On 26 September, the Russian forces south of Torzhok were largely wiped out, and the remaining small scattered forces could no longer pose any decent threat to the Ming army. The Ming officers and soldiers who had completed a large-scale victory www.biquge.info gathered together with smiles and smiles, smoking cigarettes and eating canned fruits to celebrate their victory.

The frustrated Russian prisoners of war around them watched with envy as the Ming army enjoyed the fresh supplies sent from thousands of miles away, and the emotions in their hearts could be imagined. Not to mention in the wartime, even before the war, the vast majority of these Russian officers and soldiers could not afford to eat this kind of thing.

The main supplies of the Russian officers and soldiers during the war were margarine and black bread mixed with sawdust. Cigarettes are smoked by several people in turns, and fruit is really something that can only be enjoyed by officers.

Now look at the supplies and watch the Ming soldiers enjoying tea, coffee, honey, candy, and even chocolate. Many Russian officers and soldiers are full of despair, not to mention weapons and equipment, just supplies can throw them dozens of streets, how can this war continue? Many Russian troops believe that ending the war at this time is the best option.

At the same time that the Ming army cleared the Russian strategic reserves in the area south of Torzhok, in the Ryazan area south of Moscow, a large number of Ming infantry units have also successfully captured Ryazan and encircled and annihilated the Russian troops near Ryazan.

The Russian army here also put up a desperate resistance, and they even dispatched a large number of Cossack cavalry to attack the Ming army in clusters. Because there are a lot of materials hoarded in the city of Ryazan, the Russian army here can still get a certain amount of supply support, and it has not been around the encirclement for a long time. The Cossack cavalrymen were also able to keep their horses.

Tens of thousands of Cossack cavalrymen, who had lived on horseback since childhood, brandished their sabers in their hands, and rushed towards the Ming army's position like a monstrous wave, and their might was definitely not comparable to that of tens of thousands of infantrymen. If it were in the age of cold weapons, a charge of this scale would have been able to crush the resistance of tens of thousands of infantry.

The Cossacks did everything to the extreme when they charged, but all in vain. This is no longer the time of hundreds of years when nomads reigned supreme in the world. When intensive strike weapons appeared, nomads who had no civilization and only survived by plunder and instinct were already doomed to retire from the stage of history.

These cavalrymen may be able to bully a weak enemy with little equipment, but in the face of the Ming army armed to the ass, they really have no way. No matter how good your riding skills are, you can't dodge the rain of bullets that fly like splashing water and the dense cannonballs that fall from the sky. War horses are tenacious, and they can't use their flesh and blood to fight against the gunpowder power of the Iron Age.

Most of the tens of thousands of brave Cossack cavalry were left on the battlefield, and their bodies were scattered all over the field. A small number of cavalrymen who escaped from the battlefield were also devastated and lost the courage to continue fighting. The era of cavalry has long been truly in history. There is no place for them in modern warfare.

Due to the lack of support from a large number of armored forces, the Ming army's siege of Ryazan lasted until September 28, when it was basically over. In total, they killed and wounded nearly 100,000 Russian troops, while capturing more than 200,000 Russian officers and soldiers. At this point, there was no heavy group of Russian troops in the entire central region of Russia, except for Moscow. Next, the main target of the Ming army was soon concentrated in the city of Moscow, where millions of Russian troops were gathered.

......

"Your Excellency." Wang Yan, who had a relaxed face, smiled and said, "The Russians rejected our request and suspended the negotiations. ”

The imperial capital, Zhang Cheng's official residence. At this time, Zhang Cheng had already returned to the imperial capital from the headquarters of Army Group Center in Kazan after temporarily handing over the military affairs of Russia to Lu Zhiyuan. After all, he is now the supreme commander of the country, and he has a lot of things to deal with, and it is impossible to stay in the Russian theater of operations for a long time, although it is very important.

Zhang Cheng, who was wearing casual clothes at home, waved his hand to signal Wang Yan to sit down, picked up the cigarette case from the coffee table, and returned a cigarette to the past, "It's okay, I haven't thought much about solving the problem through negotiation." ”

At this time, it was already early October, and after the annihilation of the Russian army in the area south of Ryazan and Torzhok, the main peace forces in Russia quickly rose up, and they secretly contacted the Ming officials and opened armistice negotiations with the Ming.

The so-called negotiation is actually something that cannot be obtained on the battlefield and wants to be obtained at the negotiating table through the mouth. But this kind of difficult thing is basically something that no one can do. Of course, there are occasional exceptions, just like my Qing Dynasty.

Zhang Cheng was indifferent to negotiations with Russia. It doesn't matter if you have it or not, he never pins his hopes on the negotiating table. Only when you are strong is you really strong.

"After all, they still have allies now, after all, they still have a large number of troops and land in their hands. How could you accept such harsh conditions when you still have chips in your hand? Zhang Cheng sat on the sofa and lit a cigarette: "It doesn't matter what the Russians will choose in the end. The battlefield here can determine the course of the war, but the battlefield here is not determined by the Russians. ”

Zhang Cheng crossed his legs, leaned back on the back of the sofa, and continued, "Now that we are fighting at this point, once the Russian army in Moscow and the Volga River valley is annihilated, then the Russians will no longer have troops capable of fighting." At that time, it was the troops of the various allies stationed here that would decide the direction of the Russian battlefield. This is the battlefield, and no one wants to fight a decisive battle on their own soil. ”

"Then the Russians will cancel the negotiations?" Wang Yan raised his eyebrows slightly and asked out loud.

"Nope." Zhang Cheng shook his head, "Go on, keep talking." When the situation on the battlefield is irreversible, they will accept everything we ask. After a pause, Zhang Cheng continued: "The significance of the surrender of the Russians is that it will greatly damage the morale of the allies and the expectation of war. Russia is not Italy, it is one of the main belligerents. If the Russians announce their surrender, it will be a huge blow to the morale of the military of other countries. Of course, we can't let our demands on Russia rest on the ground. At most, they will only be able to get St. Petersburg and an area around it as a puppet state. ”

"Yes, Your Excellency." Wang Yan nodded in response, "I will instruct the negotiators to negotiate according to this bottom line." ”

"Hmm." Zhang Cheng nodded. After a while, he raised his eyes to look at Wang Yan and said loudly: "Domestic affairs are now with Wang Fan and Xiao Hongbao looking at me, I am relieved. You have to intensify your infiltration of the countries of Europa, and after the battle on the Russian battlefield is over, the army will soon sweep through the continent of Europa, and at that time you will try to instigate the countries to surrender as much as possible. There is no need for us to fight these countries to the end. It's not that it can't be, it's a waste of time. We need to end the war as soon as possible. ”

Zhang Cheng took a deep puff of his cigarette and continued, "You can follow the example of the Russians and leave a small piece of land for each country to maintain its national existence." None of this matters, as long as we can end the war quickly and become the ultimate victor in this war. From then on, we will decide how we want to round and flatten these countries. ”

"Yes, Your Excellency, I see." Wang Yan stood up and nodded vigorously: "I'll go and arrange secret contacts with various countries now." ”

"Hmm." Zhang Cheng also stood up, a smile flashed in his eyes, "The most important thing now is to take Moscow before the arrival of winter." I would like to let the soldiers spend the cold Russian winter in the wilderness. Today I will arrange everything at home, and tomorrow I will return to Russia. ”

"Yes."

......

"Andrey, please. General Aleksandrovich came in. "In the Moscow garrison command, Zhukov, who had not had a good rest for a long time, picked up the phone and ordered his adjutant to invite Lieutenant General Zhdanov into his office.

"General! Zhdanov of the 42nd Army came to report! Lieutenant General Zhdanov, who had two very neatly trimmed mustaches on his lips, came to Zhukov's office, stood upright, and gave a military salute vigorously.

By this time, Grand Duke Nikolai had completely handed over the command of the troops in the Moscow region to Zhukov, and at the same time asked the tsar to give Zhukov the title and promotion of military ranks. At this critical moment when the survival of the country was at stake, the Tsar, who had been working to reduce the title and recover the power of the nobles, was no longer stingy, not only promoted Zhukov to the rank of army general, but also canonized him as an honorable count.

If all this had happened before the war, then Zhukov would have been ecstatic. The fact that a man of civilian origin can become an earl is definitely enough to shock the whole country. It's just that now for Zhukov these things are no longer important.

"General Zhdanov, please be seated." After the adjutant brought the tea, Zhukov sat opposite Zhdanov, and Zhukov, who had a bad face, took a sip of the teacup and looked at Zhdanov, and said in a deep voice, "The current situation is very critical, we are completely surrounded, and we don't want to get support and rescue in a short time." In this case, we can only rely on ourselves. ”

Zhdanov just picked up the teacup, touched his lips, and put it down. Although the Ming Dynasty has been rampant in the world for hundreds of years, spreading its culture to all parts of the world, such as drinking tea, has deeply influenced countless people. However, there are still many people in various countries who are unwilling to accept this foreign culture, and this is the case with Zhdanov.

"General, what is our goal?" Zhdanov frowned and asked, "Now the situation on the battlefield is very tense, and the Ming army is far superior to us in any aspect. How far do we want to go without reinforcements? Is it to hold on, to successfully break through, or to ...... Give up resistance? (To be continued.) )