1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 815 Red Sea Layout
Early morning, May 1666, 5, Suez.

The Pasha Allied Forces of Obo and Kuiren stationed in the north of the city had just finished their breakfast and were about to assemble their troops to enter Suez City and launch a tentative attack on it, but they were surprised to find that the defenders in the city were actually leaving the city one after another. Outside, and then quickly marched to the ditch, formed a neat defensive formation, and faced them at a distance.

Muhammad Shinawi looked suspiciously at Ali Jabr next to him, with an incredulous expression on his face.The number of troops in this city is only about [-], most of them are infantry, and the cavalry on both wings add up to less than [-].They even abandoned the city of Suez, which had defensive facilities, and went out of the city to start a field duel with them.

Although there is a trench in front, after investigation yesterday, it should have been dug not long ago. It is no more than two or three meters deep and no more than six or seven meters wide. Filled up.Just relying on this, can we stop our five thousand cavalry from charging?

"They have artillery!" Ali Jabr pointed to the formation of the Qi army, and said solemnly: "Although they are all small artillery, there are at least a dozen of them. If they rush over, it may cause us a lot of casualties. "

"Shall we attack?"

"Let the tribal cavalry test the quality of the opponent first." Ali Jabr thought for a while, and said: "Since they can destroy Fathi's [-] army and capture Suez City, they must have good combat power. Let us lead the Mamluk cavalry In the back view, if things fail, we will withdraw immediately!"

Muhammad Shinawi nodded, approving his suggestion.Leading an army of five thousand to the city of Suez is to pick up cheap, not to desperately.The Qi army dared to rely on more than [-] soldiers to go out of the city to invite battle, and it must have something to back it up.If you accidentally damage too much here, you will lose money by stealing chickens.

As the order was issued, more than 1000 or more than [-] recruited tribal armed forces, either riding horses or camels, slowly drove out of the formation, holding swords in their hands, and approached the formation of the Qi army.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!..."

Before approaching the trench, the artillery in the Qi army fired one after another, and bullets roared and smashed towards the tribal cavalry who rushed over, plowing out more than a dozen bloody passages in an instant, and the charge was blocked for a while. .However, under the urging of the Mamluk officers, the slightly enlightened tribal cavalry gathered their courage, urged the horses and camels, and gradually increased the speed of the charge.

Hundreds of cavalry rushed to the ditch, reined in their horses, threw the prepared soil bag on the horse into the ditch, and then drove away quickly.

After paying more than two hundred cavalry casualties, the trench was filled with several passages that were level with the generals on the ground. The following tribal cavalry uttered a shout, brandished a scimitar, and rushed over.

Across the trench, less than 200 meters away, there is an infantry array of the Qi army. Rows of spears (bayonets) shine brightly under the sun, but the hundreds of cavalry on the two wings have no intention of stepping forward to stop them. The horse is in the formation.

"True God bless us!" A Mamluk officer held up his scimitar and shouted loudly: "The enemy is close at hand, as long as we break through the front row, all the enemies will be killed by us. glory!"

At this time, the artillery fire from the Qi army on the opposite side also became sparse, which made the charging tribal cavalry rejoice. The enemy's artillery either malfunctioned, or became panicked when they saw the large cavalry rushing into battle, thus The firing of the artillery was delayed.

Then, if you don't speed up your horse at this time, and rush forward bravely to kill the enemy, when will you wait!
As many as 200 cavalry shouted, their legs kept hitting the belly of the horse, trying to pass through the trench as quickly as possible and approach the enemy's position.With a distance of less than [-] meters, you can cut the scimitar in your hand at the neck of the enemy in an instant, and then break through their formation.Presumably, the Mamluk cavalry behind and the remaining tribal cavalry will also rush up, and finally defeat the enemy, and use their best tail pursuit method to chop down the fleeing enemies one by one.

In the array on the opposite side, the sound of passwords continued to be heard, and the front row of spear arrays stepped back a few steps. The eyes of the most protruding cavalry suddenly widened, and there were more than [-] artillery pieces in front of them. With their mouths facing them, the gunners on the side had a smirk on their faces, and they were lighting the fuze under the order of the officer.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!..."

All the cannons fired almost at the same time, and countless cannonballs were thrown over their heads and faces, as if forming an airtight bullet rain, causing hundreds of cavalry in front of them to fall to the ground in an instant, and the cavalry who followed were stumbled by corpses. Countless, the entire charge seemed to be artificially tightened suddenly.

The artillery of the Qi army used an extremely bold shelling tactic, placing the enemy cavalry at a distance of less than 200 meters, and then sent out a final round of violent bombardment with dense shotgun shells, which immediately cut off a portion of the cavalry charging into the formation. Floor.This seems to be the most famous bayonet on the cannon tactic in later generations, and it is also the artillery tactic that the French Napoleon army is best at.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!..."

Immediately afterwards, hundreds of muskets also fired, knocking off the tribal cavalry who had already enlightened behind them one by one.

The gun platoon only lasted three rounds, and almost all the nearly thousand tribal cavalry who crossed the trench fell under the dense rain of musket bullets and shrapnel shells that were well organized by the Qi army.

The Maratha cavalry on both wings rushed out quickly after the sound of the guns stopped, knocking down the few dozen surviving tribal cavalry, and then slowly retreated into the formation with dozens of intact horses.

Muhammad Shinawi and Ali Jabr, like many Mamluk cavalry, were stunned. More than a thousand cavalry charged into the battle, and within a quarter of an hour, they were all wiped out, and none of them fled back.

"...Let's retreat." Muhammad Shinawi's mouth was slightly bitter. He didn't know how far the remaining four thousand cavalry could last under such fierce artillery fire and volleys of guns.The opponent just relied on a trench to slightly block the cavalry's charge, and then they could inflict a lot of damage to the cavalry with a dense rain of bullets.

This is not a fair fight, it's purely a kill!
From the perspective of the Mamluk cavalry, the confrontation between the armies of the two sides is first of all the cavalry of their respective cavalry killing each other, and then the winning side wields a scimitar to chase and kill the fleeing cavalry and infantry.Just like hundreds of years ago, they defeated the European Crusaders who invaded the seventh time and the mighty Mongolian cavalry with their superb cavalry tactics and brave combat power.

However, today's battle caused endless chills in the hearts of all the Mamluk cavalry.The opponent's intensive artillery fire and volleys of guns made it impossible for the brave and fast cavalry to approach the opponent, and they were shot and killed on the way to charge from a distance.

You must know that the Mamluk cavalry, as a war machine, has extremely cruel training. Their "cavalry trainees" have debuted for more than seven years. They need to be proficient in many courses such as riding and shooting, long spears, and close combat.A well-trained Mamluk soldier can hit a 75-meter-sized target 1 meters away with a bow and arrow on the horse.On a galloping horse, use a long spear to pick out the burning candle stub, so as to train the accuracy of the charge.In order to shape the courage of the soldiers to be fearless and willing to die, Mamluk soldiers even fought with black bears and lions.A qualified Mamluk will be granted freedom and join the ruling class. They can be said to be the most efficient war machine in the cold weapon era.

However, such a well-trained Mamluk cavalryman who is proficient in fighting skills on the battlefield may not be able to display his bravery at all when facing the sharp firearms of the aligned army, and will be killed by a shell or a small bullet. Small lead can easily take life.

Muhammad Shinawi and Ali Jabr took their respective cavalry and tribal soldiers and drove northwestward without looking back.They were all deeply shocked by Qi's stormy artillery bombardment and musket discharge.The soldiers and horses of the southern New World, who were killed tens of thousands of miles away, may be really extraordinary. We local snakes, we will not give up all the capital we rely on and survive with others in order to get some cheap money.
-
On May 5, Olkai Sahan, the governor of the Ottoman Empire in Cairo, led 9 Janissary cavalry to the city of Suez.

Possibly due to the prestige and military power of the Ottoman Empire, the Qi army that captured Suez City immediately showed a "submissive" attitude and started peace negotiations with the governor of Olkay Sahan.

After more than a month of lengthy negotiations, the two sides finally achieved a truce and restored peace between them.According to the agreement, and at the request of the Ottoman Governor in Cairo, the Qi State will gradually withdraw from the city of Suez within half a month and hand it over to the Ottoman Janissaries in its entirety.At the same time, more than [-] Mamluk cavalry captured were also handed over to the Ottoman Empire.

On June 6, dozens of ships from the State of Qi who transferred all kinds of seized materials and livestock to Xuanling Island returned to the port of Suez. The troops of the State of Qi stationed in Suez immediately began to evacuate. Under the watchful eyes of the Ottomans, boxes of boxes Gold, silver and supplies were loaded onto the ship, and at the same time, more than 20 "homeless" young women were preparing to go to Hanzhou to find a new life for them.

If you pay attention to observe, you will find that the dozens of artillery pieces and more than [-] muskets used by the Qi army to attack the city of Suez are all left in the city of Suez, while there are countless exquisite carpets, mountain Wool, leather goods, and alum that filled several large ships (the Ottoman Empire was the world's main supplier of alum at the time).

On June 6, the expedition fleet arrived at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. Under the guidance of several Barbary pirates, it stopped at a slightly desolate harbor (near the city of Sharm El Sheikh at the southern tip of the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula today).

"Although this place is relatively desolate and the land is barren, the location is extremely important." Fleet Commander Luo Shouxun put down his binoculars, nodded and said: "If we occupy this place, build a port, and station a few warships. In this way, we can completely control the Controlling the entire Egyptian region, and even most of the Red Sea coast, is extremely critical for our future Red Sea-Mediterranean trade with the Ottoman Empire."

"What the general said is very true." Wu Licheng, the treasurer from the Persian Trading Company, nodded and agreed: "However, this place is so remote at present, it may take a lot of time to build a port that can dock naval warships."

"It doesn't matter, this battle is enough to form a strong deterrent to all forces in the entire Red Sea coastal area for a long time. Coupled with the support of the Ottoman Empire's governor in Egypt, your Persian trading company will be able to travel here without hindrance. This As for the stronghold, it can be built slowly, and after three to five years, maybe a Red Sea Squadron of our Qi State will be set up here. At that time, it will just happen to be stationed here."

"The dozens of Mamluk cavalry are given to you, and you need to make good use of them." Luo Shouxun saw two armed merchant ships using small boats to pick up supplies and personnel and landed, so he continued: "You can order them to capture horses in the inland areas." For the coolies and handymen needed, first build the castle where you can live, and then build a few warehouses to store some necessary daily supplies for emergencies. Although, Osman sold the area with a radius of [-] kilometers at the southern tip of the peninsula to We, but there is no guarantee that the indigenous tribes here will object and use force to drive them out."

"The general is overthinking." Wu Licheng said with a smile: "As long as our trading company can provide them with some cotton cloth, paper, sugar, tea, porcelain and other commodities, not to mention the peninsula area, even all the indigenous tribes along the Red Sea will be against them. Our arrival is welcomed with hands raised. You know, apart from livestock such as cattle, horses and sheep, and a few local specialties such as dates and coffee, almost nothing can be produced here. All the commodities we can provide are flocked to and extremely popular. "

When Luo Shouxun heard this, he smiled and stopped talking.Except for the unfortunate death of Army Commander Li Fade in this expedition to Egypt, it can be said that all the goals planned before the war were achieved.What is even more surprising is that the governor of the Ottoman Empire in Egypt also promised such an extremely important territory to Qi.

I still remember that when the General Staff handed over the combat order to him, they also conveyed the king's instructions, saying that they would try their best to occupy a key point along the coast of the Red Sea, or near the Gulf of Aden, thinking that Qi would control the world's main forces in the future. Channels should be planned in advance.

Now, after obtaining this stronghold at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, next, when passing through the Gulf of Aden, it is necessary to occupy the place called Djibouti designated by the king.In this way, one south and one north, two key wedges are laid, and after more than ten years of successful operation, this Red Sea passage can be firmly locked.

I remember that a few years ago, the king mentioned that if a canal was built from Suez to Port Said, it would be connected with the Mediterranean Sea, which would greatly shorten the distance between Europe and the East.

However, given Qi's current maritime strength, it is still impossible to completely control this area.Therefore, it is necessary to plan ahead and make arrangements here in advance.

On July 7, the Qi State Expeditionary Fleet passed through Jeddah Port. Four warships broke away from the brigade and anchored here, preparing to provide escort services for the Mughal Empire pilgrimage fleet that was about to return.

On July 7, the fleet passed through the Mandeb Strait, sailed into Tadjoura Bay, and docked in the sea near the fishing village called Djibouti by Europeans.

Through the Persian trading company, the Qi State reached a land lease agreement with the local Rah Ayitu Sultan State.Qi State will obtain the right to use within five kilometers around Djibouti at the price of [-] bolts of cotton cloth and five tons of grain per year.

On July 7, the fleet left dozens of Mamluk cavalry and several naval officers and soldiers here to build strongholds and ports, and then the fleet set sail and headed east.After a short stop at Xuanling Island for supplies, they will head to Bandar Abbas for a friendly visit to the Safavid Empire.

(End of this chapter)