Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1920 Influence ([-])

After the crucial meeting with Grand Vizier Fasher Mustafa, Gao Wengang stayed in Istanbul for nearly a month.

During this month, he paid a surprise visit to many upper-level personnel of the empire who had a close relationship with the east coast.Unfortunately, not everyone saw it: some were found responsible for the fiasco of the siege of Vienna and were executed or imprisoned; order.Of course, there were some people who had nothing wrong with them. We in Istanbul are peaceful and warm to the people on the east coast, so Gao Wengang got a lot of useful information from these people, which further deepened his understanding of the current situation in this country.

In addition, Mr. Gao also had a long closed-door talk with Malati, the ambassador to Ottomans, in the embassy on the east bank, and fully exchanged views with him, a front-line diplomatic official.After all, although he once served as the ambassador to Ottomans, he has been away for many years after all, and his acumen and judgment on some affairs are definitely not as good as Malati, the authentic ambassador. , is still very helpful.

Malati told Gao Wengang that things were not as difficult as he imagined.Because not long ago, the Ottomans just defeated the invading Polish army in the rural fields of Podolia, killing, wounding and capturing more than [-] enemy soldiers, which is a bright spot in a series of failures in the past year.As for whether it will bottom out or not, no one can guarantee it, but it seems that Malati is very confident, thinking that the Ottomans are still "very tough", and the East Bank does not need to worry too much about its fate, and should take advantage of this time It is a very rare opportunity to grab more and longer-term interests, such as the reform power of the economy of the Ottoman Empire and the fiscal and taxation system.

"King Jan Sobieski of Poland asked his deputy to help the Austrians with an army of 5000, and he himself returned to Poland lightly, and then organized another army, including infantry and cavalry, about 1 people , attacking Podolia." Malati introduced to Gao Wengang and said: "Sobieski defeated the main force of the Ottoman army under the city of Vienna, and witnessed the destruction of many famous legions under his cavalry's iron hooves, so He despised the Ottomans. This time he returned to Poland to organize an offensive against Podolia, also in order to regain the homeland ceded to the Ottomans. As a result, he came aggressively, but left disappointed. The main reason for the failure was that Kerry The Mia Khanate provided great help, and the Great Khan sent his confidant generals to recruit [-] elite cavalry from the country, and at the same time there were about [-] new infantrymen (led by the feudal lords on the northern shore of the Black Sea), with five More than a dozen artillery pieces attacked the Poles from the flanks. Later, the Duke of Moldavia on the other side of the Transnistria also brought more than [-] soldiers to reinforce them. Together with the original Turkish defenders in Podolia, This offensive of the Poles was pushed back."

"It is said that Sobieski was very disappointed with this failure and planned to organize more troops to come. His purpose was not only to recapture Podolia, but even to attack Moldavia across the Transnistria. In fact I am a little surprised by his choice, why he did not take Western Ukraine, but chose to attack Moldavia by detour? For this reason, he even did not hesitate to cooperate with the political and military offensives of the Austrians in Hungary and Transylvania, which is very puzzling Is it because the Crimean Khanate is currently the actual controller of Western Ukraine and the 'guardian' appointed by Turkey?" Malati added.

The Ottomans' successful defensive counterattack in Podolia happened about three months ago, and because of the news, Gao Wengang has only just learned about it.In this offensive, because of some rifts with the Austrian King Leopold of the Habsburg family, Jan Sobieski returned to Poland after his success, intending to regain his country in the past few decades. Fight for the territory that has been lost in the country.And his first goal is undoubtedly Podolia, where a large number of Poles live, the core land of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The attack on Puertolia began with great optimism.Because of the continuous failure of the Ottoman Empire in the past year, everyone regards them as a group of vulnerable chickens and dogs.Moreover, the total number of Turkish defenders in Podolia is only more than 8000, and the local Polish residents also secretly communicated with Sobieski. It seems that it is definitely an easy victory.

But the facts are undoubtedly cruel. They have forgotten a hungry wolf watching over them, that is, the Crimean Tatars.This country has a large number of fierce and sturdy cavalry who come and go like the wind. A few months ago, Sultan Mehmed II ordered them to gather troops to enter Western Ukraine and be ready to help the empire defend Podolia, Tetra Transylvania and Moldavia line.The Sudanese special envoy emphasized that because of the "fleeing" during the military operation to attack Vienna (in fact, the Tatars withdrew after the attack on Hungary, and robbed Hungary before leaving), this time they are absolutely not allowed to With any excuse to flee, responsible for their future, the Ottomans would carefully evaluate their actions in the face of possible pincer attacks from the Poles and Russians.

To be honest, in order for the Crimean Khanate, the Ottoman suzerainty system with the greatest degree of freedom, the strongest power, and the most rebellious country to obey orders, the Ottoman Empire also gave up its face and started talking about the Russians. In the end, the success made the Great Khan send troops to fight, and together they defeated the Poles.

In this battle, the Crimean Tatar cavalry played a decisive role at a critical moment: when the Poles stormed the towns defended by the Turks, Moldavians and West Ukrainian Cossacks, the Tatar cavalry killed them from the flanks. out, slammed the Poles' rear, and finally won a big victory.To be honest, it is actually quite similar to the Battle of Vienna, that is, the main force of the enemy army besieged the important fortresses and cities guarded by one's own side. It's just that the scale is much worse than the Battle of Vienna where more than 20 people fought.

After the Ottomans won the Battle of Podolia, they basically stabilized the fluctuating hearts of the people in many nearby areas. If the Poles want to fight back, they may have to wait for a long time.Marathi told Gao Wengang that according to some unreliable gossip, after the Polish king Jan Sobieski returned from Podolia, he quickly sent people to Hungary to ask the Austrians to change their combat direction and turn to the northeast to attack. Podolia and even Western Ukraine, but the Austrians rejected this suggestion and emphasized that they should continue to follow the original plan, first Hungary, then Transylvania, and finally elsewhere.For this reason, it is said that the two sides have been a little unhappy. The Poles are quite dissatisfied with the "ungrateful" Austrians.

"I didn't expect the Ottomans to be able to hold their ground here. Because of this victory, the Christian lords in Transylvania who have some doubts about the future should have calmed down a little bit, right?" Listening to the horse Gao Wengang was also a little surprised by Lati's introduction. He felt that this Polish man had a big heart and brought more than 2 people to attack Podolia. Didn't he consider being attacked by Turks, Moldavians, and Tatars? And the risk of a Western Ukrainian Cossack siege?

"What is the situation of the Russians now? Have they been watching the theater for almost a year? Do you have any plans to end?" As the ambassador to Istanbul, Malati is responsible for collecting and sorting out information including Ottoman Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and the Caucasus region All intelligence and information, and then reported to Gao Wengang in Cadiz for processing.Therefore, Gao Wengang immediately asked him about the news about the Russian Empire's movements, fearing that there would be some news that had not been delivered to him in the past few months, which would cause his misjudgment.

"Not yet." Malati shook his head and said, "But what is certain is that the Russians are very interested in taking advantage of the fire. They have already increased their troops in Eastern Ukraine, with as many as 4 people. In the previous garrison, the total number of Russian troops on this front has exceeded [-]. If you consider that they can recruit tens of thousands of Cossacks led by Samoilovich in the relatively densely populated Eastern Ukraine, this number is even more terrifying There is no doubt that this is a force that can change the situation of the war, and I don’t know what the Russians are doing, so they have been staring at the Ukrainian prairie, and they will not stop until they eat it.”

"There is an old saying in our country, which is to pick the soft persimmons. Who made the Ottomans perform so poorly in the previous wars and suffered a complete defeat? If you show your flaws, you can't blame others for coming to trouble you." Gao Wengang said with a wry smile: "The main force of the Ottoman Empire was pinned down on the front line of Serbia and Hungary. If it weren't for our help, they would not even be able to withdraw from Greece, Albania and other places. In addition, the Poles were worried about the cession of the province of Podolia. Therefore, Russia It is inevitable for people to have feelings for West Ukraine. From this point of view, we are in great trouble again! Why are the Turks so uneasy? After all, we are almost theirs It's a babysitter, the gray hairs that have been added to my head in the past year are all because of them!"

"Let's do this. Russia's intelligence needs to be intensified. Don't save money. Just go to the port of Azov to inquire. Those corrupt officials in Russia can disclose any information for money, not to mention that we are not with them. Countries with strong conflicts of interest should be able to collect some valuable information by spending a lot of money. Uh, try not to find those noble officials. Some of them still have ideals and are still loyal to the tsar. Find them It will only make fun of yourself. In short, the next move of the Russians is very important. If their more than [-] troops overwhelm them, they will rely on Western Ukraine and the Crimean Khanate to resist. It is not impossible, but it is very dangerous. Gao Wen just stood up, lit a pipe for himself to calm down, and then said: "But the good thing is that the current political situation in Russia is somewhat chaotic, and they may not really be willing to send troops. Or even if they do send troops , and may not be willing to fight a war that will destroy the country, for those in power who are still planning bloody court conspiracy, it is an extra-complicated behavior, so here is an opportunity."

"I will go to the Crimean Khanate in a while. This country is very important to us. The trade of the Dnieper River, the Don River, and the Danube River, this country can be said to be the most important fulcrum. Once it is gone, many years of investment The hard work is completely in vain. The business network needs to be re-established, and I don’t know how much effort it will take. The Russians are not good business partners.” Gao Wengang continued: “This time the Ottoman Empire was defeated. The importance of the Khanate is growing day by day and I learned from talking to Grand Vizier Fasher Mustafa that they have given the country more freedom and at the same time allowed us more freedom there, So we intend to work more deeply with this country."

In fact, for many years, the people on the east coast have had in-depth cooperation with this slave country with the highest degree of freedom under the Ottoman Empire.Especially in terms of economy, the East Coast people and the Tatars have jointly built new-style salt farms, meat factories, dairy product processing factories, leather processing factories, etc. The basic model is that the East Coast people provide technology and machinery and equipment, and the Tatars provide labor. (looted slaves) and land, the two parties work together to make money.

Of course, we must not forget the many investments from the Italian peninsula drawn by people from the east coast. These have also increased their productivity in disguise on the basis of giving the Khanate a large amount of fiscal revenue.At least, after exporting agricultural products to Italy to form an industry, the country's agricultural production technology has made great progress, and the area of ​​reclaimed wasteland is also increasing day by day.And when food starts to become abundant, the country's population will naturally begin to grow, which will undoubtedly help the integration of all classes in the country in Crimea-among the total population of more than 100 million, there are a large number of people who have been robbed. If the slaves or descendants of slaves are not well integrated, the future will definitely restrict the progress of the country.

In addition, there is no need to say more about the "Three Rivers Trade". Its importance cannot be overestimated. Therefore, Gao Wengang felt that at this critical moment, it was necessary for him to go to Baekchisalai again, and Graham Khan have a good talk.

(End of this chapter)