The Sun and the Lion

After the celebrations, Ibrahim summoned Shahkulu and Khawaqi for a talk. He believed that the two and the surviving rebels were the people most familiar with Asia Minor, so he asked them to stay as guides for the army.

Since he had not received feedback from previous diplomatic and intelligence activities at this time, Ibrahim, who believed that it was not appropriate to act blindly, spent his time reviewing the troops that had been assembled here with Ismail and showing off to the VIPs who followed him for sightseeing. Iran’s powerful military power.

Fortunately, the boring days did not last long. The emissary sent to Amasya returned successfully and brought back a guest that everyone expected - a genuine member of the Ottoman royal family.

"Dear Great Sufi, Padishah of Iran, I, Murad, salute you." The Ottomans who came to see him in the governor's residence knelt down to his thighs that he planned to hug tightly, and bowed their faces to the ground as a sign of respect.

Ibrahim, who learned the identity of the other party through the introduction, immediately began to understand the ins and outs of all this from his mouth.

Murad stood up, straightened his clothes a little, and then began to explain: "That's it, Your Majesty, first of all, I need to tell you that my uncle Selim has embarked on the road of rebellion. Both my father and the imperial grandfather have He was furious about it. Alas, by God, it is easy for a person to lose his mind when he is angry, and it happened that my father's mind was taken over by the devil."

Selim's behavior of crossing the Black Sea was not a secret. After learning about it, Ahmed immediately suggested to his father Bayezid: "The top priority is to eliminate those rebels immediately and not give him any opportunity to take advantage of."

Bayezid, who was initially confused about Selim's purpose, was still hesitant when the other party arrived in Rumelia. Padishah first assembled a small force and deployed it on the road connecting Kostantiniya with the north and provided letters. Have a meeting with this traitor.

Bayezid, who was not deceived by the affection in the letter, directly refused the request for a meeting. However, in order to appease Selim, Padishah promised in the letter not to abdicate early and arranged for him to stay in Rumelia, in Smedere. Wosanjak served as manager of Serbia.

Before Selim could say anything, Ahmed, who believed that his position as prince was solid and did not want to face Selim in person, expressed that he could not accept his father's weakness. He wrote another fierce letter criticizing the peace negotiation and demanding He immediately sent troops to suppress the rebellion, captured and executed the rebels, claiming: "If you delay any longer, you will make an irreparable mistake."

"But my father was not satisfied with this. He planned to follow the example of his uncle and put pressure on my grandfather. He sent troops to take over Karaman Province and proclaimed himself sultan without knowing anyone. I was appointed to stay in Amasya. In the meantime, he He also publicly executed the remaining officials who refused to obey him, and only the Ulema could escape the disaster." At this point, Murad's expression and tone were very helpless. Who could urge the monarch to make up his mind to eliminate the common threat of the two?

Sure enough, Ahmed's suffocation operation directly destroyed his legitimacy advantage. Many officials who had previously expressed support for him changed their attitudes and became ambiguous again on the succession battle.

For the sake of his personal future and personal safety, the grandson of the emperor, who was one year younger than Suleiman, decided not to stay with his father and brother in Asia Minor and to seek help from foreign forces for the future. In order to win the trust of Safavid, Murad first expressed his intention to convert to the orthodox faith and asked Ibrahim for the acceptance and recognition of the Shiite authority.

"The fact that you can leave behind your power, cut off your close family ties and come here in person to pledge allegiance to me and the imams is enough to show your sincerity. It's always too late to turn back when you have strayed."

Murad was relieved that there was no need to publicly curse and insult the first three orthodox caliphs. He knelt down again and said respectfully: "I thank your Majesty for your kindness."

The unexpected intelligence obtained this time allowed Ibrahim to no longer waste time and financial resources waiting. He could seize this critical opportunity to immediately launch a special military operation to gain a huge strategic advantage.

"Bring the map!" Ibrahim immediately summoned senior military officers and Murad, who had just surrendered to him, to hold a military meeting to show the Ottoman prince the strength of the Iranian Lion.

In order to carry out the war with the Ottomans, Ibrahim drained the treasury and mobilized an unprecedented large army. The combat strength alone was nearly 120,000 troops. Among them, the main force gathered in Diyarbakir and was led by the King of Kings. The army numbered one hundred thousand people.

The proportion of cavalry in the Safavid army still occupies the top position as before. After careful consideration and discussion, this time he recruited forty regiments from various red-headed tribes in the country. After the recruitment order was issued, the Khan and the Beys provided qualified combat troops on time in accordance with the equipment standards set by the decree. Ordinary soldiers have religious fervor and a desire for spoils, and do not need any coercion within the tribe. As a result, competition for recruitment places is fierce, and tribesmen who are not selected to fight in Roma are very frustrated. Find Shuyuan www.zhaosｈhuyuan． com

A mullah in Azerbaijan Province recorded this: “When the royal messenger delivered the recruitment order to our village, and when I and Bey, who led the herdsmen, announced it to the local people, the young people were very enthusiastic, as if they were going to participate in a war. Just like a wedding or festival celebration, they quickly brought weapons, equipment and horses and lined up in front of Bey's tent. They did not feel any fear of the coming war, and they all hoped to get the opportunity to serve, so that some people Those who tried to replace neighbors or relatives who were drafted, but who were not selected and stayed at home, felt aggrieved. Most believed that becoming a martyr was much better than dying at home. Survivors could become heroes, and death was a martyrdom. Saints, no matter what, are role models for the world and are admired by all ages..."

Also gathered here due to the call-up order were the auxiliary cavalry, or auxiliary troops. They came from various ethnic groups on the frontiers of the empire. Ibrahim collected fifteen thousand volunteers from them, and they were organized into different legions according to region and tribal identity. .

The auxiliary troops mainly come from three major sources - Kurds, Afghanistan and Transoxiana-Khorezm. They do not have the religious sentiments of Qizilbash. The real pay, rewards and political status granted by the palace are the blood of these heretical subjects. The greatest motivation to work hard.

Excluding the 60,000 cavalry troops composed of the Red Heads, auxiliary troops and friends of the Shah, the remaining 40,000-odd people in the main force are standing troops composed of well-trained infantry and artillery. Their existence can be said to be an impact on the weak military tradition of infantry units, and accelerated the spread of the new technology of gunpowder weapons to other parts of the army. Some warriors on horseback also began to try to pick up matchlock guns for combat.

Murad, who was watching, began to think that Ibrahim was Tamerlane again. He wondered whether his relatives, who were still fighting among themselves and knew nothing about it, could withstand it.