Of course, the envoy could not answer Ding Yi's question, and more importantly, the military discipline of the coalition forces in these years was not ordinarily poor. Just look at the Crusades, although the Eastern Rome at that time had reinforcements, they were also robbed by reinforcements. If they want to hand over the command of the army to Ding Yi, maybe this can be discussed. Because Ding Yi's record and prestige are there, it doesn't mean that there is no room for negotiation.

But if you want to apply a military discipline like Ding Yi, I am afraid that before the coalition forces start fighting, there will be few soldiers from these countries. Because according to Ding Yi's military discipline, the gendarmes and military judges would prosecute most of the soldiers in these countries and sentence them to death immediately.

"Your Majesty, this is not something we can answer, please allow us to pass on your meaning after we return home, and then reply to you." That was the only thing those messengers could say.

Ding Yi did not force them to give an answer at a certain time or day, nor did he say that they had to have to have a number of troops or anything like that: "Yes, but you must remember that wherever my battle flag is planted, it belongs either to the Great Ming Dynasty or to the Roman Empire." ”

It doesn't sound like a problem, but to diplomatic envoys, they hear it.

Ding Yi was warning them that if they did not have a clear reply, then it would be absolutely impossible to think of war to pick the fruit. And this shocked them, because what they had originally wanted was to build an alliance against the Ottomans, and it was clear that Ding Yi intended to repel the behemoth of defeating the Ottoman Empire!

For them, the first reaction was to whisper, even if the harbor was a castle-like fleet on the sea. Nor could he be convinced. Because the ship's strong artillery does not solve the problem of a qiē: "As His Majesty said, the truth is only within the range of the cannon." Your artillery is far from being able to cover every part of the Ottoman land. After shrinking the coastal zone, the fleet can only play the role of a blockade. ”

This envoy is quite militarily cultivated, Ding Yi did not get angry, but nodded slightly and said:

"Please wait and see."

And Liu Ji, who sent these envoys out, said to them: "What the gentleman has said, no matter how incredible it sounds. Be assured that it will become a reality. ”

On the way home, the Venetian envoy asked the Hungarians what they had to say about Ding Yi and Liu Ji. What do you think?

"Crazy, a mad emperor, did he think Constantine's purple robe could bring him divine powers? Constantine XI, who was alive, still died at the hands of the Ottomans! The purple robe and the emperor's crown are a curse that will lead this majesty to perdition! "That's how the Hungarians see it.

And the Moldovan envoys, of course, echoed the Hungarians: "His officials, too, are being bewitched by the curse of Constantine, and are likewise in madness." Take his words. Isn't this majesty like a god? 'No matter how incredible it sounds, believe it will come true,' which is the same as 'God says there will be light.' What's the difference between having light? ”

This quickly reached everyone's consensus, and they felt that Ding Yi was crazy, and Ding Yi's subordinates were also crazy.

And when they returned to Europe. A so-called "curse of Constantine" began to circulate, and this version evolved not long after. It became "Poseidon the Damned", not only the purple robe and the Eastern Roman inheritance that Constantine passed down to Ding Yi. It is a curse, and there is also the curse of the pharaoh in it. Because Ding gave Upper and Lower Egypt to Morena.

As for the logic? Why was Tin-hand, who gave Upper and Lower Egypt to Morena, cursed by Pharaoh? If we were to count it according to the relationship of hatred, shouldn't the pharaohs curse the caliphs? And the caliph came to curse Ding Yi, so is it reasonable? The question is, do rumors and hearsay need to be reasonable and logical?

Compared with the Ming Dynasty, especially the current Ming Dynasty, the European continent with a very high illiteracy rate has a very broad mass base for rumors!

However, at this time, the Ming Zhonghai Fleet sent a fleet composed of four first-class battleships, six cruisers, and ten destroyers, and the flagship was hung with the flag of the Ming Jinghai County King, the Prince Shaobao, and the battle flag of the Roman Empire double-headed eagle emperor, and the battle sequence was the mixed fleet of the Ming Mediterranean Fleet and the Roman Empire Aegean Fleet, which calmly sailed into the Aegean Sea.

And the fleet did not send even a single messenger, and first shelled the ancient city of Smyrna, located in the southeast corner of the Aegean Gulf of Izmir. this day. Several cities in the southeastern part of the Aegean Sea saw the smoke, including the Knights Hospitaller on Rhodes.

Thousands of high-explosive shells turned the entire ancient city of Smyrna into a living hell, and fires, stumps, and screams of misery continued to resound throughout the ancient city. At noon on the same day, the Roman Aegean Fleet destroyed more than 100 Ottoman galleys that came to support, and then continued to pour ammunition on this ancient city built in 600 BC again.

It is impossible for artillery shells to be accurate enough not to involve people's houses at all, even if artillery equipped with fire control radar thousands of years later, it is difficult to do so, let alone Yu Dingyi's current military technology? Moreover, for military facilities that are either or not, it is absolutely impossible for Ding Yi to give up bombardment because of the so-called hypocrisy of human nature, and wait for the soldiers to go ashore and make senseless sacrifices for this hypocrisy.

There was no mercy or sympathy, but the sailors of the destroyed galleys were rescued by the Ming army.

After the second round of shelling stopped whistling, Smyrna, an ancient city that had existed before 600 B.C., and which was now one of the largest cities in the Ottoman Empire and the center of Ottoman trade, quickly raised the white flag, many white flags. It was probably because they were afraid that the Ming army would not see clearly what they meant by surrendering.

"Let them come up." After Ding Yi got the report, he raised his binoculars and looked at the small boat with the white flag, and instructed Liu Ji like this.

It was not the Ottoman generals who came to surrender, but a couple of Greeks.

Ding Yi asked with some curiosity, "What are you doing here?" What about the Ottoman generals or officials? ”

"They have returned to the arms of God. In the morning. The Greeks answered Ding Yi's question with great horror.

The first round of shelling, thousands of high-explosive shells, leveled the entire barracks.

Smyrna was originally a Greek city, or rather, a colonial city of the ancient Greeks.

The city was also one of the seat of the early Christian church.

It's just that during this period, the Ottoman state was so powerful that even Greece fell, not to mention Smyrna.

"Are you ready to surrender to me?" Ding Yi played with the cup in his hand and asked the Greeks who were kneeling in front of him.

No Greek insisted that he could not kneel on both knees, and the knees of foreign devils could be bent, as long as there was enough artillery fire.

"Yes, we surrender, this is not a force we can resist!" They screamed in panic, like helpless girls facing a mob, although the Greek faces, the lines of their faces that made them hard, still had the shadow of the three hundred warriors of Hot Springs. But they obviously no longer have that fanatical and belligerent blood in their bodies, and they are not those who are born to fight "either with a shield or lie down on it".

Ding Yi shook his head, although Sparta was nothing but military, whether it was politics or art, it turned out that Ding Yi still hoped to see that kind of blood and unyielding from the Greeks. It's a pity that the years have diluted many things,

"The Ottomans have returned, what are you going to do? Surrender again? It's still a force you can't resist. Ding Yi unceremoniously asked the representatives of the Greeks, "Surrender to me today, surrender to the Ottomans tomorrow, what is the significance of your surrender to me?" ”

Perhaps it was because he felt the threat of death so clearly, or perhaps it was a moment of blessing to his heart, the older man among the Greeks, who was not immersed in terror and weeping like the rest of his companions, raised his head: "Your Majesty, I will fight for you!" ”

This unknown Greek, who was originally submerged in the long river of history, was called Diogenes.

In this moment, though, he saved the city.

The first city of the New Roman Empire, Smyrna.

When he returned to Smyrna, he asked those who were still weeping in the ruins: "Who wants to die for Poseidon like I am?" He began to receive cursing and stones, so much so that the corners of his forehead were bruised, but Diogenes did not retreat, nor did he call for help from the 1st Division of the Janissaries of the New Roman Empire, which was building a beachhead.

He knew that he and the people of this city, if they wanted to live, they had to reflect their own value in front of Ding Yi.

"Why go to war for Poseidon? Are you crazy? He ruined our home! He killed our friends and loved ones with fire that fell from the sky! A Greek roared angrily and questioned Diogenes, "No, I won't do that!" Let him kill me! ”

"Death is a mercy." Liu Ji, who came ashore with Diogenes, said in Greek very well, "You have surrendered, and you will not be killed." But you will be banished, yes, we will not kill those who have surrendered, but you are civilians, not captives, so we will not enslave you either. Exile, give you freedom. ”

Where is this freedom? When they ran to the territory of the Ottomans, they must have been cruelly punished, in order to extract information about the Ming army that the Ottomans thought these people knew; or become a slave to the Ottomans; or was considered to be Ding Yi's spy and was then killed directly; Or because he lost Smyrna, he was killed by the Ottoman generals for no reason and only to vent his anger.

But these are not the issues that Ding Yi and Liu Ji are concerned about.

On the transport ship, 500 military households have already begun to prepare to disembark, not 500 people, but 500 households, including the regular army, military surpluses, their parents, wives and children, and so on. In Ismailia, there are another 500,000 military households that have come with Ding Yixi, and for the huge guard system of the Ming Dynasty, this is just a thousand households.

In Guangzhou Prefecture and Quanzhou Prefecture, there are still the next batch of 3,000 military households preparing to board the ship and come west.

The battle flag and the two-headed eagle flag were raised in the harbor.

"This is just the beginning." Ding Yi smiled and muttered to himself. (To be continued......) R1292