The Sun and the Lion

By the time Ibrahim arrived, Ankara was ready for battle. This is not empty talk. The rampage of the Shahkullu rebels and the massive invasion of Safavid have made the governor and citizens here highly alert. Fortunately, the previous march routes of the two armies bypassed this place, giving the locals ample time to prepare. .

By the time the Safavid army arrived, the defenders had completed the task of consolidating the walls and clearing the countryside. The teams sent out to collect food all reported that there was no one in the village and no supplies, and the work of collecting food could not be carried out at all. The residential orchards outside the wall were all demolished, the city fortifications were uncovered, and additional fighting platforms were temporarily expanded on the city wall.

Ibrahim first asked the army to camp in an unknown abandoned village by the nearby river, and then personally inspected the city defense of Ankara. Obviously, the arrival of the Safavid army could not be concealed from the defenders. There were a large number of soldiers on guard at the top of the city and they were highly vigilant. The towers and combat platforms were equipped with large and small artillery and other equipment, and it seemed that the supplies were complete.

In his opinion, if he attacks hard with the military strength at hand, he will definitely be able to conquer without sparing the dead. Ankara's defenders are mostly militias and recruits who have been temporarily gathered and organized. How can they compare with Iran's elite who are accustomed to fighting? ?

It's just that the main goal of the war is not to capture the Ottoman cities and pools. If too much is lost in siege, Selim will most likely seize the opportunity, and the certainty of victory in the battle will be much weaker. point.

Therefore, Ibrahim decided to encircle rather than attack, and only cut off Ankara's external communications so that when the main Ottoman force arrived, the two armies could meet without resistance. At the same time, he sent a messenger to the rear, requesting that the next batch of supplies and reinforcements should be sent from Sivas to Ankara, and that elite rebel soldiers should be selected from Shahkulu in Amasya to join them.

Infantry troops were sent out to dig trenches and build forts outside the range of the defenders, while the cavalry watched each city gate to prevent bold defenders from raiding the unformed siege fortifications.

For several days, the defenders took no action, and there was no news of the letter sent in to persuade them to surrender. Only the scouts who went out for routine reconnaissance reported: "An enemy army was found about two days west of Ankara. Judging from the direction, it probably came from the west. There are about four to five thousand soldiers and horses, all cavalry."

"Is this the only enemy army?" Ibrahim asked while stroking his beard and thinking.

"Yes, Your Majesty, no other Roma troops have been found yet." The scout officer replied respectfully.

"Explore again." After rejecting the scouts, Ibrahim judged: "The lone army coming from the west is not large in size. Tsk, could it be the same group that retreated to the north in Bursa?"

After sending a guard to call Ismail, he ordered: "The scouts found that there was a Roma division on the west road that was advancing alone. It's not clear whether it came to relieve the siege or what it was for. In short, you can draw a few Go and kill them."

Seeing that there was a battle to fight, Ismail became excited. Except for the two battles of Kayseri and Konya, his memory of this war was filled with the cycle of marching, camping, marching, and camping.

"Brother, let's do it now." He quickly left the tent and dispatched the needed cavalry troops.

Obviously, this sudden appearance of the Ottoman army was the heroic force that "recovered" Bursa led by Yunus Pasha. Originally, he was worried about the disparity in military power between the two sides and did not want to pursue the retreating Safavid army, but he failed to do so. Disha's edict ordered him to meet in Ankara and inquire about the enemy's situation.

For this reason, he had no choice but to mobilize most of his cavalry, and temporarily requisitioned a group of mules and horses to provide riding for the accompanying elite infantry.

Deliberately marching slowly allowed him to stay outside the detection range of the Iranian scouts. The Safavid army's halt in Ankara changed this situation. As the team entered the scouts' detection range, it was only a matter of time that their whereabouts were exposed. It is not yet known how long it will take for the army led by Lim himself to arrive.

In this case, it is not good to feel the enemy's strength and attract attention. It is not good to sit back and watch Ankara fall. It is better to provide support within the scope of ability as a friendly force.

The closer he got to Ankara, the more Yunus Pasha cautiously sent out more scouts to gather information. Before even a face-to-face encounter, the scouts from both sides exchanged blows. At present, the Safavid side still has the upper hand. This fog of war cannot be explored. Not only was Yunus Pasha blind and deaf, he was at least hearing-impaired and highly myopic.

At the same time, there is also the problem of food and grass that troubles them. From Bursa to Eskişehir and then to Ankara, there is no food to collect along the way. If the villages that have been raided by the Safavid army want to collect food again, they have to collect food from stones. Squeeze out the oil. Even if they plunder without regard for good people, not much military supplies can be raised. For these thousands of cavalry, the food of the men and horses is very tight.

Ismail, who was gathering troops on a nearby hill, looked condescendingly at the slowly marching Ottoman army, and decided to personally lead a cavalry group to engage the enemy. The remaining troops would wait for the enemy to be lured into the range of guns and cannons, and then fight out together.

Soon, Yunus Pasha saw hundreds of Safavid cavalry with bright armor approaching. Looking for Shuyuanｗｗｗ.zhaoshuyuan.com, he shot an arrow in the face and then hundreds of fine cavalry rushed into the Ottoman front line. The sudden impact temporarily threw the team into chaos.

"Bold!" He glared at the enemy cavalry who were fighting and retreating after charging for a round. At the same time, he saw that the armor of the leading cavalry officer was extremely luxurious, and the military flags held by his entourage were also unusual. He thought he was an important person, and felt that there was something in it. This is strange, and I'm afraid it's a ploy to lure the enemy deeper.

Seeing that this group of Safavid cavalry was intending to harass them and retreat to avoid retreating, Yunus Pasha dispatched his elite troops to expel them, and planned to lead his troops to retreat to favorable terrain to form a whole group.

It's just that Ismail was extremely brave. Seeing that the Roma only sent a group of people to pursue him, he changed his plan and turned back to defeat the pursuers. Hundreds of Ottoman cavalry were killed in an instant, and they fled back to their homeland in a hurry. Array.

"Are these Roma soldiers so weak?" The easy victory made him give up his original ambush plan. The messenger quickly notified the cavalry and camel gunners in the rear to follow Mirza and directly attack the enemy position.

The Ottoman army, which was gathering the defeated troops, did not expect that the enemy would be so arrogant. Upon seeing this, Yunus Pasha ordered: "The whole army will attack to cover up the enemy. Anyone who captures or kills the thief chief alive will be heavily rewarded!"

The Ottoman cavalry wanted to rely on their numerical advantage to wrap up the enemy army, but the skin could not contain the stuffing. Ismail led the team to charge left and right. Although they suffered losses, they killed the Ottoman soldiers and were unable to stop them.

After the remaining troops joined the battlefield, a complete collapse of the war situation was inevitable. Yunus Pasha led his soldiers to try to maintain the battle line, but the lead bullets fired by the "Little Hornet" and wall guns killed all his guards and mounts. , the red head who came over easily controlled Yunus Pasha who was badly beaten.

The chasing red heads continued for several miles until the organization of the defeated troops completely collapsed and no one could flee in groups anymore.