The Sun and the Lion

Not only Selim who sent Muhammad Agha, but Ibrahim himself also knew that the Safavid army was now too deep into the Ottoman territory, but there was no clue about the decisive battle with its main force. This made some people in the tent of the camp faintly worried. .

"No matter what conspiracy he wants to play, I want him to come to me for a decisive battle now!"

Ibrahim decided to make a bold move and led the army in the opposite direction to continue northwestward toward Bursa. Yunus Pasha, who was stationed in the city, knew that he could not stop him, and Selim ordered him to preserve the military strength in Asia Minor as much as possible. He worked to evacuate the citizens and move Bursa's troops and baggage to the northern port town of Gemlik.

The red-headed cavalry appeared under the city of Bursa almost along with the rumors of war. Although these lightly armed and simple marauders could only ravage the countryside that lacked protection, the panic was real. Yunus Pasha had to detach his troops to drive away these harassing enemy troops to continue the evacuation work.

Nur Ali, who led these vanguard troops, also focused on the transportation and marching teams exposed in the wild, trying to intercept the transported baggage materials. After several small-scale battles with mutual success, the Ottomans had no choice but to fight in a hurry. He threw away some of the supplies and ran away in a hurry, letting the red head pick them up.

When the main force of the army arrived, the citizens of Bursan who had not yet fled had already realized the current situation and paid the conquerors the city gate keys and city redemption fees. The old Ottoman capital fell into the hands of the Safavids easily.

The city of Bursa - or Hudavindigal - is not only an important economic town. As one of the old capitals of the Supreme State, it has witnessed the rise of the Ottomans, and the tombs of Osman Ghazi and Orhan Ghazi, the founder of the dynasty, are here. For this reason, Ibrahim believed that her symbolic significance was much greater than that of Seyut, the birthplace of the Ottoman family.

Murad, who was authorized to enter the city side by side with the King of Kings, was uneasy. Yunus Pasha gave up Bursa, which was unexpected by him. Such an important city was captured by the Safavids without firing a shot. Such an easy victory may have blinded Ibrahim's eyes. In his view, his rising status is proof of this. However, he speaks softly. If he rashly advises, it may be regarded as offensive and lead to unforeseen consequences. s consequence.

It was not until everyone paused in front of the tomb of Osman Ghazi that Ibrahim revealed his plan to Murad: "I want you to openly accept what I have given you in front of the tomb of your ancestors, and you do what you did before. Just accept it respectfully and give thanks.”

The Safavid army gathered all the citizens and dignitaries, and the herald publicly read twice in Persian and Turkic the edict of the King of Kings appointing Murad as the Sultan of Roma Province. The legitimate ruler of Natolia and the citizens who gathered around to watch the theater inexplicably became the subjects of Sultan Murad.

As the protagonist, Murad skillfully lost his dignity and cooperated with the performance. He was already proficient in how to flatter the King of Kings, and there was no glitch in the whole process.

Obviously, prostrating before a foreign monarch in front of the tomb of his ancestors will not help strengthen the legitimacy of his rule. This is just a performance, a good show simply put on for high-ranking officials to watch.

Ibrahim knew that the Ottoman army was at Gemlik, less than a day's journey to the north. Afterwards, the scribe would polish the record of the entire ceremony and highlight the local people's support for the "legitimate successor." and contempt for the usurper, and then sent the letter to Selim via Yunus Pasha via courier.

After plundering Bursa, the Safavid army did not continue to hold on to the city and turned back eastward, allowing the survivors of Gamlik to be preserved.

…………

"This Shah of Persia is so rude and cunning!" Selim cursed angrily, and all the pashas present cautiously said: "Your Majesty, please calm down."

The news of the fall of Bursa and Ibrahim's letter arrived at Kostantiniya on the other side of the strait at the same time. The war situation in Asia Minor had deteriorated to this point. This news could not be worse.

Ibrahim said directly in the letter: "Now that I have figured out who you are, you are just a coward who is strong on the outside but does nothing on the inside. You are a coward who sits on Bayezid's legacy but dare not make any counterattack. Since you dare not If you want to fight with me, then obediently admit the fact that you cannot keep your inheritance, divide Anatolia to your nephew Murad, and recognize his legal rule, and I will withdraw my troops and spare your life."

These contents in themselves did not make Selim lose his mind. The sustainable military defeat and the accompanying political fallout did allow Ibrahim to defeat him.

Now that the old capital Bursa has fallen, the army has basically gathered at the same time and is ready to leave. He now has no suitable reason to delay sending troops and wait for the right time. If the "illegal" Sultan of Roma is allowed to rely on foreign enemies to establish his rule in Anatolia, then he will lose not only his territory, but also the legitimacy of his rule. Find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com

Nowadays, the anti-enemy sentiment in the army is very high, and he cannot let it turn into doubts that are detrimental to him.

The house was leaking and it rained continuously all night, and the messenger who returned from Trabzon by boat not long ago brought bad news—Muhammad Agha suffered a setback in his first battle and was unable to relieve the siege. Selim's original plan was to use the partial division to threaten the too-deep connection between Ibrahim and Diyarbakir, so as to force the Iranians to take the initiative to return to the east to protect the coast, buy time, and mobilize and wear down the enemy forces. The strategy was stillborn.

If you want to save this plan, Gaomen needs to invest more troops, but now Selimna can continue to send thousands or even tens of thousands of troops to Trabzon? He even wanted to withdraw everyone.

Fortunately, Yunus Pasha promptly kept the levied troops and military supplies as much as possible in Gemlik, and could escape the current danger by shipping.

Even so, he still needed to aggrieve Yunus Pasha: "Yunus Pasha, the governor of Anatolia, abandoned Bursa without a fight, and he deserves to be punished. In view of the urgency of the current war, it is not appropriate to kill the general on the battlefield... …”

Yunus Pasha was removed from the post of chief official of the border area, and only retained the title of vizier to continue to lead the army to perform meritorious service. Apart from this, Selim did not impose more serious punishment.

The only news that reassured him was the movement of Korkut. Seeing the Safavid army marching directly towards Bursa, this loser was so scared that he didn't even dare to stay in Manisa. I heard that he was now heading to the south where he was supposed to take up his post. The Antalya Port in Taikesangjak, the jurisdiction of the area, may be recruiting troops, or fleeing by boat and fleeing abroad.

"Ignore him for the time being and let Kapudan Pasha and Reis deal with it. The Persian heretics are the most important thing." Selim then ordered the entire army to move to Skudar to prepare for departure, and talked with the Pasha present. They discuss the battle plan.