Became The Sultan Of The Ottoman Empire [EN]: Chapter 92

Wearing a Mask of Fury (1)

Early cannons were more dangerous to the operators behind them than to the enemies in front. They were closer to weapons that startled enemies with sound rather than killing them.

Conversely, to enemies unfamiliar with gunpowder, the sound of cannons, even if they were just blanks, served as a weapon.

This explains the shock of the soldiers who turned their heads at the roar that swallowed the fierce siege warfare, watching Samtskhe’s fleet being sucked into the sea by the explosion.

It was like divine punishment.

The thunderous noise awakened the soldiers, who had been frozen as if time had stopped due to the shock to their hearing and sight.

“They are our allies! The Padishah [Ottoman Sultan] has come to save us!”

“Take heart! The Sultan has arrived!”

The Trabzon defenders, who had been desperately holding on, cheered at the commander’s cry, while the Qizilbash [Shia militant group], who thought they had victory in sight, fell into confusion.

Even Ismail, who prided himself on his strong mentality, felt disoriented by the sudden turn of events.

“Why is the enemy fleet here! What about the Venetians!”

The Ottoman fleet, not other reinforcements, should not have been here.

They were supposed to be at war with the Western fleets, including Venice.

He had even received a report that the enemy fleet had departed from Kostantiniyye [Istanbul], so he couldn’t understand why they were here.

“Shah-i-Shayan [King of Kings]! This is not the time for that! Give the order!”

“You must give the order!”

At the cries of Mohammad and the other commanders, Ismail regained his composure.

As they said, there was no time to waste foolishly.

‘There are three options that immediately come to mind.’

The first was to achieve the objective by breaking through the half-collapsed inner castle in this window of opportunity, even though the enemy fleet was right in front of them. However, it would take quite some time for the enemy soldiers to disembark.

This was immediately rejected because it could easily become like being a rat in a trap.

The second was to face the enemies coming down from the fleet. The number of troops would be about the same, but…

‘This won’t work.’

Although the numbers were similar, they were exhausted from the continuous siege warfare.

Moreover, they were armed with gunpowder, so at best, it would only lead to mutual destruction, and in the end, there was only one option left.

Ismail gritted his teeth and shouted.

“…Retreat!”

“Retreat! Beat the drums! Retreat!”

Following Ismail’s order, the sound of drums signaling a retreat rang out, and the Qizilbash, who had been clinging to the castle, hurriedly fled.

As the enemies retreated, cheers erupted from Trabzon Castle.

“If only we had one more day.”

If so, he could have planted his flag in Trabzon and wouldn’t have had to run away so pathetically.

Ismail, staring at Trabzon with bloodshot eyes as if to engrave it in his mind, called out one person’s name.

“Manushehr!”

“Yes, Shah-i-Shayan.”

The man, knowing why his name was called, politely paid his respects.

“I will give you a thousand troops. Stop the enemies.”

“I understand. I will light the way for Shah to advance.”

Manushehr, who received his role in a heavy voice, stared at the face of his master, whom he would never see again in this world, for a while before turning his body.

It was a mission tantamount to suicide, and it was not a mission that could be entrusted to someone with shallow loyalty.

Feeling the pain of losing an arm, Ismail looked at the approaching fleet.

He didn’t know who was on board, and he wasn’t sure if Yusuf was there, but it felt like their eyes met.

“Don’t think this is the end, Yusuf.”

Because this is just a preliminary skirmish.

***

Yusuf watched the enemy army moving further away from the flagship Karak with sunken eyes.

As expected of the Qizilbash, who had been trained through countless battles, even their retreat on horseback was orderly.

While Yusuf was watching the retreating enemies, the commander-in-chief of the Janissaries [elite Ottoman infantry] approached and knelt.

“I have committed a crime worthy of death, Padishah! I have let the enemy escape in vain!”

“It is done. I have been watching with my own eyes.”

Unfortunately, although there were 20,000 soldiers on board the fleet, there was not a single horse.

To put a horse on board, ten soldiers had to get off the ship.

Although many enemies had died due to the fierce siege warfare, there were still more than 20,000, and there were not enough horses to chase them.

He should have grabbed their ankles before they got on their horses, but.

‘The Qizilbash are still the Qizilbash.’

The enemies, putting up a desperate struggle to buy time, were so persistent that they even fired cannons at the harbor, and it was inevitable that they would miss the main force.

The remaining remnants were waging street battles to burn their last lives, and screams and shouts were still heard within Trabzon Castle as they were being wiped out.

“Padishah, the cleanup is complete.”

Quite some time had passed since Ismail left, leaving behind dust, and Yusuf, hearing that all the enemies had been wiped out after thoroughly searching the city, got off the ship.

“The damage is great.”

The ramparts, which had been repeatedly reinforced, were in a terrible state of collapse, and the buildings he had seen countless times were destroyed.

Those who had died defending, showing how desperately they had held out, filled the huge open space.

Following the path where the central army that came with him was standing guard, he reached the inner castle where blood had not yet dried.

“We greet the Padishah!”

“We greet the Padishah!”

As Arda, at the head, knelt and paid his respects, the soldiers and citizens who had come out to the castle gate awkwardly followed suit.

Showing how fierce the battle had been, Arda’s face, who was a commander, had a long scar, and most of the soldiers were wrapped in bandages with blood seeping out.

“You have worked hard.”

“No, I have only done what I had to do.”

Yusuf, who lightly patted Arda’s shoulder to commend him, looked at those who were glancing up, watching his mood.

Daring to look at the Sultan’s face carelessly was a crime punishable by severe punishment, but in their memories, Yusuf was more of a Sanjakbey [local governor] who had spent a long time with them than a Sultan.

Not disliking the feeling that they wanted to see his face after a long time, Yusuf shouted loudly.

“Everyone, raise your heads!”

With the order, Yusuf, finally making eye contact with the citizens who raised their heads, declared.

“I swear to Allah, the enemy’s feet will never touch this Trabzon Castle again! Everyone has worked hard!”

At these words, some burst into tears, thinking that the terrible time was finally over, while others recalled their families and acquaintances who had died in this battle.

Cheers and tears mixed and echoed in Trabzon Castle, and Yusuf moved his heavy steps, listening to the sound.

Because he wanted to meet those who had risked their lives to protect this place.

The evacuees were packed inside the inner castle, and Yusuf, leaving words of comfort, set foot in the castle where he had stayed for a long time.

“We greet the Padishah.”

“It’s been a while. Nene and Hassan.”

In the meantime, wrinkles had slightly increased on Nene’s face, and Hassan had lost more weight despite being newly married.

“It is an honor to see you in such good health.”

“I’m glad you’re both okay. Especially, Nene. If you had been hurt, I would have had no face to see my mother.”

“It is thanks to your kindness.”

Nene, who smiled softly, carefully moved her body to the side, and behind her, three women walked gracefully.

“Pa, Padishah.”

“Come here.”

Yusuf, gesturing to the two women who called him in trembling voices, lightly hugged Aisha and Hatice.

Yusuf, who lightly patted the backs of the two women, looked down at the child who was raising her small face between them.

“Hasna.”

“Kyaheu?”

Yusuf carefully received Hasna, who was blinking her round eyes and looking up.

He had hugged his sons, Mehmet and Murat, to his heart’s content before, but the feeling of holding his daughter Hasna in his arms was completely different.

Making eye contact with the eyes that resembled himself and Aisha, he naturally smiled slightly.

‘Is it because she is not the child who will take my place?’

It was a strange feeling.

It was enough to make him understand the heart of Suleiman, who took his daughter Mahrimah with him on every expedition and cherished her.

“I am your father.”

“Ah? Ah!”

Did she even understand these words?

Yusuf, who lightly patted Hasna’s back as she giggled and rubbed her cheek, handed the child back to Aisha.

He wanted to spend more time with his daughter, whom he had met for the first time since she was born, but he didn’t have the time.

“Shemsi Pasha!”

“Yes, Padishah!”

Shemsi, who had come in place of the Grand Vizier who had to fill the Sultan’s vacancy in the capital, knelt down, and Yusuf, who had a chilling look on his face, ordered.

“Summon the army.”

***

Ddeudeukdeudeuk!

As the water mill turned, the perforating machine connected to the gears began to cut through the thick steel.

It was the process of creating a cannon with uniform holes, and it was the result of Tahir and him racking their brains for a long time.

A low voice was heard in Suleiman’s ear, who was clenching his fists and watching the scene.

“Is this the thing my father ordered?”

At the voice that had not yet passed puberty, Suleiman paid his respects.

“I greet Shehzade [Prince] Mehmet.”

“There is no need to take such excessive courtesy. We are of the same blood.”

Suleiman, facing the calm green eyes, felt a chill down his spine.

Because those eyes resembled him, who had given him both warmth and despair.

As if it didn’t matter how Suleiman felt about him, Mehmet smiled brightly and stared blankly at the scene of the cannon being made.

Suleiman, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the silence, opened his mouth to Mehmet first.

“Is the prince not worried about Aisha Hatun?”

“Worried? Why wouldn’t I be worried about my mother and my younger sibling? But, since my father has gone, it would be unnecessary worry.”

Suleiman found this answer frightening.

Worry was in the realm of emotion, and no matter how rationally one thought so, it could not be easily suppressed.

Those words meant that reason was completely controlling emotion, and as he realized that anew, Suleiman felt fear and a desire to test this child.

“Then does Padishah think that all danger will be over if he only rescues Trabzon?”

Mehmet, staring intently at Suleiman as if to guess what he was thinking, replied.

“No, rather, if things go wrong, we could fall into even greater danger in the future. Depending on my father’s choice.”

“What do you mean?”

“The danger that Shah Ismail has set up is not the end. Suleiman Pasha, didn’t you judge so too?”

Suleiman, feeling goosebumps at the mere 7-year-old’s remark, nodded heavily.

“If Padishah is greatly angered by this incident and invades the Safavids, it will become an irreversible situation.”

“Because it is a war without proper supplies.”

When defending as now, one does not have to pay much attention to supplies, but if attacking, the story was different.

If the Ottoman army were to be trapped in a bottomless pit if they used supplies that were not properly prepared, prolonged supply lines, and even a scorched-earth tactic so that they could not fill the supplies with plunder.

“If it is my father, he will judge rationally even if he is angry.”

If one looks through history books, there were countless cases where rulers experienced great defeats due to momentary emotions, but there was firm belief in Mehmet’s words.

A belief that Yusuf would not follow such a path.

“Then thankfully, you will not attack.”

Suleiman said as if he had relieved his worries, and Mehmet replied firmly.

“No, not attacking and only buying time for the enemy is what the mediocre do. It is not the answer.”

At Suleiman’s puzzled gaze, Mehmet raised the corners of his lips.

“My father will match his tricks.”

So that it gnaws at his insides.

***

“Padishah! An attack without proper supplies is dangerous!”

“I know, so you don’t need to worry. I’m not that stupid. Shemsi Pasha.”

“Yes, Padishah.”

“I command you. Let it be known throughout the Ottoman Empire. Declare that the enraged Padishah will conquer Georgia and the Safavids.”

Shemsi smiled at the order, which was different from what he had said earlier.

“Are you going to wear a mask of fury?”

“That’s right. I need to make Ismail tremble with fear.”

To the extent that he would preemptively choose a scorched-earth tactic, burning his own land out of fear.

Yusuf’s green eyes were filled with murderous intent.

“To do so, I will thoroughly trample Georgia.”

The traitor’s end has been decided.