sultan's crescent

Chapter 143 False Prince and Shiite Dealing (Two in One)

A carpet is big enough to hold two Sufis, but the world is not big enough to hold two kings.

—— Selim I the Grim

Judging from the preaching situation in the past two days, the people of the Ottoman Empire did not have any obvious resistance to these new laws, and that was enough.

After the wedding banquet, Selim instructed Mahand to work with the ulamas to make the final revisions to the adjusted Islamic law.

Such things as the hijab law cannot be abolished. Today, Emperor Saida asked Muslims to take off their hijabs. Maybe tomorrow Muslims will take off not only the crown of Emperor Saida, but also their heads.

This legal preaching is to loosen the constraints of Islam a little, so as to further promote the reform plan of Se the Great.

The days passed, and the time has come to the end of 1790.

Looking at the autumn leaves outside the window, Sudan couldn't help feeling a little emotional.

A few days ago, the royal doctor had already received the news that Anna was pregnant. For some reason, when he heard about this, Selim felt that his connection with the world was getting deeper and deeper.

The child still in Anna's womb was like a link between Selim and the world.

Sudan was thinking about his future child, but Paul's voice came from outside the door.

"Your Majesty, the descendant of the Safavid dynasty has been found, do you want to meet him now?"

"Bring it in."

Selim said calmly.

Looking at the young man cautiously poking his head in from the door, he couldn't help but look at the so-called descendant of the Safavid dynasty found by Justinian.

His appearance is not outstanding, he is of a relatively average level, and his figure is quite tall.

After a few random glances, Selim lost interest, and then asked lightly.

"Are you sure you are a descendant of the Safi family, the son of Ismail III, the proper Padishah of Persia, the king of kings in Iran."

The young man's face looked a little pale, but he still answered firmly.

"Yes, Your Majesty, the great Ottoman Sultan, Caliph of the Islamic world, Lord of the Two Holy Mosques.

I am the last blood of the Safi family, Ismail Safi.

Muhammad Qajar killed my father and all the descendants of the Safi family, only I escaped.

All this is because I have a loyal servant who covered my escape from Persia and came here to ask for your help.

But he unfortunately passed away on the way. "

Selim did not listen carefully to what this so-called descendant of the Safavid dynasty said. After all, the Ottoman Empire just needed an excuse.

As for whether this Safavid descendant is real, as far as the information given by Justinian is concerned, there is a high probability that it is false.

To be honest, Justinian didn't know where he got such a thing.

This guy might as well make up a servant to follow the prince to escape, but it turns out that the prince is going to defect to the Ottoman Empire Sultan. In order to make a career, the servant decisively kills the prince and replaces him.

This story, Se the Great is still willing to use others.

"Well, since it is, then so be it.

Go and learn about the Persian court information yourself, and learn about the history of the Safi family, so that you can use it in the subsequent conquest of Persia.

Remember, be rigorous, understand? "

The Ismail nodded vigorously and was immediately led out by Paul.

Selim picked up the materials on the desk and couldn't help thinking about the planning of the Great Expedition.

According to common sense, winter is not suitable for sending troops.

Because of the geographical environment in the Mediterranean region, between the Ottoman Empire and Persia, although the climate is relatively mild throughout the year, military operations can be carried out most of the time without obvious seasonal restrictions.

There are exceptions to this rule in winter, when the area can experience snowfall and severe weather conditions, causing some strategic constraints.

Therefore, every war between the Ottoman Empire and Persia has chosen an appropriate time.

These military operations generally take place during the dry seasons of summer and early fall, when the weather is relatively stable and the ground is drier, so traffic and army movement are better.

By the way, the ruthless Ottoman Empire "Selim" I defeated the founding monarch of the Safavid dynasty, Ismail, in the Battle of Chaldiran in August 1514.

The latter almost collapsed after being hit by this major blow, and eventually died.

But from Selim's point of view, this is entirely Ismail's own too much.

This person started the army at the age of 12, and unified Persia and the two rivers at the age of 22. It can be said that he is a dragon in the world.

However, the smooth unification made Ismail a little arrogant.

Where is this arrogance manifested?

After Ismail eliminated the Aries Dynasty in 1505, there were still three main threats, namely the Ottoman Empire in the west, the Uzbeks in the northeast, and the Portuguese colonists who invaded the islands of Hormuz in the south.

Among them, the Uzbeks, in particular, took the initiative to challenge Ismail.

The Uzbeks who rose in the middle of the river were originally a nomadic tribe on the grasslands. Their leader, Shaybani Khan, was eager to conquer the remaining legacy of the Timurid Empire in Khorasan.

In 1506, Hussein Bekara, the ruler of Khorasan and a descendant of Timur, died. Several of his sons had internal strife, and the Uzbeks were able to invade Khorasan and control most of the area, including Mash Hader, Tus, and Herat were thus bordering on the Safavid dynasty.

In 1509, Shaybani Khan sent troops to attack Kerman through the Kavir desert, looting and massacring wantonly.

Ismail was busy suppressing Shirvan's war, so he had to choose to compromise temporarily and wrote a letter to show his friendship.

But this was considered weak and incompetent by Shaybani Khan, who wrote a very threatening and insulting reply letter to Ismail, and attached a begging stick and begging bowl (a begging tool commonly used by Sufi ascetics) tool), indicating that Ismail should keep in mind his father's original occupation, go back to beg for penance, and intensify his raids on the south.This thoroughly angered Ismail, and after the stability of the west, Ismail decisively sent troops to Khorasan, and also provided shelter for Hussein Bekara's son and heir Badi Orzaman.

In November 1510, Ismaili gathered an army of 11 men from all over the country.

The army quickly captured Tus and Mashhad and advanced on Herat.

Shaybani retreated decisively and entered Mulu City to hold on.

Shaibani's choice was correct. Ismail sent troops in a hurry, not expecting that the Uzbeks would avoid fighting. Therefore, although Mulu City was surrounded, they did not prepare enough siege equipment to attack the city.

The tribal reinforcements of the Uzbeks outside the city continued to gather and expanded to 28000 people.

In order to force Shaybani to fight, Ismail decided to adopt Shaybani's practice.He wrote a letter to Shaybani, saying that he was about to go back to the court to suppress the rebellion in Azerbaijan and Diyarbakir, and asked Shaybani to continue hiding in the city and come back to deal with him after he solved the rebels .

Ismail, on the other hand, had his "retreating" army burn all the old tents in the barracks.

An elite force of 300 red-headed cavalry, led by Emil Berg Musrul, was stationed near the burned camp. (Safavids wear a red hat as a symbol)
The detachment continued to carry out lightning raids and then feigned retreat. Shaybani and his army were caught in a trap and pursued the Safavid army. Ismail had prepared a trap for Shaybani.

He organized his troops into a horseshoe formation, and the decoy squad led the unsuspecting Shaybani army into the encirclement.

Ismaili equipped all the troops with oiled torches, which were lit simultaneously.The sudden flash of fire caused panic among the Uzbeks, and Ismail led the red-headed cavalry to attack the Uzbeks in the encirclement.

Nearly 10000 Uzbek soldiers died in the battle, and Shaibani himself also died in the battle.

This war allowed Ismail to spend 10 years building an empire that basically encompassed the entire Iran, South Caucasus, Mesopotamia, Eastern Anatolia and Khorasan.

He has reached the pinnacle of his life, and as we all know, there is usually an abyss behind the pinnacle.

After the war, Shaybani's body was divided by Ismaili: the skin of the head was peeled off in one piece, stuffed with straw, and given to his "friend" in Constantinople, the Ottoman Sultan Bayazi De II, the two sides had planned to attack the Safavid dynasty (this incident triggered the rage of Selim I, who was still a prince at the time, and became the source of his hatred of Ismail).

However, Ismail had no idea that the future Ottoman Sultan would hate him so much.

He is still savoring his own victory. The skull of Shaybani Khan was made into a gem-encrusted wine cup by Ismail and became his collection; The Uzbek threat has been lifted.

After that, Ismail conquered Mulu and Herat, and controlled the entire Khorasan.As the second city directly under the royal family in the empire, Herat became the center of the Khorasan province, and the "Pearl of Khorasan" was able to shine again.

Not just wars, Ismaili also played political demagoguery.

On the Turkish-Iranian border, Transcaucasus, and Azerbaijan, a large number of Turkmens who tend to be Safavid Shiites maintain contact with Ismail I, and the Safavid dynasty has been inciting Shia followers in these areas to kill Sunnis They even launched a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire, which completely angered Selim I.

The sultan recalled the Battle of Chaldiran, although in his heart he did not feel that Selim I was really his ancestor.

However, this kind of glory is still worthy of nostalgia. The Sultan does not care, but the people have to.

In addition, Selim I's treatment of the Shiites was something that Emperor Sai needed to avoid.

In history, Selim I immediately took many harsh measures in order to curb the momentum of the imperial rebellion and maintain the stability of the empire.

The "ruthless one" ordered the massacre of Shiites, and those who were not executed were also branded and exiled to Europe.

This is what Emperor Se the Great needs to avoid, because in his opinion, this is completely discrediting himself. Although it is useless to blacken the Ottoman Empire in that era, it is strong after all.

But if you look at the entire Chaldiran Battle, you will find that Selim I's methods are too rough.

This battle was just a small-scale battle at the beginning, because Ismaili I had been retreating, using the tactics of retreating as the enemy advanced and clearing the country with strong walls. This made Selim I, who was unable to catch the main force of the Ismaili army for a decisive battle, very angry.

The solid wall and clearing the field mean that although the Ottomans are constantly approaching the front line, logistical supplies are becoming more and more difficult, because the supply cities and villages along the way have been demolished by the old fox Ismail I, while the Ottoman supply line is longer and longer.

In such a critical moment, it depends on the "Cold One". He directly uses the trick of attacking the enemy to save him, and orders the army to approach the capital of the Safavid Empire - Tabriz!
Sure enough, this move worked. The Ottomans who arrived in Tabriz in August 1514 forced Ismail with no way to retreat. Ismail had no choice but to fight Selim, and this was Chardiran. battle.

Let us go back to July 1514, when Selim I the "Cruel" reorganized the army, with a total of 7 troops, including infantry, cavalry and artillery. It is worth mentioning that the Ottoman army at this time had already Equipped with muskets, and brought 12 cannons and 200 mortars.

And these hot weapons finally became the key props to determine the direction of the battle, and also announced the end of "cavalry is king" in the traditional cold weapon era.

By August 8, after a long-distance march of more than 22 miles, the Ottoman army finally reached Chaldiran in northwestern Azerbaijan, and the soldiers pointed directly at Tabriz
At this time, Ismail I personally led 6 tribal cavalry to stand in front of the strong wall after clearing the fields for a long time. This cavalry regiment followed him to fight in the south and north, fight in the east and kill in the west, made great achievements in battle, and accumulated countless experiences. The trump card of the elite, the elite among the elite, is also the foundation for Ismail I to fight in all directions!

However, due to the technological limitations of the regional environment at that time, this Safavid army was only equipped with backward weapons such as bows and arrows and spears, and had never even seen the kind of guns and artillery in the Ottoman army. Equipped with Safavid army chess, it is almost the same.

However, the cavalry of the Safavid dynasty has two commanders with rich combat experience, namely the governor of Diyarbakir, Muhammad Khan Ustajiru and Nur Ali Khalifa, and the army is led by the Persian Shah Isma Yi Yi personally led.

When the battle officially started on August 8, the two commanders of the Safavid army suggested to Ismail I: take advantage of the fact that the Ottoman army came from afar and had no foothold, and immediately launched a fierce attack, specifically to fight against the exhausted long-distance march. The Ottomans, in order to avoid the power of the Ottoman artillery, to make up for their own disadvantages in weapons and equipment.

No matter from which point of view, these are quite correct suggestions, but unfortunately, all these originally correct suggestions were rejected by Ismail I, and even the excellent campaign commander was ridiculed by his superiors. Durmish Khan Samru even advised Ismail to wait until the enemy's deployment was complete before attacking.

Ismail I, who had been fighting for half his life, really accepted Durmish.sweat.Samru's advice and said: "I am not a robber, whatever God has ordained will happen."

In this way, the only advantage of the Safavid Empire, which was waiting for work, was surrendered because of Ismail I's pretentiousness, which eventually led to a big defeat.

But is it possible for Ismail to win if he attacks first?

It is very possible that the Ottoman army at this time was already exhausted after Ismail's long-term fortification and clearing of the country. If it attacked suddenly, this army would probably collapse.

The problem of Selim I was exposed here. His logistics was quite fragile.

Here comes the question, what does this have to do with the treatment of Shiites?

Of course there is. If Emperor Sai were to handle it, he would not massacre the Shias at all, but would conscript them.

You said that this group of people is easy to rebel, hehe, the Turkmen princes dared to make trouble in the Ottoman Empire, these civilians did not dare.

The "ruthless" can assign a small number of troops to guard and force these Shia believers to participate in logistics transportation. If they run out of food, they can also learn from Qin Zongquan. This is no more economically beneficial than massacres.

Of course, Emperor Sai would definitely not do this in this great expedition. After all, Emperor Sai came from the civilized world. How could he learn from the Qin Zongquan? At most, he would let these Shia believers contract the infrastructure and large-scale construction in the eastern part of the empire to their death. Expeditionary Logistics.

A fake prince will endorse it. How can one Persia have two orthodoxy?

Sultan smiled and began to look forward to it.

　Thank you for the monthly tickets of p club players ecstasy and book friends

　　
　
(End of this chapter)