Became The Sultan Of The Ottoman Empire [EN]: Chapter 129

Traps and Snares (2)

Having a large population is definitely a great advantage.

It offers various benefits such as a domestic market, a labor force, and the number of soldiers that can be mobilized in times of war. However, what’s more important is the economic power of the people.

Population growth without economic support leads to unemployment and poverty, and a population that cannot support itself only becomes a burden on the country.

This is why China implemented the one-child policy and why Europe is reluctant to accept refugees.

The situation in Diyarbakir, where the granary had been burned down, was similar.

‘Still, it’s better than the previous examples. We just need to hold out until the next harvest.’

Diyarbakir is a region with abundant water resources, to the extent that it traded with Baghdad, 600km away, by floating rafts and small boats on the Tigris River.

If we can overcome this crisis, the land will return to normal without any problems.

However, the problem lay not in Diyarbakir but in the Ottoman army on the march.

“Grand Vizier, how much food do we have left?”

Before them was Lake Urmia, the third-largest saltwater lake in the world. Because it was summer, the dry season, the lake’s surroundings were covered with white salt crystals, resembling marble.

The pungent smell of salt filled the air, and some curious soldiers were seen putting the salt crystals in their mouths and grimacing.

It was a lighthearted diversion to refresh themselves in the hot and dry conditions, so the commanders didn’t seem to mind much.

“We have about two weeks’ worth of food left.”

“Even if we conserve as much as possible, it’ll only last a month.”

This was because they had left enough food in the previously occupied territories to last until support arrived from Diyarbakir.

Of course, choosing to conserve food should be the last resort. It could dampen the soldiers’ morale and build up discontent.

“It’s thanks to the cities that surrendered without much resistance that we have this much to spare.”

“The surrender must be thanks to Hassan, whose appearance is well-known.”

At Yusuf’s words, Hassan quickly feigned humility.

“How could it be my achievement? It’s all thanks to the Padishah [Ottoman Emperor].”

“Yes, I am more infamous than you, who are just a tongue, like Satan himself.”

“That’s not what I meant, Padishah!”

“Just kidding. A joke.”

It was a joke that would have made Hassan’s spine tingle.

Yusuf, who had been teasing Hassan, wiped the smile from his lips, and his eyes gleamed fiercely.

“We’re almost at Tabriz, the enemy’s capital. We’ll see it soon.”

The trap they had set to ensnare his neck.

***

Marco Polo, famous for *The Travels of Marco Polo*, passed through Tabriz in 1275.

He described it as ‘a large city surrounded by beautiful and pleasant gardens, and its location is so good that Latin merchants, including those from Genoa, come here to buy goods.’

It was a city that had prospered as a center of the Silk Road, and even now that the Silk Road’s influence had diminished, the traces of its prosperity remained intact.

A large stream flowing from north to south and a small stream flowing from east to west passed through the high, solid walls and intersected within the city.

The magnificent mosques and palaces indirectly showed Tabriz’s prosperity.

A city that even Selim in the original history only ended up looting, not occupying.

Before Tabriz, Yusuf raised the corners of his lips.

“You’ve crawled all the way up here like a rat.”

The reason why the soldiers who had marched to Tabriz were agitated was not because of the cannons they had never seen before on the walls of Tabriz.

It was because of the massive army lined up on one side of the Tabriz walls.

The white crescent flags on a yellow background fluttered in the hot wind.

They were the flags symbolizing the Mamluks [a powerful military caste in Egypt and the Levant].

“What should we do, Padishah?”

Yusuf, who was looking at the Mamluks armored with chainmail and horse armor, casually said in response to the Grand Vizier’s question:

“Send an envoy to tell the Mamluk Sultan. We’ve both come a long way, so let’s meet face to face.”

“Understood.”

At Yusuf’s command, a Janissary [elite Ottoman soldier] with a white flag ran towards the Mamluk camp, and soon after, a meeting between the two was held in the center where the armies faced each other.

Yusuf, leading twenty Silahdars [Ottoman palace guards] as escorts, was greeted by the Sultan, who was waiting with the same number of Royal Mamluks.

“*Assalamu alaikum* [Peace be upon you], it is an honor to meet you, Padishah.”

“*May peace be upon you*. An inappropriate greeting for this situation. I am not very pleased to meet you here, Sultan.”

At Yusuf’s coldness, the Sultan stroked his white beard and burst into laughter.

“You are still young and full of vigor. But since Allah has provided this opportunity, shouldn’t we have a conversation that pleases Him?”

“Then, for the peace of both countries, I will speak. Withdraw your troops immediately.”

“How can peace only apply to both countries? Shouldn’t peace be upon all countries that Allah watches over?”

He sneered because it was practically the same as telling him to stop the Safavid’s attack and withdraw his troops.

Yusuf patted his horse, which was impatiently snorting, as if expressing his feelings.

“Do you have the foolish idea that your army can defeat my army?”

“I may not be able to win, but I think I can interfere enough.”

If they launched a siege, the Mamluks would attack, and if they attacked the Mamluks first, troops would come out of the castle and strike their flanks.

Of course, they wouldn’t be defeated, but they would suffer great damage, so it would be hard to call it a victory.

It was a difficult situation, but Yusuf confidently said.

“Have you not considered that we can slowly tighten your noose? I don’t know if you’ll be okay with cannonballs constantly falling on your head.”

The Mamluks would also have cannons to respond, but the number of cannons they had was different.

Overwhelming firepower.

To Yusuf’s question of whether they could withstand it, the Sultan smiled leisurely.

“Padishah, aren’t you not in such a comfortable situation? If you use up all your gunpowder on us, how do you plan to get past Tabriz? Unless you plan to climb that fortress defended by cannons with your bodies, I won’t stop you.”

“The gunpowder will come with supplies, so you don’t have to worry. My country has enough gunpowder to burn your country as well.”

“Supplies. Supplies! Do you really think they will come?”

Yusuf’s expression hardened at the Sultan’s almost certain attitude.

“So Ismail is moving to cut off my supply lines.”

“You’re young, so your mind works quickly. Before you starve to death due to lack of food, it’s not too late to withdraw your troops now. Time is not on your side.”

“I see.”

If the supplies were completely cut off, they would have to retreat, abandoning the cities they had occupied on their way here.

They would have to retreat at least to Diyarbakir, and since it was already August, the year would practically pass in vain.

The war would be prolonged, and the burden would increase exponentially, so it would be dangerous if the supplies were cut off.

If the supplies were cut off.

Yusuf burst into laughter, and the Sultan’s face hardened as he sensed something was wrong.

“…What is so funny?”

“Sultan, isn’t it funny? The sight of you blindly believing that supplies will come through Dulkadir and Ramadan, which we occupied.”

The Sultan was shocked, and Yusuf stopped laughing.

“It was nice meeting you… But, perhaps because you are old, you are also bold. Have you not heard of my infamy?”

Before he could even ask back, Yusuf picked up the gun hanging on his horse and pulled the trigger.

*Taang!*

“Keuk!”

The Sultan, with a large hole in his chest, collapsed, and the shocked Mamluks drew their swords for revenge, but.

-*Tatatatang! Tang!*

The Silahdars’ gunfire quickly turned the meadow red, and Silahdar Agha beheaded the Sultan.

Yusuf glanced at the Sultan’s head, which hadn’t even closed its eyes properly, and shook off the blood splattered on his face.

“In your next life, don’t go out recklessly when bad people call you. Oh, and give my regards to your father.”

Yusuf coldly turned around and returned to the camp, and a pole was erected in front of the Ottoman army’s camp.

On the pole with the Sultan’s head, blood-stained hair fluttered like a flag.

***

Dust billowed up.

The camels silently pulled large carts with creaking wheels, and the nearly 2,000 soldiers transporting supplies held up torches even though dawn had broken.

The soldiers armed with matchlock guns, which used wicks instead of flint, needed torches.

As the soldiers, who had passed Diyarbakir and were moving towards Tabriz where the main force was, heard a scream-like shout.

-Enemy! Enemy attack!

A cavalryman who had gone on reconnaissance crossed a low hill and shouted madly, and behind him, a huge cloud of dust rose.

It was an attack by 20,000 Qizilbash [Safavid soldiers].

“E, enemy attack!”

The sound of drums awakening the spirit rang out, and the soldiers hurriedly lit the wicks with their torches.

The scout was swept away by the wave of Qizilbash and disappeared without a trace, and the Qizilbash holding bows arrived in front of them in an instant.

“Fire! Shoot!”

The Azabs [auxiliary Ottoman soldiers], who had volunteered during the war, opened fire as trained, even in the face of the deathly scent that wafted over them.

The hail of bullets melted the Qizilbash, but it was difficult to overcome the overwhelming numerical difference.

A rain of arrows fell on the heads of the soldiers who were trembling and raising their bayonets, and sharp blades pierced them as they panicked.

-Kill them all! They are the enemies who have trampled on the Shah’s land!

-No prisoners needed, kill them all!

It took only an hour for the Qizilbash, who rushed in like an angry wave, to send 2,000 Ottoman soldiers to Allah’s embrace.

Of course, the Qizilbash also suffered heavy casualties, with about 4,000 dead due to the bullets that penetrated two or three at a time.

The splattering blood moistened the earth, and Ustazlu, who arrived after Ismail, knelt down with a dark expression.

“Shah, Shahanshah [King of Kings]. This is a disaster.”

Unable to continue speaking properly as if he was devastated, Ismail hurriedly pulled back the cloth covering the cart.

All that filled the cart was a pile of hay.

-It’s hay here too!

-It’s here too!

All that was in front of them was horse feed.

No food for tens of thousands of people, no gunpowder or cannonballs essential for firing weapons, just horse feed.

Ismail grabbed the Ottoman soldier, who was still twitching without having died yet, by the collar and shouted with a distorted face.

“Other supplies! Where are the real supplies! Tell me now!”

“Keuheuheu, go, go find them. Keulkeul, wouldn’t they be somewhere in this wide prairie.”

“You son of a bitch!”

*Kwadeuk!*

Ismail smashed the soldier’s head with his fist until it was crushed, threw away the dangling corpse with its broken neck, and shouted.

“Find them now! We have to find the real supplies!”

“Yes, Shahanshah!”

Watching the soldiers scattering in all directions, Ismail gritted his teeth.

“Yusuf, where did you hide them!”

***

“You must have suffered a lot coming a long way.”

“Since the Padishah called, it is natural to come.”

Shemsi, Yusuf’s closest aide, greeted Saadet, the Khan of the Crimean Khanate, with a bright face.

It was Saadet who had departed from the Crimean Khanate and arrived in Georgia via the land of the Circassians.

There was no reason not to welcome him, who had arrived through difficult terrain under Yusuf’s orders.

Shemsi admired the 15,000 soldiers Saadet had brought.

“They are excellent soldiers who are reassuring just to look at.”

“They are the pride of our Crimean Khanate.”

The cavalrymen of the Crimean Khanate, who had received more troops in return for not receiving taxes as a vassal state, were elites trained in looting and war.

Their eyes shone brightly even after the harsh march, and a sharp aura flowed out as if they could cut with a touch.

“You have come all the way here with great difficulty, but it seems you won’t have time to properly relieve your fatigue.”

“Resting while moving with supplies is enough, so there is nothing to worry about.”

“I feel relieved that you say so. Hassan!”

At Shemsi’s call, Hassan, exhausted, nodded.

“Preparations for departure are complete.”

Carts filled with food transported through the Black Sea and gunpowder produced using the saltpeter fields created in Georgia filled the prairie.

Saadet was slightly impressed by the sight, which was on a different level from when they were moving with looted goods, and said.

“The Padishah is also amazing. The enemies would never have imagined that you would move supplies from Georgia to Tabriz.”

“He is a scary person.”

Shemsi nodded heavily.

He deliberately allowed those who reached out to the Ottoman Empire to be caught by Ismail, solidifying the Safavid influence in Armenia.

It was a sacrifice to reassure them that they would not have the capacity to transport supplies through the northern lands of Safavid, which had become completely enemy territory with the small number of troops in Georgia.

‘In addition, he forcefully conquered Ramadan to blind Ismail.’

To make them mistakenly believe that they had occupied it to transport supplies.

Naturally, the thought that they would transport supplies through the Black Sea and Georgia would have disappeared.

‘This operation would not have been possible if we had not absorbed Circassia and Georgia before.’

Because if the support troops from the Crimean Khanate had come through Kostantiniyye [Constantinople], they would have been caught for sure.

He was even starting to feel afraid of Yusuf, who had planned this.

“Ismail, who thought he had laid a trap, will soon realize.”

That the trap in which he would die was laid inside the trap he had set.