Tumeng: I am a national advisor in the Golden Family

Soon, the Teutonic Knights began to take action, and several kingdoms and principalities that were on good terms with the Teutonic Knights agreed to send reinforcements one after another.

Even the Principality of Lithuania, which was completely unwilling to send troops, had no choice but to agree. There was no other way. The pressure from the Teutonic Knights, the Knights of the Sword, and some other countries was too great.

However, the Principality of Lithuania only sent some ordinary farmers to make up the number.

The Polish Prussian Order of the Sword, the Teutonic Knights, and even the distant Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller all agreed to provide assistance.

However, the arrival of reinforcements from the Holy Roman Empire of France would be slower, as it would probably take several months just for the message to be delivered.

So half a month later, the current Grand Master of the Knights of Bridgeton, together with the Master of the Teutonic Knights, the Grand Master of the Knights of the Sword, and the Master of the Knights of the Sword, assembled a total of hundreds of official knights and thousands of knight apprentices.

Together with the reinforcements sent by Poland, Prussia and other regions, a large group of hired Viking pirates set out to provide support to the Principality of Novgorod.

This time the coalition forces had a total of more than 60,000 troops, and their salaries were paid by the monarchs and dukes of several countries, as well as all the nobles.

The grand dukes and nobles in the Rus region also need to bear part of the military expenses.

This is the maximum force that these regions and countries can muster in a short period of time, but reinforcements will arrive later.

In the Duchy of Austria, the Duchy of Bohemia, and even in several other duchies of the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of France, the Kingdom of England, the Teutonic Knights sent envoys in their own names to warn them of the news that the Mongol army was coming again.

At this time, the whole of Europe was in turmoil.

Zhang Dingguan didn't know that he originally just wanted to attack Northern Russia, but sometimes things don't develop the way you expect.

His goal this time was indeed to destroy the Golden Horde, and even the Northern Russia region was just a temporary impulse, with absolutely no intention of continuing to fight westward.

But sometimes things are so funny. Even if you don't attack the enemy, the enemy will be very nervous when he learns that your army has arrived.

Principality of Ryazan.

"Your Highness, the cities of Russia are really very simple. Look at these city walls. They are made of just ordinary stones and gravel, but a lot of wood is used on the outside." said a Mongolian general.

The defense facilities here are too simple, aren't they? A few wooden frames, some gravel, and some boulders on top, and that's what a city wall is.

The sheds used by the animals at home seem to be of the same standard! The construction level of these Russians is really too poor.

"Hahaha! It's because you didn't participate in the Second Western Expedition. During the last Western Expedition, their city walls were even worse.

All the city walls were made of wood, without any brick or stone defenses, so we easily took them down." Cha Tuohua said with a smile.

Isn't it? During the last Western Expedition, the nearest principalities of Murom and Ryazan had walls made of pure wood.

This kind of city wall was completely unable to defend against the Mongolian army. It was taken down with the simplest catapults and fireballs, without even using explosive packs.

Over the past decade, the walls of the Liangzhan Principality have been replaced with some earth blocks and gravel, although there is still some wood, but its defensive power can be said to have been improved countless times compared to more than a decade ago.

But what a pity! The Mongolian army is now even more powerful, and they have brought with them the latest scientific research results from the East. This is another crushing war, and there will be no other outcome.

The Principality of Ryazan should be very grateful that this time they are reinforcements rather than opponents, otherwise, the city would probably be captured by them again.

"Once the entire Russian army is gathered, we will attack the Principality of Vladimir first and try to wipe out all these areas within three months." Zhang Dingguan said.

This time, he would retrace his father's journey to the West with a more advanced army, and as the commander-in-chief, he had to do better than his father did.

We must win a great victory, completely annihilate the Northern Ross region, and take over the entire Ross land.

"Crown Prince, you are right. We must occupy this land. These Russians are born strong and can become a barrier between us and Europe in the future." A Han army general said.

Now, some Han soldiers are stationed in these Russian cities, and then help the locals to cultivate the land. Who has the best farming technology in the Middle Ages? If the Han people say they are second, then no one dares to claim that they are the first.

These Russians are very good at teaching themselves how to farm. Let the Mongols take care of the fighting. They just need to farm here and defend the city.

Zhang Dingguan had already given the order that the Mongolian army should just advance, while the Han army should send troops to defend the occupied cities.

"These Southern Russian troops are too slow. We have lived here for almost half a month, and they have not made any movement." said a Mongolian general.

Isn't it? If the Mongol army had been moving at the same speed in the past, they should have already swept through the Principality of Vladimir and started attacking Novgorod.

But there is no other way but to wait for these Russians to arrive.

"Don't worry. A few days ago, those great engineers wrote back to me and said that their troops will be here soon, maybe in a few days. Anyway, since we are stationed there, we can eat the food here and don't need to consume our own military rations." Zhang Dingguan said.

"Commander-in-chief, Crown Prince, there is a group of envoys outside. They say they are sent from the Northern Ross region and they want to meet you." A messenger knelt on the ground and spoke.

"An envoy has arrived at this time, Crown Prince, should we meet him?" asked a general of the Han army.

"Oh! Really? Go and ask him to come in." Zhang Dingguan nodded and said, although he had already decided to go to war, since the envoy had come, he had to meet him no matter what.

The group soon arrived at the palace, and then the messenger from the North Ross region was brought in.

"Great Mongolian prince, eldest son of King John, I send my greetings to you on behalf of Alexander Nevsky." The envoy bowed respectfully to Zhang Dingguan and spoke.

In the translation, the Mongol Empire and the Mongol Prince were changed to the Daqian Empire. These names have already become fixed in the West, and the word Daqian is not accurate in translation, so the previous name is directly used.

"I know who you are and who sent you. Now tell me! What do you want to see me about?" Zhang Dingguan asked.

"Son of the great King John, our Archduke would like to ask you why you are hostile to us. We should not fight.

When your army arrived, our Northern Russia region rebelled immediately." The envoy from Northern Russia said respectfully.

"Because you didn't submit to my father before, you are different from Southern Ross. The Grand Dukes of Southern Ross were all canonized by my father.

Their right to rule is legitimate, but you say their right to rule is not legitimate. This is something I cannot tolerate, so I will attack you. "Zhang Dingguan said.

This time when he comes here, he will also take over the entire Ross region. He will clean up the regional nobles in Northern Ross, and then select generals with outstanding performance, enthrone them, and make them great contributors to Ross.

This would also serve to incentivize the local Russians to campaign, as commoners would have the opportunity to be crowned Grand Dukes.

"But! Great eldest son of King John, your bloodline is extremely noble, and you are a child of God, but the Grand Dukes of the Northern Rus are also the bloodline of the first Grand Duke of Kievan Rus, and have noble bloodlines. The Grand Duke of Kievan Rus has an unimaginable status in Rus, and is the suzerain of the entire Rus, and should be the bloodline of the first Grand Duke.

The several Grand Dukes that your father has appointed are not orthodox, but the Grand Dukes of our Northern Russia region are willing to accept your appointment." The envoy of the Northern Russia region said.

"This is our philosophy. The Golden Horde once conferred titles on you, and even the Mongol headquarters conferred titles on you. But you still rebelled in the end.

So I can no longer trust you. This time, there is only one thing you can do, and that is to open the city gates immediately after my army arrives, and then surrender to me." Zhang Dingguan said bluntly.

This time, the Grand Duke of the Northern Rus region had only one choice: to open the city gates and surrender, or be completely destroyed by himself.

"It seems that we can't reach an agreement. The great eldest son of King John, the powerful Alexander Nevsky, asked me to bring you a message." The envoy from Northern Russia put away his humble face, raised his head proudly, and spoke.

"Oh! Alexander Novsky, I've heard of him. Adu praised him as a rare warrior, but he is a shameful traitor who even betrayed his adoptive father." Zhang Dingguan said.

He knew exactly who this man was. This time, the entire Northern Russia region was led by this man, and he was also the main opponent of this Western Expedition.

“Countless enemies once wanted to set foot on the land of the Ross people, but Rossen’s heroic and tenacious resistance drove them away.

Your army will be no exception, and what awaits you is only winter and the sword.

Your army will die in despair, and none of you will be able to return to the East alive. The great Alexander will defeat you. "The Russian envoy said.

After these words were spoken, the Ross businessman in charge of the translation looked a little ugly, and even sweat kept coming out on his forehead. My God, how should I translate this sentence?
"I know he said some unreasonable things. It's okay. Just tell me directly. I won't be angry with you." Zhang Dingguan looked at his translator and said with a smile.

The translator nodded, and repeated the messenger's words verbatim, using some Chinese rhetoric.

"Hahaha! Okay, okay, your courage is commendable. I just like warriors like this. Go back and tell him a message.

When I conquer his city, I will use his wife and daughter as quilts, and all the wives and daughters of the nobles of Northern Russia will not be spared." Zhang Dingguan sneered and said.

It looked like he could kill as many people as he wanted this time! The Russians were determined to resist to the death.

The messenger snorted coldly. "Then we will wait for your visit in the harsh winter of Novgorod."

After saying this, the messenger did not stay any longer, but left Ryazan City in a hurry, because he was worried that this person might get excited and do something like cutting off his ears or nose!

"Order the three armies to intensify preparations for war, and send people to notify the grand dukes in the Southern Ross region to speed up their march." Zhang Dingguan said.

If you don't accept my toast, I will teach you a lesson this time.

Five days later, the reinforcements from the Southern Russia region finally assembled in the city of Ryazan. After a day's rest, the 120,000-strong army marched towards the Principality of Vladimir.

However, Zhang Dingguan, who was very angry, did not find anyone to vent his anger on. Some large towns such as the Roma Fortress, Moscow City, and even Vladimir City did not even have garrisons.

When their army arrived, the local people directly opened the city gates to surrender and were asked to follow Mongolian traditions.

For cities that voluntarily surrendered, the Mongolian army would follow a tradition, that is, never kill anyone, so Zhang Dingguan could only suppress his anger and send out his troops to attack the land of the Principality of Vladimir.

The entire Vladimir Principality never fought a decent war. All the cities, even some small villages, surrendered immediately after encountering their large army.

Alexander Nevsky was very familiar with the traditions of the Mongolian army, and Zhang Dingguan realized that the other side was delaying time.

So without any hesitation, he left behind 1 Russian troops to take over the Vladimir region, while he and the rest went north to attack the Principality of Novgorod.

The cold winter froze the river, and the Mongolian cavalry easily crossed the difficult swamps and river areas and slowly approached the city of Novgorod.

The Principality of Vladimir succeeded in delaying for some time, but not for too long.

At this time, some reinforcements from Poland and the Teutonic Knights had already arrived in Novgorod and joined the local garrison.

The contemporary Pope, who lived far away in Rome, also learned the news that the Mongolian army had once again invaded the western lands and was now on the land of Russia. The Teutonic Knights, the Kingdom of Poland and some other countries had already sent reinforcements.

"How could this happen? The king of the East clearly promised us that he would support our new holy war.

He even sent his own son to lead this crusade, so why did he once again target us with his army? "The contemporary Pope Innocent IV said puzzled.

The envoys sent at that time made it clear that the Eastern monarch, King John, wrote a very sarcastic letter and handed it to the Queen of Egypt.

The words and explicit remarks in that letter would make any monarch's blood pressure soar, which made the church and some Western European countries very happy.

This was originally a very good opportunity for unity. The two sides would join forces to eliminate those hateful pagans, spread the Lord's faith to the world, and spread the glory of God to the world.

But who could have imagined that this time, the Western Expedition Army actually came to their land, and just like more than a decade ago, they also attacked the Ross region first, but this time, South Ross became their accomplice.

"Your Holiness! This is obviously a trap set by King John. He is a fake King John. Although he has all kinds of magical artifacts, he does not believe in the Lord in his heart. That is why he sent his army to trample on God's land." The messenger of the Teutonic Knights said.

"Could this be a misunderstanding? They may just be going to deal with the people of Northern Russia and not attack the territory of Christ." Pope Innocent IV said.

"Great Pope, do you believe this? Do you believe this? Will they stop their conquest after attacking the Northern Russia region?" said the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights.

"Your Holiness, I think we should send reinforcements and even call on the monarchs of all Europe to participate in this holy war. We must teach these Eastern invaders a severe lesson." A master of the Knights Templar spoke up.

He still remembers the disastrous defeat more than ten years ago.

"I understand! You are right. We cannot expect the enemy to stop its attack. We must keep the enemy out of the country. I will immediately convene a religious conference and summon all European monarchs to send envoys or come in person." Pope Innocent IV nodded and said.

"Great Pope, this is a very wise decision. Our Teutonic Knights have formed a coalition force to support you and will buy time for you. We hope you can form a new crusaders to help us as soon as possible." said the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights.

"I will. This time, we must keep them out of the Catholic world." Innocent IV nodded and said.

"Great Pope, there is one more thing you should do. You should excommunicate King John. He is no longer King John. He is not King John at all."

The Pope nodded and gave his orders.

The Crusader states in the Egyptian region would never obey the orders of King John's son. The contemporary Pope immediately excommunicated Zhang Yong and Zhang Dingguan.

(Zhang Yong: I don’t believe in religion at all, I don’t even have church membership, why the hell are you expelling me? I’ve been expelled twice, the only person who gets this treatment is the Holy Roman Emperor.) (End of this chapter)