Chapter 907: Cutting off the bear's claws

The attitude of refusal is clear, and the Ming is not obliged to help Russia. There was silence at the meeting, and the young Mikhailov stared at his mud-stained shoes with a solemn face.

"What does Russia need to pay?" Mikhailov finally raised his head and looked firmly at Chen Ping, who was also his deputy. The moment the eyes of the two collided, Chen Ping saw a volcano that was about to erupt. But this is useless, in the position of president of Dafa Bank, who has not seen Chen Ping? On this trip to Europe, similar scenes have happened many times. This is not the first and will not be the last.

"Very well, that's the attitude of the negotiation. The Ming can promise to help Russia, warships, arms, can be sold. International students can also be accepted, provided that the territory is determined. To the north, bounded by the median line of the Ural Mountains, to the west, the Caspian Sea is the open sea. To be precise, the direction of Russia's development is Europe, not Asia. No matter which way you look at it, there will be no territorial claims to Russia from the Ming Dynasty. It has always been Russia that is constantly expanding southward, and we have not moved, not because of fear, but because the Ming Dynasty has always been the first to salute and then to soldier. ”

"I think we can start formal negotiations, which could take a long time." Romanov tried to save something, but was ruthlessly attacked by Zhang Guangde: "Don't have illusions, this is the bottom line of the Ming Dynasty." Anyone who tries to challenge Daming's bottom line will be hit mercilessly. We can drive warships to Europe, we can drive warships to the Black Sea and the Baltic. ”

"Negotiations are still necessary, and Russia needs to weigh the pros and cons." Mikhailov opened his mouth to assist, and Chen Ping said nonchalantly: "In the future, the Ming Empire will decide whether to establish a Black Sea Fleet according to the actual situation." Or the Baltic Fleet. To put it mildly, His Excellency the Prime Minister of the Ming Cabinet has always been very dissatisfied with Russia's behavior. ”

Mikhailov was furious, but there was nothing he could do, and he had to endure. This is the world where strength speaks. The navy and army of the Ming Dynasty have beaten the whole of Europe all over the place, and only Russia, behind closed doors, pretended to be forced in the north, and the Ming Dynasty will be helpless for a while. The problem is that Russia's dreams of development are completely ruined. What is the concept of the Ming fleet sailing into the Baltic Sea? Naval artillery is bombarding St. Petersburg, what development is Russia talking about?

Now Russia is still a backward country, let alone Ming. Britain and France in Europe can pick it up.

"What if the Russian army goes to war against the Ottoman Turkish Empire?" Mikhailov intended to get back a little interest, and Chen Ping shrugged: "When will the Ming-Turkish War end, and when will Russia stop attacking." When the time comes, you will have to talk about the territorial issues of the two countries yourself. Da Ming is not interested in these things. However, the ugly words are ahead, and a truce must be made at a moment's notice. ”

Of course, you can promise him this, isn't it Georgia? Let them go and fight well. Chen Ping, as a practical speaker in this negotiation, can still do something. From Chen Xie when he left the Ming Dynasty. The signal he got was clear, if there was a chance. Cut off the claws of polar bears as they move south and east. As for the contradictions between Turkey and Russia, they are not within the scope of his mandate.

In fact, in this secret meeting, the Ming side really did not have much preparation. In other words, it was not expected in advance that Russia would take the initiative to request a meeting.

When night fell, the lights in the manor were faint, and the two people sat opposite each other over tea after dinner. The conversation naturally revolved around this meeting.

"I didn't expect the dude to know so much about Russia?" Zhang Guangde has been holding back this question for a long time. In the course of the meeting, he also found out that Mikhailov was unusual. Russia as a country, in this period, did not have a strong sense of existence, the Ming in terms of overall strategy. I haven't taken it seriously.

Chen Ping shook his head and smiled: "No, it just proves my father's foresight and foresight again." In this life, it is not difficult for you and me to be a masterpiece for a while, but my father is a genius who may not be able to produce one in a thousand years. ”

This fart is very numb, but Zhang Guangde nodded as if a chicken pecked at rice and said: "That's right, Chen Xiangzhi's talent, ancient and modern, I don't see the ancients, I don't see the comers." For decades, it has laid a hard-won hegemony in the Ming Dynasty. Fifty years ago, who would have thought that the warships of the Ming Dynasty could cruise on the seas around the world, and who would have thought that these warships would bring back not only the great martial arts of the soldiers, but also endless wealth. If you master the sea, you will master the world, and I still remember Chen Xiang's earnest teachings. ”

Chen Ping pointed to the lights in the darkness, the city of Istanbul, like a beast, nested in the dark shadows: "See?" As soon as this city was taken by us, the claws of the Russians to the Atlantic were cut off. In order to avoid further trouble, the agreement to lease the city for five hundred years with Ottoman Turkey is up to Your Excellency. ”

Zhang Guangde said with a smile: "All this country needs is a new sultan to take them out of war and towards peace." ”

"Boom!" As soon as the words fell, a loud noise was faintly like thunder, Zhang Guangde looked down at his watch: "12 o'clock, shelling on the hour." ”

As night wore on, the siege stopped, but the artillery was not idle. Every time it arrives on the hour, a round of shells is prepared, and whoever is next to it is unlucky, anyway, it means to make the chickens and dogs in this city restless. Large-caliber shells are very expensive, but the Ming Army is not bad for money now, and the cost of sea transportation is low, which is the most suitable means of transportation today. On the route from Daming to Suez, thousands of ships run back and forth every day. The only pity is that the Suez Canal has not yet been built, and now it can only be done with 100,000 coolies, including prisoners of war and black slaves from the depths of the steppe. The Ming Dynasty did not allow slaves, and these blacks did some hard work on the construction site, and they had enough to eat every day, but they just couldn't run. When the canal is completed, those who can survive may not be willing to leave.

When the sky was dark, the earth trembled again. Thunderous artillery rang out, and a column of smoke rose from the Turkish position. This was the last position outside the city, and the Turkish troops who held it were extremely stubborn, and almost every position was fought to the last man. The siege of the city has been fought to this day, and a two-sided siege has been formed against this fortress-like city. Even if the Turkish army wanted to escape from the city, there were only two ways to go, one was to cross the strait, and the other was to go down to the Black Sea. There is no doubt that neither road has come to a good end, although the strait is not wide, but the south bank has been occupied by the Ming army, and there is no point in escaping. Not to mention going down to the Black Sea, the warships of the Ming Dynasty were cruising nearby, and they sank one by one.

The hundreds of thousands of people and defenders of the city, in fact, have no way to retreat. The most elite units of the Turkish army were all surrounded in the city. In the Balkans, there can be no reinforcements, and there can be no reinforcements across the strait.

No one in the entire Ottoman Empire could have imagined that the Ming would come so quickly. What seemed to them to be almost impossible to do, the Ming did not say it, and wiped out 100,000 elite Turkish troops in battle. The siege of the city was finally completed, and at this time, the entire Turkish top brass was in the city and had not yet had time to run away.

The heavy artillery fire was like turning over the ground, and the Turkish army learned to dig trenches from French instructors, and the effect was still good. However, this is only the case, in the face of heavy artillery fire, even if you hide in the trenches, there will be considerable casualties. After the Ming army launched an attack, a curved artillery could shoot shells into the trenches, and the rate of fire and range of the rifle were not comparable to the smoothbore guns of the Turkish army.

Before dark, the last position outside the city was lost, 18,000 Turkish troops were killed, and more than 10,000 Turkish troops laid down their arms. At the last moment of the battle, the Turkish soldiers bravely jumped out of the trenches, trying to repel the enemy with their scimitars. But their opponents were too cunning, and each squad was equipped with a shotgun, as well as a large number of grenades. Basically, the Turkish army did not have the opportunity to engage in hand-to-hand combat. Even if there is an opportunity for hand-to-hand combat, the scimitars of the Turkish army will not take any advantage in front of the bayonets. Once stabbed by the bayonet of the Ming army, even if he does not die, he will lose half his life. Many of the captives were wounded in hand-to-hand combat, and then infected and died.

The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty have doctors to treat them, and the medicines transported thousands of miles away cannot be wasted on the bodies of these Turkish soldiers.

Tall walls, strong fortresses, this is the capital of Constantinople. However, these costs became worthless on the first day of the siege. When the weather clears, huge hot air balloons come over the city, directing the artillery to fire accurately.

Large-caliber artillery aimed at a certain section of the city wall, carrying out dense covering. The 105 cannons were even pushed to a distance of a thousand meters and bombarded the city walls. Two infantry divisions launched fierce attacks from the west and north from the north of the strait, and the battleships near the strait, ignoring the fort guns of the batteries, resisted the artillery bombardment and bombarded the forts and batteries. After cleaning up, the city was bombarded with artillery fire.

The bulky steel-cast naval cannon, although only 150 calibers, was already a weapon capable of destruction for the fortresses of this era. Fierce fighting lasted for a whole day, large sections of the city walls were blown down, and countless innocent people died in the shelling. The Ming army fought along the crumbling city walls into the city, and the city street fighting began.

The Ming army, armed to the teeth, also greatly reduced its advantage in the street battles in the city. However, the Ming army has fought many street battles and has accumulated rich experience. There is no mercy to civilians, and what hurts the innocent is simply not a problem for them. According to the orders of the Afrika Korps, the gendarmes will not appear for three days after entering the city. Although the street fighting was quite difficult, the troops who entered the city did not suffer many casualties. (To be continued.) )