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Chapter 1153: Battle of Fau Harbor 7
The Dervish Guards were elite troops drawn from Europe, and a large number of them were from Yericheni. They were soldiers who took fighting as a profession and were recruited through blood tax. There were many Christian families in the areas ruled by the Ottoman Empire, and the blood tax was set up against them.

Every year, boys aged 8 and above are recruited from Christian families in a certain proportion and sent to the Janissary Guards station in Istanbul for testing and screening. The qualified boys are selected and sent to the palace to receive education in all aspects and convert to Islam.

After about 6 years, the boy has grown into a man, not only possessing military skills but also receiving cultural education. At this time, he can be officially incorporated into the Yerichen Corps and belong to the Guards Corps.

These soldiers are soldiers by profession and fighting is their job. They have plenty of time to train in various military projects, including the use of muskets, artillery and traditional bows and arrows, spears and machetes. Almost everyone is an all-round warrior who can exert the corresponding combat effectiveness with whatever weapon is at hand.

Because of their omnipotence, their cost was very high, and their number never increased, remaining at around 3. In addition to serving as guards for the royal palace, most of them were dispersed to various places to serve as officers and backbones in the Guards Corps.

This time, Murad IV sent himself to Fao Port to resist the landing of the Ming army. In addition to the 5000 Guards Corps, he also specially sent 1000 Yericheni troops. With the addition of this group of veterans, the combat effectiveness of the Guards Corps can be improved by several percent.

Derviš was the commander of the Yericheni Corps. He was not a Turk, but a Christian from the Balkans. It was because he joined the Yericheni Corps that he was awarded the tima treatment after retirement. In his generation, he was promoted to zamit due to his meritorious service in many battles with the Sultan, and thus entered the real aristocratic class.

If he and his Yericheni Corps could really break through the Ming army's defense line in a night attack and tear open a gap for the Sipahi cavalry, then this battle would be a great victory.

In the afternoon, it was roughly counted through the telescope that the Ming army that landed south of Fao Port was less than 3. Facing an Ottoman defenders that was nearly three times their number, they would be unable to save the situation if a flaw appeared, and they could only choose to board the ship and escape.

Tabal Pasha wanted very much to get his hands on those large sailing ships anchored on the river, but reason told him that excessive expectations often did not bring due rewards.

The Ming army was no pushover. They just suffered from the long expedition and their lack of expertise in land warfare. If they really reached the sea, the situation would immediately turn around.

Ultimately, this war will end through negotiations. The Ming army is unable to land, and the Ottoman army cannot break the maritime blockade. Both sides are in a deadlock that cannot be changed in the short term. It will not benefit anyone to continue the war for a long time, so they can only take a step back.

It must be said that Murad IV was very courageous and daring to take risks. Or it could be said that Ferdinand III knew the Ming Empire better. If it weren't for his special envoys, the Ottoman Empire and the Ming Empire would have reached a contract by now, and the terms would definitely not be as favorable as those negotiated after a war.

The third hour of the night is when people are most sleepy and have the deepest sleep. Someone said, you are wrong, the third hour of the night is 12 o'clock in the evening, when many people are still awake.

Yes, people in later generations generally go to bed very late, and the middle of the night is not the most sleepy time, nor is it the time of deepest sleep. But in ancient times when there was no electricity, people should go to bed one or two hours after dinner, which is about 20 o'clock in later generations.

Because there is nothing to do if you don't sleep, and the room is dark. Even if you want to study, you have to study under the dim oil lamp, which is both expensive and hard to see clearly. It is better to go to bed early and get up early the next day to use the free sunlight.

Just as both camps were shrouded in snoring sounds, a series of black shadows climbed up from the edge of the trenches, crawling quickly along the ground, like an army of ants moving, and quietly approached the first trench of the Ming army camp.

Five hundred meters... four hundred meters... three hundred meters... As the distance shortened, the shadows moved more carefully. There were few branches and leaves on the soft sand, which minimized the possibility of making noise. Climbing another two hundred meters, the bombardier could swing the pottery jar filled with gunpowder into the enemy's trench with a rope, and then take advantage of the chaos and smoke caused by the explosion to launch a charge.

Soldiers from any country have not been able to maintain their original combat effectiveness under such a situation. It has been proven in countless battles over the past hundred years that the Yerichen Corps is second to none in terms of individual soldier capabilities!
As long as the enemy's first trench was breached, the ready-to-go Sipassi cavalry would sweep into the camp through the gap like the wind.

The melee in the dark did not rely on command and advanced weapons, and artillery was even less effective. It could only rely on the quality and number of individual soldiers. In both aspects, the Ottoman army had the upper hand.

“Pah pah pah…boom…boom…pah pah pah…boom…boom…”

Just as the shadows were secretly delighted, a series of flashes suddenly erupted from the ground, accompanied by crisp explosions. Then, groups of flames rose from the ground, instantly tearing apart the night sky and clearly reflecting all the intrigues and conspiracies in the world.

“Beep, beep, beep… swish, swish… bang, bang, bang…”

Before the shadows could figure out what was happening, a sharp whistle sounded from the front. Dozens of bright lights seemed to fall from the sky, sweeping across the open space in front of the trench. Any object that did not belong to this land was immediately hit by a rain of bullets.

"Charge forward...charge forward...don't be afraid, retreating will lead to greater death...ah!"

Faced with the sudden change, the soldiers of the Yerichen Corps immediately showed their uniqueness. Unlike the soldiers of the Guards Corps, they did not panic, but shouted to comfort their companions, and changed from crawling to running with their backs bent, trying to get close to the trenches before the defenders could fully react.

Unfortunately, no matter how fast a person moves, he cannot be as fast as a bullet. At this time, the soft and flat sandy river beach is not only of no help, but also becomes an excellent shooting range. No matter how low you lower your body, you still cannot hide at all. Whoever runs faster and moves more exaggeratedly will be hit more by bullets.

Total defeat! A well-prepared and well-planned large-scale night raid suddenly turned into a one-sided massacre when it was about to succeed.

The soldiers of the Yericheni Corps and the Guards Corps who participated in the operation were found more than 200 meters away from the first trench of the Ming army. Under the reflection of the fire and lights, they were shot like hares.

In less than half an hour, only the last 2000 of the 300 people managed to escape. The rest were either dead or injured, and there was no way to rescue them.

The cruel Ming army used artillery to fire a type of shell that would burn as soon as it hit the ground, illuminating the area several hundred meters in front of the trench. They would shoot immediately if they spotted any living creature approaching.

(End of this chapter)