The Sun and the Lion

"By God, how come there are so many of these gangsters who have been stabbed a thousand times!"

At this time, the rebel siege camps stretched endlessly. From several directions facing the land from Antalya, you can see the tents, flags, bonfires of the bandits under the city, and the soldiers surrounding the bonfires.

The campfires under the night sky in the distance illuminated brightly, which even more caused fear in the hearts of the sentries on the city wall.

Not only was it psychological preparation, but what was even worse was that because the incident happened in such a hurry, there was almost no preparation in the city - the reserves in the treasury were still being counted, the houses outside the city walls had no chance to be processed, and the refugees who had fled in had not yet been properly resettled. ...These are disadvantages for the defenders.

"Long live!"

A noise in the camp once again disturbed the sentries, and the bold ones listened attentively to their chants in the drunken revelry: "...Honor the holy warrior Ali - may he rest in peace and fight for the Shah - may Allah bless him, Bless him!"

"What a blasphemy! May God's curse be upon them." The sentry had no choice but to curse the enemies outside the city, lest the weapons in his hands tremble when the moment of battle really comes.

The duty in the second half of the night became much more boring. The campfire was not burning so brightly. The rebel soldiers who had gathered earlier returned to the camp to rest. Only the sentry with a red hat was still holding a torch and guarding diligently.

Until daybreak, the movement after morning prayers successfully alerted the sentries who had just changed their posts. The news that a large number of enemy troops were leaving the camp carrying simple long ladders and running towards the city wall made all the young and strong manpower that could be mobilized prepare to climb aboard. Wall defense.

However, the first thing to greet the defenders was not the vanguard, but the bullets fired from the residences outside the city! There was a gunshot that caught everyone off guard, and a lead bullet hit a person in the face. Everyone hurriedly avoided it, allowing the body to fall smoothly.

"Don't panic, lead can't penetrate a brick wall! Hide them all." The officer tried his best to comfort the strong young men in the team who had not been baptized by the fire of war and were just climbing the city wall to wear steel and armor in order to survive.

Only a dozen militiamen who died due to poor concealment were killed. The musketeers scattered and hidden in the buildings outside the city ceased their activities and temporarily stopped shooting to save ammunition and wait until the battle situation is suitable.

"Allah bless, Allah bless." Seeing that the distance was close enough to see the faces of the gangsters in the city clearly, everyone held sharp weapons and prayed silently.

At the same time, the firearms deployed on the city wall fired one after another at the crowds below the city. The casualties disrupted the non-existent formation of the attackers, which restored some confidence to the militiamen.

The ladder was put up on the city wall, and the first group of pioneers climbed up slowly with swords and shields. What greeted them was anger and the swords carrying these emotions. A short sword pierced the first man's chest with lightning speed. , without the protection of the goggles, he died directly and fell down the long ladder to make way for his comrades below.

The breech-mounted revolving cannon deployed on the tower spit out deadly tongues of fire, hitting the cannon fodder who were still climbing the city, and caused a group of pioneers who had not yet engaged the enemy to die from the power of gunpowder. The gunners hoped to use Solid rounds destroy all siege engines in use once and for all.

Despite the fire from Ottoman gunpowder guns, some people still managed to climb the city wall and fight with the guarding militiamen and officers. They were unable to defeat the four-handed man with their fists. The cannon fodder who first broke into the city was quickly forced to die with only the simple shield in his hand. Protecting the front of the body, clinging to the wall behind, or accidentally falling off the wall.

However, the follow-up cannon fodder was also very fast. Before the Ottoman militiamen had time to kill the first rebel bandit who climbed up, they had to deal with the second and third ones, so that the cannon fodder who boarded the city had the power to fight back.

At the same time, the matchlock guns hidden in the houses outside the city fired again to provide support. Although more than half of the lead bullets hit the battlements or walls, this was enough to force the defenders to pay attention to concealment and make them more cautious when defending.

The fierce fighting on the city wall lasted from early morning to noon. Although there were many troops participating in the siege, most of them were ragtag groups that were not important to the rebels. Apart from shields, swords and unlined clothes, these were real bandits and ordinary farmers. Wearing no armor or using any other weapons.

The Ottoman shooters in the tower spared no effort in firepower and squandered their ammunition reserves, leaving few long ladders erected, and the narrowed attack channel made it even more difficult to break through the city defense.

"Okay, let them withdraw." Havaci, who had been observing the battlefield the whole time, finally gave the order that the cannon fodder had been dreaming of most. After the herald received the order, he returned to the camp and met with the waiting Shah Ku. Lu.

"What's going on up front?" Derwig asked calmly.

"I have already asked the horse bandits to withdraw. I think today's offensive is fierce enough. I probably know the details here. Our army can capture this city before the enemy's reinforcements. As long as it is fast enough, this place can also be used as reinforcements. The bait. Find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuaｎ.com ”

Shahkulu nodded: "Let's arrange it this way."

…………

Just as the rebel army led by Shahkulu was launching an intensive siege of Antalya, as the news spread, the Ottoman feudal officials had already responded to this large-scale rebellion.

The governor of Anatolia, Karagoz Ahmed Pasha, immediately organized troops to prepare to go south to rescue besieged Antalya. A force of nearly ten thousand people is gathering in the capital Kutahya and will soon be ready to leave under the leadership of the pasha.

"Both the Padishah and the Grand Vizier have known about this. They were very angry when they heard that. I will send the order to suppress these bandits in the near future." Karagoz Pasha also complained: "Korku Tezhen is a loser, Texanjak is his jurisdiction, and now that the situation has developed like this, he will never be able to escape responsibility. Are you still dreaming of taking power in Manisa? "

"Your Excellency, be careful, he is a Shahzad after all." The staff and Aga on the side advised.

The Pasha, who was born in Yenicherry, still looked disdainful: "Shahzad? He is just a dead man who has not yet been laid in the grave."

Ignoring this topic, Karagz Pasha and his subordinates present naturally transitioned to how to exterminate these bandits. Although he expressed disdain for Korkut, it was obvious that Pasha could not get rid of this nominal subordinate at present. He could only complain to Padisha in a letter and see how the relationship between father and son continued to deteriorate.

"How is the current work of gathering our troops and raising supplies?" Karagz Pasha asked Aga, who served as his deputy.

"Your Excellency, the food and grass for the army have been prepared, and the villages, towns and cities along the way can also provide sufficient supplies. As long as you give the order, the troops can set off at any time..."