The Sun and the Lion

At this moment, the port area was in chaos. The fighting between the defeated soldiers and the citizens had begun. The reinforcement soldiers who came across the sea slaughtered the locals without any burden, while the militia composed of citizens stood on the side of the fellow villagers and fought with the foreign soldiers without hesitation.

The Tatar mercenaries, who did not understand the city's topography at all, were often attacked in the narrow alleys. Because they were isolated by brick walls, it was difficult for them to counter the missiles flying from the top of the wall, and the experience and skills accumulated in previous fights were nowhere to be used.

At this time, their situation can be described as a wolf in front and a tiger in the back. The red head who has broken through the city wall defense line does not need much time to penetrate deep into the city. They also know that the key lies in the port, not the castle on the hillside.

However, the internal conflicts within the Ottoman army did not spread quickly. In addition, the Safavid army rushed into the streets to help share the hatred. Some reinforcements who acted calmly or were lucky could arrive at the port unharmed.

"A bunch of bastards who deserve to be damned to Hell! Why don't you use this free time to fight among internal strife to kill the Persians?"

Mohammad Pasha relied on his own soldiers and the still-controlled Yenicheri to open the way to the merchant ships at the dock, and put all the defeated troops who were causing chaos under his nose to justice in order to restore the collapsed discipline. Shocked by this, many Tatars lowered their heads and obeyed the pasha's orders again. Those who did not want to return had to blend into the crowd.

The ensuing wave of fleeing people was too overwhelming compared to the hundreds of people who were still following the Pasha. For a while, the trestle was already crowded with survivors. They frantically climbed onto the side of the ship or jumped into the small boat. The fear of the pursuing soldiers gradually amplified in the hearts of the soldiers, and they had no intention of stopping them.

Seeing that there was nothing he could do, Muhammad Pasha simply boarded the ship with all the troops he could command and rushed to Kaffa. In order to prevent idlers from robbing the ship, he did not hesitate to directly order shooting at the fleeing crowd. The rock cannons, breech-mounted swivel guns on the ship's deck, and Jenichery's muskets ensured that the refugees would choose several other ships as targets.

Dozens of ships that were severely overloaded with refugees left the port one by one, leaving desperate refugees on the shore at the mercy of the enemy soldiers. There were even soldiers on the east wall who were trapped in towers because they did not retreat in time. die.

The red-headed and Georgians who came from both sides successfully joined forces in the city. The road between the upper city and the port was completely controlled by the invaders. The melee between the militia and the guest soldiers in the city was violently intervened by a sudden third party. They were forced to disarm one by one.

Not all citizens fled in panic on the streets. Many people were hiding in mosques and houses. Those hiding could not relax until they could no longer hear the sound of fighting.

Neither Ismail nor Heraclius expected that the battle would go so smoothly. Trabzon, which had stood firm for several months during the siege without falling, was captured like this? Fanatic Muslims choose to attribute this to the victory of their faith, which is a strong proof that the Safavid family is blessed by God. Superstitious and pessimistic Christians did not hesitate to adopt this assertion to enhance the legitimacy of their allegiance to Safavid.

"Your Highness, the Roma in the port and on the hillside walls have all surrendered to you."

When Ismail proudly rode into the city, the red-headed officer immediately reported to him that the fighting in the lower city had completely ended, and that the upper city and the castle had given up resistance. Now this important hub port in the Black Sea population trade other It has also become a source of goods itself.

But apart from the prisoners, the harvest of other spoils was less than expected, and the money and food left in the treasury were not enough to meet the needs of the Safavid army. Selim had already scraped the land of Trabzon in order to usurp the throne and fight for the war, and most of the property had already been It was transported to Kostantinye, and part of what remained was transferred to Kaffa.

Heraclius met Ismail later, and upon learning that Trabizon had completely surrendered to the Safavid army, he immediately sent congratulations and praised Mirza's military talents.

Ismail accepted these slightly "transgressive" rainbow farts without humility.

After simple classification and screening, after picking out the officers, priests and bureaucrats from the prisoners, no pasha and qadi were found. The aggrieved Greek bishop also actively confessed: "I saw those two cowards with my own eyes On board the ship, the soldiers who followed them also shot with firearms and arrows anyone who came near the ship.”

In short, most of the most influential people in the city ran away. Fortunately, everyone who stayed had become slaves and had no need to rule good people for the time being. The new order of Trabzon had nothing to do with them.

The next most important task is to clean up this "den of heretics". To put it more bluntly, it is to destroy the city, eradicate all traces of Ottoman rule, and build a new city on the old site.

Of course, Mirza did not need to worry about construction. That was the task of the newly appointed high-ranking official of Pontus. All he had to do was destroy and then bring all the loot back to Iran to present to the King of Kings. Find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com

The first building that bore the brunt of the cleaning work was a mausoleum. Its owner was not an emperor, general, or scholar, but Selim's mother, Gulba Hakotun, who died in Trabzon in 1505. buried in this city.

Selim once wanted to build a new mosque in the name of his mother at the site of the mausoleum, but the outbreak of war made this plan impossible to realize. Now not only the mosque intended to commemorate Khodun cannot be built, but even the mausoleum itself will no longer exist.

Holes for gunpowder were dug in the wall, and after a round of blasting and demolition work, the coffins stored in them were set on fire. Fanatics were organized to publicly curse the Ottoman family and insult Selim on the spot.

The demolition of the Tomb of Kotun, an act of humiliation and punishment for Selim, was only the beginning. Other buildings in the city, except for infrastructure such as water supply and drainage systems, began to be looted and destroyed one by one, including mosques, churches, synagogues and other religious buildings. They were also treated indiscriminately. The castle and other buildings in the upper town survived because they were temporarily used as new military camps.

Just as the demolition work in Trabzon was in full swing, a merchant ship quickly approached Trabzon and docked at the designated berth under the surveillance of guards. Its passengers were rudely escorted to Ismail. .

"Dear Mirza..." The translator relayed the words of the Tatar envoy on the side and explained the purpose of his visit.

The Crimean Khan Mingli Grai has learned about the Ottoman defeat and the capture of his son. Now he plans to bypass the suzerain and negotiate with the Safavids privately, hoping to obtain the understanding of the King of Kings and reach a separate armistice. Purpose.

After learning the purpose of the Tatar envoy, Ismail's attitude softened a lot, and he immediately ordered someone to be sent to Diyarbakir.