137 136 Persians

I divided into a dozen smaller ones, 10,000 people each, appointed commanders and their goals. Selim was tasked to invade and plunder Erzrum Sanjak, Saddat was to do the same to Sivas Sanjak... I sent the next armies to Sinop Sanjak, Tokat Sanjak and Erzican Sanjak. My main goal for now was to conquer and control Sivas and Erzurum Vilayet, and seizing Sinop Sanjak will allow me to gain control of Kastamonu Vilayet at a later date.

I left 20,000 people to defend Trebizond, they were mainly Cossacks, and with a 10,000 army I went to the southeast, from the information obtained, I knew that the Persian army appeared in Mardin Sanjak.

I had mixed feelings towards the Persians, Shah Safi I was illiterate, idiot, paranoid, alcoholic and drug addict, which did not bode well for a good alliance. Compared to him, Władysław Vasa was a perfect ruler.

The complete opposite of Shah was his Grand Vizier Saru Taqi, thanks to him the Safavid dynasty would not collapse, and the state somehow prospered despite Ottomans, Turkmen and Uzbeks attacks.

It took us almost a month to cover 700 kilometers from Trebizond to Mardin, especially since we attacked all the larger and smaller settlements on our way, they were not strategically important, but the more we can inflict damage on the enemy, the better.

"We need information, so take the men and go out scouting. If there's Persian troops here, I need to know." (MC)

"What if I find them?" (Islam Giray)

"You can try to make contact, but carefully and without promises. We'll see what their attitude is." (MC)

"Prince, I know the Persians are also an enemy of the Ottomans, but a common enemy does not make us friends." (Islam Giray)

"I know... maybe you will be Khan in the future, Islam, so think about the future. If Persia remains strong, the Ottomans will never be able to fully focus their forces on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Crimea. An important source of your income is human trade, Persia maybe to be a new market for your commodity." (MC)

"Prince, how do you want to help the Persians?" (Islam Giray)

"This is simple, the Ottomans want Baghdad... so we have to make sure it stays in Persian hands." (MC)

As far as I remembered, the Ottomans tried to capture Baghdad several times, finally succeeding in 1638... in the same year, the Persians also lost Kandahar to the Mughal Empire, which was their gateway to India. Although I was indifferent to Kandahar and I was not interested in whose hands it would be, the conquest of Baghdad by the Ottomans would greatly strengthen them, which I could not allow... at least now.

Two days later, Islam returned with the Persian emissaries... after not too long negotiations, we agreed that I would leave 9,000 soldiers at their disposal, under the command of Islam Giray in exchange for all the loot and people captured during the fighting with the Ottoman army.

If the Persians win, that's good news, the enemy will be weakened and I will gain additional wealth. If Persians lose, the Turks will suffer losses anyway, and maybe Islam Giray will die... which is also good news for me.

Leaving only a thousand soldiers, returning to the north became more risky, but I did not suspect that the Ottomans would be able to gather more strength in such a short time.

"Are we still far from Trebizond?" (MC)

"Not more than 400 kilometers, if I remember correctly, a few kilometers to the north is a small town that we burned down a few weeks ago." (Ilya)

"Well, divide the people and we'll set up two camps, two kilometers apart." (MC)

Late in the evening we lit a fire and started to relax after the tiring journey, the scent of lamb roasted over the fire filled the camp and dominated all other smells... like horse and human sweat. Although alcohol consumption was still forbidden, the Ottoman Empire provided us with a lot of exotic fruits from which we squeezed fresh juices... I was just drinking apricot juice when a young Cossack caught my attention.

"You probably won't like it." (MC)

The Cossack looked my way.

"They're olives... they are made into oil. If you want, there's apricot juice in the pot here, a bit too sweet for my taste, but much better than what you're trying to do." (MC)

I sat by the fire to cut a piece of meat... it was getting late and each of us was tired. Suddenly I heard a strange noise, a steady rumble on the ground. I got up and looked in the direction I thought the sound was coming from, but I couldn't see anything... it didn't sound natural.

"Ilya, can you hear that?" (MC)

My colonel began to listen for incoming noises.

"These are not animals, the sound is too regular... as if people were marching." (Ilya)

That I didn't think about it myself, marching people, a regular step, a regular army...

"Janissaries !!! Get ready to fight." (MC)

Judging by the noise, it was not a small unit, I suspected that at least 2,000 people, we were only 500, and two kilometers further to the south was our next camp with another 500 people... As soon as I screamed these words, I saw the flash of gunfire and heard a roar forming them... several people standing near me fell to the ground. Unfortunately, the enemy was still in the dark, and we were well lit by the fires.

"We are sitting here like ducks in the water, we have to close the distance." (MC)

"They have the advantage of surprise and probably have an advantage in numbers. Our chances..." (Ilya)

"... the chances are even, I know." (MC)

My order may seem crazy, but we could sit and wait for a bullet with our name on it. Which would happen rather quickly, or attack and have a shadow of a chance to win.

I took my saber and moved forward, I suspected that the Janissaries would be no more than 200 meters from our camp... I saw a flash of a shot and the accuracy of the muskets was a lot to be desired... not 200 meters, it's too much, rather 150.

A few seconds later I saw the outline of figures aiming at us with muskets... I heard the command to "shoot", I automatically threw myself to the ground. After firing a volley, the Janissaries began reloading their muskets.

"This is our chance, go forward." (MC)

I got up and moved forward, seconds, maybe fractions of a second later I caught up with the first line of Ottoman troops... my hands were covered with a golden glow.

My opponent tried to cover himself with a musket, but I hit the saber from above, the blade cut through the musket without much problem, then hit the Janissar in the shoulder without losing any of its momentum... a moment later his arm was on the ground. I grabbed the man by the throat and with all my strength pushed him backwards, he bump into a group of Janissaries, knocking them over.

Without waiting any longer, I started to strike in every possible direction ... from time to time I felt my saber meet a slight resistance, but it quickly gave way. Moving forward step by step, I felt that I was standing on something soft, I looked at my feet, it was one of the Janissaries... he was still alive. I stood on his head and, using all my weight, began to crush her... despite the sounds of battle, I heard the sound of bones cracking.

I do not know how much time has passed, but I saw that is was emty around me... the Janissaries retreated to a safe distance, not wanting to become my next victim. I heard one of them shout to surround me and bring spears. Fuck, I knew I wasn't gonna make it out alive... but at least I sent a dozen of them to Hell. I looked around the ground, there were a few more not completely dead Turks lying on it, I bent down, picked up the scimitar and began to kill the wounded.

A few moments later the Janissaries spear armor moved towards me, I managed to grab one of them and pull its owner towards me ... on my knees, vaginably I saw the spear blade come closer to my face. I dodged, only felt the blade cut through my face from the left eyebrow, through my nose to the right cheek.

The next thing I felt was hit on back of my head, I fell to the ground, the last thing I saw was someone legs coming towards me... and then I stopped seeing. There was only darkness around, I couldn't see anything, I couldn't hear anything, but I was aware... Fuck, another reincarnation?