The rescue of the Kingdom of France was nothing more than a small episode for Zhu Zhanqi.

Whether or not he wanted to aid the Kingdom of France would not affect his current plans, because in his opinion, the Holy Roman Empire was much more difficult to deal with than the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of England.

Not only because of the topography, but also because of the Holy See.

I have to say that the situation is much better on the French side than on this side, although the same Catholicism is the main faith, but there are still different religions within France, but the Holy Roman Empire is different.

Since the Byzantine Empire, the last capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople, was captured by Zhu Zhanqi, the only Orthodox Church that could compete with Catholicism in religious status has completely disappeared.

That is, from the side, Zhu Zhanyan helped the Holy Roman Empire.

The Kingdom of France is different, and when the Holy Roman Empire is taken, it will be pushed all the way from east to west, because it is basically a plain area, and there is only the western part of the Alps, but because of the existence of Mont Blanc, there will not be many people living there.

can save some trouble, Zhu Zhanyan still likes to save some things.

……

Just when Zhu Zhan rushed back to Constantinople to meet the ...... of the Kingdom of France Well...... Mistress, Jian Xiao, who was driven away by Zhu Zhanyan, had already packed up Tarnovo with the Ming army, and after leaving behind three Jingguan, each of which exceeded 100,000 people, began to march west towards Fort Niko.

It was only four days.

And this time it was just after November.

For the European white pigs, the black November is over, but the dark December is coming.

Except for Zhu Baozong Vala Student Qi Zhen, no one would think that fighting a war was a very simple matter, so simple that it would be possible to deploy troops and complete supplies in less than half a month.

So, the allied forces of the Holy Roman Empire, the Holy See, and the Kingdom of Naples need time to mobilize, and now that it's winter, this time will become even longer.

But it's not all like that.

This war also depends on the time and place.

Compared to the Holy Roman Empire and the Holy See, Bosnia and Serbia, just west and north of Plovdiv, including Bulgaria, where Nikoburg is located, were still very fast in terms of the speed of troop transfers.

Bulgaria, in particular, is the fastest because Fort Niko is their city.

However, proximity is sometimes not a good thing.

On their way to the aid of Fort Niko, the Ming army did not go to Fort Niko, but turned their guns and the news of the capture of Tarnovo reached their ears.

As the saying goes, the palms and backs of the hands are meat, Nikoburg is their place, and Tarnovo is also their place.

In desperation, the Bulgarian generals made the most wrong decision.

Rush to the aid of Tarnovo.

"Are they sick?"

Looking at the mountains of corpses piled up in front of her, Jian Xiao let out a soul torture.

At this time of ice and snow, he couldn't figure out why anyone would choose to cross the river on the ice, which was a hell-level existence in war.

Don't say that ice is thick enough and flat bottom, that's pure, ice and ground are two different things.

In fact, this is also Jane Xiao's assumption, in fact, war is never a simple matter.

War has always been tied to people's livelihood, people's hearts and politics, these Jane Xiao knows, but what he doesn't know is that in Europe, war is also tied to one thing.

Faith.

For Jian Xiao, if he can't fight, it's good to retreat, although Zhu Zhanyan will punish the defeated soldiers, but he won't go too far, it can be regarded as a reward and punishment.

But it's not the same for Europe now.

Previously, the Crusaders and the allied forces of the Kingdom of Sicily were defeated, and the Crusaders' armor was stripped off and hung on the walls of the castle.

This is no longer humiliating, but trampling the so-called God of Europe under his feet and slapping his ears.

So, since then, the war in Europe against the Ming army has changed its flavor.

If you win, you can, you are the savior of the whole of Catholicism, and even of the whole of Europe, from the Pope to the vagabond beggars, everyone will sing your praises.

But if you lose, then sorry, even if you escape alive, you will be greeted by a cross that binds you, and then burns at the stake.

Even if you can escape back to maintain your vitality to the greatest extent.

Even if escaping back can make the Ming army throw a rat trap and not dare to advance so fast.

Even if you can bring back more information and let people have corresponding countermeasures.

This is Europe, this is medieval Europe, this is medieval Europe ruled by religion.

Just when Jian Xiao was slightly delayed by the Bulgarian army, Zhu Zhan Yan also set off from Junbao again and headed in the direction of Fort Niko.

He didn't really expect much from the Kingdom of France.

As he had thought before, the Kingdom of France had no choice, between a god-like girl and a powerful ally, a fool would choose.

But again, the Kingdom of France will not be so quick to make a decision.

The first is that Joan of Arc did lead the French army to win a lot of victories, and it is not impossible to use Joan of Arc as a bargaining chip, but it is still a little difficult.

The second is that they won't feel pain without being stabbed.

It's winter now, and apart from Zhu Zhanqi, there may not be anyone who will start such a large-scale war again.

But in fact, Zhu Zhan is also limited, that is, Bulgaria is far away from the Holy Roman Empire, and even farther away from Rome, coupled with the special terrain created by the Carpathian Mountains, otherwise he would not have moved troops at this time.

He was preparing to take Fort Niko, give himself a bridgehead to the north, occupy an important pass in the middle and lower reaches of the Danube, and then have to wait for the beginning of next spring to make plans.

Therefore, Zhu Zhan will leave Junbao again.

You know, he intended to be stationed at Fort Nico, regardless of whether he was commanding war or commerce.

The junction of the Stara Mountains and the Balkan Mountains.

Zhu Zhanyan looked at the city under the mountain, he didn't know if the Europeans had any quirks, they liked to build the city at this kind of pass between the mountains, did they expect to form a castle that was easy to defend and difficult to attack?

Zhu Zhanyan didn't understand.

He only knew that in this kind of place, in fact, it was not easy to defend and difficult to attack, as long as the terrain on the top of the mountain was advantageous, even if it was not artillery but catapults, it could cause unpredictable damage to the city at the foot of the mountain.

But I have to say that he really didn't bring a catapult!

If it weren't for winter, then Zhu Zhanyan would definitely bring a catapult, but this is winter, and the huge catapult is difficult to carry, and the snowy road is very unfriendly to the catapult.

But that doesn't mean he can't target this kind of city built at a pass.

……

Sofia is actually a very good place, with the tributaries of the Danube River flowing through, at the junction of the Stara Mountains and the Balkan Mountains, plus the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula......

It's certainly not cool in the summer, and it's certainly not warm in the winter!

The mountains of the Balkan Peninsula block out the warm and humid air currents of summer, and although they are at the mountain pass, they seem to be behind a screen.

In winter, the cold air currents from the north to the south enter the lower Danube plain and blow into this narrow col, where individuals freeze to death.

So which brain-dead person chose the location of the city here? Zhu Zhanyan didn't know, but he had to take this place.

"Your Highness, everything is ready."

Zhu Ling appeared behind Zhu Zhanyan and reported with his head down.

"Are you sure you haven't been discovered?" Zhu Zhanyan paused slightly, and then said.

"If you are discovered, you must attack immediately."

"His Royal Highness the Prince of the World, according to the report of the Prince of the World's guards, it has not been discovered."

For this kind of thing, Zhu Ling's guards couldn't be sure of its authenticity, so they could only inform Zhu Zhanyan of the news he had gotten.

"Since it hasn't been discovered, let's attack before dawn tomorrow."

"Yes!"

Zhu Ling slowly retreated, and Zhu Zhanyan turned around and entered the camp.

Actually, in a strategic sense, Sofia does not make much sense, because in the Ottoman offensive more than thirty years ago, Sofia has already suffered a certain amount of damage.

Although thirty years have passed and the damaged buildings have been restored, the destruction of people and civilization is not something that can be repaired in such a short time.

The Ottomans, who were mainly Turks, were naturally not very good to the European white pigs, which led to Sofia's improvement just now.

This was still in Zhu Zhan's western expedition to the Timurid Empire, and the Ottoman Empire felt threatened, so it dispatched troops in advance and abandoned it, otherwise it would still be under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

It can also be seen from this that this Sofia has just escaped from the clutches of the Turks, and what kind of city can the city become?

However, there is a special meaning for Zhu Zhanyan here.

The next day, early in the morning.

As the low horn sounded, it was not only the Ming army that moved, but the defenders in Sofia City were also awakened by the sound of the horn and began to resist the attack of the Ming army in a panic.

However, the first wave of offensive they saw was not the Ming army, and they didn't even see the shadow of the Ming army, but only the rolling stones that spread over the mountains and fields, converting potential energy into kinetic energy along the advantage of the terrain.

Because of the northern side of the Balkan Mountains and the Stara Mountains, there is not much snow on this side, and the rolling stones are not disturbed much, although some are blocked by the terrain in the middle, but more of them are still towards the city walls.

With a large number of rolling stones piled up at the foot of the city walls, the Ming army also launched the first real offensive.

This time, the defenders at the head of the city finally saw the figure of the Ming army, but before they could mobilize the longbow team to block, they were stunned by the oncoming swarm of rockets.

After the swarm of rockets attacked, the defenders at the head of the city just breathed a sigh of relief and wanted to raise their heads to counterattack, but as soon as they raised their heads, they were dumbfounded by the sight in front of them.

Taking advantage of the fire suppression of a swarm of rockets, the Ming army had already rushed to a range of about 100 meters.

Thus, a new round of fire suppression came.

In fact, in the fourteenth century, both in the East and the West, firearms have made great progress, but the difference is that the firearms in the East are mainly small and fine, such as bowl cannons and cannons.

But this is not the case in the West, where firearms are developing in a general direction, such as the weight of the Bombartan gun, which is calculated in tons, and the weight can reach 14 to 19 tons.

The sheer size of the projectile means that it can be loaded with larger projectiles, more gunpowder, and a significantly longer range of more than 700 meters.

In contrast, the range of firearms such as the bowl mouth cannon of the Ming Dynasty was only more than 200 meters, and it was not until the Franc machine gun behind that it had more than 500 meters, or even a kilometer.

However, Sofia does not possess large firearms, as the experience of the city does not allow it to have large firearms.

After all, the Ottoman Turks did not like such things.

The suppressive power of the bowl cannon was not very strong, but in fact, the rubble stirred up by the heart bullet on the city wall also made the defenders of Sofia jealous, and while they were still shrinking their heads, the Ming army began the fourth round of offensive.

One by one, the woodbirds rushed out of the mountains and forests, dragging their long tail flames, and whistling towards the city of Sofia.

This is one of the firearms of the Ming Dynasty: the Divine Fire Flying Crow.

In fact, Zhu Zhan rarely uses this kind of firearm, because the lethality of this firearm is relatively average, but this thing is still very useful when attacking the city, and the lethality is generally compared to some firearms.

Since he had white phosphor eggs, Zhu Zhanyan has liked to use this thing very much in siege.

The first is that there is no way to defend it, the second is that it can cause damage for a long time, and the third is that it can block the city gate and prevent the people in the city from coming out.

However, this time he didn't want to use white phosphorous eggs.

After four rounds of fire suppression, the Ming army that advanced to the city finally blasted open the city gate under the action of artillery.

With a loud cheer, the infantry who had been standing on the hill for a long time finally launched their attack.

"Pass the order." Zhu Zhanyan tugged at the reins and began to order.

"After entering the city, you can rob, kill, and burn, but don't approach near the monastery!"

"Yes!"

……

Such an order, according to a normal army, is somewhat strange.

But robbing is normal, because even before Zhu Zhanyu, when Cheng Zhu Confucian's mind was controlled, the army would rob the property, and the generals would turn a blind eye, basically not too much.

As for killing, this is more normal, after all, breaking the city does not mean that all the people in the city have surrendered, there must still be resistance, and in this case, you can only kill.

However, such an order seems a little strange to Zhu Zhanyan.

Normally, at least according to the experience since this Western Expedition, Zhu Zhanyan seems to be a little indecisive at the moment.

I had never heard of him deliberately ordering a place to be preserved, and this was the case when the castle was held, but that was because the castle had a special strategic significance.

However, it soon became clear to everyone.

(End of chapter)