Daming Greedy Wolf Star

Chapter 398 Doing the opposite

The Holy See, which suffered two losses at the hands of the Ming army, finally learned its lesson this time.

Knowing that a head-on confrontation with the Ming army would not work, the Holy See and the Holy Roman Empire resorted to a curveball strategy to save the country.

First, the Holy See and the Holy Roman Empire united to put pressure on the Principality of Venice to give up pressure on the Despotate of Epirus, the Despot of Arta and the Principality of Athens.

This is actually the Peloponnese Peninsula, which is the peninsula where Greece was located in later generations.

The Holy See and the Holy Roman Empire wanted to unite the Principality of Athens and other surrounding countries in this way, and then cooperate with the Principality of Venice's islands in the Aegean Sea to form a strong suppressive force on the Ming army and completely cut off the Ming army's path.

If this method succeeds, the Ming army will cut off the connection with the Suez area by sea, and ships will not be able to reach Constantinople directly from the Suez Canal.

In terms of baggage supply, shipping by sea is much faster than transporting by land. Once this method is successful, it can bring great pressure to the Ming army.

At the same time, the Holy See and the Holy Roman Empire respectively sent people to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which had a dominant position in Eastern Europe, hoping to unite with each other to jointly resist the Ming Dynasty.

This can be regarded as the best and most effective method that the Holy See and the Holy Roman Empire can think of in a short period of time. However, the effectiveness still needs to be verified in practice.

As for why you say that...

"Your Highness, if you do this..."

Mu Sheng, who hadn't seen Zhu Zhanhe for a long time, looked at the map Zhu Zhanhe drew, with a bit of hesitation on his face.

"It's winter now, which is not very suitable for sailing. If you do this, I'm afraid there will be risks..."

"Haha..." Zhu Zhanhe smiled slightly and patted Mu Sheng's shoulder gently.

"Indeed, winter is not suitable for fighting. This is our consistent thinking and the experience gained by our ancestors through countless personal experiences."

"But do you know why the Holy See and the Holy Roman Empire still insist on sending a fleet to the Principality of Athens despite knowing that winter is not suitable for fighting?"

"Why?" Mu Sheng frowned.

Experience told him that there was no doubt that winter was not suitable for fighting, but out of his trust in Zhu Zhanhe and Zhu Zhanhe's confident look, Mu Sheng felt that things might be a little different from usual.

"Let me ask you, you have been in the Suez area recently, don't you feel any difference?"

"Different?" Mu Sheng looked at Zhu Zhanhe with some doubts.

"You mean...the weather?"

"Yes, it's the weather." Zhu Zhanhe nodded.

"If we want to talk about the weather..." After receiving the general direction given by Zhu Zhanhe, Mu Sheng lowered his head and pondered.

"The summer was very hot, even hotter than when I first conquered Dai Viet. It was also very dry, with almost no rain. I still remember that the excavation work of the Suez Canal made great progress last summer."

"In winter... it seems..."

Thinking of this, Mu Sheng was shocked.

"You mean..."

"Yes." Zhu Zhanhe smiled and nodded.

"The climate here is not much different from that of the Suez area. The summer is very hot and there is not much rain. Although the winter is a bit cold, compared to other places, it is cold but not freezing and there is a lot of rain."

"Why is this?" Mu Sheng was very puzzled. For him, this was beyond the scope of common sense.

"You don't need to know this. You just need to know that the sea in front of you and the coast around it have this kind of climate."

Zhu Zhanhe smiled and did not explain this problem to Mu Sheng.

It's not that it can't be explained. The Mediterranean climate is mainly the result of the westerly belt and subtropical high pressure. Summers are hot and dry, and winters are mild and rainy. It is the only climate type among the thirteen climates on the earth that has different periods of rain and heat.

However, this does not mean that the entire Mediterranean coast has a Mediterranean climate. There are also a few areas that do not have a Mediterranean climate.

but!

The area where the Principality of Athens is located happens to have a Mediterranean climate.

To the north of the Balkan Mountains, the climate becomes a temperate continental and temperate oceanic climate, but to the south, it is a Mediterranean climate with mild and rainy winters. Only this climate can overturn the theory that winter is not suitable for fighting.

Therefore, Zhu Zhanhe planned to do the opposite, no longer continue to advance north, but to advance south.

However, he did not intend to transfer back Jian Xiao and others who were stationed in Fort Nico. Although Fort Nico, a fortress that was once easy to defend and difficult to attack, was no longer easy to defend and difficult to attack under the influence of white phosphorus eggs, but This is only for the Ming army.

The Ming army didn't have Fort Nico, so just throwing two white phosphorus eggs was enough. The people in Fort Nico had to run away even if they didn't die.

But if the Ming army occupied Fort Nico, the coalition of the Holy See and the Holy Roman Empire would be stuck.

After all, they don't have weapons like white phosphorus eggs.

Therefore, although Fort Nico is dispensable to the Ming army, relying on the Holy See, they cannot live without Fort Nico. Maybe they can catch a few fish in Fort Nico.

As for the Principality of Athens, Zhu Zhanhe decided to let Mu Sheng come, which was why he called Mu Sheng over.

"Then...for the Principality of Athens, His Royal Highness, you..."

After receiving the confidence given by Zhu Zhanhe, Mu Sheng accepted the order readily without hesitation.

But before that, he had to know what Zhu Zhanhe was thinking.

After all, the Principality of Athens had submitted a peace edict to Zhu Zhanhe before this. Although everyone knew Zhu Zhanhe's style, it was always good to confirm it in advance.

"Whatever you want." Zhu Zhanhe waved his hand.

"I don't care about them."

"Since they cannot provide enough benefits, they will naturally not get our help. Since we do not help them, it means that they are our enemies."

"I don't care what happens to them. I only ask for one thing, and that is that they cannot interfere with my Northern Expedition in the future. Everything else is unimportant."

"My lord, I understand!" Mu Sheng's heart trembled, but he also relaxed a lot.

When Zhu Zhanhe said this, his meaning was already obvious. Although it was cruel, it had to be said that this was what Mu Sheng wanted to see.

Because such an order will give him a high degree of freedom, allowing him to perform better without looking forward or backward.

"Okay, you go back and prepare first." Zhu Zhanhe was not very interested in the Principality of Athens, at least not as much as in places like Rome.

If I had to say it, he was just disgusted with the Principality of Athens.

In later generations, the florist transported the Varyag back. When it passed through the Bosporus in front of the King's Castle, Turkey demanded a deposit of one billion US dollars on the grounds that the mothership was too large and would affect the passage of other ships.

Later, Greece provided guarantee and allowed the mothership to return to the flower grower's home smoothly.

On the surface, this should be a favor, and Zhu Zhanhe should have a good impression of the Principality of Athens.

But again, everything in this world is benefit.

The reason why Greece came forward was, firstly, because they already had conflicts with Turkey, and secondly, because Rabbit promised a series of cooperation.

To be honest, this kind of behavior seems to be helping, but in fact it is no different from Turkey's taking advantage of the fire, that is, they want less.

Therefore, Zhu Zhanhe did not feel any gratitude towards the Principality of Athens, and even felt that it was a good thing that he did not take advantage of it in the first place.

"That's right." Seeing Mu Ang about to leave, Zhu Zhanhe suddenly remembered something.

"How are you training that kid Mu Bin? You can't protect him all the time. I've said long ago that if you keep him in a cage, an eagle will become a chicken."

"This is a good opportunity. The opponent is not very strong, so there won't be much loss anyway. If it doesn't work, just let him try it first. If he doesn't do it, or if he makes a mistake, you can just come out and correct it. "

"This..." Mu Sheng was slightly startled, but then became a little surprised.

"Your Highness, is this... not good?"

"There's nothing wrong with it." Zhu Zhanhe waved his hand, not caring about Mu Sheng's cautious tone.

"There has never been anyone in this world who is born proficient in a certain thing or skill. All so-called geniuses are the result of talent plus a lot of experience."

"Without experience, even a genius will become a mediocre person. While I can't go north in the winter, you can train him well. I can count on him to take over the banner of your Mu family, inherit the will of your father, King Qianning, and continue Guarding the border for the Ming Dynasty."

"Thank you so much, Your Highness!" Mu Sheng was very excited, even so excited that he knelt down and kowtowed in thanks.

In fact, compared with civil servants, it is much more difficult to cultivate generals.

Civil servants can read a lot of books, and after being elected, they will first serve as substitutes to accumulate experience. Even if they make mistakes after becoming an official, the consequences will not be too bad.

Although it will make the people of one party suffer, it is really nothing compared to the cultivation of generals.

The training of generals is actually somewhat similar to that of civil servants. First, they read various military books, war materials, etc., and then when encountering a war, they first become a general or something and accumulate experience, but the difference lies in the final practice.

If a civil servant makes a mistake after becoming an official, at most it will harm the people of one party, but if he is a general, it will directly lead to the failure of the war.

The civil servants were responsible for the disaster, and the court dealt with it in a timely manner, and through measures such as reducing taxes for the people, it could be rectified within a few years.

However, if the war is lost, tens of thousands or even 10,000+ people will die at every turn. If you want to make up for it, you have to make up for it through a series of subsequent wars.

And most importantly, once the war is lost, it will bring a huge blow to the morale of the soldiers, and this consequence may have a chain reaction.

Why did the Ming Dynasty have a gap in generals after the Yongle Dynasty?
One is because Emperor Taizu Gao killed too many people, and the other is because Emperor Taizong was uneasy because of Qiu Fu's defeat, almost to the point where he didn't believe anyone except himself.

Of course, the most important thing is that there are no particularly outstanding talents. If a war god like Huo Qubing appears, you will not be able to stop his rise.

"Okay, stop messing with these useless things." Zhu Zhanhe waved his hands impatiently, got up and left, leaving a few words before leaving.

"In three years, I hope you can train him out."

(End of this chapter)