Daming Greedy Wolf Star

Chapter 389 Sofia swallowed by darkness

The rescue of the Kingdom of France was just an episode for Zhu Zhanhe.

Whether he wants to aid the Kingdom of France or not, it will not affect his current plan, because in his view, the Holy Roman Empire is much more difficult to deal with than the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of England.

Not only because of the terrain problem, but also because of the problem of the Holy See.

I have to say that the situation in France is much better than here. Although Catholicism is also the main belief, there are still different religions in France, but the Holy Roman Empire is different.

Since the Byzantine Empire, the last capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople, was captured by Zhu Zhanhe, the only Orthodox Church that could compete with Catholicism in religious status has completely disappeared.

In other words, from the side, Zhu Zhanhe actually helped the Holy Roman Empire.

The Kingdom of France is different. After taking over the Holy Roman Empire, it will be pushed flatly from east to west, because there are basically plains there, and there is only the western part of the Alps, but because of the Due to the existence of Langfeng, not many people can live there.

Zhu Zhanhe still likes to save some trouble.

……

Just when Zhu Zhanhe rushed back to Constantinople to meet with the... um... mistress of the Kingdom of France, Jian Xiao, who was driven away by Zhu Zhanhe, had already led the Ming army to pack up Tarnovo, leaving behind three After a crowd of more than 10 people each, they began to move west toward Fort Nico.

This happened in just four days.

And this time it was just after November.

For the European white pigs, black November has passed, but dark December is here.

Except for Zhu Baozong, the foreign student from Wala, and Qi Zhen, no one would think that fighting a war is a very simple matter, so simple that troops and generals can be deployed and supplies can be completed in less than half a month.

Therefore, it takes time for the coalition forces of the Holy Roman Empire, the Holy See, and the Kingdom of Naples to mobilize, and now that it is winter, this time will become even longer.

But that's not all.

This battle also depends on the time and place.

Compared with the Holy Roman Empire and the Holy See, Bosnia and Serbia, which are just west and north of Plovdiv, including Bulgaria where Nicoburg is located, are still very fast in terms of troop deployment.

Especially Bulgaria, because Niko Castle is their city, so it is the fastest.

However, being the closest is sometimes not a good thing.

On their way to the rescue of Niko Fort, the Ming army did not go to Niko Fort. Instead, they turned their guns and the news that they had captured Tarnovo reached their ears.

As the saying goes, the palms of the hands and the backs of the hands are all flesh, Nikoborg is their place, and Tarnovo is also their place.

In desperation, the Bulgarian general made the most wrong decision.

Rush to the rescue of Tarnovo.

"Are they sick?"

Looking at the pile of corpses in front of him, Jian Xiao tortured his soul.

In this time of ice and snow everywhere, he couldn't figure out why someone would choose to cross the river on the ice. In war, the ice surface is a hell-level existence.

Don't say that if the ice is thick enough, it is no different from the flat bottom. That is pure nonsense, the ice and the ground are two different things.

In fact, this is what Jian Xiao takes for granted. In fact, war is never a simple matter.

War has always been tied to people's livelihood, people's support and politics. Jane Xiao knows this, but what he doesn't know is that in Europe, war also binds one thing.

faith.

For Jian Xiao, if he can't defeat him, just retreat. Although Zhu Zhanhe will punish the defeated soldiers, he will not go too far, and it can be regarded as a moderate reward and punishment.

But it is different for Europe now.

Previously, the allied forces of the Crusaders and the Kingdom of Sicily were defeated. The Crusaders' armor was stripped off and hung on the wall of the castle.

This is no longer humiliating, but trampling on the so-called God of Europe and slapping him on the ear.

Therefore, since then, Europe's war against the Ming army has changed.

If you win, yes, you will be the savior of the entire Catholic Church and even the entire Europe. From the Pope to the homeless and beggars, everyone will sing your praises.

But if you lose, sorry, even if you escape alive, you will be greeted by a cross that will bind you, and then you will be burned at the stake.

Even if you escape, you can maintain your vitality to the greatest extent.

Even if escaping back would allow the Ming army to use a defensive weapon, they would not dare to advance so fast.

Even if, escaping back can bring back more information, so that people can have corresponding countermeasures.

This is Europe, this is medieval Europe, this is medieval Europe ruled by religion.

Just when Jian Xiao was slightly delayed by the Bulgarian army, Zhu Zhanhe also set off from Junbao again and headed towards Niko Fort.

He actually didn't have much expectations for the Kingdom of France.

Just as he thought before, the Kingdom of France had no choice. Between a nagging girl and a powerful ally, any fool would choose.

But similarly, the Kingdom of France will not make a decision so quickly.

The first is that Joan of Arc has indeed led the French army to win many victories. Although it is not impossible to use Joan of Arc as a bargaining chip, it is still somewhat difficult.

The second is that if they don't get stabbed, they won't feel pain.

It is winter now, except for Zhu Zhanhe, probably no one will launch such a large-scale war again.

But in fact, Zhu Zhanhe also has a limit, that is, Bulgaria is farther away from the Holy Roman Empire, and farther away from Rome, plus the special terrain created by the Carpathian Mountains, otherwise he would not mobilize troops at this time .

He was planning to capture Fort Niko so that he could have a bridgehead going north and occupy important passes in the middle and lower reaches of the Danube River. He would have to wait until next spring to make plans for the rest.

That's why Zhu Zhanhe left the castle again.

You know, he intends to stay in Fort Nico permanently, regardless of whether he is commanding war or commerce.

The junction of the Stara Mountains and the Balkan Mountains.

Zhu Zhanhe looked at the city at the foot of the mountain. He wondered if the Europeans had any quirks. They liked to build cities at passes between mountains. Do they hope to form a castle that was easy to defend and difficult to attack?
Zhu Zhanhe didn't understand.

He only knew that a place like this was not easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as he took advantage of the terrain on the top of the mountain, even if he used catapults instead of artillery, he could still cause unpredictable damage to the city at the foot of the mountain.

But I have to say that he really didn’t bring a catapult!

If it wasn't winter, Zhu Zhanhe would definitely bring a catapult, but this was winter, and it was difficult to carry a huge catapult, and the snowy road was very unfriendly to the catapult.

But this does not mean that he has no way to target this kind of city built at the pass.

……

Sofia is actually a very good place. A tributary of the Danube River flows through it. It is at the junction of the Stara Mountains and the Balkan Mountains. Coupled with the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula, this place...

It’s definitely not cool in the summer, and it’s definitely not warm in the winter!
The mountains of the Balkan Peninsula block the warm and humid airflow in summer. Although it is at the mountain pass, it is like being behind a screen.

In winter, the cold air flowing from the north to the south enters along the lower Danube plain and blows into this narrow mountain depression, destined to freeze to death.

So what kind of idiot chose the location of the city here?Zhu Zhanhe didn't know about it, but he had to take this place.

"Your Highness, everything is ready."

Zhu Ling appeared behind Zhu Zhanhe and reported with his head lowered.

"Are you sure you haven't been discovered?" Zhu Zhanhe paused for a moment and then said.

"If discovered, we must attack immediately."

"Returning to His Royal Highness, according to the report of the guards of the son, he was not found."

Regarding this kind of thing, even Zhu Ling's bodyguard could not confirm its authenticity, so he could only tell Zhu Zhanhe the information he got.

"Since it has not been discovered, then attack before dawn tomorrow."

"Yes!"

Zhu Ling stepped back slowly, while Zhu Zhanhe turned around and entered the tent.

In fact, from a strategic sense, Sofia does not have much significance, because Sofia has already suffered certain damage during the Ottoman Empire's attack more than 30 years ago.

Although 30 years have passed and the damaged buildings have been repaired, the damage to people and civilization cannot be repaired in such a short period of time.

The Ottomans, who are mainly Turks, are naturally not very good to European white pigs, which has led to Sofia's recent improvement.

This was still during Zhu Zhanhe's western expedition to the Timurid Empire. The Ottoman Empire felt threatened, dispatched troops and generals in advance, and abandoned this place. Otherwise, this place would still be under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

It can also be seen from this that Sofia has just escaped from the clutches of the Turks, and what kind of city can it be built into?

However, this has a special meaning for Zhu Zhanhe.

The next day, early in the morning.

As the low horn sounded, it was not only the Ming army that moved. The defenders in Sofia City were also awakened by the horn sound and began to panic to resist the Ming army's attack.

However, the first wave of offensive they saw was not the Ming army. They didn't even see the shadow of the Ming army. All they saw were rolling stones all over the mountains and plains, converting potential energy into kinetic energy according to the terrain.

Because of the blocking of the Balkan Mountains and the north of the Stara Mountains, there is not much snow here, and the Rolling Stones have not been disturbed much. Although some are blocked by the terrain, most of them are still heading towards the city wall. .

As a large number of rolling stones piled up at the foot of the city wall, the Ming army also launched the first wave of real offensive.

This time, the defenders on the city finally saw the Ming army, but before they could mobilize their longbow troops to stop them, they were stunned by the oncoming swarm of rockets.

After the swarm of rocket attacks, the defenders at the top of the city just took a breath and wanted to raise their heads to fight back, but as soon as they raised their heads, they were stunned by the sight in front of them.

Taking advantage of the firepower of the swarm of rockets, the Ming army had rushed to a range of about 100 meters.

So, a new round of fire suppression came.

In fact, in the fourteenth century, firearms had made great progress in both the East and the West. The only difference was that the firearms in the East were mainly small and sophisticated, such as bowl-mouth cannons and cup-mouth cannons.

But it is different in the West. Western firearms are developing in a large direction. The weight of the Bombarda gun is calculated in tons, and the weight can reach [-] to [-] tons.

The huge size means that it can be loaded with larger projectiles and more gunpowder, and the range has also been significantly improved, up to more than [-] meters.

In comparison, the Ming Dynasty's bowl-mouth cannon and other firearms had a range of only more than 500 meters. It was not until the Fran cannon at the back that it had a range of more than [-] meters, or even one kilometer.

However, Sofia does not possess large firearms because the experience of the city does not allow it to possess large firearms.

After all, the Ottoman Turks don't like this kind of stuff.

The suppressive power of the bowl-mouth cannon was not very strong, but the rubble caused by the bullet hitting the city wall also caused the defenders of Sofia to throw weapons. And while they were still shrinking their heads, the Ming army began the fourth round. offensive.

Wooden birds rushed out of the forest, dragging their long tail flames and roaring towards the city of Sofia.

This is one of the firearms of the Ming Dynasty: the sacred fire flying crow.

In fact, Zhu Zhanhe rarely used this kind of firearm, because the lethality of this kind of firearm is relatively average, but it is still very useful when attacking a city, and its lethality is generally compared to some firearms.

Ever since he had white phosphorus eggs, Zhu Zhanhe liked to use them in siege.

One is because there is no way to defend, the other is that it can cause long-lasting damage, and the third is that it can block the city gate and prevent people from coming out.

However, this time he didn't want to use white phosphorus eggs.

After four rounds of fire suppression, the Ming army that advanced to the city finally blasted open the city gate under the action of artillery.

With huge cheers, the infantry who had been stationed on the mountain for a long time finally launched their attack.

"Pass down the order." Zhu Zhanhe tugged on the reins and began to give orders.

"After entering the city, you can rob, kill, and burn, but don't go near the monastery!"

"Yes!"

……

Such an order is a bit strange for a normal army.

But looting is normal, because even before Zhu Zhanhe, when Cheng Zhu Furu controlled his mind, the army would rob property, and the generals would turn a blind eye, basically don't go too far That's it.

As for killing, this is more normal. After all, destroying the city does not mean that everyone in the city has surrendered. There must still be resistance. In this case, the only option is to kill.

However, such an order seemed a bit strange to Zhu Zhanhe.

Normally speaking, at least based on his experience since the Western Expedition, Zhu Zhanhe seems to be a little indecisive at the moment.

I had never heard of him specifically ordering a place to be preserved before, and that was the case with the Castle, but that was because the Castle had special strategic significance.

However, everyone soon understood.

(End of this chapter)