The Holy See, which suffered two losses at the hands of the Ming army in succession, finally learned to be obedient this time.

Knowing that it would not be possible to resist the Ming army in the front, the Holy See and the Holy Roman Empire played a strategy of saving the country with a curve this time.

First, the Holy See and the Holy Roman Empire joined forces to put pressure on the Duchy of Venice to abandon its pressure on the Despotate of Epirus, the Autocracy of Alta, and the Duchy of Athens.

This is actually the part of the Peloponnese, the peninsula where Greece was later located.

The Holy See and the Holy Roman Empire wanted to unite the Duchy of Athens and other surrounding countries in this way, and then cooperate with the Duchy of Venice islands in the Aegean Sea to form a strong suppressive force against the Ming army and completely cut off the Ming army's path.

If this method succeeded, the Ming army would have cut off the connection between the sea and the Suez region, and ships would not be able to reach Constantinople directly from the Suez Canal.

In terms of baggage supply, it was much faster to transport by sea than by land, and once this method was successful, it could put great pressure on the Ming army.

At the same time, the Holy See and the Holy Roman Empire sent people to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which had a hegemonic position in Eastern Europe, hoping to unite with each other to jointly resist the Ming Dynasty.

This is the best and most effective method that the Holy See and the Holy Roman Empire can think of in a short period of time, but the effect will still have to be verified by reality.

As for why you say that......

"Your Royal Highness, if you do this, ......"

Mu Sheng, who hadn't met Zhu Zhanyan for a long time, looked at the map drawn by Zhu Zhanyan, and there was a little hesitation on his face.

"It's winter now, it's not very suitable for sailing, and if you do this, I'm afraid it will be risky......"

"Hehe......" Zhu Zhanyan smiled slightly and gently patted Mu Sheng's shoulder.

"Indeed, winter is not suitable for war, this is our consistent thinking, and it is the experience of our ancestors through countless personal experiences."

"But do you know why the Holy See and the Holy Roman Empire insisted on sending a fleet to the Duchy of Athens, knowing that winter was not suitable for war?"

"Why?" Mu Sheng's brows furrowed.

There is no doubt that experience has taught him that winter is not suitable for war, but out of trust in Zhu Zhanyan, coupled with Zhu Zhanyan's confident appearance, Mu Sheng feels that things may be a little different from usual.

"Let me ask you, you've been in Suez lately, don't you see any difference?"

"Different?" Mu Sheng looked at Zhu Zhanyan with some doubts.

"You mean...... Weather? ”

"Yes, it's the weather." Zhu Zhanyan nodded.

"If you want to talk about the weather......" After getting the general direction given by Zhu Zhanyan, Mu Sheng lowered his head and pondered.

"The summer is very hot, hotter than when the minister conquered the Great Viet Kingdom, and it is very dry, there is almost no rain, and the minister still remembers that the excavation of the Suez Canal has made great progress last summer."

"Winter words...... It seems to ......"

Thinking of this, Mu Sheng was shocked.

"You mean ......"

"Yes." Zhu Zhanyan smiled and nodded.

"The climate here is similar to that of Suez, the summer is hot and there is no rain, and the winter is a little cold, but compared to other places, it is cold but not frozen, and there is a lot of rain."

"Why is that?" Mu Sheng was very puzzled, for him, this was beyond the scope of common sense.

"You don't need to know this, you just need to know that the sea in front of you and the coast around you are all in this climate."

Zhu Zhanyan smiled and did not explain the problem to Mu Sheng.

It's not that it can't be explained, the Mediterranean climate is mainly the result of the westerly wind belt and the subtropical high pressure, hot and dry summer, mild and rainy winter, is the only climate type in the whole earth's thirteen climates with different periods of rain and heat.

However, this is not to say that the entire Mediterranean coast has a Mediterranean climate, and there are a few areas that do not have a Mediterranean climate.

But!

The area where the Principality of Athens is located happens to have a Mediterranean climate.

To the north of the Balkans, the climate becomes temperate continental and temperate oceanic, but to the south there is a Mediterranean climate with mild and rainy winters, which alone can disprove the theory that winter is unsuitable for war.

Therefore, Zhu Zhan Yan planned to do the opposite, no longer continuing to advance north, but to the south.

However, he also did not plan to transfer back Jian Xiao and the others stationed in Fort Nico, although Fort Nico, a fortress that was once easy to defend and difficult to attack, no longer became easy to defend and difficult to attack under the effect of white phosphor, but this was only for the Ming army.

The Ming army didn't have Fort Nico, so it would be over by throwing two white phosphorus eggs, and the people in Fort Nicoo would have to run away even if they didn't die.

But if the Ming army occupied Fort Nico, the combined forces of the Holy See and the Holy Roman Empire would be stuck.

After all, they don't have a weapon like a white phosphor.

Therefore, although Fort Nicoo was dispensable for the Ming army, they could not do without Fort Nico, relying on the Holy See, and maybe they could catch a few fish in Fort Nico.

As for the Duchy of Athens, Zhu Zhanyan decided to let Mu Sheng come, which was why he called Mu Sheng over.

"That'...... For the Duchy of Athens, Your Royal Highness ......"

After getting the confidence given by Zhu Zhanyan, Mu Sheng did not hesitate any longer, and took the order very happily.

But before that, he had to know what Zhu Zhanyan thought.

After all, before this, the Duchy of Athens had handed Zhu Zhan Yan an edict asking for peace, although everyone knew Zhu Zhan Yan's style, but it was always good to determine it in advance.

"Whatever you want." Zhu Zhanyan waved his hand.

"I don't care about them."

"If you can't give enough benefits, you won't get our help, and if you don't help them, it means that they are our enemies."

"I don't care what happens to them, I only ask for one thing, that is, they can't interfere with my Northern Expedition in the future, and nothing else matters."

"Minister, understood!" Mu Sheng's heart sank, but he also relaxed a lot.

When Zhu Zhanyan said this, his meaning was already obvious, although it was very cruel, but I had to say that this was what Mu Sheng wanted to see.

Because such an order will give him a high degree of freedom, which can allow him to play better and not look ahead.

"Alright, you can go back and prepare first." Zhu Zhan's interest in the Duchy of Athens was not very high, at least far less than Rome and other regions.

If he had to say it, he would only be disgusted with the Duchy of Athens.

In later generations, when the flower planter transported the Varyag back and passed through the Bosphorus in front of the castle, Turkey demanded a deposit of one billion dollars on the grounds that the mothership was too large and would affect the passage of other ships.

Later, it was Greece as a guarantor that allowed the mothership to return to the flower planter smoothly.

On the surface, this should be a favor, and Zhu Zhanyan should have a good impression of the Duchy of Athens.

But again, everything in this world is a benefit.

Greece has come forward because of the already existing contradictions between them and Turkey, and because the rabbit has promised a series of cooperation.

If you really want to talk about it, this kind of behavior seems to be helpful, but in fact it is no different from the Turkish robbery, that is, they want relatively little.

Therefore, for the Duchy of Athens, Zhu Zhanyan did not have any gratitude, and even felt that it was good that he did not take advantage of the fire to rob at the beginning.

"That's right." Seeing that Mu Ang was leaving, Zhu Zhanyan suddenly remembered something.

"Mu Bin, that kid, how are you doing? You can't protect him all the time, I said a long time ago that if you keep it in a cage, the eagle will also be raised as a chicken. ”

"This is a good opportunity, the opponent's strength is not strong, and there won't be much loss in both horizontal and vertical positions, if it doesn't work, you let him try it first, if he can't do it, or if you make a mistake, you can come out and correct it."

"This ......" Mu Sheng was stunned for a moment, but then became a little surprised.

"Your Royal Highness, this ...... Isn't it...... Not so good? ”

"Nothing bad." Zhu Zhanyan waved his hand, very unimpressed by Mu Sheng's cautious tone.

"There is never a person in this world who is born proficient in a certain thing or ability, and all so-called geniuses are only born with talent and a lot of experience."

"No experience, even a genius will become a mediocre talent, take advantage of the winter I can't go north, you train him well, I can count on him to take over the banner of your Mu family, inherit the will of your father King Qianning, and continue to guard the frontier for the Ming Dynasty."

"Multi-...... Thank you, Your Highness! Mu Sheng was very excited, even so excited that he knelt down and kowtowed to thank him.

In fact, compared with Wenchen, the training of generals is much more difficult.

Wenchen can read a lot of books, and after the middle move, he will first be a substitute to accumulate experience, even if he makes a mistake after becoming an official, the consequences will not be too bad.

Although it will make the people suffer, compared to the cultivation of generals, it is really a small thing.

The training of generals is actually somewhat similar to that of Wenchen, first reading all kinds of military books, war materials, etc., and then when encountering war, he first becomes a partial general or something, accumulating experience, but the difference lies in the final practice.

If it is a civil servant, if he makes a mistake after becoming an official, at most it will be a disaster to the people, but if it is a general, it will directly lead to the defeat of the war.

Wenchen is the party to the disaster, and the imperial court will deal with it in a timely manner, and through measures such as reducing the taxes for the people, it will be recovered in a few years.

However, if the war is lost, it will often be the death of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people, and if you want to make up for it, you have to redeem it through a series of subsequent wars.

And most importantly, once the war is lost, it will bring a huge blow to the morale of the soldiers, and this consequence may have a chain reaction.

Why did the Ming Dynasty have the phenomenon of military generals after the Yongle Dynasty?

One is because Emperor Taizu Gao killed too many people at the beginning, and the other is because Emperor Taizong was uneasy because of Qiu Fu's defeat, almost to the point that no one believed it except himself.

Of course, the most important thing is that there are no particularly outstanding talents, if there is a god of war like Huo Quzhi, you can't stop his rise.

"Alright, don't fix these useless things." Zhu Zhanyan waved his hand impatiently, got up to leave, and left a sentence before leaving.

"Three years, I hope you can train him out."

(End of chapter)