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Chapter 1170 Basra City 2
As the seven turtle vehicles crossed the moat, the battle for Basra entered a white-hot stage. The Ottoman Guards who were defending the city were well aware of the intentions of these vehicles and tried their best to prevent them from approaching the city walls. They used boiling water, hot oil, kerosene, gunpowder cans, and large stones in turn.

The Ming army under the city also knew that the defenders would try their best to stop it, so they used their firepower advantage to create no-man's land on the corresponding city walls, and resolutely did not allow any living creature to appear above the turtle car.

At this time, the naval guns that had been silent all this time also joined in. They were afraid of accidentally hitting the turtle chariot and did not dare to aim at the city wall. Instead, they simply used cross-fire, covering fire within this section of the city wall, disrupting and blocking the Ottoman soldiers from reinforcing the city wall.

"Boom... Boom boom..." Suddenly, three loud noises spread across the battlefield. A turtle car was blown to pieces, and the corresponding city wall was also shrouded in smoke.

Apparently the Ottoman defenders were throwing down heavy canisters of gunpowder, one of which fell and at least one of which exploded on the wall.

"Let's start, quick and decisive battle!" Seeing two figures struggling to crawl near the damaged turtle car, Hong Tao put down the telescope and issued the order for a general attack.

The turtle car in the southeast of the city was just a feint to test the defenders' defenses. Now it seems that everything is expected, so there is no need to waste the lives of the soldiers.

As the order was issued, more than a dozen turtle vehicles and scattered soldiers appeared in the east and northeast directions, and the covering firepower of the army and navy also increased exponentially. Shells whizzed towards the city wall, covering all nearby buildings in smoke.

"Your Majesty, the cavalry is coming. If nothing serious happens, we can capture the north and east walls and the surrounding city areas before dark."

The attack force suddenly increased several times, which immediately highlighted the defenders' insufficient defensive firepower. At this time, the hot air balloon lookout discovered a new situation: a large number of cavalry gathered in the city. Ding Shun, who was in charge of the specific command, was not worried but happy after hearing this.

"Immediately send a landing force upstream."

Hong Tao did not have any special reaction to the news of the impending cavalry attack. He had been on the throne for more than 30 years, and all the medium and large-scale battles he had experienced and commanded were basically related to nomadic peoples.

Although the Ottomans were not a purely nomadic people, their military core was still inseparable from cavalry tactics. As long as the cavalry was forced out at an inappropriate time, it was almost like showing their trump card.

"I would like to ask one more question. Your Majesty, what is the meaning of deliberately letting the enemy discover the movements of the landing troops?" Ding Shun immediately conveyed the emperor's order, but he did not fully understand it.

According to the plan of the Army General Staff, the siege during the day was only a feint. They would not use their full strength, nor would they capture the city with overwhelming force. The defenders must feel that they still had a chance to resist and win.

There is only one purpose for doing this, to prevent the defenders from being scared away. After dark, some of the boats on the river will quietly go up the river, transport part of the army to the west of Basra City, land, encircle the defenders in the city, and try to annihilate most of them in one battle.

But not long after the battle began, the emperor changed the battle plan, ordered a general attack in advance, forced the defenders to show their cards, and ordered the landing troops to set off immediately, which was tantamount to reminding the enemy to pay attention to the retreat route.

The emperor was definitely not careless and reversed the attack steps. There must be some other reason for doing so. However, he could not figure out what benefit it would bring to the emperor by scaring off the defenders. The tactics of surrounding three sides and leaving one side empty and leaving a way out did not apply here. The Ming army, which lacked horses and camels, could not catch up with the Ottoman army, which was mostly cavalry. They could only watch them slip away again, and then meet them again in the next city and fight again. This was just causing trouble for themselves.

"Have you ever thought about it? If we don't fight a siege, what identity should we have when facing the people here? If we are just passing by, they won't provide much help, let alone cooperation. If we are an occupying force, they will inevitably generate hatred, after all, we are invading their homes.

But with the Ottoman garrison, the situation is completely different. We are legitimate occupying forces and have no grudges against the locals. This is because the control of the city was not taken from them, but obtained naturally by defeating the Ottomans.

You may not understand it, but this is the truth. The Ottomans conquered them, and they chose to surrender, which is normal. We defeated the Ottomans, which means we inherited the Ottomans' legacy, including this kind of surrender. In the conquered areas, this logic is very reasonable. "

Hong Tao not only knew about the siege plan drawn up by the Army General Staff in advance, but also approved it with his seal. But when he saw the minaret and heard the faint chanting in the city, he suddenly had another idea. Instead of going through the trouble of establishing a new relationship with the locals, it would be better to directly inherit the old relationship with the Ottomans.

"…Students are worried that the Ottomans are too familiar with our military tactics, and it will become increasingly difficult to deal with them if time goes on."

Ding Shun carefully considered the emperor's explanation, and agreed with part of it, but still had some doubts. Doing so might indeed save some subsequent trouble, but it might also result in the loss of more soldiers and increase the possibility of variables.

"Failure is more contagious than the plague. After two consecutive defeats, no matter how many people are left in this Ottoman army, it will never recover to its previous strength. The problem is not in equipment and tactics, but in morale.

If they do not carry out large-scale reorganization and replace most of the commanders, they will become pessimistic whenever they encounter the Ming army for a long time to come, and they will collapse at the first touch, and habitually want to escape until they can defeat the Ming army.

In addition, I would like to remind you to pay attention. Now you are the chief of staff of the army governor, you should not focus all your attention on a certain battle, only thinking about how to win and how to reduce losses. You must look further ahead, and sometimes even if you deliberately increase losses, you have to do it for a greater goal.

You are in the right position and you must make decisions accordingly. Your position determines your responsibilities. Didn’t the ancients say that kindness does not command the army and righteousness does not command finance? In a position like yours, kindness and righteousness are both derogatory words. You must put national affairs first and have as few personal emotions as possible.

Hong Tao was somewhat disappointed to be asked such a question in person. These officials who came from the Haihu Division, the Cuju Team, or the Royal Academy had learned how to follow the rules since childhood and were more aware of the sufferings of the grassroots, but they had a natural defect in politics.

Politicians have always been annoying. For thousands of years, humans would rather praise pirates than whitewash politicians. Hypocrisy, selfishness, and corruption are synonymous with this profession, which shows how annoying it is.

The strange thing is that such an unpleasant profession has never disappeared for a day, and no one has ever called for the elimination of politicians and entrusted them with many important tasks.

(End of this chapter)