I Became the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire

전초전(2)

In war, supply is a critically important issue.

War means experiencing the horror of comrades becoming disabled or departing to the embrace of Allah, and living in fear of when you might die.

Even elite soldiers suffer stress to the point of mental exhaustion, and if food doesn’t come correctly, it can lead to disobedience of orders and even rebellion.

At first, when Ardah noticed the enemy’s supply issues, he felt a glimmer of hope.

Even the renowned Qizilbash would face problems once they realized their supplies were running low.

‘I underestimated my opponent too much.’

Ardah bit his lip.

The enemy launched a fierce siege immediately, holding a grand feast as if it were their last supper.

As the fighting continued without respite, weariness piled up on the faces of our side, which had a comparatively smaller number of men.

However, the real problem wasn’t fatigue.

“The walls, the walls are collapsing!”

Cement could rightly be called a divine gift from Allah for how well it had done its job.

Whenever we repaired the castle, cement had played a huge role.

But cement wasn’t infallible, and with the battles raging day and night, it hadn’t even been given enough time to set properly.

It was no surprise that the inadequately repaired walls were ultimately pushed to their limits.

“It’s fine! It’s just the walls of the harbor!”

Since the chance of an invasion was low, the relatively weaker walls of the harbor unfortunately collapsed. Ardah shouted loudly to reassure the anxious soldiers.

For nomads who lived a life far removed from swimming, the gap was too easy to exploit. At Ardah’s words, the soldiers felt relief and focused on the battle.

Trying to ease the soldiers’ fears, Ardah muttered softly.

“This isn’t good.”

“…It seems it won’t be easy to hold. With the wall collapsing, the chains connecting the breakwater have also come loose.”

As his subordinate Batur said, we had connected the thick chains to the breakwater covering the harbor.

Since there was no way to retreat to the harbor, we had to hold the invasion as well.

The problem was that with part of the wall collapsed, the breakwater was affected, causing the chains to sink beneath the sea.

Of course, if the enemy ships showed up, Ardah was confident he could set them ablaze with fire arrows, but adding another concern to the already precarious battle was enough to tip the scales.

Unfortunately, his ominous prediction came true.

“Damn it! Tell the subjects to retreat to the inner castle!”

“Retreat quickly! Retreat!”

With Samtskhe’s ships hovering around, our forces were scattered, leading to the collapse of part of the already strained walls.

Seeing enemy soldiers using the gap to slip through, Ardah made a decision, and the subjects holding out quickly fled to the inner castle.

They knew that the quicker they escaped, the less damage the soldiers would face.

As they easily retreated to the inner castle situated on the hill, Ardah issued a ruthless command.

“Unless they’re the delaying detachment, all soldiers retreat to the inner castle.”

“…Understood.”

A soldier must obey under any circumstance. Sometimes sacrifices are needed for someone else.

With that single command, hundreds of deaths were decided, but Ardah turned away calmly.

Among them were those he had lived with like brothers, and even his third son, but he couldn’t be swayed by emotions.

There are things one must protect, even if it means risking one’s own life.

That day, the outer walls of Trabzon collapsed.

*

“Aah!”

Seeing Hasna smiling brightly as she waddled, Aishe gave a faint smile.

Boom! Bang!

The continuous loud noises and faint screams grew closer.

The sounds once distant became much nearer, and even the chambermaids within the castle made themselves scarce to lend a hand.

Waddling her unsteady steps, Hasna hugged Aishe tightly and patted her mother’s face with her tiny hands.

“You need to reflect on this. You made that little girl worry. Isn’t that right?”

At Hatice’s evaluation, Aishe nodded.

“I’ve become a wretched mother.”

“Aah!”

Aishe smiled wider than usual as she hugged Hasna and tickled her daughter’s cheek.

While feeling guilt that their peaceful Trabzon had turned into a warzone because of them, Aishe would melt at her child’s laughter.

Thus, making a decision became even more difficult.

“Hatice, it might sound silly, but just like Mehmet, Hasna is also my child.”

Hatice, seated across, lightly ruffled Hasna’s hair at this remark.

“Still, a decision must be made. We must prepare for the worst. If that outsider takes her hostage, there will be no turning back.”

It would be a huge disgrace for the Sultan if his woman were taken prisoner, and like Tazlu, she could become a burden.

Moreover, being a prisoner could raise doubts about her purity, and even if she miraculously returned, the stigma would haunt them for life.

This also held the potential to adversely affect their son, who had a right to the throne.

“If it comes to that, it’s better to take our own lives.”

“I’m not hesitating because I’m afraid to lose this worthless life.”

Hasna, who carried the bloodline of Yusuf, had enough value as a hostage, and if it came to choosing self-termination, Hasna would have to go too.

This was what caused Aishe’s indecision.

What parent could easily take their child’s life?

Hatice spoke with a heavy gaze.

“Still, a decision needs to be made. Time seems to be running short.”

The screams today were louder than ever.

*

Ismail, who conquered vast lands, was not only experienced in field battles but also in sieges.

At a young age, he had established a kingdom and defeated numerous armies, earning a reputation that made enemies hole up in their castles.

Though he had led countless sieges, he had never faced such a challenging siege before.

‘These irritating bastards.’

Even when breaking through the outer walls, the remaining enemy forces were formidable obstacles meant to buy time.

Despite suffering severe wounds, they continued to block the way, and whenever an arm wielding a weapon was cut off, they would bite back.

Even the Qizilbash, who had seen all sorts of battles, wore grim expressions as they collected the dead bodies in one place.

Though they were the enemy, it indicated they were acknowledged as warriors.

“However, it seems our endurance is finally reaching its limits.”

“Yes, the end is in sight.”

Ismail and Mohammad looked at the gates and walls of the inner castle.

Creak!

– Push harder! It’s almost destroyed!

The siege weapons were cracking the walls in many locations, and the gates were falling apart.

Ismail could see weapons being shoved into the gaps in the gates.

“Fortunately, it seems they won’t pull any strange tricks on the gates this time.”

“Well, after all, it’s impossible to block an escape route.”

When Ismail realized that the outer gates were solidly blocked with stone, it was utterly ridiculous.

Just when they thought they breached the gates, a sturdy wall emerged.

So much so that they even abandoned the gates and drilled into the softer walls, digging tunnels.

Luckily, they avoided that scenario this time, and if they could break through to the inner castle, they were confident they could easily breach the citadel, the last line of defense.

Victory was close at hand, yet Ismail’s expression was far from pleasant.

“Due to those incompetent fools, the damage has exceeded expectations.”

At Ismail’s words, Sargis’s face hardened.

With the outer wall down, there was no longer a need to blockade the harbor, and thus Samtskhe’s soldiers were also deployed for the inner castle siege.

And in the most dangerous spots at that.

In a situation where countless of his subordinates were dying, Sargis could say nothing in response to such scorn. After all, they were in a position where they had to rely on the Safavid.

– The gate has been breached!

– Whoa!

Cheers erupted at the news of the gate being breached, and as they thought only the citadel remained.

“It’s bad! The Ottoman army is appearing!”

A messenger from Samtskhe, drenched in sweat, collapsed to one knee and shouted, while Ismail’s expression hardened.

“How large is the enemy force?”

“I—I don’t know. There were just too many! The enemy fleet is incredibly large!”

As the frantic soldier blurted out, Ismail turned his head toward the harbor and caught sight of a dark fleet pouring in over the horizon.

The ships of Samtskhe rushed toward the Ottoman fleet, as if trying to block their approach, and a tremendous roar echoed.

– Bang! Boom!

It was the sound of cannons.

*

“Padishah! Trabzon is in sight!”

“I can see it too.”

Having lived much of his life as Yusuf, he couldn’t possibly fail to recognize it.

Thus, he might have been even angrier at the sight of black smoke rising everywhere.

“Fortunately, it seems it hasn’t fallen yet.”

Despite the horrific sight of the outer castle, unlike the inner castle, the citadel positioned at the top of the hill appeared unscathed.

If the citadel was intact, it meant that his women and daughter were still safe from Ismail’s hands.

Yet, seeing the battered state of the inner castle, had he arrived even a moment later, he could have caught just a glimpse of Ismail fleeing without finishing his goal.

“The enemy ships are identified as Samtskhe!”

After finally spotting the fleet, Yusuf ordered Kemal Reis, who was next to him.

“Get rid of them before my eyes.”

“Understood, Padishah.”

Replying thus, Kemal directed the coxswain, who raised his flag and signaled to the other ships.

The rowing speed of the galleys increased, and from the head of the line, flames and smoke erupted.

– Bang! Boom!

The cannonball fired from the ship tore through the wooden ships like paper, and the stray cannonballs caused massive splashes.

With one round of bombardment, more than half of Samtskhe’s ships were left in tatters, and the remaining galleys, receiving the coxswain’s signal, slowed down.

A pair of large karaks and over a dozen small ships began to turn their bodies sideways.

Seeing the cannons lined up along the hull, the enemies hurriedly tried to flee, but it was already too late to escape.

– Fire! Open fire!

With the commander’s order, fierce explosions echoed as the karaks rocked violently.

The ship swayed just enough to nearly throw Yusuf off balance, and he hastily pushed away the hand gripping him.

“It’s done. All cleaned up.”

After a series of cannon fire, only a few lucky ships remained intact, while most were left in a pile of wreckage or half-sunk.

The enemy sailors flailing in the sea to survive were disregarded as the friendly galleys passed by, and gunfire rained down upon the resisting enemy ships.

The naval battle was so lopsided it could hardly be called such, and Yusuf raised his eyes toward the distant Trabzon citadel.

It was unlikely, but he felt as if he locked eyes with the one who had called him here.

“Ismail, I’ve come personally to see you. What will you do now?”

Yusuf bared his white teeth.