At the beginning of the civil castle, the Ming God of War was a little panicked

Hearing the words cluster bomb, Zhu Qizhen tensed up for no reason.

The Academy of Sciences has quite profound accomplishments in stealing houses, and has quite a wealth of practical experience.

During the air raid on Constantinople, a super bomb named Fat Man was detonated, but it was found that although the bigger the thing was, the more powerful it was, but when the amount of explosives reached a certain scale, it was difficult to further damage the explosion.

Generally speaking, the explosive energy produced by ten catties of explosives should be ten times that of one catty of explosives, but this is not the case.

Because the destructive power of the bomb depends on the fragmentation of the shrapnel, causing damage to the enemy directly or indirectly.

At Fatty's level, the damage caused by shrapnel alone cannot be directly proportional to the amount of ammunition.

At this time, the biggest damage was the shock wave generated by the explosion, destroying all the buildings within a hundred steps of the surface, and the flesh and blood could not stop it at all.

Through data analysis, the Academy of Sciences came to the conclusion that the fat man has reached a bottleneck, and continuing to expand the scale of the bomb will not only make it difficult to throw, but also the price-performance ratio is pitifully low.

In this case, the Academy of Sciences had to give up its larger and stronger purpose and seek a new bomb configuration.

The students discussed for several days, and finally confirmed the new direction, which is cluster bombs.

The idea of ​​this bomb is to give up big and change to many.

The specific idea is to pack a large bomb with a small bomb. In a large bomb, fill several, or even dozens of small bombs, and throw it by an unmanned Kongming lantern. Moreover, this kind of bomb-loading Kongming lantern can fly higher, allowing the enemy Even more unpredictable.

In the past, Kongming lanterns only dropped one bomb, and the accuracy must be controlled as much as possible. This caused the flight altitude to not be too high, and it was easy to be discovered. Although there are no weapons to counteract it, if you can prevent it in advance and find a bunker to hide, Can still effectively reduce casualties.

Cluster bombs focus on a large-capacity bomb, which is thrown from a high altitude, and a goddess scatters flowers, rain and dew. At this stage of weapon development, it does not matter whether it is accurate or not, and even the greater the deviation, the wider the coverage.

At the same time, the bomb-loaded Kongming Lantern can fly higher and be more concealed when launching an attack.

After Zhu Qizhen listened carefully to Beilin's narration, he felt a chill down his back.

Even if this thing is placed in later generations, it will still be a terrifying killer.

Oops, the skill tree of the Academy of Sciences is a little off...

When the new city was planned, a workshop area was specially opened up, and now it is possible to carry out simple processes such as steel smelting, wood processing, and lime firing.

With Zhu Qizhen's order, the workshop area was immediately put under control, and all the Academy of Sciences moved in to start making cluster bombs.

During this period, whether it is materials or personnel, as long as the Academy of Sciences needs it, it must fully cooperate, and there is no room for negotiation.

On the road west of Tehran, a team of Jinyi Guards traveled day and night to Constantinople.

"The imperial decree has arrived, His Royal Highness, please accept the decree!"

Zhu Qiyu kowtowed and greeted the imperial decree, and immediately issued an order: "The emperor has a decree, the Timur Khanate has forcibly occupied our Ming territory, and its heart can be punished, so we should attack it!"

Zhang Mao was a little puzzled, so he leaned forward and asked, "Your Highness, where did the Timur Khanate occupy my territory?"

Zhu Qiyu said lightly: "Western Regions!"

"Western Region... this, this..."

Zhang Mao hesitated for a long time and asked, "Where is the Western Region?"

"The entire Western Region!"

During the conversation between the two, Alejandro also leaned over and asked in his unproficient Chinese: "The Western Regions are very large, most of the Timur Khanate is located in the Western Regions!"

Zhang Mao glared at him, dissatisfied: "You know a hammer!"

Alejandro had no choice but to keep his mouth shut and gave an apologetic smile.

Zhang Mao asked again: "Your Highness, where is the Timur Khanate?"

Zhu Qiyu had no choice but to order someone to take out the map, circled a piece on it, and said: "This is the Timur Khanate, including the entire Western Regions. Of course, the Western Regions have been our territory since ancient times, and they have been stolen by the Timur Khanate. It's been a long time, it's time to come back."

Alessandro couldn't help but said: "If the Western Regions are divided, the Timur Khanate will lose nearly half of its territory. They will definitely not agree to it. This is simply too much!"

Zhang Mao glared at him again and said, "Is it too much?"

Alejandro shook his head and said, "Not too much, not too much..."

Zhang Mao turned his head and said, "Your Highness, let's send troops!"

Zhu Qiyu said: "The territory of the Timur Khanate is very wide. In the words of the emperor, this is called strategic depth. Therefore, it cannot be accomplished overnight. Before sending troops, a feasible plan must be formulated."

"Your Highness said so!"

Zhang Mao nodded and said: "It's just...the emperor doesn't have enough manpower around him. After a long time, he might be in danger. Why don't His Royal Highness give the minister a troop as a vanguard, and go check out the opponent's reality first."

Zhu Qiyu thought for a moment, and said: "Well, you lead five hundred cavalry to fight in the vanguard, and Alessandro is the adjutant. The king gathers troops and horses, prepares food and grass, and will arrive soon."

Zhang Mao glanced at Alejandro and said, "Your Highness, I am enough for myself."

Zhu Qiyu said: "It's better to let Alejandro accompany you. He is a local and knows the customs here better than you."

Zhang Mao had no choice but to accept the order, and then went to select men, all of whom were Ming soldiers brought over from Nanhaiwei.

Zhu Qiyu's consideration was correct. Various situations would be encountered at any time on the road. With Alejandro going together, at least it would be safer to deal with the matter.

Otherwise, the language barrier will be extremely troublesome.

The team prepared for two days, and set off early on the third day, heading east from Constantinople.

The terrain of Central Asia is flat, and the speed of the cavalry is very fast, and they can travel [-] miles a day.

"General, the front is about to enter the territory of the Aries Kingdom."

Zhang Mao looked at Alejandro and asked, "How far is this place from Tehran?"

Alejandro said: "If the perimeter is passed, it will be reached in five days," said Alejandro.

"What if we go straight?"

"Go back to the general, and go straight through the territory of the Aries Kingdom, which may cause unnecessary trouble."

"Then let's do this, avoid the main towns of the Aries Kingdom and continue walking."

"However, this route is still within the territory of the Aries Kingdom..."

"It doesn't matter, we are walking fast, and when they react, they will have gone far."

Zhang Mao only wanted to reach Tehran as soon as possible. In order to avoid complications, he just avoided the other party's towns and chose to travel through relatively sparsely populated areas.

Seeing this, Alejandro didn't insist anymore, but just suggested that he personally explore the way in front of the team.

Because he knew Zhang Mao's temper, he was a good fighter in war, but he was a bit arbitrary, and it was difficult to listen to other people's suggestions.

Considering that you may encounter danger at any time, it is safer to explore the road yourself.

The team turned to the south and traveled for another two days. Alejandro came to report in a hurry that the enemy was found ahead.

Zhang Mao immediately became nervous and asked: "It's still far away from Timur, where did the enemy come from?"

Alejandro said: "Report to the general, there are about 2000 soldiers from the Aries Kingdom, and they are approaching us quickly."

Zhang Mao scolded: "Damn it, what's the situation in this Aries country?"

Alejandro said: "My subordinates captured an Aries soldier, who said that the Aries Kingdom had just signed an alliance with the Timur Khanate, and we will advance and retreat together!"

Zhang Mao's eyes were a bit complicated, and at this time, it reflected King Tan's eyes.

If he only brought the Ming army with him, even if he found out about the situation, he might not be able to bring back any useful news.

No one was caught alive. If you ask someone who doesn't understand, the chicken will talk to the duck.

Alejandro at least understood the other party's language, and it was convenient for him to ask questions.

It's just that this Aries country turned out to be an ally of the Timur Khanate, so things were a little difficult.

In order to shorten the distance, his marching route has already entered the territory of Aries, but unexpectedly, it turned out to be the enemy army!

He looked at the dusty soldiers 500 meters behind him. It was no problem to deal with 2000 people. He was afraid that the opponent would have more soldiers and horses. Besides, he was in other people's territory. Whether it was supplies or support, he had no advantage.

However, it may be too late to return to the original route at this time. In case the other party sets up an ambush to catch a turtle in the urn, a hasty breakout will cause more casualties.

Alejandro looked anxious and said, "General, do you want to fight?"

Zhang Mao frowned, looked around, and suddenly his eyes lit up.

There is a favorable terrain not far away, surrounded by mountains on three sides, with only one gap.

"Did you see the col over there? Everyone listened to the order and retreated to the col immediately!"

When the order was issued, the team quickly rushed to the col, and then moved stones to build a fortification.

Smoke and dust filled the front, and the sound of horseshoes became more and more clear.

Zhang Mao held the binoculars and stared closely at the front, but the smoke and dust were so heavy that he couldn't see anything clearly.

Soon, figures of cavalry appeared in the field of vision, galloping towards them.

Alejandro anxiously said: "General, the enemy is within range!"

"Don't be in a hurry!"

Zhang Mao raised his hand, signaling to everyone not to attack for the time being, because he felt a little strange.

The other party obviously came for the 500 people, but the distance was so close, but no one drew their swords.

It stands to reason that he should be holding a long knife in his hand, screaming in his mouth, and coupled with a fierce face, this is in line with the aura of fighting.

Strange, no one drew their swords, it seems that they are not here to fight?
When the distance between the two sides was about fifty steps, the Aries cavalry suddenly stopped charging, and then a small group of people broke away from the main force and rode to the front of the formation.

"Excuse me... are you a Ming person..."

Zhang Mao was immediately surprised. The other party didn't look like he was here to fight, but the second-hand Chinese language he stole from nowhere was very puzzling.

The general meaning is to ask whether I am a Han Chinese, whether I am a Ming army, and finally said that I am a Ming person.

"We are friends, we are friends..."

"Come out, let's talk!"

The other party was yelling in front of the battle, so Zhang Mao called Alejandro to come forward and ordered: "Go and ask, what's going on!"

"General, the other party's identity is still unclear..."

"What are you afraid of?"

Zhang Mao stared at him, dissatisfied: "If you die, I will kill them all and avenge you!"

Alessandro felt helpless, he was dead, what's the use of revenge...

However, I was the only one in the team who could understand Persian, so in desperation, I had no choice but to get on my horse and bravely came to the front of the battle.

Fortunately, the other party did not kill anyone.

After the two sides talked for a while, Alejandro turned his horse and returned to his position.

"General, they are here to surrender!"

Zhang Mao was puzzled and asked, "What's going on?"

Alejandro explained: "Fang Sheng claimed that he was a subordinate of General Amir. Because of the different political views between General Amir and the upper echelon of Aries, he was excluded and put under house arrest..."

"Wait a minute!"

Zhang Mao interrupted him and asked, "Who is that emir you mentioned?"

Alejandro hurriedly said: "This person holds the military power of the Aries Kingdom, which is equivalent to the Minister of the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty, or the Generalissimo of the expedition."

Since the generals of the Ming Dynasty did not hold military power for a long time, and the Minister of the Ministry of War did not have the right to control the army in private, it is difficult to find a prototype for a figure like General Amir.

Zhang Mao seemed to understand but half understood, and said: "You continue!"

"Yes!"

Alejandro thought for a while and said: "The general meaning is that the general Emir advocated an alliance with our dynasty, while the other upper echelons of Aries advocated an alliance with Timur. In the end, the king sided with Timur, and the other upper echelons The dignitaries naturally followed the king, and General Amir became a prisoner."

Zhang Mao frowned and said, "These are all their Aries' own affairs, so what have they got to do with me, Da Ming?"

"The general emir was convicted of treason because he sent a message," Alejandro said.

"what news?"

"It's the news of the alliance between the Aries Kingdom and the Timur Khanate. It is said that it was sent by his cronies."

"Where are they sent?"

"Tehran!"

Zhang Mao suddenly realized, and said, "So, this emir is one of our own."

Alejandro nodded and said, "Yes, one of our own!"

"Since you are one of your own, how can you sit idly by? You go and call their leader, and I will talk to him personally!"

Alejandro returned to the front of the battle again, and not long after, he led a man back.

"General, this is Colonel Ankelu, the direct descendant of General Emir."

After finishing speaking, he introduced the situation on his side to Ankelu.

When An Kelu heard that the other party was the prince's son, he hurriedly bowed to salute.

Zhang Mao nodded slowly, and asked, "What's the situation with your general Emil now? Is his life in danger?"

Ankru chatted a lot, and Alejandro translated: "Currently, he is imprisoned, convicted of treason, and will probably be beheaded in the near future."

Zhang Mao frowned and said, "So serious?"

Ankelu said: "The Aries Kingdom is already reorganizing its army, and is preparing to attack Tehran with the Timur Khanate. The day the army departs is the day when General Emir will die."

Zhang Mao said: "I understand this. We will sacrifice the flag before the battle, and we will do the same."

Ankelu suddenly knelt down on one knee and said, "General Amir intends to make friends with your country, but now that he is in danger, please help His Royal Highness!"