It is located in the northwest of the Anatolian Plateau on the Asia Minor Peninsula.
This is the place where the decisive battle between the Ottoman Empire and the Timurid Empire took place.
It was also the pinnacle showdown between the two empires in the thirteenth century in history.
Timur paid great attention to this battle. After all, the Ottoman Empire now has the reputation of professional jihad, and its monarch Bayezid I also has the reputation of "Thunder".
The key to fighting is speed.
The current Ottoman Empire is the master of the Yin Sect. Anyone who goes against the Ottoman Empire will be the enemy of the Yin Sect world.
For the current Eurasian continent, this is the leading hegemon.
Outside Ankara, a large number of slaves belonging to Timur were digging the earth in full swing under the supervision of Timur's soldiers.
"Grandpa is really amazing. I have never thought of such a method."
Pirma Heima sighed and said to Shaharu next to him.
Regarding the importance of this battle, except for Khalil, the son of Miran Shah, who could not come because he was fighting in the Delhi Sultanate, other important figures of the Timur family basically arrived.
"Thanks to the cement you got from Daming. In such weather, it only takes two days to firm it up and cut off the water flow very well."
"When the Ottoman Empire's army arrives, there will be no water to drink."
Shaharul said with a smile.
They are now adhering to Timur's order and arranging slave armies to cut off the water of the Ubuq River and pour it into another place.
When the Ottoman army comes, the water source will be lost.
Many people think that Mongolians like Timur are very rude. In fact, the current Timur Empire can develop to such a huge extent, which is completely inseparable from Timur's political and war wisdom.
Timur and Zhu Yuanzhang themselves are the most powerful founding emperors in this century.
It's just that Timur did not have a cultural inheritance to accumulate, and the situation in Central Asia was more complicated than that of the Ming Dynasty. There were many conflicts between ethnic groups, and he himself had no successors. Only after Timur's death did the empire collapse.
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Heirs are the most critical foundation for an empire or dynasty.
"Although grandpa values the Ottoman Empire, he doesn't think these Turks can have much influence on us. With our current army, even if we can't defeat one place, we can retreat immediately."
"It is already in an invincible position, and with so many measures in place, what can the Ottoman Empire do to fight us."
"It's just that I feel that grandpa seems to be more interested in the East."
Pierma Heima said to Shaharu in some distress.
Because of his fondness for Daming, Pi'erma Heima didn't want to have a direct conflict with Daming. He felt that if he went to fight Daming, there might be some bad consequences.
But in Grandpa's recent military preparations, it can be clearly seen that preparations are being made for the Ming Dynasty.
Even though the decisive battle with the Ottoman Empire is about to begin, Samarkand is still preparing for the war in the east.
This means that Grandpa already thinks that Osman can be defeated.
Shaharul shook his head gently: "These are not things we can change. Let us do whatever father arranges. No one can go against his wishes."
As Timur's fourth son, Shaharul knew very well his father's character, or wishes.
Restoring the once huge Mongol Empire and reviving the glory of Genghis Khan has always been my father's concern.
The Timurid Empire and the Ming Dynasty will eventually face off.
Listening to his fourth uncle's words, Pi'erma Heima could only sigh helplessly.
As the second grandson, he had very little right to speak. In addition to his noble status, he did not even have many relatives' troops. Naturally, he had no way to change his grandfather Timur's mind.
The Ottoman Empire was different from Timur's nomads. Although there were a lot of cavalry, the main force was still infantry.
The long march brought great fatigue to the Ottoman Empire, and it could only advance slowly and step by step.
"Your Majesty, according to the intelligence passed from the front, Timur's troops are almost all cavalry, and the so-called infantry are just slaves forcibly recruited from various places."
"For them, no matter how many slaves they lose, they don't care. The powerful cavalry has very high mobility, and our infantry cannot defend well."
"We are about to approach Ankara. Would your Majesty consider building fortifications first? If we are attacked by Timur's cavalry, we can retreat to the mountains."
"The weather will get hot soon. The hot temperatures will slow down Timur's cavalry and give us more opportunities."
At the Ottoman military council, a general expressed his thoughts.
As soon as he finished speaking, the commander who once besieged Constantinople laughed at him and said, "Cole, are you frightened by the barbaric Mongols, or have you forgotten the glory of the empire?"
"Our strength is recognized by the entire world. Even in Europe, no country can resist the powerful Ottoman Empire."
"Why bother? The soldiers of the powerful Ottoman Empire can cut off all obstacles and kill the enemies standing in front of them by just waving their swords."
"You will only lose the confidence of our soldiers."
The commander's words made the entire military council roar with filial piety.
The past invincibility made everyone very proud, thinking that no enemy could stop the powerful Ottoman Empire.
Even Bayezid I, who was sitting at the top, very much recognized the idea of the commander-in-chief.
Cole was just an ordinary general among the cavalry commanders. Seeing such a scene, he could only lower his head in silence.
Bayezid I proudly looked at all the military commanders present, and finally made the decision to attack Ankara directly.
He wants to defeat Timur as quickly as possible and make the whole world worthy of his title of "Thunder".
The ideal is very full, but the reality is too skinny.
The slap in the face came so quickly that Bayezid I didn't even react.
The battle soon started with Timur's cavalry attack.
The Ottoman army never found any trace of Timur's main cavalry. Timur used the high mobility of the cavalry and the way the Mongols slept on horses to secretly make a large circle to the southwest, where the Ottoman army had once been stationed.
Place to camp.
It cut off the Ottoman logistics, recovered their tents, and occupied the surrounding precious water sources.
Bayezid divided the army into three parts. The center army was a powerful army dominated by his own Janissary Guards and Sipasi cavalry. The two wings were dominated by Serbian cavalry and Asia Minor and Tatar mercenaries.
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Among them, the Serbian cavalry was commanded by their ally Stefan, and the weaker mercenary side was commanded by Prince Suleiman. Tamerlane, who had the numerical advantage, arranged the formation oppositely, and put the strong elephant soldiers tit-for-tat against Bayese.
The position of the special army.
But taken together, the Ottomans, who lost their water source, lacked rest and lacked numbers, were already at a disadvantage before the battle.
The Serbian cavalry and Wallachian troops on the left wing successfully repelled Timur's attack and destroyed the enemy's position three times. The heavy black plate armor of the Serbian cavalry allowed them to effectively resist Timur's bow.
However, after the water supply was cut off, the Tatar mercenaries on the right suddenly rebelled, and together with Timur's Tatar cavalry, they counterattacked the Ottomans, causing a major collapse of the battle line.
It turned out that Timur had already paid a huge price to instigate the Tatar mercenaries of Bayezid I to rebel.
These mercenaries from the grasslands have no faith at all. As long as the price offered is high enough, they will follow anyone.
In comparison, even if you defeat Timur, you may not be able to get much wealth.
But if you rebel against the Ottomans, the reward will be more than ten times what they are now.
The Ottoman Empire, which defeated the European coalition and besieged Constantinople, had huge wealth, but this wealth had little to do with the Tatar mercenaries.
Of course, it has a lot to do with it now.
Even at this time, the proud Bayezid I refused to admit his failure. His strong ego made him unable to bear this blow.
Especially thinking about the diplomatic rhetoric he had with Timur, it made the current Bayezid I feel even more ashamed.
Therefore, he rejected Stefan's several requests to retreat. In desperation, he agreed to let Prince Suleiman evacuate first, and at the same time let the Serbs continue to join the Chinese army, fighting while retreating.
The legendary Serbian cavalry finally miraculously fought their way out and evacuated. However, the infantry-based Bayezid army was forced to the mountains and was besieged by the Timurids.
After his mount was shot by a bow, Bayezid I was unfortunately captured by Timur.
The duel between the two empires ended so hastily in less than three months.
When the news reached Europe, the whole of Europe fell silent.
The Turks, who were arrogant on the European continent, and the military god Bayezid I, who was famously known as the "Thunder", was directly captured by Timur.
This is as absurd as a fantasy.
But the facts cannot be questioned.
Without the rule of Bayezid I, conflicts within the Ottoman Empire suddenly broke out.
Because there was no designated heir, many Turkish nobles with inheritance rights began to fight among themselves.
Faced with the huge price imposed by the Ottoman Empire, Timur scoffed.
Naturally, he would not be stupid enough to let Bayezid I return home, but he also did not intend to kill him. Instead, he would remain imprisoned in a cell in Samarkand to let the world understand the power of Timur's empire.
"Why did grandpa refuse my proposal? Now is the best opportunity. The Ottoman Empire is leaderless and a large amount of land can be accepted as long as our army passes by."
"But why, why does grandpa want to set his sights on the east?"
Pi'erma Heima complained in great distress.
Because after winning the victory, Timur did not let his army occupy a large amount of Ottoman territory.
In addition to direct rule in some border areas, they began to prepare for the march to the east.
This made Pierma Heima very confused.
Although Shaharul is Pierma Heima's uncle, he is about the same age as him, so the relationship between the two has always been good.
"Although the Ottoman Empire is in chaos now, their local forces are still there. If my father wants to occupy the Ottoman Empire, it will cost a lot of energy."
"The most important thing is that this way there is no way to worry about the East. In contrast, it is obvious that my father wants to go East more."
Shaharul points out the key.
The territory of the Ottoman Empire is larger than that of Timur. If you want to completely annex the Ottoman Empire, it will not be something that can be completed in a short time.
The Ottoman Empire was mainly composed of Turks, so in the face of Timur's invasion, they would definitely rise up to resist.
Strong external pressure will also force the Ottoman Empire to unite again.
This kind of pulling is not something that can be completed in one or two years, at least it starts with ten years.
Today is the 30th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, 1397 in the Western calendar.
Timur, who was born in 1336, is already sixty-one years old this year.
Considering that the average life expectancy in Central Asia is less than fifty, such an age is already considered a very long life.
Now Timur had two choices before him.
Should he continue to march towards the Ottoman Empire and continuously expand the territory of his empire, or should he fulfill his dream and become the second Genghis Khan?
In fact, for Timur, there was nothing to consider at all.
Because he felt that his descendants could defeat the Ottomans, but things were different in the East.
But if he doesn't conquer the east now, he will regret it even if he is buried in the ground.
Under Timur's order, a large number of soldiers began to gather towards the eastern border.
Because of the news from the Sultan of Delhi, Khalil did not achieve the victory he expected. Instead, he suffered considerable losses due to the addition of Mongolian mercenaries.
At present, the army is trapped in the Indus River area and cannot advance.
This made Timur very angry and decided to conquer the Sultan of Delhi himself.
Moreover, at this time, the Ming Dynasty's ocean-going fleet had already arrived in the Gulf of Siam, indicating that it would soon cross the Strait of Malacca.
Once it crosses the Strait of Malacca, the Ming Dynasty's ocean-going fleet will be able to affect the Indian region.
Timur knew very well how powerful the Ming Dynasty was.
If the countries in the South Indian region unite under the call of the Ming Dynasty, they will pose a great threat to the Timurid Empire that already controls the North Indian region.
Although the Timurid Empire was very powerful, it did not have many armies at sea, and all its power was concentrated on land.
Moreover, if the Ming Dynasty's ocean-going fleet crosses the Andaman Sea, it can directly reach the coast of the Timurid Empire.
This situation is not good news for the Timurid Empire, which is currently fighting on all sides.
Quickly mobilizing troops to occupy Delhi Sultan is Timur's most urgent priority at the moment.