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Chapter 1112 Lawrence of Arabia 4
Among the 12 troops led by Murad IV personally this time, 2 were from the Guards Corps and the Royal Cavalry, 4 were from Anatolian Sipahi cavalry, and the remaining 6 were all from Akinri and Azab.

Faced with the city of Baghdad, which had high and thick walls, wide and deep moats, and a heavily defended army, Murad IV did not immediately launch an attack relying on his absolute superior force, but instead adopted a more cautious approach.

Starting from dozens of miles away, the army was deployed layer by layer to control the main traffic routes and dangerous terrain, and the city of Baghdad was surrounded. Then, trenches were leisurely arranged outside the city, and artillery pieces were pushed to the siege position.

The city of Baghdad is located on the west bank of the Tigris River. It has a long history and was an important city in the ancient Babylonian era.

During the Black Caliphate period, Baghdad became the capital of the Abbasid Dynasty. A large number of mosques, religious schools, libraries, observatories, inns, post stations, markets, baths and municipal transportation facilities were expanded and added, bringing the city into its heyday.

Baghdad is located in the middle of the Mesopotamian River Basin and is the only way from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf. With the increasing trade between Europe and Asia, Baghdad's economy has become more and more prosperous, and it soon became the political, economic, trade, cultural and religious center of the Arab Empire.

Like all cities located at the intersection of traffic, Baghdad cannot escape the fate of being a battlefield. Whenever a large-scale war breaks out, this place will be a battleground for military strategists.

In 1258 AD, a nightmare came. The city of Baghdad was looted by the troops of Hulagu, the commander-in-chief of the Mongol Empire's Western Expedition. A large number of buildings, historical sites and cultural relics were destroyed, and all the collected classics were thrown into the river.

After more than a hundred years of restoration, the city was still recovering when Timur's army came again and plundered it again. From then on, in less than a hundred years, this historic city was conquered by the Ottomans and the Persians.

For the people of Baghdad, war is nothing new. No matter who becomes stronger in the surrounding areas, they will come to occupy it. There is no other way, because this is a major transportation route.

The Ottoman Sultan personally led a large army to Baghdad this time, but the Baghdad defenders were not too panicked. The city walls and moats had been reinforced long ago and were sufficient to withstand artillery bombardment.

Moreover, the defenders also had hundreds of artillery pieces. Although they were still outnumbered by the enemy, they had the advantage of shooting from a high position. If Safi Shah's reinforcements could arrive sooner, it would be hard to say who would win or lose.

Two days later at noon, with a loud bang, the siege began. Thousands of Azab soldiers, under the cover of artillery, carried sacks filled with soil and approached the moat. The Persian defenders on the city fired back with artillery, making a lively scene.

"Boom..." Almost at the same time, off the coast of Jeddah Port, 1400 kilometers southwest of Baghdad, two double-decker paddle boats flying the Ottoman three-crescent flag were sliding their oars on both sides of their bodies like centipedes, chasing a Western-style sailing boat half a kilometer away, lighting the deck guns on the bow while chasing.

The Port of Jeddah, located in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula and bordering the Red Sea, was the largest container port in Saudi Arabia in later generations. At that time, it belonged to the Ottoman Empire. The two galleys were warships of the Ottoman Navy, which were specially used to inspect passing ships and collect taxes according to the value of the goods.

The Ottoman Navy was a unique presence in most of the waters of the Red Sea. When passing ships saw a galley flying a three-crescent flag heading towards them, they had to lower their sails and stop for inspection whether they liked it or not.

But today there was an exception. After seeing the paddle boat flying the Ottoman flag, the western-style sailing ship not far away not only did not stop, but raised two top sails to try to speed up its escape.

That was impossible. Although European sailing ships could cut through the waves and sail across the ocean, rowing ships were the kings of speed in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea where the wind and waves were relatively small. Not to mention the two military double-decker rowing ships, which shortened the distance by half in less than ten minutes. It seemed that they were going to make a fortune today. The two Ottoman naval commanders standing at the bow smiled at each other across hundreds of meters. As long as the European sailing ships did not belong to the Ottomans, they would not be able to get away easily. At least half of the cargo had to be put down, otherwise the navy could play the role of pirates.

With the unremitting efforts of the rowers, the paddle boat kept getting closer and soon was less than 50 meters away from the European sailing boat. The faces of the sailors on the deck were clearly visible.

"Turn! Turn quickly... Boom, boom, boom..."

At this moment, the Ottoman officer standing on the bow suddenly shouted like crazy. Before the crew could figure out what was happening, the ship shook violently with a few dull noises, as if it had hit something hard, followed by wailing from under the deck.

The European sailing ship was also turning, turning right. The striped decoration on the starboard side of the hull had disappeared at some point, and was replaced by a row of small square windows, with dark gun muzzles inside the windows emitting blue smoke.

Being hit by nine 9mm naval guns at such a close distance was fatal to a double-decker paddle boat with a displacement of hundreds of tons. The sails and superstructure were basically intact, but the rowers' cabin had become a living hell.

When the conical cast iron bullet wrapped in a thin lead sheet hits a hard object, it will instantly break along the specially cast lines, and the fragments will rush into the cabin at high speed, indiscriminately hitting all objects inside.

This type of shell is the result of technological transformation of the Royal Gunpowder Factory a few years ago. It is specially used to attack ship hulls. It originated from the navy's long-standing dissatisfaction with the impact of shells.

Through statistics of previous naval battles and operations against pirates, the Navy General Staff discovered a phenomenon: using traditional conical solid bullets to attack enemy ships often results in dozens of hits, and as long as they do not hit vital parts, such as the mast, stern rudder or below the waterline, they have little effect on the ship's mobility.

If the hull is thick, only a small hole can be drilled, while if the hull is thin, the ship can pass through it. Apart from being able to effectively strike objects and people in its path, it lacks greater lethality.

The explosion grenade was changed, but since there was no impact fuse that could be used in actual combat, the success rate of the ignition method of the Hotchki grenade was too low. It often hit the target, but the projectile body broke prematurely, and there was smoke but no ignition, which was still insufficient in lethality.

The most effective way to solve this problem is to increase the caliber of the naval guns. But in that case, all existing warships would have to be significantly modified, with fewer gun positions, and some parts might involve the hull structure, which is too costly.

In the end, it was the Royal Gunpowder Factory that found inspiration in the grenades developed for the army. In order to pursue greater lethality, they deliberately cast notches on the grenade shell to reduce the strength of the projectile and increase the number of fragments during the explosion.

If the shell of a naval gun is also cast with grey cast iron and made hollow, will it also break into several pieces when hit by a strong impact? Or will it be unable to withstand the chamber pressure and break when fired?

(End of this chapter)