In fact, the European coalition forces did not watch helplessly. They actually tried to stop it, but to no avail.
Because the matchlock guns equipped by the coalition forces were completely crushed by the rifles equipped by the Ming army in terms of range, rate of fire, and accuracy, the Ming army simply could not be defeated by infantry or cavalry alone.
But if you bring artillery, your action will be too slow and you won't have enough time.
So in the end, the European coalition forces could only watch the Ming cavalry swaggering through the defense line.
At the beginning, the kings, princes and dukes of the European coalition did not take this matter too seriously because they felt that even if the Ming army passed through the Astrakhan defense line, it would be of no use because the people behind them
The area with a radius of thousands of miles has been cleared by strong walls, and it is impossible for the Ming army to obtain any supplies.
So it won't be long before the Ming army collapses due to logistical problems.
But soon, the illusions of the European coalition leaders were shattered by reality.
Because a shocking news from the Papal State reached Astrakhan. Along with this shocking news, there were also orders from various countries, requiring the frontline troops to withdraw their troops immediately and return home. Even the Sun King
Louis XIV also received urgent messages from Prime Minister Mazarin and the Queen Mother.
However, Louis XIV was still a little unwilling.
"No, we cannot retreat. We cannot retreat easily."
Louis XIV still tried to prevent various countries from withdrawing their troops from returning home.
"Louis XIV, you still have unrealistic illusions about the Eastern Expedition?" Morozov, who was eager to withdraw his troops, said angrily, "The Ming army has already reached Rome and crossed the Alps to the north.
Even Paris, your home base in France is about to be captured by the Ming army, why are you still unwilling to retreat?"
"You are exaggerating." Louis XIV said angrily. "The Ming army that attacked Rome only had tens of thousands of people. They couldn't even capture the Papal States, let alone cross the Alps and capture Paris. So France is safe, everyone.
All countries are safe. We should not be frightened by the superficial difficulties. Hold on. As long as we can hold on, the victory of this Eastern Expedition will definitely belong to our Crusaders..."
However, before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by a voice.
The British coach, Richard, had long since stopped wanting to fight, and now he could no longer hold back and jumped out.
"That's enough. If France wants to continue fighting, then go ahead and fight, but we England must retreat. In addition to the Ming Dynasty's army, the Ming Dynasty's navy will be attacking Rome this time!"
"Compared to the Ming Dynasty's army, the Ming Dynasty's navy is more terrifying, so England is very dangerous."
After a pause, Richard continued: "So, I must bring the new army back to England as soon as possible. We must ensure the safety of the English Parliament and the Lord Protector."
Richard's speech was supported by many people.
At this point, the European coalition officially split.
Early in the morning of the next day, the Russian and British troops were the first to withdraw.
Immediately afterwards, the Polish army, the Bohemian army, and the Saxon army also withdrew.
A week later, only the French and Swedish troops remained on the Astrakhan defense line. Louis XIV and Karl X were unwilling to fail. They decided to join forces and risk launching an attack to see if they could
There is no chance of winning by surprise. If there is a chance, we can continue to fight eastward. If there is no chance, it is not too late to withdraw our troops and return home.
So one night, a combined cavalry regiment consisting of 20,000 French cavalry and 5,000 Swedish cavalry, led by the French Prince of Condé, took the lead in sending troops. Louis XIV and Karl XIV personally led 100,000 French infantry and 50,000 Swedish infantry.
Then they followed up and launched a surprise attack on the Ming army staying in the Kyrgyz steppe.
The 6th Cavalry Division of the Ming Dynasty Army stayed behind in the Kyrgyz steppe.
The commander of the 6th Cavalry Division was Li Nian, but the person in command was Li Yan.
The Ming army had a strict scout cavalry system, so the movements of the French cavalry and Swedish cavalry were quickly detected by the Ming army's scout cavalry.
After receiving the report, Li Yan immediately made a plan to lure the enemy deeper.
As a result, a good drama of "hurriedly fighting" and "retreating without support" began to unfold.
In order to make the performance as realistic as possible, Li Yan even ordered the servant tribe to abandon their cattle and sheep.
The vanguard regiment composed of French cavalry and Swedish cavalry "succeeded". Louis XIV and Karl X were immediately inspired and immediately led their armies to launch a pursuit.
This pursuit lasted more than a thousand miles.
Chased directly from the Kyrgyz grassland to the depths of the Kazakh grassland.
It was also at this time that Louis XIV and Karl X finally realized that something was wrong. The main reason was that the cattle and sheep they had snatched before had been eaten up, and the army's rations would not be able to supply enough food for the eyes.
Moreover, they still failed to destroy the main cavalry of the Ming army opposite them.
In view of this, Louis XIV and Charles X had no choice but to retreat.
But when they retreated, the two men realized that they were in big trouble.
The two of them found that they were fine when they came, but when they wanted to go back, they couldn't.
The Ming army, which had been holding them indifferently before, suddenly came back and launched an endless harassment war against the French-Swedish coalition forces. It was really a day-time harassment, and a night-time harassment, without a moment of rest, and 120,000 French army troops were killed.
And the Swedish Army of more than 60,000 people was in dire straits.
What's even more troublesome is that there is no way to build a bastion fortification.
Because the French-Swedish coalition had just completed half of its construction, the Ming army's artillery arrived. With just one shelling, the unfinished bastion fortifications were blown to pieces, so the coalition could only continue to retreat in large strides.
After persisting like this for seven or eight days, the coalition finally collapsed and was defeated like a mountain in the central part of the Kyrgyz grassland.
In the end, most of the 120,000 French Army and 60,000 Swedish Army were annihilated except for a few cavalry. Even Prince Carl X of Sweden and Prince Condé of France were captured by the Ming army.
He was lucky enough to survive under the protection of the Guards.
…
The French-Swedish coalition forces that took the risk to attack suffered a disastrous defeat, and the main force of the coalition forces that chose to withdraw did not fare much better.
Not long after the main force of the coalition forces withdrew from the Astrakhan defense line, the main force of the Ming army's cavalry that had passed through suddenly came back and launched a fierce attack on the main force of the coalition forces.
This time without the bastion as a defensive barrier, the results were completely different.
The main force of the coalition barely managed to hold on for several rounds, but was ultimately defeated.
I really can't handle it, because the firepower of the Ming army is much more brutal than that of the coalition forces.
There's not much to say about the final situation, it's just about chasing and killing all the way.
In just half a month, the Ming cavalry chased them for a full three thousand miles, from the north shore of the Caspian Sea to the border area between Ukraine and Poland. Most of the main forces of the coalition forces participating in the Eastern Expedition were annihilated by the Ming army.
The news spread back to various European countries, and the kings and ministers in each country were instantly stunned.
It's over now. The main force of the Crusaders who participated in the Eastern Expedition have been wiped out. The newly recruited troops in the country are untrained and have uneven equipment. It is difficult to form combat effectiveness in a short period of time. How to fight this battle?
However, at this time, Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty suddenly announced that he wanted to negotiate peace.
Regarding this news, the kings, queens and princes of various European countries were naturally skeptical, and immediately sent diplomatic envoys to Rome to confirm the news.
After receiving the affirmative reply, the kings, queens and grand dukes of various countries were immediately overjoyed.
So, after half a year of preparation and preparation, an unprecedented peace negotiation was held in St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. One party participating in the peace negotiation was the Ming Dynasty, and the other party was dozens of countries in the Christian world. The representative was the Pope of Rome.
Pope Alexander VII of China and cardinals from various countries also participated in the peace talks.
Zhu Cijiong was very critical of this peace negotiation, and he was opposed to it.
By the way, the five cavalry divisions led by Zhu Cijiong had successfully arrived in Rome half a month ago, in mid-September of the 28th year of Chongzhen's reign.
Before coming to Rome, Zhu Cijiong also took a cavalry regiment to visit the Palace of Versailles in the southwest suburbs of Paris, and took away two maids before leaving.
There were actually many princesses and ladies in the Palace of Versailles at that time.
One of them is Princess Theresa, cousin of Louis XIII.
But Zhu Cijiong had no interest in Princess Teresa.
Because European royal families basically marry close relatives, most of their looks are hard to describe.
On the contrary, the two maids who served Princess Teresa were so attractive that Zhu Cijiong took a liking to them at a glance, and then took the two girls away directly.
Zhu Cijiong is really letting himself go now.
Along the way, many women have been snatched from various principalities and kingdoms, and many of them have become pregnant.
So after the father and son met on Zheng He's ship, Chongzhen teased his son and said, "Jong'er, your ability to give birth to children is much better than your father."
Zhu Cijiong said with a smile: "It's better to be better than a young man, hehe."
After a pause, Zhu Cijiong asked in confusion: "Father, why do you want to negotiate peace with Christendom?"
"The reason is very simple." Chongzhen sighed, "We can't even digest the Mughal Empire in a short period of time, let alone the Christian world in Europe, so we can only sign a peace treaty first and then slowly digest it."
Zhu Cijiong nodded and said: "Then what conditions does the emperor plan to impose on this peace treaty?"
"I didn't think about this well." Chongzhen said with a smile, "The so-called peace talks are nothing more than asking for high prices."
After a pause, he added: "But there is one thing Jiong'er you can do secretly first, and that is to pay a high price to hire all the scientists from the University of Paris and even the entire Europe to Ming Dynasty."
Europe needs to be conquered, but European natural sciences also need to be learned.
Not to mention ancient science, at least modern science is more advanced in Europe.
As for whether these European scientists are willing to go to the Ming Dynasty, it is actually not a problem.
Because in Europe at this time, there were actually no clear cognitive differences between ethnic groups, that is, the concept of nationality was not strong, and naturally there was no such thing as loyalty. As long as the money was in place, they would definitely be willing to go to the Ming Dynasty.
