On ancient battlefields, swords and swords, soldiers had little chance of surviving. In order to improve the survival rate of soldiers, some people began to think of ways. Can you invent what is worn on the body, can block the sword, protect the soldier, improve the survival rate of the soldier, this is the prototype of the armor.
In the earliest days, due to the underdevelopment of smelting technology, the armor was basically based on cowhide armor, so at that time, cowhide was controlled as a strategic material, and no one could kill cattle at will, even their own. But the cowhide armor is only a psychological comfort, and the protective power of the cowhide armor is still not enough.
Later, a kind of bamboo pieces, or hardwood pieces, after processing, and then attached to cowhide, tandem and worn on the body appeared. Although this kind of armor is well protected, it is too bulky, which seriously limits the combat effectiveness of soldiers, and the cost is expensive, and the equipment rate is not very high.
Despite the development of ironmaking technology, the material of the armor began to move closer to the iron sheet, and in the following time, various armor based on iron armor also appeared. For example, the famous Mingguang armor during the Tang Dynasty, it is said that the protection is so high that the sword is basically unable to cut.
During the Song Dynasty, the army of the Central Plains Dynasty began to change to infantry as the main body, so the heavy iron armor was not suitable for infantry long-distance combat, and the protective area of the armor began to decrease, and even once only protected the main torso. In contrast, the nomadic peoples in the north, who were mainly cavalry, raised the coverage of iron armor to the peak in order to deal with the bow and arrow array of the Central Plains Dynasty, leaving almost only two eyes to look out.
This is the famous heavy armored cavalry in history, representative of which are the iron floating tu of the Jin Dynasty and the iron harrier of the Western Xia. Clad in heavy armor, as the vanguard of the former army, they were responsible for attacking the formation of the Central Plains Dynasty army, and after tearing the formation apart, the subsequent troops rushed in to disrupt the formation and win the war.
The development of history is a spiral in the form of a spiral, which flourishes again after the rapid retreat of the infantry armor. This time, the opponent of the Central Plains Dynasty was the Manchus, a fishing and hunting nation. In order to cope with the onslaught of the Manchu cavalry, Zheng Chenggong of the late Ming Dynasty upgraded the armor of the infantry, almost covering the whole body.
When selecting soldiers, Zheng Chenggong's requirements are very strict, and the strength of these soldiers is very large. After training, these infantry became a powerful force against the Manchu cavalry. They held large knives in one hand and iron hooks in the other. When the cavalry rushed over, the men hooked the horse's leg directly with an iron hook, and the cavalry fell off the horse, and before the cavalry could react, they had already cut off the head of the cavalry.
Of course, this kind of soldier is very bulky, not suitable for mobile combat, can only fight position warfare, and there are not many such soldiers, which is not enough to save the fate of the defeat of the Ming Dynasty. And these soldiers are not invincible, although the knives and guns of the cavalry cannot hurt you, but the impact and strike weapons of the cavalry can definitely kill them, which is also one of the reasons why Zheng Chenggong is defeated and retreated. In desperation, Zheng Chenggong could only resist the Qing Dynasty while attacking Taiwan and planning to divide the territory. This kind of iron armor was completely useless against the Dutch, and the bullets could easily penetrate the iron armor, and these soldiers almost went to send heads.
After the disappearance of the cold weapon, the armor did not disappear, but became another way of existence, such as body armor, which is the armor adapted to the needs of war. The modern Kevlar fiber and ceramic bulletproof plate combined body armor is very excellent, can block many caliber bullets, China's scientific research progress in related fields is even higher than the United States!