Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1789 - 1283: A Military Industry System Beyond Its Era
"Director, this is the Cloth Long Body Iron Armor, weighing forty-two jin, with over a hundred armor plates! It covers the chest and abdomen, waist and ribs, shoulders, and even has a leather skirt to shelter the thighs... This is the Cloth Half Body Iron Armor, weighing twenty-eight jin, mainly protecting the chest, abdomen, back, and waist... This is the forged iron helmet, although the process is complicated, it's lighter and more durable than the copper helmet, and it can be fitted with a neck guard of iron cloth pieces..."
"Chalape, what differences are there in the production process after replacing the copper plates with iron plates in cloth armor? Will it increase the work hours? Compared to Cloth Copper Armor, how much does Cloth Iron Armor's protection increase?"
"Director, this is a long story... Hmm, a team has just completed a set of Long Body Iron Armor, why don't we go and see the inspection during the acceptance of this iron armor!..." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
After passing through layers of warrier escorts, reaching the deepest part of the craftsman camp, one can see the core department of the kingdom's military industry, the Armor Casting Bureau personally led by Deputy Director Chalape.
Armor casting is a complex task, whether it's traditional Cloth Bronze Armor or the newly emerging Cloth Iron Armor, it requires sewing war clothes, making armor plates, and fastening lined armor, finally adjusted into shape by skilled craftsmen. This is not something a single craftsman can complete in a short time. The model in the craftsman camp is group collaboration akin to military warrior teams. In fact, the position of a senior craftsman corresponds to usually being the leader of a warrior team, the veteran warrior.
"Ding, ding!"
Looking around, hundreds of craftsmen and apprentices are overseen by senior craftsmen as team leaders, divided into craftsman teams. Within each team, different craftsmen handle various making stages, finally summarized by the senior craftsman. Once a piece of cloth armor takes shape, the senior craftsman checks it thoroughly before marking it with his identifying symbol. This both represents this team's product, earning rewards from the military industry, and provides accountability if any issue arises.
Therefore, each craftsman leader becomes the manager, beneficiary, and ultimately the responsible person of military production. They are very careful with armor inspection, just like the senior craftsman leader who has just completed a piece. He solemnly hangs the armor on a wooden frame, personally pierces it with copper spears, testing its defense at different positions.
"Chief Divine bless! Chest and abdomen, qualified... Waist and ribs, qualified... Shoulder blades... all qualified!"
After a round of inspections, the craftsman leader finally breathes a sigh of relief and cautiously glances at the Deputy Director and Director beside him. The kingdom relies on its army, with year-round warfare. These armors are never stored but quickly dispatched to various regions to equip warriors for battle. The kingdom's military law is very strict; if the quality is poor and issues arise, accountability ultimately falls on the craftsman leader's head, resulting in severe punishment or even death! Not to mention, two officials from the Divine Revelation Place are watching right now...
"Chalape, it seems the iron plate retaliates better against piercing than the copper plate?"
"Yes, Director! The southern iron materials brought to the craftsman camp, once forged into iron plates, can still be further forged! Unlike cast bronze plates, forged iron plates become increasingly tenacious with repeated forging, enhancing their defense, being not only sturdier than bronze plates but also lighter than bronze. Furthermore, the greater advantage is that this type of forged iron plate is easier to repair. As long as the craftsman apprentice accompanies the army, the damaged plate can be extracted on-site, heated, forged, and repaired..."
"In fact, under Your Majesty and your guidance, once these new-style Cloth Iron Armors scale up, equipped by the kingdom's elite warriors, it'd be practically invincible! Even the Alliance's bronze spears would need at least a dozen hits to breach..."
"Of course, like Cloth Copper Armor, this Cloth Iron Armor can hardly resist the powerful warriors wielding heavy stone hammers for blunt strikes... but warriors capable of wielding heavy weapons are few and far between..."
"Excellent! Forged iron plates have stronger defense... It seems the Armor Casting Bureau needs to recruit more craftsman apprentices to specialize in forging iron plates..."
Talea, the Director of Divine Revelation Place, stands prominently in the center among everyone, wearing a ritual robe. She dons a golden mask engraved with hummingbird patterns, revealing only her cold and stern eyes. As her sharp gaze sweeps across, all the technical bureaucrats present lower their heads, listening respectfully to the director's orders.
"Chief Divine blessing! Black Rock Mountain, using new-style smelting blast furnaces, tripled the iron output, surpassing the kingdom's copper production, and continues to grow. Several remote iron mines have been discovered in the Colima mountain region, and the Chief of Colima has cooperated with us, recruiting tribal able-bodied men during farm leisure seasons to extract iron ore. Our Divine Revelation Place is responsible for smelting, only needing to give him forty percent of the output or convert it into kingdom goods..."
"With sufficient iron mine sources, the manpower and material costs of producing iron materials are far smaller than bronze... Thus, as stated in Your Majesty's Divine Revelation Book, the replacement of bronze with ironware is the kingdom's inevitable trend! Besides bronze cannons, the military industry's focus should be directed toward iron weapons and armor..."
"With abundant raw materials, the Armor Casting Bureau should further expand its workforce! Within half a year, increase armor production by fifty percent and raise the proportion of Cloth Iron Armor to thirty percent! For each piece of armor produced, craftsmen teams are rewarded with a piece of cloth or two bags of cocoa. As long as the inspection passes, the more produced, the more rewards, without upper limit!"
"Throughout Kingdom of the Lake, various armies pioneering outward need more and better equipment to suppress the Tekos, Mayans, and Mistec people... Along with the northern Otomi allies, eastern Alliance, and southern expedition Mexica regional armies, all require our military resources, willing to pay a high price!"
Talea announces the rewards policy for the craftsman camp, causing low cheers among all craftsmen and apprentices present, praising the Chief Divine, Your Majesty, and the Director. The reward of producing a piece of armor, almost akin to frontline warriors, is indeed generous!
Actually, thanks to the unique craftsmen nobles ascent system, numerous professional technical bureaucrats proceed to various stages of the Divine Revelation Place's craftsman camp, maintaining efficient military production. Under the wartime military-country system, continuous national orders keep flowing into the craftsman camp, allowing all craftsmen to produce without reservation.
Gathering craftsmen on a large scale, distributing tasks among small teams, and mass-producing military resources. Providing advancement paths for craftsmen, enabling them to elevate to nobility and serve as technical bureaucrats in management... Under this almost unreplicable Divine Revelation Place system, the kingdom's craftsman camp has already become a truly classical military country system workshop!
The kingdom's huge production scale and strict regulations resemble the Qin State's Office of Works. Its emphasis on technical progress and utilization of technical bureaucrats likens it to a special military university. Only within such a system can the craftsmen earnestly dig into advancement and genuinely pass down their skills. The more produced, the more beneficial for all parties, ensuring technology spreads downward from few master craftsmen instead of being mere apprentices yet real slaves!
