The city was in chaos. As the Ming army rushed into the city like a tide, the soldiers of the First Legion, who were stunned by the Ming artillery fire, reacted immediately.
But even if they reacted and rushed forward to try to block the breached city gate, they were greeted by more than a dozen squatting tiger cannons that were pushed up.
The soldiers of the First Legion who just rushed up are indeed the First Legion of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, and they are definitely the elite among the elite.
However, when these soldiers rushed forward, they only saw a dozen black cannons pointing at them from a distance, while on both sides, soldiers were rushing into the city from afar.
Groups of soldiers rushed into the city, and some of them were guarding more than a dozen artillery pieces and slowly moved forward to meet the soldiers of the First Army on the opposite side.
One of the leading generals drew out his knight's sword, raised his long sword high, and with a loud roar, led his men and soldiers to charge forward.
Even if you know that those who rush into battle may die without a burial, as a soldier, even if the front is a mountain of swords and a sea of fire, you must rush when you should.
The moment this elite group of troops rushed forward, more than a dozen squatting tiger cannons opened fire in unison. Suddenly, the soldiers rushing at the front seemed to have been hit hard by someone's punch.
Dozens of people fell to the ground.
Thousands of people came to support the city gate, but before they reached the city gate, they were suddenly bombarded by a barrage of artillery fire from the Ming army that rushed into Chengzhong.
The threat of a dozen artillery pieces is big or small, but the actual casualties caused by a dozen tiger cannons are less than a hundred people, but the deterrent they bring to the soldiers of the First Army is very great.
The soldiers of the First Legion who came with great momentum were holding back their energy from top to bottom to prove that they were the most powerful legion in the Grand Duchy of Moscow.
As a result, before they could make any move, they were stunned by the barrage of artillery fire.
By the time the soldiers of the first regiment who rushed into the formation reacted, the artillerymen here had already completed their second reloading.
"fire."
The moment the artillery was filled, a general gave an extremely decisive order.
Suddenly there was another bloody storm.
It was just once. Under the impact of the second artillery fire, the soldiers standing at the front fell in large pieces.
The most courageous soldiers in the army have always been at the forefront. It is impossible for every soldier in the first army to be brave and not afraid of death, but relatively speaking, the proportion of such brave soldiers is higher.
Just a few.
However, after two rounds of artillery fire, among the thousands of people, the bravest and most courageous men, who could boost morale, stabilize the morale of the army, and even lead the remaining soldiers to fight with the wind, died suddenly.
Those who rushed to the front must be brave men. As a result, the backbone of this small army was broken. It can be imagined that it was quite difficult for the remaining soldiers to avoid collapse.
However, at this time, more and more Ming troops rushed into the city, especially when a group of cavalry swept in like a torrent. In an instant, the remaining hundreds of people collapsed.
The city gate was completely lost. As a large number of soldiers poured into the city, the resistance of the first army in the city became weaker and weaker.
Although the combat effectiveness of this first legion is indeed very strong, the Ming side has an absolute numerical advantage.
The difference in military strength between the two sides was several times greater. Even though the First Army Corps had a total of 30,000 soldiers, ranking first among the major armies of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, compared with the Ming Dynasty's 120,000 to 30,000 soldiers and horses, both sides had
The difference is as much as three or four times.
In order to avoid too many casualties in this final battle, Cheng Xiangwu and Lu Dazhu ordered artillery to enter the city.
Even if the speed is slowed down, artillery must be used to clear the way. Fortunately, 90% of the weapons carried by the Ming Dynasty are lightweight squatting tiger cannons.
A few soldiers can serve one Crouching Tiger Cannon, and hundreds of Crouching Tiger Cannons will slowly enter the city.
Whenever they encountered groups of soldiers of the First Army, the Ming generals would first bombard them with Crouching Tiger Cannons, and then charge while the opponent was stunned by the bombardment.
Although the routine of bombarding and rushing like this is simple, the effect is very good.
The improved Crouching Tiger Cannon was so convenient, moderately powerful, and easy to move that it was widely deployed in the Ming army. In less than ten years, the Ming Dynasty had produced nearly 10,000 Tiger Cannons.
Crouching gun.
You must know that the Ming Dynasty is now fully prepared. Even if the local defense is not correct, it only costs 6 to 7 million, but this tiger squatting cannon is equipped with nearly 10,000 guns.
Not to mention other things, this expeditionary army alone is equipped with about 1,500 Crouching Tiger Cannons, which means that there is almost one Crouching Tiger Cannon for every 100 people.
A large proportion of artillery, gunfire and other firearms were equipped in the army, which increased the combat effectiveness of the Ming army. Otherwise, it would not have been a crushing force all the way to this point.
After all, at this time, the military strength of the Grand Duchy of Moscow is really strong. Although I dare not say that it is the best in Europe, it is still enough to enter the top three.
Even so, against the Ming Dynasty soldiers and horses, they were still defeated like a mountain, and they were defeated one after another.
After about three or four hours, the huge city that was originally filled with shouts of death and shelling gradually fell silent.
Groups of soldiers of the First Legion were slowly walking out of the city under the supervision of the Ming Dynasty soldiers. It was obvious that these people had become prisoners of the Ming Dynasty.
The extremely embarrassed Vasily III, under the service of his attendants, tried several times, but he did not have the courage to pull the trigger of the short-handled firecracker. As you can imagine, Vasily III fell into the hands of the Ming Dynasty and became the leader of the Ming Dynasty.
One of the many captured kings.
Compared with those captured kings, Vasily III was not very outstanding. After all, during this period, the Grand Duchy of Moscow had just risen and had not yet become a powerful country in later generations.
In the gorgeous palace, Cheng Xiangwu, Lu Dazhu and some senior military officials were sitting there discussing the harvest and what to do next.
It is obviously very difficult to obtain a steady stream of food and fodder support from the Ming Dynasty. It is really too far away from the Ming Dynasty. The reason why Cheng Xiangwu and the others rushed non-stop to their home base in the Grand Duchy of Moscow was ultimately a helpless move.
If they are unable to defeat the Grand Duchy of Moscow in the shortest time, once Vasily III reacts and implements a food shortage strategy against Cheng Xiangwu and Lu Dazhu, the consequences will be very serious once the hundreds of thousands of troops are short of food and grass.
.
But now the food crisis has finally passed. After all, the city of Moscow has been conquered. As the hometown of Vasily III, there are all kinds of gold and silver wealth plundered by the Grand Duchy of Moscow in the past hundreds of years.
In addition, there are mountains of grain and grass.
Because the Grand Duchy of Moscow has been busy with external expansion in recent years, it has a large amount of grain reserves in the city all year round.
It was with these grains that Lu Dazhu, Cheng Xiangwu and the others felt completely at ease.
The grain they collected alone was enough to supply hundreds of thousands of troops for half a year.
After solving the problem of food and grass, Lu Dazhu, Cheng Xiangwu and others could gather here with peace of mind to discuss the next step.
Several generals looked at Cheng Xiangwu subconsciously. Even Lu Dazhu looked at Cheng Xiangwu and said: "General Cheng, I don't know what your Majesty's decree is."
Generals are not allowed to accept military orders from abroad, but Lu Dazhu is not the kind of general with strong opinions. To a certain extent, Lu Dazhu just fights wherever he wants. It is obviously unrealistic to expect him to be able to take charge alone.
It was also because of this that Zhu Houzhao, after discussing with the cabinet, sent Cheng Xiangwu, who was acting in charge of the navy, to take over the army. He was worried that Lu Dazhu did not have enough perspective on the overall situation.
Cheng Xiangwu smiled at Lu Dazhu. Both of them were pulled out of the army by Chu Yi, and then relied on their own abilities to get to where they are today step by step. Although they belong to the navy and the army, this is not the same.
Affects the camaraderie between the two.
Although the well-known name of the Eunuch Party back then has been gradually no longer mentioned after Chu Yi left for many years, in the minds of some people, the former Eunuch Party, that is, the Wuwang Party, still exists today.
It's just that these former King Wu Party members are now in high positions, and almost half of the fourth-grade and above civil and military officials in the court are members of the King Wu Party.
With such a relationship, it is conceivable that it will not be a problem for Cheng Xiangwu to successfully take over the army. If Lu Dazhu does not have such a relationship with Cheng Xiangwu, even if there is the emperor's will, Lu Dazhu really wants to hand over the power in his hands.
It's not that easy.
Cheng Xiangwu stroked his beard, pondered slightly and said slowly: "Actually, Your Majesty gives you two choices, one is to return to the army, the other is to be led by my commander, fight all the way over, and join forces with the navy led by generals Qi Jingtong and Yu Dayou.
."
Everyone was stunned. It was obvious that many generals did not know exactly where Qi Jingtong, Yu Dayou and the others were.
After all, it is impossible for anyone who is not a real senior military officer to have access to these things. Even military generals do not have the channels or qualifications to know these things.
Among the generals present, the only ones who really knew that Qi Jingtong, Yu Dayou and the others were wreaking havoc in the west were Lu Dazhu, Cheng Xiangwu and a few others. Their total number could not exceed ten.
Seeing the confused expressions of the generals, Cheng Xiangwu nodded towards Cheng Yu and said: "Cheng Yu, hang up the map of the world."
Immediately, Cheng Yu took out a huge map of the world and hung it up with great care and treasure.
This map of the world was jointly drawn by the Qin Tianjian and the six departments of the Ming Dynasty. It records all the countries and regions explored by the Ming Dynasty. Although it is much more accurate than the maps of later generations, this map of the world is
There are still some distortions, but in this era, such a map of the world cannot be more accurate. I am afraid that after searching all over the world, no country except the Ming Dynasty can come up with such an accurate map.
The world map comes.
Everyone's eyes were focused on the latest version of the world map. As a military general, the world map was naturally familiar to him, but when he saw this latest version of the world map, everyone was stunned.
When people looked at the territory of the Ming Dynasty marked above, their mouths opened wide and their eyes almost fell down.
