The Sun and the Lion

The red-headed scouts approached Kutahiya cautiously. Acting quickly, they had already visited all the surrounding villages. They suspected that all the refugees had fled within the city walls, but they discovered many anomalies.

At this time, Kutahiya had not recovered from the previous massacre by the rebels. Hundreds of citizens in the city and surrounding villagers who had heard the news fled to Bursa long before the Safavid army arrived, leaving Ibra There is only one ruined wall surrounded by complete city fortifications.

Without prisoners, there is no way to obtain information. The supplies left in the city can be said to be better than nothing. Fortunately, the refugees fled quickly, the water sources of each settlement were not damaged, and there will be no problems with the water supply of the military camp.

Leaving Kutahya, which had become so depressed that no one was there, the Ottoman envoys from Kostantiniya followed the flow of refugees in the opposite direction and came to the camp of the King of Kings to request an audience.

The arrogant envoy did not salute the King of Kings, but directly read Selim's diplomatic letter in front of the public. The opening paragraph quoted a large number of scriptures, books of kings and other classics, and compared Solomon, Faridon and Iskandar as " Guardian of justice and faith, executioner of evil and infidels, standard-bearer of justice, Sultan Selim, son of Sultan Bayezid.”

Ibrahim was labeled as "the Shah of Iran - the ruler of the land of tyranny and perversion, the leader of the wicked, the loser Darius, the villain Zahak, the kinsman of Cain..."

After lengthy religious and moral condemnations, curses, and frequent use of Alexander's achievements as metaphors, just before he was about to open his mouth and ask the messenger to read the key points directly, he finally reached the truly nutritious content.

From the tone of the messenger and the words of the letter, he could not hear any intention of negotiation or compromise. There was almost an order in the tone asking him to leave the territory belonging to the Ottoman Supreme State and apologize for advocating heresy. He also brought his brothers and nephews who defected to the Safavid tent to justice and sent them to Kostantiniya.

If you don't obey, then "my war horse can cross the strait at any time and step onto the other side of Uskuldar. I will set out from here to drive all of you, the devil's wretched servants, out of the world and send you back to where you belong." — Hellfire — Go.”

After listening to the barking of the envoy without expression, before Ibrahim could say anything, the civil and military attendants beside him were extremely angry and wanted to actively defend the honor and majesty of the monarch.

"Now that Iran has millions of soldiers and thousands of good generals, your country is just a dog with a broken spine. It is not difficult to capture your master alive and send it to the world for exhibition! Do you dare to bark in front of my master?"

"As we all know, the Shah is the sun, and all the countries in the world are just the moon. All the moon's light is reflected from the sun. But now some people want to compare their brightness with the sun beyond their own reach."

After calling a halt to the scolding battle that didn't last long, he asked his attendant to get a box of opium and marijuana and handed it to the messenger, and attached an Akchi as alms for the disabled: "You are lucky, you are just a person who repeats the master's words." Loyal dog, there is no point in killing you here. Go back and tell your master that his words are logically reversed, do not convey the meaning, misinterpret allusions and scriptures, and blaspheme the faith. Presumably, such articles are just for the onset of addiction. Only a gentleman or a stupid person can write it, so he probably can't understand the beautiful words written in words. I will try to use swords and guns to express my meaning, hoping that he can understand."

"The foreign minister thanks you for your gift." The envoy disdainfully planned to take the gift box, but still refused to salute when leaving.

"You disrespectful person and arrogant person, today is your lucky day. The most benevolent and merciful His Majesty Shah shows great mercy, so you can save your life and return to your master intact to continue to serve him." Guard. The guard at the tent even spat angrily at the envoy and his entourage. The Ottomans turned around and glared, unable to continue provoking, so they simply walked away quickly.

The envoy who walked out of the camp tent was detained by the guards who caught up with him after taking a few steps: "Your Majesty has an order that you can avoid the death penalty but cannot escape the crime of living. This is the price for your disrespect." After saying this, he took out a razor and shined it on the envoy. In front of him, the shocked gazes of the attachés did not stop him from being dragged to the school grounds, where he was forced to shave off his beard and rode a donkey around the camp in public.

The power struggle in Kostantiniya is over. Judging from what the envoy said, Selim has successfully seized the throne. It is impossible for him to sit back and watch half of the Supreme Kingdom that belongs to him being wantonly torn apart and ravaged by internal and external enemies. Such a reaction It's to be expected.

At the same time, because Selim did not deliberately block information, but only ordered the business travelers not to go to Anatolia, the voyeurs accompanying the army used bribes to extract a lot of political news and unconfirmed rumors from the mouths of the envoy’s attachés, among which the most heinous The latest news is undoubtedly the death of Bayezid.

In order to further stimulate Selim to take the initiative to fight, Ibrahim decided to publicly deny the legitimacy of Selim's rule and denounced him as a parricide. His special military operation was to avenge his old friend Bayezid and correct Roma. order, and used this to call on the people under Ottoman rule to rise up against this illegal sultan. Find Shuyuan www.zhaoｓshuyuan.comｍ

Although this declaration has no practical effect, it is a severe pain point for the usurper. The doubt of Bayezid's death can even shake the Ottoman subjects' unreasonable view of this ascension. The obedience and recognition of the legitimate Sultan - especially now that Selim is plundering Rumelia's wealth to raise military funds.

The only way he demonstrated legitimacy and consolidated his rule was to kill all claimants, expel foreign enemies, regain territory and preserve the ancestral foundation. If Selim can be induced to send troops hastily for this purpose, Ibrahim will definitely be happy to see it happen.

…………

At the same time, the mast lookouts of the Ottoman fleet that was crossing the Black Sea could already see the coast of Trabizon. When Ibrahim had advanced to Kutahya, Heraclius was still stationed on the border to fortify the border. Under the city.

Selim needed time to assemble the main army. At the same time, he had learned that Ibrahim had led his army deep into Kutahiya, which would undoubtedly threaten Bursa. What he saw was not only that the two armies faced each other across the sea, but the excessive penetration of the Safavid army also helped him deal with other fronts through the sea route first.

The sea route connecting Kostantiniya and Kaffa allowed supplies and reinforcements to be smoothly imported into the blockaded and besieged Trabzon. "Mustache" Muhammad Agha was appointed by Selim to lead the reinforcements and take over the city defense, and defeated the outside of the city. Georgian Army.

It has to be said that Trabzon's garrison performed well, and also benefited from the lack of Georgian military firepower. Bey, who stayed in the city, fully mobilized the citizens, received Tatar mercenaries sent from Kaffa, and relied on the high walls and deep pools. The city's fortifications withstood weeks of siege.

"Your Majesty, is it successful?" Seeing the arrival of batches of reinforcements and the new commander taking office, the morale of all the garrison officers and soldiers was greatly boosted, and everyone was convinced of the victory.