Chapter 1751 The thoughts of the Ottoman Emperor and Wendi's response
"Fortunately, we arrived near Cairo before the Ming and Castilian troops landed in the Delta." Muhammad I looked at the city of Cairo not far away and breathed a sigh of relief.
He also came to support the Mamluk Sultanate in a pinch. The reason why he rescued the Mamluk Sultanate was certainly not out of kindness, but also came with the intention of annexing the country. Although in his original plan, occupying Egypt was prioritized over seizing the monarchy.
After Constantinople, but since the Ming army suddenly wanted to attack Egypt, he could only modify his plan.
Since he also came with the intention of annexing, he had to carefully consider when to send troops. If troops were sent to help the Mamluk Sultanate rescue the siege not long after the Ming and Castilian troops landed, then there would be a chance of a successful rescue.
It will be very high at that time, but the Mamluk Sultanate will not suffer much losses, and it will not be easy to annex this country; if the Ming army and the Castilian army have occupied most of Egypt before sending troops, they may not be able to defeat the occupied defense.
The enemy had strong morale. Although Muhammad I had already led troops from Anatolia to Syria, he had been listening to the news from Egypt and did not send troops rashly.
It was not until Tata I sent distress letters more and more frequently, reaching the point of two a day, that the Ming and Castilian armies were approaching Cairo, that he officially led his troops into Egypt. However, he was attacking the warships.
The role in the city battle was underestimated. He did not expect it to be of such great use. If it had been one day later, the Ming army might have already entered the Delta and the war would have been irreversible. So he was relieved when he arrived outside Cairo.
"Instruct the whole army to camp in the east of Cairo today and board the delta tomorrow to help defend Cairo." Muhammad I ordered again.
"Your Majesty, why do you want the entire army to board the Delta?" A servant next to him asked in confusion: "Why don't you stay east of Cairo?"
"Stay east of Cairo?" Muhammad I said with a smile, "Are you going to watch the Castilian coalition siege Cairo?"
He pointed to the Nile River and continued: "The Nile River divides this land into three parts, the west bank of the river, the east bank of the river and the delta in the river. These three places are divided by the river. Our army stays on the east bank of the Nile River. If it comes out in a few days,
The army is about to attack Cairo. How can our army rescue the Mamluks? The navy of the Kingdom of Castile will block the river and prevent us from crossing the river to support. Therefore, we must cross the river to the delta before the Ming army attacks Cairo, and fight with
The Mamluks defended together."
"Even so, some troops can be left on the east bank of the river." The man added: "Once the army lands on the Delta, it will be difficult to leave. If the Ming army and the Castilian army are determined to capture Cairo, even if they cannot
What should we do if we have to besiege Cairo even if we board the Delta? Will the army stay in the Delta to confront the Ming and Castilian armies? Even if there is a lot of food in Cairo, the Ming-Castilian army controls more than half of Egypt.
The Leah Alliance can get more land, and the siege will last longer than our army, and it will be difficult for our army to launch a counterattack against the Ming and Castilian armies, and in the end they will still be defeated because they run out of food."
"Your Majesty, you may think that the probability at this time is very small, but in such an important war, of course, these small probability things must be taken into consideration." The attendant finally said.
After hearing this, Muhammad I was not angry and said with a smile: "Well, yes, it is better than before, and my cultivation of you is not in vain." After a pause, he continued: "But in this situation
, of course I have considered ways to deal with it."
"How to deal with it?" the attendant asked.
"Of course it's the navy!" Muhammad I said: "Since the Castilian coalition can take the initiative in the war by relying on the warships sailing into the Nile River, then our army can only rely on the navy if it wants to seize the initiative in the war.
.”
"But the navy is at war with the Venetians on the Aegean Sea?"
"So I am waiting for the navy to end the war. I believe that this naval battle will end soon. Even if our army retreats on its own initiative, the Venetians will never pursue it and must determine the winner." Mohammed
I smiled.
Historically, just this year, the Ottoman navy was defeated by the Venetians in the Battle of Gribolu, and had to negotiate peace with the Republic of Venice, allowing the Venetians to defend their islands on the Aegean coast and the Bosporus.
power. But the situation now is not the same as it was then.
"Although the Venetians did not dare to directly offend the Ming Dynasty, they had to agree not to interfere with the Kingdom of Castile's sending troops to Egypt, and even sent hundreds of troops to accompany the war, but in their hearts they did not want Egypt to be invaded by the Ming Dynasty and the Castile Kingdom.
controlled by the Kingdom of Tilia. They would rather continue to have Egypt and Suez controlled by the Tianfang believers in order to ensure their position in the Eastern Mediterranean."
Muhammad I continued: "So after the Venetians learned about the situation on the battlefield in Cairo, they would definitely be able to guess the reason for the retreat of our navy, and they would definitely not block or pursue it. As for why they sent hundreds of troops to participate in the battle, in
In my opinion, these army officers and soldiers were not so much participating in the war as they were going to observe the combat effectiveness of the Ming army on site to further confirm the strength of the Ming Dynasty."
"So, what the Venetians expect is that the armies of the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Castile and the Ming Empire will perish together?" the attendant asked.
"You are right. This is what the Venetians think. For hundreds of years, the Venetians have maintained their hegemony in the Mediterranean by developing their navy and provoking other powers to fight with each other."
"But this approach of the Venetians is wrong." Mohammed I said unceremoniously: "This method of not trying to strengthen one's own country, but maintaining hegemony by weakening other countries is wrong. The Republic of Venice only has ten
Ten thousand citizens, the rest of whom are slaves or colonials who have been discriminated against and oppressed, even if they try their best to produce, how many ships, how many cannons or trebuchets, and how much steel can they build in a short period of time? And the occupation
A country that has a large area of land and is willing to treat the people under its rule relatively equally can produce far more productivity than Venice. When a powerful country appears on the Mediterranean coast that no other country can challenge on land, the Venetian hegemony will be complete.
lose."
"Let's not talk about the Venetians." Muhammad I brought the topic back: "Because we have to wait for the navy to arrive, so after the army boarded the delta, it was to defend against the attacks of the Ming army and the Castilian army, and to counterattack
Let’s wait until the navy warships arrive.”
"Even if the Venetians will not pursue them, there are still some warships of the Kingdom of Castile and the Navy of the Republic of Genoa at the mouth of the Nile. Wouldn't they prevent the navy from entering the Nile?" the attendant asked again.
"I heard that after the Venetian navy retreats, the Genoese will definitely withdraw their navy to defend against the Venetians, so the navy's only opponent is Castile. Although Castile has the most powerful navy in the Mediterranean,
The Kingdom of Styria also controls many islands, and many warships cannot participate in the battle; they suffered certain losses in the naval battle of Alexandria before, and are no match for our navy now. Ferdinand I will most likely choose to let the navy huddle in the port.
Even if he ordered the navy to fight, they would not be able to win." Muhammad I replied.
At this point, the attendant had no other questions. He bowed and said to Muhammad I: "Your Majesty, I really appreciate you giving such a detailed answer."
"Although you are an Indian and have only joined the Ottoman Empire for a short time, I think you have the potential to become a general, so I am willing to train you." Muhammad I smiled.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." The man said again.
Muhammad I smiled again, looked back, and saw the soldiers taking down the tents they brought and setting up camp. He smiled and said to his attendants: "Zahir, I remember you once said,
When you faced the Ming army in India, you never won a battle with your troops?"
"Dear Your Majesty," Zahir said with a slightly red face, "You are right. The Ming army's combat effectiveness is very strong, the generals who lead the troops are more cautious, and luck is on their side. I once
There were draws with the Ming army, but they never defeated the Ming Dynasty."
"It's not to blame you and many generals of the Delhi Sultanate at that time. Most of the local Brahmans supported the Ming Dynasty. They had many troops and advanced weapons, so defeat is normal."
"But in Egypt, ordinary people are Tianfang believers. Even if they don't support me, they will not support the pagans. The Ming army does not have many troops. Although the weapons are slightly more advanced, the gap is not big. In addition, I am not inferior to
Commander of the generals of the Ming Dynasty, in Egypt, you can avenge your revenge in India and defeat the Ming army." Muhammad I said.
"Please, Your Majesty, please give me the opportunity to lead troops and defeat the Ming army myself," Zahir said.
"Don't worry, I will definitely agree to this request."
…
…
"All the Ottoman troops have boarded the Delta?" Wen Di was having lunch with Cao Xing at noon on the second day when he suddenly heard the news and said in surprise.
"Why did Muhammad I do this? Did he want to put himself to death and survive? But the situation is not so dangerous." After a pause, Wen Di continued.
Cao Xing shook his head. In their previous discussions, they all believed that Muhammad I would lead his troops across the Nile upstream and to the west bank of the river. In this way, the Ottoman army could threaten the Ming army from behind, preventing the Ming army from doing its best.
Attack the Delta. But I didn't expect that he would lead the entire army into the Delta.
The two of them discussed for a while, but neither of them thought of Muhammad I's battle plan. This is normal. After all, Cao Xing is the general of the land division, and the navy will not be taken into consideration in normal battles. After talking for a while with no results, Cao Xing said
: "Although I don't know why Muhammad I did this, I think he definitely did not make a random decision and needs to be carefully guarded."
"Then bring more artillery from the Indian fleet, and use artillery to blast him away no matter what his plans are!"