The Sun and the Lion

In the spring of 1502, an army marched rapidly along the road from Trabzon to Georgia. There is no doubt that this army belongs to Selim.

In order to prepare for this military operation, Selim spent a winter preparing. Raising military supplies was not difficult. Trabzon's trade hub status allowed the army to conveniently purchase supplies. The biggest limitation was finance.

After careful consideration, Selim decided to organize a small force. The core of the force was the Yenicheri of Trabzon and the Karaman cavalry borrowed from Shehinshah. In order not to attract Kostantiniya's attention prematurely, he did not recruit Sipaxi from the province.

In addition to his reliable backbone, Selim also attracted a number of opportunists as cannon fodder and auxiliary troops. The total number of combatants was approximately 6,000.

Selim originally wanted to prepare another team to attack the Georgian coastal areas through ships with Trabzon as a fulcrum. But at this time, Selim was only the governor of Trabzon. His previous army construction only focused on the army, and his contribution to the navy was almost zero. Obviously, it was impossible to mobilize the fleet that was fighting Venice to cooperate with him.

At the same time, in order to facilitate the movement of troops and transport of loot, he also recruited a large number of additional horses and mules. With the help of these pack animals, the Ottoman army marched very quickly.

He was very cautious about the target of this attack and believed that any attempt to penetrate deep into the hinterland was very risky. Even his main goal was not to capture the city and loot the property.

The scouts who were sent to scout the city of Batumi in advance reported basic information to Selim, including the status of the city's fortifications and defenders. Scouts directly use "lazy" to evaluate the garrison forces in and around Batumi.

In order to ensure mobility, the Ottoman army only carried ten light artillery pieces. But he had sent spies in advance to investigate and evaluate several border settlements that were selected as targets. These small artillery could hardly shake the city defenses of Tbilisi or Tabriz, but they were not suitable for the poorly maintained city defenses of Upper Batumi. Completely powerless.

Or he could bypass Batumi and enter Georgia through mountain roads. But this option has been rejected by Selim.

Under Selim's organization, the Ottoman army walked from Trabzon to the city of Batumi in less than five days, and immediately set up artillery to aim at the city wall. The Georgian defenders were overwhelmed and watched as the Ottomans brought down the city walls.

In order to achieve a quick victory, Selim did not let the cannon fodder lead the charge. Instead, he directly deployed Yenicheri at the front, hoping to break through all the resistance of the Batumi defenders in one fell swoop.

"For His Highness Selim!"

Janicheli, who was at the forefront, was holding a matchlock gun and first fired at the defenders visible at the gap in the city wall. Others armed with cold weapons charged towards the city wall under the cover of fire from their comrades.

With the sword raised and dropped, more than a dozen people were cut down at the stall before the defenders could react. A group of Yenicheris had already embedded themselves in the defenders' queue, constantly tearing at the already weak defense line.

The Georgian defenders responsible for defending the outer wall could not even hold on for less than ten minutes. This shocking news directly frightened the city lord. He had no intention of continuing to organize resistance and simply rode out of the city and ran away.

Selim won the victory easily, and he immediately arranged for Jenicheli to quickly control the most critical treasury in the city. The Karaman cavalry blocked the roads and plundered the surrounding countryside. The speculators attracted by the wealth began to plunder the city's money.

He just stood on the tower with a riding crop in hand, looking at the chaotic city with an expressionless face. It was not until Jenichery had finished loading all the property in the treasury that he ordered the team to be reorganized and asked the volunteers to stop looting and return to the team.

In order to win over the morale of the army, Selim announced to the entire army: "According to the instructions of the prophet, one-fifth of all the spoils of war should belong to me, whether it is gold, silver, physical objects or slaves. But I decided to give all of my share To all the warriors who fight bravely!”

After saying that, the soldiers opened all the boxes that were moved from the treasury, and the belongings were distributed to every soldier and officer one by one. The soldiers who received the belongings shouted: "Long live His Highness Selim!"

The camp at night was brightly lit by campfires. The soldiers used the light to enjoy everything they had plundered from the city, while Selim and the officers were discussing the next move.

…………

It was not until three days after the fall of Batumi that Tbilisi received news about the attack on the western border. The governor quickly summoned his staff and generals to discuss how to deal with the matter.

According to the currently known information, Batumi has fallen, and the nobles who rule the area have just fled to Tbilisi. The enemy was not satisfied with the unified city of Ba. According to Poti's messenger report, a group of cavalry appeared under the city and plundered the surrounding countryside.

Heraclius first counted the military forces in the area under his jurisdiction. According to estimates, the Georgian nobles from various places could provide him with a total of 5,000 fully equipped infantry and cavalry. However, the quality of these recruited troops varies greatly. Find Shuyuan www. zhaoshuyuan.com It will take some time to assemble, and Heraclius, who needs to move out quickly, does not need to consider these things for the time being.

But for safety reasons, he ordered these troops to gather in Kutaisi.

In addition to these levied troops, Tbilisi also has a small standing army funded by palace appropriations and provincial finances, including a thousand cavalry modeled after the Safavids and two thousand infantry modeled after the Ghulam organization, but there are no Any heavy artillery.

Coupled with Heraclius's own personal soldiers, the governor's troops in Tbilisi are not small.

"I plan to immediately dispatch the troops in Tbilisi to drive away the looters. Quartermaster, I need you to go to the warehouse and quickly count the military supplies needed by the troops." Hirak thought for a moment and then began to give orders.

"Yes, Governor."

However, Heraclius's staff reminded: "Your Majesty the Governor, should we first report our attack and the actions of gathering troops to the King of Kings?"

"What do you mean?" Heraclius didn't want to leave the impression that he was incompetent to the palace. If he had to ask the palace for instructions on everything, would he still be able to serve as a governor?

The staff who saw Heraclius' worries were not frightened, but continued to suggest: "Your Excellency, I believe that we should not create constraints on our own when we act, but it is also good to report the current situation and solutions to the palace, lest you do this Killing first and then showing off makes the King of Kings unhappy..."

This got to Heraclius's heart. He really wanted to wait until he had dealt with the problem on his own before reporting it to the superiors, so that he could leave a capable impression on the court. But if it messes up or offends Ibrahim's desire for control, it's hard to say...

"What you said makes sense..." Heraclius nodded in agreement, and then continued to arrange the next work.