Chapter 126: The Trouble of Making Armor

The ideal is plump, but reality is skeletal; Baifeng thought armor production, especially bamboo and vine armor, would certainly be simple, much simpler than iron armor, but the facts slapped him hard in the face.

Previously, the bamboo armor Baifeng imagined was just tying bamboo strips to the body; in that case, it could fully defend against the hacking of stone weapons, only suffering from the impact.

But when he started to work on it, he discovered that making armor out of bamboo could be said to be completely impossible; if it were for temporary use like before, it would be fine, but wanting something that could be used long-term was almost a joke.

Bamboo is too long and too big, which would affect movement; if made into small pieces, it would indeed be more flexible, but first, not to mention it would turn them into mat-wearing Soldiers, how long would it take to produce such a small and large quantity of bamboo armor pieces, and then they would have to be perforated, and then strung together piece by piece—the process alone was too complicated.

And then there is the problem of bamboo splitting and warping, mold, insects, and the consumption of rope; even if it could really be used and really be made, could one be made in half a year?

Baifeng, who had only whittled a few bamboo armor pieces in his hands, squatted on the ground in annoyance; the cheapest and most suitable armor material he could think of was already unusable—was his armor plan going to be stranded?

Bamboo armor is like this, so historically there was no such thing as bamboo armor at all; vine armor seems to have more feasibility, it is just a question of how to weave it; Baifeng tried to describe the appearance of the armor, and a group of tribesmen skilled in bamboo and vine weaving said they could give it a try.

Thus, Baifeng placed his expectations on vine armor; iron armor is impossible in the next few years, the tribe's iron production is too low, and after the tribe's population increased, there were more places needing iron; Baifeng only extracted a small portion to make a few armor pieces for himself, and over a year, the accumulated pieces could probably make one set of iron armor.

Those tribesmen understood weaving and material selection better than Baifeng, because that was their job; long-term weaving experience allowed them to figure out different weaving methods and techniques, and they also understood which vines were more resilient and more suitable for making armor.

There is a type of vine called Green Vine, which is the best vine in the entire Dahe basin; it is of appropriate thickness and good resilience; it is best to use those that have grown for two winters and summers, remove the head and tail, and scrape the knots clean.

It should be air-dried for half a month to remove moisture, and there is also the problem of pest control; Baifeng understood this, using Chinaberry to boil water and then soaking it, which could kill and prevent insects.

But the freshly harvested vines could not be used yet, but fortunately, the tribe had stock, all cut during normal times for weaving baskets and hampers; the usage of these things in the tribe was very high, and there were too many places that needed to hold things.

They still could not weave an armor garment that had shoulders but exposed the neck and connected front and back, so they had to weave two rectangular armor pieces; when the time came, the two pieces could just be tied together front and back with rope.

There was also skirt armor, which was easy to weave, just weave a few pieces and tie them together; a few people spent two days weaving a set; they did not weave a helmet because it was not only complicated but also hard to wear, and the protective power might not be great either.

No one was allowed to wear the first set of armor; Baifeng first found a wooden frame and tied the armor to it; he first used a Stone Axe to hack at it, but it did not cut through the vine armor, and it even bounced back; lifting it to look, there was a clear mark on the wood, but it was much better than having no Armor, as without armor, the Stone Axe could hack out a notch.

The Stone Spear did not pierce through either; Baifeng was relatively satisfied with this, after all, almost all tribes used Stone Axes and Stone Spears, or even Wooden Spears, and only those with high enough status could use Bronze ware.

Baifeng then used a Bronze Sword captured from the Zhique Tribe to hack at it; it still did not break, though this time a few strands broke, but it did not affect the overall function of the armor.

Finally, Baifeng used his tribe's Iron Knife; one strike caused more damage, but the armor did not fall apart; it took many hacks before it was tattered and completely unusable.

The tribesmen were unhappy about Baifeng wantonly wasting the fruits of their labor, but they dared to be angry but not speak; it was only after Baifeng explained carefully that this was being responsible for the lives of the tribesmen—what if the thing made couldn't even withstand one blow, but they still let the tribesmen wear it, what then, whose responsibility would it be—that those people dissipated their resentment and listened to Baifeng's words.

Although it is now Winter, the weather has not frozen yet, and those vines could barely be used, so there was another big harvest; they cut back enough usable vines to fill a warehouse, but it is estimated that they could only make thirty to forty sets of vine armor, and in one winter, with so many of them, they couldn't do anything else and could only focus on the vine armor.

Although vine armor is indeed usable, it is slow to make, and the quantity is far too little; it is not even enough for the sixty people of the Bow and Blade Team, let alone planning to arm all two hundred or nearly three hundred male Soldiers.

Now the Soldiers designated by the Baifeng tribe include nearly five hundred people, both men and women; the two hundred or so female Soldiers were only just counted in, because Baifeng discovered that he could not underestimate them; with Knives and Spears, they were still good at killing.

As for armor, it must be prioritized for the main force of the Bow and Blade Team and the Vanguard Team; the Bow and Blade Team must use the best, because they are the elite of the elite, and the Vanguard Team wearing armor can reduce casualties.

But now the problem of armor is seriously affecting the progress of Baifeng's development of the army and combat power; the bamboo armor that Baifeng originally expected to be convenient and easy to obtain now looks like trash, with no advantages at all.

Just when Baifeng was very troubled, Sui gave him a suggestion, which was leather armor; like Boar Skin, it is very thick and sturdy, and ordinary stone weapons might not necessarily be able to pierce someone's hide.

Baifeng had not failed to think of leather armor, but their tribe did not have much hide, let alone Boar Skin; perhaps, all told, the tribe's Boar Skin could only make five or six sets of armor, which could be given to Xiong and the other main force members to wear, as well as a few Scouts; it is light and has good defensive power, but in the overall layout, a few pieces of leather armor cannot change anything; what to use to make armor is truly troublesome.

Sui drew a curved, long cylinder on the ground for Baifeng; Baifeng thought she was thinking of doing something bad in broad daylight, but Sui then drew two lines tilted very high on both sides, and drew a rectangle behind it, with four lines under the rectangle, and one line behind it.

Although the drawing was very abstract, the recognizability was still very high; with just a slight look, Baifeng recognized what Sui had drawn.

Baifeng thought for a moment, then clapped his hands and shouted: "Oh, an elephant!"

Sui nodded quickly on the side.