In the Kremlin of the Principality of Moscow, the young Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III is frowning and full of sorrow.
A few years ago, he forced his father Ivan III to pass the position of Grand Duke to him through a coup. He inherited his father's will and ambition, and was also deeply influenced by his mother, the last princess of Byzantium.
Inspire to unify the entire Slavic country, establish a powerful country, continue to expand externally, and incorporate surrounding city-states into Moscow's territory.
On the Western Front, successive wars were launched against Poland and Lithuania, all of which were victorious. The Principality of Poland and Lithuania had to beg for peace from the Principality of Moscow and cede large areas of land to the Principality of Moscow.
On the eastern front, Vasily III was never satisfied with the status of a vassal state of the Kazan Khanate, and was committed to annexing the Kazan Khanate to the territory of the Principality of Moscow.
But this time it wasn't that easy. The puppet Amin he supported actually got rid of his control and defeated the Muscovite army. The two sides turned against each other.
On the southern front, he actively led the Muscovite army to fight back against the plunder of the Crimean Tatars, organized troops to fight back against the Tatars many times, and severely wounded the Tatars several times.
It stands to reason that everything is still going smoothly. The Principality of Moscow is also prospering under his governance. Slavic city-states continue to merge in and become stronger and stronger.
However, things took a major turn a few years ago.
A powerful empire that had never been considered or considered before, the Ming Empire, its huge influence spread to the land of Eastern Europe.
The Ming Empire first defeated the Ottoman Empire, causing the powerful Ottoman Empire to lower its proud head and pay compensation to the Ming Empire and cede territory.
Then the Ming Empire began to vigorously support the Crimean Tatars, not only providing weapons, food, cloth, salt, etc. to the Tatars, allowing the Tatars' strength to grow rapidly.
The nomadic tribes that originally only relied on plundering to survive could not even make iron weapons and had to rely on plundering people from other tribes to make them. Naturally, these weapons and equipment were far inferior to those of the Principality of Moscow.
However, with the help of the Ming Dynasty, these barbaric Tatars suddenly exchanged their guns for cannons, and actually had terrifying cannons and surprisingly powerful gunpowder. The solid walls of the Slavs could no longer withstand the Tatar attack. A large number of
The town was looted by the Tatars.
What is even more abominable is that the Ming Dynasty also bought slaves from the Tatars at high prices, allowing the Tatars to taste the sweetness. They constantly attacked the Principality of Muscovy, plundered the population, and then sold all these people as slaves to the Ming Dynasty.
The rapid loss of population and the rapid growth of Tatar strength were what Vasily III was most worried about and saddened by.
Originally, the Tatars posed a huge threat to the entire Eastern European plains. Every autumn, the Muscovite suffered heavy losses due to the threshing of the valleys. Now, with the intervention of the Ming Dynasty.
The Tatars are no longer limited to plowing in autumn. They have plowing teams all year round. After all, compared to grazing, the returns from plowing are faster and much higher.
It is said that a slave sold to the Ming Dynasty could be sold for more than ten taels of silver, which was enough to easily exchange for a large amount of grain, salt, ironware, tea, etc., allowing the Tatars to live a prosperous life.
Who is still coming and going to graze the animals so hard?
For this matter, Vasily sent a mission to the Ming Dynasty to express his dissatisfaction and anger to the Ming Dynasty people, and strictly demanded that the Ming Dynasty people must stop such behavior.
It's just that the people of the Ming Dynasty didn't bother to bother you at all. The mission was sent back just here in Nanyun Province. It didn't even arrive at the capital of the Ming Dynasty. It was said that it was tens of thousands of miles away.
In addition to the Tatars in Crimea that worried Vasily III, the Ottoman Empire south of the Black Sea kept Vasily III awake day and night.
Compared with the Tatars, the Ottoman Empire was more powerful and more ambitious.
The Ottoman Empire, which had been ceded territory and paid compensation by the Ming Dynasty, was committed to expanding westward. The powerful Ottoman Empire army swept across almost the entire Eastern Europe, beating the Hungarians and Austrians to pieces, and even captured Vienna, heading towards the Christian world.
Center Roman March.
For this reason, all European countries had to unite to resist the invasion of the Ottoman Empire. Millions of troops from both sides fought bloody battles on the vast European battlefield with Vienna as the center.
On the Eastern Front, the Ottoman Empire's troops were directed at the Principality of Lithuania. This proud and arrogant principality was retreating steadily. In some areas, the ice of the Ottoman Empire had even reached the borders of the Principality of Moscow.
above.
The Principality of Muscovy organized a large army and fought once with the Ottoman Empire's army, and the result was a huge defeat.
Unlike the Tatars, who would only ride on horses and use cavalry to attack, the Ottomans were conquered by the Ming Dynasty's firearms. They attached great importance to firearms and purchased a large number of firearms from the Ming Empire.
Combined with the Ottoman Empire's originally extremely powerful cold weapon cavalry, the Muscovite army was like paper in front of them and was beaten to pieces.
The fortunate thing is that on this side of the thin line, the European coalition forces have gathered and are preparing to launch a decisive battle against the Ottoman Empire. This has greatly restricted the Ottoman Empire's military strength and made them unable to attack the Principality of Muscovy. Otherwise, Vasily III would probably have
There is no way to stay in the Kremlin and worry.
"Damnable Daming people~"
Vasily III couldn't help but cursed again, and when he was angry, he smashed a large and exquisite piece of ceramic into pieces.
The reason why the Ottoman Empire was able to resist the entire European coalition was because of the support of the Ming Dynasty.
Like the Tatars, the Ming Dynasty purchased slaves from the Ottoman Empire at high prices, stimulated the expansion of the Ottoman Empire into Europe, and plundered people and trafficked them to the Ming Dynasty.
The large amount of wealth obtained from the slave trade was used to purchase weapons and weapons from the Ming Dynasty, and armed a large number of armies to continue to plunder the population in Europe.
European white slaves were the most popular in the Ming Dynasty. A strong white slave could be sold for a high price of fifty taels of silver in the Ming Dynasty. This price made Vasily III unable to help but want to give away all his people.
Sold out, not to mention the Tatars and Ottomans who lived off plunder.
"The coalition forces must defeat the Ottoman Empire, otherwise our entire Europe will be sold into slavery by the Ming Dynasty."
Vasily prayed silently in his heart.
For this reason, he even gave up continuing to attack the Principality of Poland and Lithuania, in order to allow them to concentrate on dealing with the Ottoman Empire.
This was not because Vasily III was kind and did not covet the land of the Principality of Poland and Lithuania, but because he knew that if the Principality of Poland and Lithuania were defeated by the Ottoman Empire, the Principality of Moscow would be next.
Once the Ottoman Empire and the Tatars unite, the Muscovite Principality may even be in danger of extinction.
(Here I would like to explain the Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania. During this period, the Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania was the largest and most populous country in Europe, and its military strength was also extremely strong. However, in the seventeenth century, it encountered serious political chaos and the military
The economy was weakening day by day, and at the same time, the Russian Empire to the east, the Kingdom of Prussia to the west, and the Grand Duchy of Austria to the south rose rapidly and became powerful, and were eventually divided by these three countries, leading to the country's demise. So when Lithuania challenged us some time ago,
Many people think that Lithuania, a bigger country, why dares to clamor for us? That is because they still have the dream of the Polish-Lithuanian Kingdom in history, and feel that they are awesome. This is not the first time that this guy has done this before.
I also often annoy others to gain a sense of presence.)
"Your Majesty the King, there is a war in Vienna!"
While Basil III was breaking the vase, a minister hurried in to report.
"The war finally started?"
When Vasily III heard this, he immediately calmed down and quickly looked at the map, looking in the direction of Vienna. He could imagine in his mind what a tragic battle this place would experience.
The European Allied Forces and the Ottoman Empire gathered millions of troops to fight bloody battles here. The most advanced artillery, muskets, and powerful cavalry dueled. This is destined to be a battle that will go down in history, and it is also related to the fate of Europe.
A great battle.
"If you have any news, report it to me immediately."
Vasily III looked at the map in a daze. He was unable to influence the trend of the war. The strength of the Muscovite Principality was very limited, and it could not support the distant battlefield in Vienna.
"Your Majesty, the Tatars have begun to come to our principality to thresh grass and grain again."
The previous minister had just left, and immediately another minister hurriedly came to report.
"It's too much to deceive others. It's too much to deceive others."
When Vasily heard this, he became furious.
The Tatars now have no rest throughout the year. They come to plunder their own principality from time to time, and treat their Muscovite principality as a grassland?
In the past, we used to thresh grass paddy once a year, but now we come once every ten days and a half month. Even in this summer, we are not idle anymore, and we even come to plow paddy. The Ryazan area has become a deserted land, and even Moscow often
A Tatar army was attacking from the valley.
How could Basil III not be angry?
"It's not good, it's not good, Your Majesty~"
Just when Vasily was extremely angry and decided to organize a large army to fight back against the Tatars, another minister hurriedly walked in, with sweat on his forehead, looking very anxious.
"What happened?"
Vasily looked at the other person and asked quickly.
"Your Majesty, something big happened in the east. I just received news that the Ming Empire sent troops to destroy the Kazakh Khanate and the Siberian Khanate. The troops were directed at the Kazan Khanate and the Astrakhan Khanate. Once these two khanates
If we are annexed by the Ming people, we will face the Ming Empire directly!"
"What?"
When Vasily III heard this, he couldn't help but open his eyes wide.