The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 362 From Moscow to Vladimir
The closer Russian Tsar Alexander and his entourage got to Moscow, the more depressed and angry everyone became, and panic spread among the team.

Because wherever they went, they could see traces of bombing by Ming Dynasty planes, especially the traces left by the fire that fell from the sky.

Countless farmlands and villages have been reduced to ruins by the fire, leaving behind broken buildings and displaced victims.

They also soon discovered that the closer their team got to Moscow, the more villages and farmlands there were around them, and the larger the scale of the attacks became.

When they were still two days away from Moscow, the Tsar and his entourage met a signalman who had come from Moscow.

Alexander subconsciously wanted the other party to report directly, but at the reminder of the ministers around him, he asked him to come to him alone to explain the situation.

Alexander was very worried and asked himself the question that concerned him the most first:
"The Ming army's flying machine, which is a huge bird-shaped machine that can fly and drop bombs on the ground, has it appeared in Moscow?"

The signalman immediately said with a sad face:

"Your Majesty, I came here to report this matter. Your Majesty has already seen these machines, so it is easy for me to say.

“Those Ming army flying machines you mentioned have indeed appeared in Moscow.

"And there were so many of them, with at least hundreds of planes in each batch. There were several batches coming every day, dropping countless bombs...

“There are continuous fires in the city and normal activities on the ground are no longer possible.

"The residents of the city either hid in the sturdy basement of the castle or fled the city directly..."

Alexander was stunned after hearing a few words:
"Wait, what did you say? Every day? Hundreds of planes bomb Moscow every day?"

The signalman immediately said:

"Yes, every day, there are planes going to Moscow, I swear to God.

“Before I came out, Moscow had been bombed for three days straight, with explosions and fires everywhere, like the end of the world.

"After I came out, I could also see that there were planes heading in the direction of Moscow."

Alexander's expression completely fell.

According to the signalman, Moscow is now finished.

Then where else can I go?

Alexander was shocked and confused, and continued to ask the signalman about the situation in Moscow.

After hesitating and considering for a long time, Alexander finally decided to go.

In any case, I have to go to Moscow in person to see what is going on there.

He also had to concentrate the troops stationed around Moscow to protect himself and Russia's ruling institutions.

Alexander led his troops to continue advancing towards Moscow.

The group walked on the road for another whole day and on the second day they had entered the rural area outside Moscow.

At the edge of a jungle, Alexander and his party looked out at the distant fields on horseback, and all they could see were charred and shadowy ruins.

Everyone knew that this place had suffered unprecedented destruction.

The area around the capital, once the most prosperous region in inland Russia, is now almost deserted.

Alexander and his entourage were about to continue along the road, but soon they encountered a group of soldiers. A communications soldier in front came running over on horseback.

Alexander's guards stepped forward to stop them, and both sides confirmed their identities.

The old Russian general Kutuzov, who stayed in Moscow, specially arranged a group of patrol soldiers to operate around Moscow.

Specifically responsible for dissuading foreign officials and nobles from going to Moscow.

When the signalman saw Alexander, he said directly:

"Your Majesty... General Kutuzov has asked me to inform you not to approach Moscow any further.

“Because the Ming army’s planes fly around here every day, and they will drop bombs and fire bombs wherever they see people gathering.

"The residents of Moscow have fled in all directions. Moscow has almost become a deserted city."

Alexander looked ashen after hearing this:

"Really... come here every day... What's the situation around here? What's the situation on the southern and western fronts? Where is Kutuzov now?"

The signalman immediately reported:

"General Kutuzov retreated to a small town west of Vladimir, and the main forces around Moscow were dispersed throughout the surrounding countryside.

"The Ming army's attack came from the sky, and we had no way to deal with it. Gathering our soldiers together would only cause greater casualties.

"So General Kutuzov ordered most of them to split into small groups and disperse to hide."

Hearing this, Alexander looked up again and looked towards the direction of Moscow city.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, or perhaps the Ming Dynasty arranged too many planes to attack Moscow, and at this time a team of more than 60 planes appeared in the sky.

The signalman was already used to it, and said nervously and panickedly:
"Your Majesty, please find a place to hide quickly, as low as possible. It is best to squat in a pit and do not stand up.

"There are Ming soldiers on the plane. If they see people there, they will drop bombs there..."

In fact, Alexander had already started hiding without the signalman's reminder. On the way here, they had encountered Ming Dynasty planes several times and had dodged them several times.

However, the situation this time was completely different from the several times Alexander encountered Ming Dynasty planes on the road.

At that time, the targets of Ming Dynasty's aircraft were local villages and farmlands, not directly targeting the crowds.

Alexander and his crew did not happen to run into a large-scale attack aircraft group.

Most of the time, they saw planes arriving from afar, dropping bombs on villages and fields.

In the suburbs of Moscow, the mission of these planes flying around here every day is to expel and eliminate people who approach Moscow.

Alexander's group was quite large and soon attracted the attention of the pilots in the sky.

Then two planes changed direction and flew directly towards here.

When the signalman of the Moscow suburban patrol team saw this scene, he immediately widened his eyes in panic and shouted:
"Get down quickly, do push-ups, and support yourself with your hands. When the bombs fall, lift your chest and abdomen up, and don't stick to the ground..."

Alexander was the Tsar, so it was okay for him to squat down and dodge, but asking him to lie on the ground was really a bit insulting.

Seeing that Alexander and his men were not moving, the signalman shouted to the surrounding guards:
"Everyone get down. Guards, hold His Majesty down quickly. Remember to hold your stomach up when the bomb comes, otherwise we will really die!

"If you don't want to die, just do as I say!"

The defenders of Moscow were already experienced and knew how to dodge when bombs came.

Alexander lay on the ground under the protection of the guards after hearing the signalman's extremely anxious shouting, especially when he mentioned that he might really die.

The eight planes quickly arrived above the crowd's heads, and after confirming that there was a group of people here, they quickly dropped several bombs.

A person is very small in size, and it is almost impossible to hit someone accurately when dropping a bomb from a height of several hundred meters.

The large-scale casualties of bombs on the ground mainly rely on the explosion shock waves and fragments, which can usually only propagate above the ground.

So if people lie down directly in the pit, they will not be directly injured by the shock wave.

Even if you lie on flat ground, the area affected by the impact can be greatly reduced, and the chance of survival will be greatly increased.

Just as Alexander and his party were getting ready, a sharp whistling sound was heard in the sky.

If a large iron ball falls naturally, there will be a sound of breaking through the air, but the sound is actually not very loud.

When the bomb falls, there is a shrill whistling sound. This is because there is a specially designed whistle structure on the outer shell, which allows the air flow to blow through and make a shrill sound.

This sound is intended to create psychological pressure on the enemy.

It is usually used in bombings against cities, industrial areas, and residential areas, that is, in strategic bombings.

Conventional troops are usually not used when supporting operations on the front battlefield.

The Ming Dynasty's bombing of the Russian interior actually had the significance of a strategic bombing, targeting Russia's villages, farmlands, population, food, and livestock.

Alexander and his companions were already familiar with this whistling sound.

Every time I hear this sound, my body subconsciously shrinks and I subconsciously want to avoid it.

This time, the whistling sound became particularly clear, and it sounded as if it was falling directly on him.

Some soldiers and several noble officials had already laid down as the signalman suggested, but suddenly they could not hold on any longer and jumped up.

They ran outside, yelling and screaming like crazy.

The signalman was yelling at this time:
"If you don't want to die, lie down and support your stomach with your hands—"

Russia had no air defense system, so when Ming Dynasty planes bombed, they dropped bombs at ultra-low altitudes.

When the whistling sound of the shells was heard, they were not far from the ground. The soldiers and officials did not run far before two aerial bombs landed not far away.

A dazzling flash of fire suddenly appeared, followed by an extremely terrifying loud noise.

The earth seemed to be shaking, and the terrifying shock wave carried a large amount of dirt and dust, roaring towards the surrounding space.

The few soldiers and officers who stood up were blown away on the spot.

They let out heart-wrenching screams in the air, and then fell to the ground in the distance like a torn bag filled with mud, and there was no sound anymore.

Some of the other people around did not follow the request and lift their stomachs off the ground.

The moment the ground shook, they suddenly felt severe pain in their chest and abdomen, and a large amount of blood gushed out immediately.

Those who honestly supported themselves on the ground with their hands felt severe pain in their arms, but the movement of their joints up and down offset the impact of the vibration.

However, most of the damage caused by vibration and shock waves is concentrated at the moment when the energy is released.

When a person feels severe pain in his arms and cannot control his instinct and falls to the ground, there is no substantial damage afterwards.

There were also people who were not afraid of stability. Those who were blown to the ground by the shock wave were just the aftermath.

These people were relatively lightly injured and were able to get up immediately after the bombing ended and escape and move to another place immediately.

After the two bombs fell, the two planes did not leave immediately, but circled at a low altitude, as if to confirm whether these people were dead or not.

While Alexander and the officers around him were hesitating whether to stand up, the signalman in the suburbs of Moscow spoke up:

"We can get up now, but we have to escape immediately. As long as we run to the periphery, the Ming army should not actively pursue us.

"According to General Kutuzov's judgment, the Ming army intends to destroy our cities, supplies, and large-scale concentrated population.

"Especially around Moscow, as long as we don't gather in the city but flee to the periphery, they usually won't actively chase us.

"On the other hand, if we don't run away immediately, they might send planes to bomb us again. They are just driving us away..."

Alexander and the surrounding officials and generals, seeing the results of their disobedient companions, already knew that what the signalman said was probably true.

That was the experience he had gained in surviving around Moscow.

The soldiers and people who did not believe in these principles must have died in the bombing in the past few days.

Alexander and others did not dare to hesitate and quickly got up and ran back.

Under the guidance of the signalman, they moved to the outer jungle area and took small paths to bypass the 30-kilometer area around Moscow.

Then we headed east, traveling carefully for two days, passing through Vladimir, an important city east of Moscow, and then continued east to the town of Kovrov.

Kovrov and Vladimir are 60 kilometers apart and are both located on the banks of the Klyazma River, a tributary of the Volga River, with very similar geographical locations.

However, the city of Vladimir has a history of more than 800 years and directly appears in the title of Tsar.

Kovrov has been a little-known place for less than forty years.

The overall situation in Russia is still that the land is vast and the population is sparse, especially in the area around Moscow and to the north. Before the population pressure formed, most places were not highly developed.

There are large amounts of forests within thirty kilometers around Moscow.

Vladimir and Kovrov are more than 200 kilometers away from Moscow, and the straight-line distance to the Polish border is 700 kilometers.

If the Ming Air Force's planes take off from the airport on the Polish border, they are certainly capable of directly bombing this area.

But for small attack aircraft, this is already the edge of the combat radius.

Basically, after the planes arrived, they would drop their bombs and leave immediately, so they were unable to search the local situation carefully.

Vladimir is close to Kovrov, is a historical city, and is dozens of kilometers closer to Poland, so it has received special attention.

The inconspicuous Kovrov just happened to escape, and Kutuzov came here with some officials from Moscow.

In the past few days, Kovrov's Russian senior officials have also been very depressed.

Because Moscow was the intended wartime capital, preparations had been made over the past few years to replace St. Petersburg.

After the war started, except for the war in St. Petersburg, all other intelligence from the West and the South would be sent directly to Moscow.

So the situation seen by Moscow was even worse than that seen by Alexander and his group.

When Alexander arrived in Kovrov, Kutuzov considered that the Ming Dynasty might bomb again, so he did not bring a large number of officials to hold a welcoming ceremony.

Instead, he quickly sent someone to take Alexander and his entourage into the local church.

The churches themselves were the strongest buildings in most European cities, and European buildings, including churches, often had basements.

When the bombing comes, they can just hide in the basement. They already know that this is the safest option.

Alexander was in no mood to put on airs. After accepting the simple greetings from Kutuzov and his party, he spoke directly without hesitation:

"What's the situation now? On the front line and in the south? Is there any news from the Ottoman Empire and Shun Kingdom?"

Kutuzov, who was already seventy years old, was well prepared. He took out a stack of documents with a very serious expression:
"Your Majesty, please take a look at this first..."

Alexander took it and took a look. He was stunned when he saw the top piece of paper:

"Constantinople has fallen? The Ottomans have surrendered? What on earth is going on? How is this possible?"

Alexander subconsciously flipped through the documents in his hand and found that the second page was a black and white photo of Constantinople.

There are various photos and text descriptions at the back, but the text descriptions are very brief. It doesn't look like a normal document, but rather like some kind of privately circulated intelligence.

The more Alexander looked, the more surprised he was. The more confused and puzzled he became. When he was about to ask, Kutuzov had already introduced him.

"These were all dropped by the Ming army's planes. Their planes not only brought bombs and skyfire, but also this kind of paper.

"They used airplanes to spread rumors, which was much more convenient and quicker than sending spies to infiltrate..."

When Alexander heard that it was thrown by the Ming people, he was shocked but also slightly relieved:

"So what about our own intelligence? Is it true or false? What exactly happened in the Ottoman Empire and what is the specific situation in Constantinople?"

Kutuzov said with a serious expression:

"We have arranged personnel to investigate, and it seems very likely to be true.

“Even if the Ottomans had not surrendered, even if the Sultan had not been captured alive by the Ming army, Constantinople would have certainly fallen.

"That is to say, the Ming army has opened up a passage from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea.

“Our southern hinterland is no longer safe, and the Ming army can use their powerful navy to land directly on the coast at any time.

"Even going up the Dnieper and Volga rivers.

"But at the moment, it seems that they may not be in a hurry to do so, and the progress they have shown in the West is slow.

“When they occupied a place, they would build a railway there and obtain complete and sufficient supplies before continuing to attack inland areas.

“However, while they were building the railway, they would also directly clean up the local nobles, liberate the serfs and distribute land to them.

"At the same time, they have been using their flying machines to attack our inland areas across the battle lines."

Alexander had a complicated expression, and was in pain and confusion. He couldn't help but ask Kutuzov for his opinion:
"The Ming army is not in a hurry to attack quickly? Why would they do that?"

Kutuzov expressed his own judgment:

"It is already autumn, and the Russian winter is coming soon. The Russian winter is very cold, and the Ming people may not want to fight us in winter.

“But they apparently want to starve a bunch of Russians to death this winter.

"If we in Russia are a ferocious beast, then the Ming Dynasty is now using the navy as a rope to tie our hands and feet.

"Then they used the flying machine as the sharpest knife to cut the tendons and blood vessels throughout our bodies, and slowly bled us out while we were unable to move.

"Finally, when next spring comes, their army will act as a boning knife to completely dismember us into pieces of meat.

“They don’t want to conquer us at all, they don’t want us, the beast, to surrender and become their hunting dogs.

"Instead, they want to turn us into food, chop us into pieces, roast and eat us."

Alexander was frightened by what Kutuzov said, and at the same time, he felt cold all over, and cold sweat broke out on his back.

If the Ming Dynasty did as Kutuzov said, the Russians seemed to have no way to resist.

I can only watch helplessly as the Ming people eat me up bite by bite:

"General, what should we do now?"

(End of this chapter)