reliable people! ”

When Li Liang heard this, his expression froze. But soon he seemed to think of something, and said to Li Yanzhi: "Previously, the county government had summoned more than a dozen blacksmiths in the county to work. Now is the time to employ people, Sima might as well explain to the county government, how about transferring some people back to continue to work? ”

Li Yanzhi nodded: "Later, I will send a letter to ask the prince to transfer the blacksmith back to listen to it." After that, Li Yanzhi took Li Liang again and asked: "That piece of iron armor, before and after, how much does it cost?" ”

When Li Liang heard Li Yanzhi ask, his expression was also stagnant for a moment. After thinking about it, Fang stretched out a hand, put away his thumb, and came out with four fingers.

"Four thousand?" When Li Yanzhi saw it, he was also stunned on the spot. If you want to calculate it in this way, the financial and material resources of Lingju County may not be enough to arm a heavy infantry of hundreds of people.

Li Liang nodded: "The value of the iron material alone is more than three thousand dollars. Add in the rest of the required materials such as cowhide, wood, and gold paint, and the cost should be around 4,000 yuan......"

Li Yanzhi nodded with a heavy face: "I know." How much iron is left in stock? ”

"One hundred and sixty pounds of fine steel. 300 catties of wrought iron and 770 catties of pig iron. When Li Liang heard Li Yanzhi ask, he also told the current situation of raw material inventory, which made Li Yanzhi frown secretly. With such a small amount of material reserves, later production must be limited. If there is no new source of iron, what will be used to keep the workshop running?

"I see." Li Yanzhi nodded, then raised his head to look at the iron armor, and said to Li Liang: "I'll give you some advice." This iron armor is on the chest and back, plus two round guards. The drape is slightly looser. If it's too tight, the soldiers can't wield their knives on the battlefield, so how can they fight? The helmet can be cast in wrought iron, which is trouble-free, and it is stronger than sticking the nail leaf like this. If you turn around and finish the transformation, send someone to inform me, and I will order the soldiers to come and carry it away. ”

Li Yanzhi said, and Li Liang could only respond resignedly on the side. It wasn't until Li Yanzhi finished speaking that he followed Li Yanzhi and carefully sent Li Yanzhi towards the gate.

Walking to the door, Li Yanzhi suddenly raised his head again: "By the way, if there is any more iron armor, it will be made according to this shape." If there is not enough iron, I will find a way to do it. If anything else, just come to the camp and tell me. ”

Li Yanzhi walked out of the camp, and Li Liang behind him sent him away for a long time before turning back to the workshop.

Seeing that the craftsmen under his command were still surrounding the iron armor, Li Liang couldn't help but shout impatiently: "What else to see, go and go, what should everyone do!" If something goes wrong, Sima will blame him, and I won't be able to protect you! ”

Hearing Li Liang's words, the craftsmen scattered one after another, as if nothing had happened, returned to their respective posts, and began to continue to do the work in their hands.

And Li Yanzhi left the workshop and returned to the camp, and he was also confused for a while. All the efforts he made before were nothing more than for the good of the county government. However, in the midst of these efforts, problems will inevitably arise. And a considerable number of problems are rooted in something that they simply cannot control.

Li Yanzhi went out of the camp again, and the more than 100 candidate foot soldiers were holding the bladed long knives one by one, cutting the wooden dummies on the side of the school yard at once, and they were all happily chopping. Li Yanzhi also knew that in their hearts, the two seemingly unrelated things of cutting down dummies and eating meat had long been equated. couldn't help but sigh secretly, and then went straight to the county government after leaving the camp gate.

Cui Yang was in the front yard of the county government, while bragging with Qin Dayong, Tao Heng, Liao Rulong, and others, while eating the corn porridge and Hu cakes in front of him. These rough men are together, and what they are talking about is nothing more than what they have been doing in the army all these years. Now that a Tao Heng is mixed in, it has become even more enthusiastic.

Li Yanzhi pushed open the gate of the county government, but these people were still unaware, until Li Yanzhi stood in the courtyard and shouted: "Cui Yang! The men were suddenly surprised, and then fell silent.

When Cui Yang heard this, he jumped up, then looked at Li Yanzhi and said, "My subordinates are here!" I don't know what Sima commanded? ”

Li Yanzhi beckoned. Cui Yang followed him out of the front yard and went out to a secluded corner. Li Yanzhi said: "You will hand over the affairs of the county government to others." You go to Wuxing County, don't enter the official mansion, and don't alarm those warriors. Changed your armor. Go to the market, and go to the places I marked for you on the map and nearby, to see if there is any iron ore excavation in Wuxing County! ”

Li Yanzhi said as he handed the simple map he had drawn in his hand to Cui Yang. Then he took out a bag of money from his arms and threw it into Cui Yang's arms as travel expenses, and then said, "Go and go back quickly!" ”

When Cui Yang saw this kind of battle, he could only smile bitterly to himself, and then he agreed to such an errand. With the map and money bag in hand, he turned around and returned to the county hall.

However, when Cui Yang sat down again and was about to finish the unfinished meal, he noticed that something was wrong, and looked down at the bowl, the beef jerky he had just made to be ready to eat was long gone.

"What about Lao Tzu's jerky! Who the took it! Cui Yang Wuzi thundered in the front yard of the county government. The rest of the people had already turned around and left the front yard as if they were fine.