The Sun and the Lion

Shahkulu, who was mentally prepared, gathered the Karamans and gradually approached Aksaray. The Ottoman army stationed here was very cautious and made complete preparations before the arrival of the rebels. The city defenses were temporarily reinforced and expanded. The surrounding water sources are damaged and difficult to use, and there is no shelter that can be used by the camp.

However, a dangerous mountain pass is guarded here. If we take a detour to another gap in the southeast, we will need to march one to two days longer. No matter what Shahkulu chooses, it will be beneficial to the Grand Vizier.

Havac, who had been conducting reconnaissance at the front, returned to the camp with a solemn expression. He had no idea how to fight this battle. He lacked siege equipment and heavy artillery, and had no time and gunpowder for tunnel blasting. If the ants attack with force, the warrior's blood will be drained.

"It would be great if all the Roma could be induced to go out of the city to fight in the field." He complained to Shahkulu, casually proposing a plan that was not feasible at all. With Karagez Pasha in front, the Ottoman generals faced off against each other. They are very cautious in field battles with the rebels.

"Let's take a look at the quality of this group of Roma first." Shahkulu, who was worried about the impact on morale, still planned to fight first to test it out.

Several other red-headed leaders expressed concern after Hawaqi took the lead: "Caliph, even if you don't consider the rolling pursuers behind us, the lack of drinking water alone is enough for our army to take a detour and leave immediately instead of staying. Tangle with the enemy here.”

The number of people who were kidnapped along the way or who took the initiative to join the rebel army expanded again to thousands of people. Now even if they are all dispersed and deployed, they cannot meet the drinking water needs of more than 20,000 people.

"It's only for one day. Is it possible that our army's storage of wine and sheep are so small that Ghazi died of thirst and became a martyr? You can drink blood even if you don't have water!"

Hearing the Caliph's dissatisfaction, the quartermaster in charge of the baggage felt flustered for no reason and shrank his neck involuntarily. Fortunately, no one noticed his little move.

After a long debate, the officers finally compromised, and they began to use limited resources to prepare for a frontal attack on Aksaray. Due to the lack of concealment, this move was easily detected by the defenders.

The new soldiers, including the Karamanians, were simply organized into hundreds of troops, wearing only the simple armor when they joined. They first filled the trenches with sand and soil in various containers, and consumed a lot of arrows from the defenders.

There were hundreds of casualties, and a channel for the attack was finally formed. The troops responsible for the assault first rushed out from behind the shield, quickly crossed the trench along the temporary road, and sent people and ladders to the foot of the wall.

Compared to Antalya and Kutahya, the defenders here were fully prepared. The Ottoman soldiers immediately threw down the stones they had prepared, and lucky enough to receive special care from clay pots of kerosene in densely populated areas.

Since the rebels did not have large siege engines available, several stone cannons deployed at the top of the city did not fire. Outside the fire oil tanks, stones and hot water, the defenders only used matchlock guns and rear-mounted swivel guns to fire at the armor's assault. team, preventing them from climbing the long ladder to the city.

In fact, there was no suspense about this offensive. The attack on the city wall stalled at the beginning. As a result, the siege troops who suffered thousands of casualties had to leave their bodies and retreat.

Fortunately, Shahkulu did not go crazy because of this failure. After extinguishing his illusions, he planned the next course of action.

A detour to the south is the most obvious plan, and some radicals even proposed trampling on the majesty of Ramazan Bey and leading the army through Adana and into Durkadir. Due to various factors, Shahkulu did not want to provoke the Mamluks.

"We can think of this strategy at the first time, but the Roma can't think of it? They can deploy another blocking force at the mountain pass in the south to build a fortress to block it. Therefore, we must act by surprise and must not let the Roma It can be anticipated in advance.”

As he said that, everyone's eyes followed the whip pointing at the map from Aksaray to Ankara. The leaders who understood what this meant looked at Shahkulu in astonishment.

According to local guides, the army can march north from here to a short distance south of Ankara, and then move east to Sivas. No one in the Ottoman army would have thought that they would suddenly turn north and catch the defenders in another place by surprise.

The biggest concern was that the areas they passed through were not very wealthy and it might be difficult to raise military supplies. This was repeatedly emphasized by officers who held conservative views. The issue of food was very important.

The quartermaster, prompted by his superiors, repeatedly promised: "It won't take a week to walk from here to Ankara. You must have confidence in the results of our army's previous looting. The baggage team has already collected a lot of food and grass, which is enough for consumption. In the name of Allah, I I swear, if any Ghazi fails to receive military rations during the march, I will take my head!"

There are still quite a few leaders who do not agree with this strategy, so Shahkulu can only compromise: "That's all, finding differences will only lead us to destruction. In this case, our armies will act separately. , meet in Sivas."

Having said that, in the eyes of the red head, these people who are about to break away from the leadership of the Caliphate are no different from non-existence. They tacitly agree that they will not appear in Sivas. Whether they are annihilated or causing trouble in other areas, it is better to go their own way. Possible endings.

The red head and the miscellaneous people who were still willing to follow Shahkulu moved quickly. They took most of the baggage northward in less than a day of preparation. Their first destination was the Great Salt Lake not far from Aksaray.

This salt lake is a large salt field, and its output is circulated throughout Asia Minor for consumption by various settlements. It can stably and continuously bring a lot of income to Gaomen, and as a major production area of ​​important products, there will be a large number of caravans trading here. , as expected, you should be able to collect a lot of loot.

…………

“According to the guide, less than half a day’s journey from here is the Salt Lake.”

The army led by the Grand Vizier himself marched eastward through a relatively desolate and arid shortcut. After several days of trekking, while the rebel army was still struggling under the city of Aksaray, the Ottoman army was almost at the Salt Lake. By some estimates, it's still a few days' journey from here to Kayseri.

They walked non-stop for the rest of the planned journey and stopped and camped near the river that fed into the Salt Lake. The soldiers took turns going to the river to get water to quench their thirst during the previous march.

The pashas thought of taking advantage of the tight rest time to send scouts to explore the situation in Aksaray. The focus of defense of the Karaman Province troops was suggested by the Grand Vizier. As for whether there was a prince-governor guarding Konya If you do it, he won't know.

The scouts returned earlier than everyone expected, and the information they brought back was beyond everyone's expectations.