Post by Gongsun Chao on Nov 10, 2009 7:00:00 GMT
Tags:
Invention
Chao was going over strategies with his vassal Zhou Xu, when the strategist reminded him of his spearwall's weaknesses against bows.
"M'lord, if your men were set up in the formation we practiced yesterday, in a tight spearwall so as to allow no openings, they would be vulnerable to enemy bow volleys. What do you propose we do?"
Chao thought on it for a few days. One day, he was going out for a ride through the farms when it started to pour heavily. He looked around, and saw that he was the only one heading into the shade for shelter, as the farmers mostly continued their work. Their straw hats protected their faces from the rain, so they could concentrate on their work without the rain hitting their eyes constantly. An idea began to come to the young noble.
"I've got it! Xu, what if we were to make hat-shields."
The loyal strategist had some trouble not laughing at the idea.
"Perhaps if you elaborated, M'lord."
Chao smiled, realizing he hadn't sounded very smart.
"Oh, right. Well you see, what if we were to give our men stronger versions of the hats that the farmers use. It certainly wouldn't be perfect, but it could help, couldn't it?"
The young strategist took some time to think about it. In theory, yes the idea would be good, but straw couldn't turn away arrows, and metal wasn't enough to.
"I've got an idea," the young noble said as he ran off.
Returning with a few of the straw hats, he stacked them on top of each other and put them on hit vassal's head. He shook his head.
"This looks ridiculous. I don't think we have a hope of this working out, do we?"
By now, the strategist had an idea.
"Well, if you were to weave very tight straw helmets, with metal on either side...it would be cheaper and lighter than thick metal helmets, and could have similar effects. The arrow would lose a lot of force when striking the metal on the outside, and would lost the rest while passing through the straw...I'd say the chances of the arrow piercing the inner metal plate would be reduced by a small percentage, yes."
"Do you think we can make enough of these for our entire spearmen core? They aren't as expensive as thick helms, but they would require more work than a normal, less protective helm...Perhaps we'll have to find a vendor who is willing to work with us on this."
The strategist held up his hand.
"We should wait until we have tested the product. Let us make one."
Surprisingly, the young strategist was a fairly skilled weaver, and was able to weave a straw helm. With the help of a local blacksmith, they were able to make a prototype, though the blacksmith laughed at it.
The strategist places the prototype next to a normal one-slat metal helmet and walked back a hundred paces. He was a surprisingly accurate shot, better than the young noble Chao to be sure, and he was able to hit both of the helms a few times. When they checked, it seemed as if this crazy idea had actually blocked a couple more arrows than the normal helm did. Perhaps it might be usable by an army, perhaps not.
Zhou Xu drew up the basic designs.
The design looked like a normal straw hat, but it was reinforced by a light layer of metal on each side, thereby contributing to the effectiveness of this rather unorthodox idea. Chao decided that the top could be covered in cloth with the design of the white dragon for the officers that wore these helms, if these helms were ever able to be produced en mass.
If a few more tests went well, Chao would bring the idea to the market, and see how many he could get for his forces to help defend against arrows.
((How's that for a non-canon invention
)
Invention
Chao was going over strategies with his vassal Zhou Xu, when the strategist reminded him of his spearwall's weaknesses against bows.
"M'lord, if your men were set up in the formation we practiced yesterday, in a tight spearwall so as to allow no openings, they would be vulnerable to enemy bow volleys. What do you propose we do?"
Chao thought on it for a few days. One day, he was going out for a ride through the farms when it started to pour heavily. He looked around, and saw that he was the only one heading into the shade for shelter, as the farmers mostly continued their work. Their straw hats protected their faces from the rain, so they could concentrate on their work without the rain hitting their eyes constantly. An idea began to come to the young noble.
"I've got it! Xu, what if we were to make hat-shields."
The loyal strategist had some trouble not laughing at the idea.
"Perhaps if you elaborated, M'lord."
Chao smiled, realizing he hadn't sounded very smart.
"Oh, right. Well you see, what if we were to give our men stronger versions of the hats that the farmers use. It certainly wouldn't be perfect, but it could help, couldn't it?"
The young strategist took some time to think about it. In theory, yes the idea would be good, but straw couldn't turn away arrows, and metal wasn't enough to.
"I've got an idea," the young noble said as he ran off.
Returning with a few of the straw hats, he stacked them on top of each other and put them on hit vassal's head. He shook his head.
"This looks ridiculous. I don't think we have a hope of this working out, do we?"
By now, the strategist had an idea.
"Well, if you were to weave very tight straw helmets, with metal on either side...it would be cheaper and lighter than thick metal helmets, and could have similar effects. The arrow would lose a lot of force when striking the metal on the outside, and would lost the rest while passing through the straw...I'd say the chances of the arrow piercing the inner metal plate would be reduced by a small percentage, yes."
"Do you think we can make enough of these for our entire spearmen core? They aren't as expensive as thick helms, but they would require more work than a normal, less protective helm...Perhaps we'll have to find a vendor who is willing to work with us on this."
The strategist held up his hand.
"We should wait until we have tested the product. Let us make one."
Surprisingly, the young strategist was a fairly skilled weaver, and was able to weave a straw helm. With the help of a local blacksmith, they were able to make a prototype, though the blacksmith laughed at it.
The strategist places the prototype next to a normal one-slat metal helmet and walked back a hundred paces. He was a surprisingly accurate shot, better than the young noble Chao to be sure, and he was able to hit both of the helms a few times. When they checked, it seemed as if this crazy idea had actually blocked a couple more arrows than the normal helm did. Perhaps it might be usable by an army, perhaps not.
Zhou Xu drew up the basic designs.
The design looked like a normal straw hat, but it was reinforced by a light layer of metal on each side, thereby contributing to the effectiveness of this rather unorthodox idea. Chao decided that the top could be covered in cloth with the design of the white dragon for the officers that wore these helms, if these helms were ever able to be produced en mass.
If a few more tests went well, Chao would bring the idea to the market, and see how many he could get for his forces to help defend against arrows.
((How's that for a non-canon invention
)
