The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1689 The Paralyzed City

Left with no other option, Samuel Pasha had to send his troops to fight the fire, but soon water became a new problem. Since there was a war going on in the coastal area, the fire brigade could not go to the beach to fetch water, so they had to buy water from reservoirs or water vendors.

That's right, Istanbul at that time did not have a modern water supply system; it still used the aqueduct system from the ancient Roman era.

While the aqueducts built during the Roman era were effective, they couldn't cover the entire city. This wasn't because the Ottomans were less technologically advanced than the Romans, but rather because covering the entire city with aqueducts would have affected the businesses of some individuals.

As for wells, in the city of Qiqiu, only the wealthy and noble families could afford to dig them. This was partly because digging wells was extremely expensive, and partly because, according to tradition, ordinary people were not allowed to dig wells on their own.

Moreover, due to the special geographical environment, many wells produce saline water that is completely undrinkable and ultimately can only be filled in.

"Pasha, the Russians have started their attack! There are so many Russians!"

A messenger stumbled in, he was very weak, and even his headscarf was nowhere to be found.

Samuel Pasha quickly got up and walked up to the messenger, asking him a question.

"what happened?"

The messenger took a couple of sips of water and caught his breath before speaking.

“Pasha, I just went to the coastal defense command. The Russians have already attacked, and Sai Pasha and his men can't hold out any longer!”

The coast is swarming with Russians; they've already reached the coastal defense command!

Upon hearing this, Semer Pasha's heart sank. In fact, this matter should have been handled by the Coastal Defense Command and the New Army, but they could not contact the New Army, and the Coastal Defense Command was about to fall.

As the commander of the Istanbul garrison, Semerpasha did have 20,000 troops under his command, but they would be more accurately described as police or military police.

Although Semer Pasha's official title was Istanbul Garrison Commander, his main responsibility was actually maintaining order and security, not combat.

However, at this point, Semer Pasha couldn't worry about anything else. After all, Murad V in the palace had urged him to report the situation several times, and Semer Pasha had to put on a show.

"I'm going to the palace to see the Sultan. Prepare the horses!"

Soon, Samuel Pasha boarded the carriage, which was then surrounded by two rows of fully armed military police.

However, Samuel Pasha's car was forced to stop shortly after leaving the garrison headquarters.

Somewhat annoyed, Semerpasha opened the car window.

"what happened?"

The guards quickly replied.

“Pasha, there are some debris and vehicles blocking the way ahead,” the soldier said, then added after a moment’s thought, “They’re probably abandoned by the people, and there are still some goods on them that they haven’t had time to take away.”

Samuel Pasha was extremely anxious at the moment, and he had no mind to listen to any of this. The guard was interrupted before he could finish speaking.

"Clear the road immediately! I have urgent business with the Sultan; if I'm late, the country is doomed!"

"Yes!"

The guards rushed forward to clear the road. However, just as Sammer Pasha's guards stepped forward, the debris exploded, instantly killing more than a dozen guards. Those around were also affected, and even Sammer Pasha, who was in the carriage, was left dazed and confused.

As soon as Semer Pasha opened the car window, he saw several dark figures dart out from the surrounding alleys and head straight for him. His bodyguards immediately opened fire on the approaching figures without saying a word.

However, the distance was too close, and they were unable to kill all the attackers; some of them managed to reach the carriage.

With a loud crash, the carriage was overturned. Although the attacker was dead, the fate of Samuel Pasha was unknown.

Left with no other choice, the team had to turn back. When they returned to the garrison headquarters, the guards were overjoyed to find that Semer Pasha was still alive, but the bad news was that he was barely clinging to life.

In this state, it would be a miracle if Semer Pasha could even survive, let alone command the overall situation.

Inside Topkapi Palace, Murad V was extremely anxious.

At this point, Istanbul was essentially paralyzed, and Murad V, the supreme ruler, was like a cataract patient, only able to see a blurry picture without knowing what was happening.

However, Murad V was not entirely blind; Topkapi Palace is located on a high point on the peninsula of Istanbul's old city, not far from the Golden Horn.

Murad V could see the firelight below, hear the deep, rumbling cannon fire, and even faintly hear shouts of battle coming from afar.

However, Murad V could not contact anyone capable of changing the situation. The New Order army under Grand Vizier Olma was doing nothing, most of the New Ottoman army had already gone to the front lines, and the remaining few thousand recruits could not be contacted.

In addition, he could not contact the city defense command, the coastal defense command, or the Ottoman Navy. Murad V frantically fiddled with the sand table, but what was the use of fiddled with it if he didn't even know the most basic information about friend and foe?

Murad V's only available force was his elite guard, which numbered only five thousand. Theoretically, the wisest course of action at this point would be to commit all five thousand men; if they could repel the landing Russian army, they could minimize their losses.

After all, no matter how powerful the Russian artillery was, it was impossible to destroy the entire city. At most, it could smash the port and destroy the Ottoman Empire's fleet in the Golden Horn.

However, if Russian troops were to land, it would be a different story. It would be a great humiliation for the Ottoman Empire and could potentially threaten the safety of the royal palace.

However, it was precisely for this reason that the Queen Mother opposed the use of the Imperial Guard. Shefkefza believed that the Imperial Guard should guard the palace in case of emergency, and even Murad V should be withdrawn from the palace.

The young Murad V could not bear such humiliation. He believed that if even the capital could not be defended, what was the point of the war? It would be better to surrender as soon as possible!
Grand Vizier finally arrived.

"Great Vizier, how despicable are the Russians! How could they do this!"

Murad V immediately began to complain bitterly upon seeing his Grand Vizier, while simultaneously cursing the Russian monarch, his ministers, and his soldiers as inhuman.

However, Olma knew very well that this was not a sneak attack in the strict sense; the Russians had indeed launched the attack after declaring war.

Olma did not believe that the Russians had not planned this in advance, nor did he believe that the Russians had launched their attack on Istanbul just three hours after declaring war.

In fact, the reason why Duke Uvarov left in the early morning was precisely because of this. On the one hand, he did not want to be affected by the war, and on the other hand, he was trying to lull the Ottomans into a false sense of security.

Russia's formal declaration of war was like another shoe dropping, which ironically gave the Ottomans a sense of reassurance.

Although war is imminent, in principle, Russia would first attack southern Rumilia on the western front, or continue its advance along the Black Sea perimeter on the eastern front.

However, Nicholas I chose to go all in on Istanbul.