Became The Sultan Of The Ottoman Empire [EN]: Chapter 36

#36. Clash (2)

Living as Yusuf, I’ve come to realize there are many peculiar people in this era.

Abadan received the full brunt of the plundered people’s anger, just as he had warned, and was beheaded in a tattered state.

In the Confucian East, the less the body is damaged, the lighter the punishment, but in the West, the less painful beheading was considered the most lenient punishment.

He was beheaded in one swift motion by a sword, which they considered more honorable than an axe, so it was a decent end for him.

‘He must have had a hard time understanding until his last moment.’

It was hard to understand how he could die without regret, claiming it was a better choice, and how he could remain calm until the moment of his death, even while being told to die immediately amidst the raging anger.

He even smiled at me, the one who created this situation, asking me to take care of things afterward.

Yusuf, feeling annoyed by the head hanging as a public display with a faint smile, said to the guard.

“Give that head to Ahun; I don’t want to see it.”

He knows the burial grounds here well, so he’ll take care of burying it.

As Yusuf turned around after giving the order, Arda asked.

“Are you really thinking of building a fortress?”

“Yes, it’s something we need to do anyway.”

It’s not like I’m some *nouveau riche* [newly rich person] thinking of building a fortress just because I have a lot of cement and I’m bored.

No matter how much we have, there are plenty of places to use it. At the very least, we could use it to significantly increase the height of the Erzurum fortress walls.

Returning to the castle, Yusuf spread out a map.

“By occupying the two targeted cities, we can significantly limit the paths into our territory.”

Rajistan and Trabzon had long borders with the White Sheep Dynasty in a long, narrow shape.

Of course, there’s a reason for these strange borders: there are mountain ranges to the south of both territories.

Even Rize, the main city of Rajistan, is derived from the Greek word Riza, meaning foothills, and there’s a 4,000-meter mountain to the south.

‘Still, the long border was always a burden, but occupying the two cities in the highlands has greatly reduced the risk.’

Arda looked puzzled at Yusuf’s words.

“Then there’s no need to build more.”

“That’s true if we only think about the present. If we succeed in defending Erzurum, how will they react? Do you think they’ll just give up and accept it?”

There’s no way they would.

To summarize Ismail, he’s the embodiment of confident ambition.

He’s not the type to stay quiet after having his things taken away.

“Even if they don’t attempt to occupy it, they’ll try to harass us with small-scale raids.”

That’s how countries that mainly use cavalry operate. Even the Ottomans used raider units called *akinji* [irregular light cavalry] in Europe.

In fact, Ismail liked to use the Shia within the Ottoman Empire to cause trouble.

“So you’re saying you’ll block the paths?”

“Yes, it’ll be more like a gate than a fortress. There’s no need to build it high. It’ll do its job just by buying time or spotting the enemy first and alerting nearby cities.”

We shouldn’t confuse the purpose with the means.

Even if those small-scale defense facilities are taken, we can always reclaim them as long as the surrounding cities are intact.

“If that’s the case, it might be good to build them in several places.”

Because the surrounding area is mountainous, there were only a limited number of roads that could be traveled by horses, and we could build three or four gates at the same time on narrow roads.

Since Arda acknowledged the validity, we could discuss it with the other commanders and proceed.

“Hakan will like it the most.”

The region that would benefit the most from the installation of the gates was Rajistan.

“I’ll have to squeeze some loot out of them in return.”

It’s like defense burden sharing.

The loot distributed to the commanders was more substantial than I thought, so they could at least pay for the cement.

Soon after, we were able to obtain a decent side income.

***

“Have you heard the story of the death of the lord of Idir?”

“It’s unfortunate. He was a great help, but to think he’d go so futilely.”

He shook his head as if he were sad, but his face was full of smiles.

There’s no need to feel guilty about the death of a leader of an enemy country.

“Moreover, it’s hard to call it an unfair death. It’s true that we deliberately let the rumors we spread circulate.”

He couldn’t have not known about the rumors circulating under his name, and it was right to see him as walking a tightrope between the existing White Sheep Dynasty rulers and Ismail.

He probably didn’t think he’d lose his life, but the result was his head hanging on the gates of Idir.

No matter how much we talk about it, he was a man whose death didn’t matter.

“Where do you think the Shia will move next?”

“I don’t know.”

He’s working as an informant, but he’s not very knowledgeable.

The large force to the east of the capital was completely destroyed in the recent war, and the force, which had grown to 15,000, could move anywhere.

“Wouldn’t they occupy Erzincan first, which they can easily take?”

Erzincan is where 7,000 *Qizilbash* [Shia militants] warriors who believed in Ismail and the Shia gathered a few years ago.

The reason they gathered there was because it was the most remote territory, and because it bordered the Ottoman Empire, they had to move first if they didn’t want to lose it like Erzurum.

“Then Erzurum will be safe for a while.”

If they occupied Erzincan and advanced to Erzurum, winter would come in the middle of the siege.

Saying they’d wage a siege in the region with the most snowfall in Anatolia was no different from saying they’d freeze to death.

It was reasonable enough, but the man looked slightly uneasy.

“I don’t think they’ll go that easily.”

The man, who was chosen as an informant solely because of his good intuition, sensed a faint smell of blood.

This feeling became a reality with the words of a group who rode in urgently.

“Five thousand Qizilbash have separated from the main force! The remaining forces have headed towards Erzurum, but the Qizilbash are moving northeast.”

The intention was to shake the rear with the Qizilbash and attack Erzurum.

At the more aggressive movement than expected, the man shouted urgently.

“Send a homing pigeon! The enemies are coming.”

The Qizilbash were a monstrous group of warriors who had won twice against 30,000 troops with only 7,000.

Even if Shah Ismail wasn’t there, it was enough to sweep through the rear, and we had to pull out the troops holding out in Erzurum.

“Can we win?”

The man chuckled.

“To be honest, I don’t think our prince will lose. Is he an ordinary person? He’ll find a way somehow.”

“Indeed, even those *sipahi* [Ottoman cavalry] are helpless in front of the prince.”

They began to talk boisterously, listing the prince’s heroic deeds.

As if shaking off their worries.

***

The construction of the gates was smoother than expected.

It was easy to obtain the necessary stone and wood because the surrounding area was mountainous, and manpower could be conscripted from nearby villages.

Yusuf exempted them from one year’s worth of taxes in exchange for conscription.

‘It was hard to collect taxes from small villages anyway because there were no officials to send.’

Of course, it was possible if I was determined to collect them, but thanks to the Sultan’s grace, my pockets were full, so there was no need to be obsessed with such small change.

It was a kind of show of goodwill, but those who were conscripted called it benevolent. Conscription was something where you were lucky if you came back with all your limbs intact, let alone receive compensation.

While everything was proceeding smoothly, the homing pigeon that flew in was enough to shake Erzurum.

“Five thousand Qizilbash, huh.”

Homing pigeons, which are pigeons used for communication, only go one way because they use their homing instinct, and there was a high possibility of them getting lost.

It was lucky that it arrived without any problems, but it wasn’t very good news.

“How long do you think it will take for the Qizilbash to arrive?”

“It depends on which road they use, but if they’re coming with looting in mind, we’ll have about two weeks to spare.”

It’s true that horses are the fastest means of transportation, but horses are still living creatures.

If they kept changing horses and advancing, they could arrive incredibly quickly, but if they were thinking of returning after looting, they would move while giving the horses enough rest.

“That’s not a lot of time. What about the 8,000 troops coming to take Erzurum?”

“I don’t think it’ll take a month.”

Since the gap between the two was only two weeks, Ismail meant for me to choose one or the other.

Whether to hand over Erzurum or just watch my territory get looted.

‘He’s not an easy man after all.’

It was clear that he had no intention of handing over Erzurum nicely, and he knew that the Ottoman central army wouldn’t be mobilized for me.

Of course, the Sultan, stimulated by the looting more than expected, might move the central army.

‘Then he’ll carry out a scorched-earth tactic.’

The scorched-earth tactic of deliberately devastating the west to hinder local supply was a tactic that Ismail later used against Selim, and Selim almost lost without even fighting.

Even with these countermeasures, it was a bold move.

While Yusuf was contemplating, Hakan, the *sanjakbey* [governor] of Rajistan, said in an uneasy tone.

“Erzurum is an important strategic point, but it’s not more important than our territory.”

“I know. Of course, we have to stop them.”

If Trabzon were to be devastated, we wouldn’t be able to recover the damage even by the end of the succession war. Even if we had the supplies, the reduced population wouldn’t be easily recovered.

Ahun interrupted the conversation with Hakan in an angry tone.

“Then does that mean we’re abandoning Erzurum?!”

Even if we used all the mobilized troops, it wouldn’t be easy to stop the 5,000 Qizilbash, so it was understandable that Ahun would think that way.

It was strange if he wasn’t upset because Abadan’s sacrifice would be in vain, and Yusuf raised one hand.

“Calm down. Who said we’re giving up Erzurum?”

Occupying and defending Erzurum was important.

We can ensure the safety of Bayburt and the rear area, and we can even covet Erzincan.

Even if we block a few roads in the middle, Erzincan is close enough to Erzurum to be isolated.

‘If we defend well this time, it’s definitely possible.’

So I had no intention of handing over Erzurum, and Yusuf didn’t feel that the current situation was so bad.

While everyone had a dark complexion, Yusuf smiled.

“I don’t know why you’re all thinking so seriously. I think it’s a good thing.”

At Yusuf’s words, the others looked puzzled.

“I mean, it would have been harder if they had rushed at us all at once. Why wouldn’t I be grateful that they’re dividing their troops on their own?”

The cavalry currently stationed in Erzurum is 4,300, including 500 from Cherkess, and the infantry is 2,500 because we left 500 in Bayburt.

Originally, there were about 500 soldiers stationed in Erzurum.

“While 3,000 soldiers are holding out against 10,000 besiegers, all we have to do is catch the Qizilbash with the cavalry we pulled out and the soldiers we left in the rear.”

“It’s not as easy as it sounds.”

If we’re not careful, we could just get dragged around and waste time.

But that’s when there are no gates.

“If we just block the path to Artvin, the Qizilbash will have to come through the road where we installed the gates.”

Artvin is the easternmost territory of Rajistan and is located on the path.

“But we don’t have the troops to block Artvin.”

“If we don’t have them, we can borrow the necessary troops.”

Yusuf, answering Hakan, said to Arda.

“Contact Mzetchabuk. Tell him to block Artvin with the troops we promised.”

“Understood.”

If we have a connection, we should use it.

Those who didn’t know that there was a close connection with the Principality of Samtskhe were surprised, and Yusuf smiled brightly.