The army rested in Abyssinia for a few days. The ships were repaired and the food supplies were replenished. Wendi also persuaded King Dawit I to give him thousands of captured prisoners of the Ifat Sultanate as gifts.
The people, everything was ready, and led the army to Egypt. Naturally, Wen Di also took Zhang Tan and Sophia with him. Of course, Zhang Tan didn't know why the couple was taken along, and Sophia couldn't tell, and was very frightened.
He quickly asked the person who brought him here. But the person who brought him here didn't know why, which made him even more uneasy.
The Ming army landed at the port of Sefaj on the Red Sea coast, then moved west to seize Qena, and then attacked north along the Nile River; just one day after the Ming army landed, the Allied Forces, mainly Castilian mercenaries,
Landed west of Alexandria and marched toward Alexandria along the coastline.
Facing the two-sided attack between the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty and the Afghan Allied Forces, Sultan Tata I of the Mamluk Kingdom repeatedly discussed with other slave-born generals and decided to divide the country's most powerful army into two parts. One part was arranged to fight the Afghan Allied Forces in the north.
Part of it was arranged in the south to resist the Ming army's attack.
However, the plan is just a plan after all. Because the place where the Union Army is marching is sparsely populated and lacks water, the troops arranged in the north are not even able to obtain supplies from the local area and can only rely on ships to transport them. Therefore, they do not take the initiative to fight but instead garrison.
In Alexandria, the area to the south where the Ming army wants to attack is densely populated and has sufficient water resources, so it can theoretically fight; but since defeating Timur ten years ago, the Ming army has left all the Tianfang countries with an invincible legacy.
The impression that the Battle of India more than two years ago dispelled the illusion that the Ming army's combat effectiveness was declining, which made all the slave generals of the Mamluk country unwilling to let their soldiers go to war; as for driving the local army composed of local people to fight,
It's not that the people in the places where the Ming army was going to attack didn't want to fight, so there were only a few soldiers that could be sent out each time. Facing the Ming army with strong combat effectiveness, they were just used as transport brigade.
Therefore, the final result of the mutual compromise was to only defend the city and not fight in the field. Since the city of Sohag had fallen, the army defended the city of Asyut.
The Ming army did not advance very quickly. Wen Di did not seem to be in a hurry to reach Cairo and moved north along the Nile River at a very slow speed. Everywhere the Ming army went, they would collect food and people from the local area. This is not surprising.
But the strange thing is that any village that the Ming army passed by, or even nearby villages, would become quiet after the Ming army left.
It took Cao Xing nearly two months to lead his troops from the city of Qena to the north to the cities of Fayoum and Beni Suweif. Because the Mamluks were huddled in the city, there was no need for them to march and station outside the city.
They were worried about encountering groups of enemy troops; and with the help of more than a dozen cannons unloaded from the ship, the casualties in the siege were not large. By the time they arrived at Fayoum and Beni Suef, the total casualties were less than 500.
people. Among them, the losses caused by the common people were far greater than those by the Mamluk army.
At the same time, the Fu soldiers in the north also made progress. After a hard battle, the Castilians broke into Alexandria and slaughtered all the Tianfang religious residents in the city. Even the Cross believers killed many by mistake. Some Tianfang believers were desperate.
A fire was set in the city, turning this port with a history of more than 1,700 years into ruins. This made His Majesty Ferdinand I, who personally led the troops to fight, feel very regretful, but the following knights and mercenaries from all over the world
They were very satisfied with their bulging pockets and their morale was high. They wanted to rush into Cairo and plunder again.
Under this situation, the Allied forces rested in Alexandria for three days and then marched towards Cairo. They successively captured the cities of Damanhur, Tanta and Benha, and also approached the north of Cairo, less than a hundred miles away from Cairo.
But even at this point, apart from sending envoys to ask for help from the Ottomans, the slave generals were still unwilling to lead troops to fight. The system of the Mamluks was very strange. People who were not slaves could not be generals and kings; and because the generals were all slaves
, so that even if the second generation of slaves fought bravely, they would not be trusted by the generals because they had never been slaves. Therefore, at this time, the country’s sultan was not allowed to be hereditary, and was elected by the slave generals; any slave general who obtained a fiefdom would be
Fiefdom cannot be hereditary, and the land will return to the public after the person dies.
Under such a system, the soldiers under their command are the only thing the generals can rely on. They would rather lose every inch of land than lead troops to fight.
However, when only the city of Cairo was left, the slave generals had no choice but to fight even if they did not want to fight. If Cairo was lost, the only places under the rule of the Mamluks would be the Western Egypt Peninsula and Palestine. With that barren land
The land cannot support so many people, and they will have to wait for death when they get there; not to mention that all the goods they have worked hard for are in the city. The slave generals finally began to seriously prepare to defend the city.
After resting for more than ten days in the cities of Fayoum and Beni Suef, the Ming army continued to march north. They captured the city of Helwan, and then advanced to the outside of Cairo. They were only a dozen miles away from Cairo.
Giza was encamped. Many generals wanted to start attacking the city immediately, but for Wendi, there were more important things to do at this time.
…
…
"His Royal Highness the Prince of Ming Dynasty, it is a pleasure to see you outside Cairo." Alfonso, the eldest son of Ferdinand I and heir to the Kingdom of Aragon, bowed slightly to Wen Di and said in stiff Chinese.
In fact, in his opinion, his status was the same as that of Wen Di, but who said that the Ming Kingdom was far more powerful than the Kingdom of Aragon and that it was an empire? He could only salute first when the two met.
"My dear Alfonso, you don't need to salute me." Wen Di said to him with a smile in Castilian, and followed the etiquette of Fu and went up to hug him. Fortunately, Alfonso was here.
Alfonso had taken a bath on purpose before. He had been in Italy and was influenced by the habit of bathing, so that Wen Di wouldn't suffer from pantothenic acidosis in his stomach.
The two of them exchanged a few words, and Wen Di changed back to Chinese and asked: "Where is His Majesty Ferdinand I? Why haven't you seen him?" Today is the day when the leaders of their two armies meet. It is of great significance. This time
Why didn't Ferdinand I, who personally led his troops to Egypt, come?
Hearing this, the expression on Alfonso's face became sad. "Wen Di, my father is seriously ill and has to stay in Cairo to recuperate."
"Your Majesty is seriously ill? What is it?" Wen Di asked hurriedly.
"It's liver disease. I don't know exactly what it is. I've been treated by several doctors for several days but it still hasn't been cured," Alfonso said.
"Do I need to send a few doctors from the Ming Dynasty to treat your majesty? The medical skills in different places may have their own uniqueness. For example, doctors in India can cure diseases that the imperial doctors of the Ming Dynasty are unable to cure. Doctors from Fu cannot cure your majesty. Doctors from the Ming Dynasty
Maybe it can be cured." Wen Di said.
"Then please ask Your Highness to send a doctor to treat my father." Due to the strong military strength of the Ming Dynasty and the prosperity of the city, people from other countries often have a high regard for the Ming Dynasty in all aspects. Of course, Alfonso is willing to let his father be treated by the Ming Dynasty.
Doctors treat.
Having said this, they stopped talking about Ferdinand I's illness and started talking about the ongoing war. "Alfonso, the most urgent thing now is to defeat the Mamluks and seize Cairo and the Suez area. Other things should come first."
Set aside."
Wen Di said: "According to the information from the investigation, there are more than 200,000 people in Cairo, including 50,000 soldiers. If Tata I uses these 50,000 soldiers to drive away the people in the city and act as civilian defenders, our army will
The number of enemies we will face will be more than 100,000. Moreover, the city of Cairo is located on the Nile Delta, and the river channels on both sides are nearly 30 feet at their narrowest point and more than 100 feet at their widest point, making it very difficult to attack the city."
Alfonso was a little surprised to hear him talking about siege so quickly. The war situation at this time was somewhat similar to the early Warring States Period in China, which was undergoing changes, but many nobles still adhered to the traditions of thousands of years, even when fighting
They also pay great attention to aristocratic etiquette. Now the Mamluks have not rushed out of the city to fight with them. The two of them should have a good chat for the first time, have a big meal, hunt together in the afternoon, and discuss the siege of the city tomorrow. Text
Di's behavior was difficult for him to understand.
'This is probably an Eastern custom. People only pay attention to etiquette after the war is completely over, but not during the war.' Alfonso thought to himself.
"Wen Di, Cairo City is certainly difficult to fight, but don't worry too much. The Nile Delta is very large, with a vertical length exceeding ten miles of the Ming Dynasty, a width of more than two miles, and a circumference of twenty-five miles."
"This greatly exceeds the area needed to build the city of Cairo. If you look east, you can see that the area enclosed by the city wall is less than one-third of the delta, and the other two-thirds are without walls.
Although it is customary to count them as part of Cairo, these places are obviously much easier to attack."
"And it is not easy for the slave generals to drive the locals in the city. You should know that the soldiers of the Mamluk Sultanate are slaves bought from other places. Locals cannot join the government army as soldiers. The soldiers are completely different from the people in the city.
Two different circles differ in everything except their beliefs. They can't even understand each other's languages. It's not easy to get people to defend the city."
"You are right, but after all, they are all Tianfang believers, and our army is a pagan to them. They will not be willing to be ruled by pagans, and most of them are willing to help the soldiers defend the city. As for the city of Cairo, it does not include the entire delta.
It is true that those areas that are not enclosed within the city are easy to attack. But the Nile River is too wide after all, and it may be difficult to attack the delta with only the land army." After Wen Di finished speaking, he looked sideways at Alfonso.
