"Bypass? How to wrap around? Hu Guozhu said,

"A detour from the Persian plateau at the southern end of the Caspian Sea? It's too far, thousands of miles to detour, or months to the least. Zhu Cijiong said: "You must not detour from the Persian plateau." Xia Wanchun said: "If you don't detour from the Persian Plateau, do you want to detour from the Ural Mountains?" ”

"I'm afraid it won't work." Li Yan frowned and said,

"It's the first month of the year, and the snow in the Ural Mountains is waist-deep, so people and horses can't get through, and even if the spring freezes, the roads will become muddy and difficult to navigate."

"Yes, yes, the Ural Mountains don't get through either." Zhu Cijiong nodded and said,

"It's a dead end." Li Mou said: "King Ding, then I don't understand, if we don't detour from the Persian Plateau at the southern end of the Caspian Sea, nor from the Ural Mountains in the north, where else can we detour from?" The eyes of Li Yan and the others were focused on Zhu Cijiong.

Zhu Cijiong smiled and said: "I remember that when I followed my father in the past, my father often taught us brothers and how to avoid a fixed mindset when thinking about problems, and now you are stuck in a fixed mindset. ”

"Mindset?" Li Yan and the others looked at each other, this word sounded a little familiar, as if they had heard it mentioned by the saint.

Zhu Cijiong stretched out his hand and patted the map, and said in a deep voice: "We don't go to the Ural Mountains, nor do we go to the Persian Plateau, we will detour from this place." ”

"Astrakhan steppe?" Li Yan was stunned. Hu Guozhu, Xia Wanchun and other senior generals also looked at each other, how to get around from here?

"Do you think that the European coalition forces have built thousands of bastions on the Astrakhan steppe, and they are still increasing at a rate of more than a dozen per day, so there is no way to pass at all?" Zhu Cijiong smiled.

"Isn't that so?" Li Nian frowned and said,

"If we can get there, why don't we have to wait until now?"

"Of course not." Zhu Cijiong chuckled and said,

"Of course we can get through, but the logistics are heavy, especially the cattle, sheep and livestock of the Dzungar, Turghut and other tribes can't get through."

"This is it." LI Yandao,

"The servant tribe can't get by, the cattle and sheep can't get by, and the army can't go over, so we can't drink the northwest wind, right?"

"That's why you're stuck in a mindset." Zhu Cijiong smiled and said,

"Even if the logistics baggage and the cattle, sheep and livestock of the servant tribe can't get by, we can still get material supplies through warfare, as for ammunition supply, each person carrying more than three war horses, you can carry at least ten base ammunition, enough for three months of combat needs, and enough to support us to fight a large-scale battle, isn't it?"

"Feeding war with war? Three horses each? Li Yan, Xia Wanchun and others reacted reluctantly. If you do this, you can really bypass the frontal line of the European coalition forces.

Zhu Cijiong said again: "If it was before, even if we bypassed, I am afraid it would be useless, because the European coalition forces on the Astrakhan defense line would not care about our detour, because no matter how far we detour, it is impossible for us to detour back to the hinterland of Europe three thousand miles away or even five thousand miles away, because throughout the ages, no army has been able to detour such a long distance without the premise of logistics support, and the Mongolian cavalry does not have the courage to do so." Li Yan, Xia Wanchun and others nodded in unison.

Zhu Cijiong said again: "But now it's different. ”

"Now my father has taken Rome with his navy."

"Even more favorable is the gathering of the main forces of the European coalition in Astrakhan."

"So now, from Astrakhan to Rome, seven or eight thousand miles, almost undefended."

"If we get around Astrakhan, we can go all the way to Rome, and that would be a catastrophe for the whole of Europe."

"No European country would dare to take such a risk."

"I dare to assert that as soon as the news of our appearance in the steppes of Eastern Europe reaches Europe, the monarchs of the various European countries will immediately send messengers to call back their own troops."

"The security of your own country is obviously more important than the Crusades, isn't it?" Speaking of this, a sly smile appeared on the corner of Zhu Cijiong's mouth, because this is the weakness of human nature.

The weakness of human nature is selfishness, which has always been the case from primitive societies to the present day. The eyes of Li Yan, Xia Wanchun and other senior generals lit up instantly, and they seemed to have seen the European coalition forces stationed in the Astrakhan steppe rushing to retreat, and then they were ambushed by the Ming cavalry halfway through, and the troops were defeated like a mountain, and then the Ming cavalry chased and killed the European coalition forces all over the mountains and fields on the Eastern European steppe.

Such a picture is really beautiful, and it makes people angry when they think about it. Zhu Cijiong could give an order directly, but he still asked for everyone's opinions.

"How about it, let's talk about it, do you want to abandon the cattle, sheep and livestock to go around?"

"I agree." Li Yan took the lead in saying,

"This will definitely break the current deadlock."

"I also agree, go directly from the front, and you don't need logistics and cattle, sheep and livestock."

"We agree, and it's not too late, and now that the snow hasn't thawed and the road is easy to walk, let's take a detour as soon as possible, or it will become muddy and difficult to walk when the weather is warm." Xia Wanchun, Hu Guozhu and other senior generals attached their support.

"Okay, then give the order, and start early tomorrow morning." The order was quickly delivered, and the cavalry regiment quickly began to move.

However, Zhu Cijiong did not bring all six cavalry divisions. Zhu Cijiong still left a cavalry division in the Kyrgyz steppe.

Although the chances of the European coalition forces taking advantage of the situation to enter the Kyrgyz steppe are very small, they are not afraid of 10,000, just in case, in case the European coalition forces break the kettle and enter the Kyrgyz steppe desperately, then the cavalry division left behind can play a great role in delay, at least drag the European coalition forces in the vast Central Asia, and ensure the safety of the Ming Dynasty.

…… What Zhu Cijiong didn't know was that the senior generals of the European coalition forces had actually quarreled.

As the delay in Astrakhan grew, it became more and more difficult to supply the European coalition forces, especially Tsarist Russia, the Kingdom of Poland, and the Kingdom of Sweden.

Because most of the baggage of the coalition forces was provided by these three countries. Although the Holy See provided part of the funding, it was only a drop in the bucket.

In fact, it was impossible for the Holy See to come up with such a huge sum of money to support such a large-scale crusade, so the routine adopted was nothing more than to write empty promises, promising Tsarist Russia, the Kingdom of Sweden, and the Kingdom of Poland that after the victory of the Crusades, the occupation of vast lands in Central Asia and the Far East, and the grabbing of a large amount of property, they would be given priority to the three countries.

However, the cruel reality is that the European coalition forces only advanced to the northern shore of the Caspian Sea and were strongly blocked by the Ming army, and could not advance half a step forward, even if 500,000 troops joined in the middle, they also failed to reverse the situation.

Therefore, as time passed, Tsarist Russia, which was the closest and heaviest burden, could not hold on to it at first.

"Retreat, must retreat!" Morozov said angrily,

"We, Tsarist Russia, are going bankrupt."

"Agreed." King Jan II of Poland chimed in,

"The situation is already obvious, the coalition forces are simply unable to defeat the Ming army in the field, and they don't even have the courage to get out of the fortress and fight with the Ming army in the field, but can only confront the Ming army here endlessly, this is not the war we want, this is not the great crusade!" After a pause, he said: "Therefore, instead of wasting time here, it is better to withdraw the troops as soon as possible, and everyone go back to their respective homes, otherwise not only Tsarist Russia will not be able to bear it, but we Poland will also be unable to bear it." But the Prince of Sweden, Karl X, did not squeak, he was still a little unwilling.

Of course, the most unwilling was the young French Emperor Louis XIV. For this crusade, France invested a lot of manpower and material resources.

Louis XIV himself devoted himself to the crusade with unprecedented enthusiasm. Therefore, Louis XIV would not be willing to give up in any way.

"No, you can't retreat!" Louis XIV said angrily,

"If you want to retreat, just retreat, but our French army will never retreat, we will hold out until the Ming army on the opposite side is defeated!"

"Hold out until the Ming army is defeated?" Molotsov said suddenly,

"Do you think it's possible?"

"Why can't it be?" Prince Condé of France retorted,

"It's hard for us to join forces, but is it easy for the Ming army? The logistical supply route of the Ming army is longer and more difficult than that of our European coalition army, so the first to hold on must be the Ming army, so as long as we hold on, the victorious will be the coalition army! Just when a group of kings, princes or dukes were arguing, the French army of Dureny suddenly entered the report: "Your Majesty and Your Excellency the Duke, the Ming army has moved." ”

"Huh?" The king, prince and duke present suddenly looked stunned. Louis XIV asked, "What are the movements of the Ming army?" Is it intended to storm the storm? ”

"It's not." Dureni shook his head and said,

"It looks like it's going to take a detour."

"Detour?" Louis XIV was stunned and said,

"What do you mean? How to get around? ”

"Your Majesty, that's literal." Dureni smiled bitterly,

"It's passing through the gap between the forts and the forts of the coalition defense line, and now the troops are passing through." Louis XIV and other kings, princes and dukes hurriedly got up.

When the group came to the fortress parapet, they didn't even need to use a telescope, and they could see the Ming cavalry passing quickly outside the fortress in small groups with the naked eye.

The distance between the coalition forts and the forts was about five hundred meters. At this distance, the arquebus is not any threat at all.

But the artillery of the coalition forces can easily cover it. However, the Ming army took the squad as a unit and passed through it quickly, which made the coalition artillery useless, because the coalition artillery used shotgun with a short range, and if solid bullets were used, the killing efficiency would be outrageously low when shooting the sparse formation of the cavalry of the squad, and there would not be so many solid bullets to swing.

As a result, the coalition forces could only watch the Ming army intersperse.