Lords of all They Survey: An Ottoman AAR

[zacharym87]

Oh, the pain. A headache this bad can mean only one thing: I must have died. Last I remember I was fighting alongside the loyal retainers of the Minamoto clan at the Battle of Dannoura, what a fight it was, the current raging as badly as the implacable enemy. An arrow of mine had just connected on some Taira scum when I thought the ship was veering dangerously close to the rocks...I hope I went down to the enemy rather then being thrown from the boat and drowned, such a dishonorable way for a warrior to die. But where was I now? Once, a long time ago, I had been studying history in the 21st Century when someone, angel or demon I know not, asked me if I would rather live history than merely read of it, ever since I have lived one life after another, different ages and lands, taking part in the workings of history in one way or another. For those who wonder what it's like to be reincarnated, it's a lot like a hangover--you wake up in a strange bed with a splitting headache and not the least idea who you are or where you are. Now, through the stabbing pains I espyed through my window that dawn was just breaking, whoever I was, maybe I could sleep in today. Then I heard the stentorian call of the muezzin, and I knew I had left Japan for the Islamic lands. I forced myself out of bed, whoever I was, it would look bad if word got around I was sleeping through morning prayer. I took my first full breath in my new surroundings--a big mistake, as the unmistakeable stench of dead fish reached my nostrils. I must be on the coastline somewhere. Once I find the local mosque I'll know my position relative to Mecca. After prayers I rejoice inwardly to find one of God's most precious gifts, coffee. Totally lacking in medeval Japan, I can hardly say how much I missed the glorious bean. The coffee tastes Turkish, which is also the language the shopowner uses when he brings me my cup. I soon learn from the voluble coffeeshop propreitor everything I need to know: I am now Kemal Reis, supreme admiral of the Ottoman Navy, a skilled hand at maritime warfare (4/4/4). I am living in the city of Smyrna, where the Turkish fleet is docked. It is first day of Rabay' al-Awal in the year 897 AH (or January 1, 1492 by the Gregorian calendar) and I am soon to report to Istanbul to meet Sulatn Bayezid II in person for discussion of strategy. This should be interesting...

ICG v. 2.3
Traditional Majors (Turkey, Russia, Spain, France, England, Austria, Portugal, Poland)
All unrests
CoTs Moscow, Copenhagen, Astrakhan
TO Ingermanland
Moldavian Bujak
Kalmar Union
Free Bretagne
Tax setting: Chaos Hurts

[zacharym87]

Ah, Istanbul, Constantinople, Byzantium, whatever you want to call it. The place just has a certain magic that hasn't been worn away no matter how many times I visit the city or under what guise I or the city take. I would shortly be meeting with the Sultan's divan, face-to-face with the highest officers of the realm and even the Sulatn himself. Naturally, I had not left Smyrna wihtout taking stock of the navy I now commanded. I had 3 warships, 60 galleys, and 5 transports under my command back home, a formidable force, though the reliance on galleys will restrict naval wars to the Meditteranean, as the galleys are unsuited for sailing on the open oceans. I had also manged to learn all other essential facts about my new homeland--we owned 20 provinces, Thrace was by far the richest and most populous. Our economy was only average and this would clearly need to be speedily improved if we hoped to keep pace with our enemies in Europe. The army was in superb shape, divided into the 2nd Army (35/15/20) stationed in Macedonia under the command of Hadim Ali (3/2/3), the 1st Army (35/15/20) under Hadim Sinan (4/2/3) stationed in Angora, the 3rd Army (15/15/10) under the command of a generic Turk (3/1/1) stationed in my hometown of Smyrna, and the repetitively named 5th Army (10/10/10) stationed In Sivas. I would have to try and find out what ever became of the 4th Army. Our neighbors are a motely assortment of infidels and heretics, all of whom are weak and detested by the Turks except for our far northern neighbors in Crimea, who like us (+160) and whom we have a royal marriage with. Even our vassal Wallachia hates us (-200). What all this means is that the gravest problem facing Bayezid is who to attack first.

Our divan sets policy for the year, we pursue peaceful development as our military is rearranged and strenghtend along new strategic lines. We forge an alliance with the Hafsid Empire to watch our left flank with the detestable Mamluks. I note with distress the paucity of diplomats servicing the Sublime Porte (1 diplomat/yr!). That we live in a hostile world is made apparent with wars breaking out between Russia and Kazan, France and England, and Poland and the Teutonic Knights, all within a year of my arrival. The divan also chose a target for the Turkish Empire, our hated Persian neighbors who were plagued with revolt and hopefully unable to mount an effective campaign of resistance. On 21 Rabay' al-awal 898 (Jan 10, 1493) Persia receives an Ottoman declaration of war, as captian of the fleet I am unable to participate in the fighting, however I am clearly not needed, as all reports indicate that the fight is a rout, with Hadim Sinan and his men easily scattering Persian forces and overthrowing their patheticly inadequate defensive works with impugnity. By year's end, Armenia, Azerbadzjan, Kurdistan, and Nuyssabin are all occupied by Ottoman troops, forcing the rulers of Persia to abandon their Shi'a heresies to ransom their lands on 24 Rabay' al-awal 899 (Jan 2, 1494).

The conflict with Persia had been an unqualified success and the might of Ottoman arms had been forcibly demonstrated. Hadim Sinan's exploits impressed not only the Persians, but the nearby steppe-nations of Astrakhan and Sibir, both of whom would offer royal princesses to the Sultan's harem before the war's end. These offerings of goodwill were happily accepted and both Astrakhan and Sibir had joined our alliance with the Hafsids by Jumaada 901 (Feb 1496). Our ties with Sibir were cemented by an exchange of maps, expnading the geographical horizons of both nations. Rumour from the Porte indicates that Bayezid is already planning new campaigns, I hope I am not forced to sit the next one out as well.

[Judas Maccabeus]

First war went well.

I've always loved playing as the Ottomans, just something about rampant expansion being encouraged that makes me happy.

[Lord E]

Good start the Ottomas are always funny to play and it will be interesting to see you counquer the world with them

[Braedonnal]

Nice indeed. You are already conquering like a champ!

Do you plan on uniting Islam first then or do you have plans for Europe at this point?

Well, whatever you decide I look forward to your adventures with the Turks even if the Knights of Saint John will not be pleased!

[Morpheus506]

Screenies!

Oh, yeah, and... uh... good start or something. Ally with Sibir, they shall aid you well!

[zacharym87]

Screenies!

Oh, yeah, and... uh... good start or something. Ally with Sibir, they shall aid you well!

You may have missed it, but I've already forged an alliance with Sibir, Astrakhan, and the Hafsid Empire. The Hafsids were brought in for help with the Mamluks and Astrakhan and Sibir for wars with Persia/Russia/Uzbeks. I plan to push towards the Siberian corridor once my colonial dynamism kicks in. I also hope to annex the Uzbeks and cut Persia to pieces (maybe annex them too )

Braedonnal: My chief aims are as follows: 1) maintain historical conquests (i.e. annex Mamluks by 1517 and Hungary by 1526), 2) colonize India and Siberia, 3) protect my brother Muslims from Chrisitian aggression, 4) launch a major countercrusade into Europe and create a Turkish European zone, 5) make the Black Sea a Turkish lake.

[zacharym87]

The Year 902 (c. 1496-97) comes to be known as "The Year of Rumour." Rumour and gossip cover the lands as many wonder which of our enemies Bayezid has targeted for attack. Even those of us in commanding positions in the army are left in the dark. Largely because Bayezid has planned a unorthodox move against a nation not normally considered an enemy of the House of Osman. Bayezid, together with Muslims everywhere, noted with bitterness the succesful conclusion of the Spanish reconquestia some years back and has watched in horror as Spain has made power-plays in the Mediterranean region. Among these power-plays are Spain's vassalizing the Kingdom of Naples, a populous state in southern Itlay dangerously close to the Balkan shoreline. Bayezid has decided that the only surefire way of keeping Spain out of Naples is for us to annex the infidels ourselves.

He conveys these plans to me in Smyrna, as naval operations will be crucial in this war. Bayezid has little respect for the infidel's arms and decides that Janissaries alone will be capable of taking Naples. I suggest as a strategm that I proceed to load the Janissaries on my ships and set sail for the southern coast of Italy, supposedly as a reconnaisance manouever. The Declaration of War should be issued only when our ships have reached Neaopolitan territorial waters. The Sultan loves the idea and we set 19 Sha'ban 902 (Apr 22, 1497) as the DOW date and I load the Janissaries and proceed to Apulia. The waters are clear and the trip uneventful, on 19 Sha'ban, trusting that the Sultan has delivered on his promises, we throw open our bay doors and the Janissaries pour forth into Apulia, they are met by 4,000 Neapolitan cavalrymen, who are promptly unhorsed by the Janissaries. An assault is launched unsuccesfully on the walls of Apulia on Thaw al-Hijja 902 (August 1497). Apparently, we have underestimated the infidel's fortifications and I ferry my fleet across the Adriatic to Albania, where I pick up a detachment of artillery to aid in the conquest. I arrive with my cannons back in Apulia in Rajab 903 (March 1498). I note that Naples has a small navy docked in Apulia, but apparently the infidels are too cowardly to attack the Ottoman fleet, as the ships remain in drydock as I continue to ferry reinforcements and supplies to our besiegers in Apulia.

Less cowardly than the Neapolitans are their allies the Hanseatic League, who sail a naval contingent all way to the Meditteranean to aid their allies. However, when I sail out to meet their fleet I reflect that there is a thin line between bravery and stupidity as the Hansa's 2 transports are easily sunk and the men aboard either drowned or taken by the sharks. The seige of Apulia drags on throughout 903, and finally ends only in Jumaada 904 when one of our cannoners breaches the walls and the fearless Janissaries charge in, the city is quickly taken, and when I arrive with my usual supply convoy I am told by Apulia's Turkish garrison that the war has moved north to Naples itself. The seige of the capital is far shorter than the Apulia seige, for only 5 months in, a section of wall gives way and the assault is ordered. I watch from the harbor as the Janissaries charge through the breech, the defenders had no chance and the air is filled with the cries of Christian fallen and victory yells of the ever-victorious soliders of the Sultan. Naples is annexed into the Ottoman Empire on 19 Safar 905 (Sep 25, 1499) and I return with the victorious warriors to Istanbul, where we participate in a grand victory parade. I have acquired a total of 4 new warships and 3 new transports as a result of the incorporation of the Neapolitan navy.

While in Istanbul, I also hear much news that I missed during the First Italian War. The infidel kingdom of France has captured Calais and annexed Lorraine, making them the most succesful fighters in Europe and the Ottoman diplomatic core has expanded Turkish influence within the Community of the Faithful by arraniging royal marriages with Aden and Oman.


Turkey and its neighbors as of 1500

[Braedonnal]

Naples ought to make a good stepping stone, methinks.

[Morpheus506]

Speaking of stepping stones... well, actually, it doesn't, but I'll say it anyway: You need to turn the Mediterranean into an Ottoman lake! Take those little Venetian islands, they don't need them anyway, plus it'll make them easier to annex later on.

[Braedonnal]

True enough, Venetian islands get nastier the longer you wait.

[zacharym87]

The end of the war in Italy brings a breif spell of peace to the Ottoman Empire, I take advantage of the lull in operational tempo to visit the land of Aden, a beautiful country and a good place to participate in joint exercises on the Indian Ocean with the Adeni fleet, the commanders of Aden's ships absorb much Turkish knowledge of naval warfare in this period. While Turkey is at peace, the infidels of Europe make ceaseless war upon each other. The effects of battle are soon altering the map of Europe, Navarra is annexed by Spain on 6 Rabay' al-Thanny 906 (Oct 29, 1500), but Spain emerges as an overall loser in the wars, losing Gerona and Roussillon to Helvetia on 18 Jumaada 907 (Dec 29, 1501), Luxembourg and Hainaut to Savoy on 25 Thaw al-Qi'dah 907 (June 1, 1502), and Franche-Comte and Artois to France on 7 Rajab 908 (Jan 6, 1503). France's vassal state of Brittany was so impressed by French victories that they agreed to the incorporation of their Duchy into France in 908 as well. The event that was most significant from an Ottoman point-of-view was the conquest and annexation of Ragusa by Venice on 26 Thaw al-Qi'dah 910 (May 1, 1505). On that day, Bayezid settled on the Republic of Venice as his next target, but it was the Empire's eastern borders rather than its western ones which were to be expanded during this period.

Russian warmongering against Kazan had the Khan of Astrakhan worried, what if he were next? The Khan knew that his might paled in comparison with the power of Sultan Bayezid, and urged us to make war upon Persia once more, aiming to create a contigous border between Turkey and Astrakhan, making our alliance with the steppe nations more viable, I and most members of the Divan back this policy, as does the chief Hanafi Qadi of Istanbul, who relates that the Persians have accepted the Hanafi doctrine in name only, and continue willingly to harbor Ishmaili heretics throughout their lands. For the pious Bayezid, this is enough to set Hadim Sinan and company into action once again and the War of the Corridor is declared on 8 Jumaada 909 (Nov 27, 1503). This war is by and large a repeat of our last Persian War, as the puny fortresses guarding the northern reaches of Persia are no match for Hadim Sinan, our allies come through for us as well, with a force of cavalry from Astrakhan sending Persia's Azerbadzjan defenders fleeing and a contingent from Sibir is sent to aid the Turkish seige of Nuyssabin. The war's decisive battle is fought in Thaw al-Hijja 909 (June 1504), when a Persian army of 23,000 meets Hadim Sinan and 28,000 Turks in Kurdistan. It is this battle that cements Hadim Sinan's reputation as a great Turkish hero, as he inflicts utter defeat upon the Persians in Kurdistan, only 9,000 men from their 23,000-man force manages to escape back to Isfahan. The destruction of their main army prompts the Perisans to offer Kurdistan and Azerbadzjan to Turkey for peace, these conditions are judged acceptable by Bayezid and the war ends after a mere 8 months.

Policy on the domestic front is successful as well, as the merchants and engineers of Turkey redouble their efforts due to Bayezid's wise policies (Event). This spurt of energy by the engineers is enough to generate an agricultural revolution 3 years later, increasing the annual tax income of the Porte and allowing a group of brave land-clearers to volunteer for colonial missions (rush of colonists). A group of these men are sent to Azerbadzjan as missionaries, and this provinces recants the evils of Shi'ism in the year 911 (1506).

During this period, Turkish spies have been active as well, and they tell us that the war with Ragusa has seriously lessened Venetian naval power. Bayezid and the Divan agree that now is the perfect time to strike at the Republic, and thus the end of 912 sees me loading contingents of artillery and Janissaries upon my floatillas, we sail for Cyprus, and the War of the Islands is about to begin...

[Braedonnal]

Nice. At this rate the BB wars should be around 1510! I love the quick expansion.

Burgundy in my trial games grows slowly, mostly due to lack of leaders and overwhelming Frence power. When I start the AAR it should be interesting.

[zacharym87]

Shawwal 913 (March 1508) would see me pulling the massive main body of the Ottoman navy into a sheltered harbor of the island of Cyprus, once again I unleash the Janissary regiments within my ships' innards on the day where the Sultan predetermined to issue a declaration of war upon Venice, I have enough time to watch the Janissaries land and begin their seige of Cyprus, before I sail off, back to my home-base in Smyrna to resupply the navy and meet any Venetian seaborne attempts to relive the garrison on Cyprus. Venice has only 2 land armies we can see for a total of 10,000 men, 6,000 of these initiate a seige in Turkish Kosovo, but Hadim Ali and his 35,000-strong contingent of Janissaries and Sipahis quickly falls upon and annihilates this invading force. That God has blessed our actions becomes clear as Cyprus surrenders during the holy month of Ramadan 914 (Jan 1509). I pick up the victorious seigers of Cyprus, veternas of the last Persian campaign to a man, and ferry them over to Crete, as I leave Crete I encountered the first sign of Venetian naval resisitance, a small contingent of transports that is easily sunk. After another resupply trip to the Morea, I face the signal confrontation of the war, as 50 Venetian ships await me in the Eastern Meditteranean, here is my prime chance to prove myself in the service of the ever-victorious Sultan, and the Vententians prove surpirsingly easy to defeat, as their morale breaks within a month of the first engagement. The siege of Crete proceeds slowly, but with no relief forces in sight, the Venetian garrison slowly begins showing signs of cracking under the strain. Meanwhile, Janissary regiments from Macedonia have constructed an elaborate system of pontoon bridges which allows them to reach the Cyclades by foot, and these Aegean islands are soon under seige as well. Although I patrol the outlet from the Adriaitic to the Meditteranean throughout the seige of Crete, the main body of the Venetian navy proves as cowardly as the Neapolitan admirals were, and I see little action.

Back in Istanbul, Bayezid worries, after grabbing the Meditteranean islands, how can he acquire the necessary leverage to force Venice to cede them? However, a group of Janissaries-in-training come up with a solution, they form a large body of infantry and call themsleves the Mad Assaulters of the Sultan. These Mad Assaulters dedicate themselves to assaulting enemy fortifications to force peace treaties, and they set off for Venice, barely stopping long enough to pillage the provinces of Istria and Illyria on their way. Hadim Ali and his European units have met several small detachments of Venetians, but the foolish decision not to pool its forces has caused Venice to lose battle after battle to Hadim Ali, regrettably, at the latest skirmish in Kosovo, a Venetian archer hits Hadim Ali in the neck, and the brave general dies in defense of the realm . My fleet sails with half-mast when we hear this dreadful news, but we continue to watch for Venetian naval forces and ferry supplies to the beseigers of Crete and the Cyclades, the Cyclades surrenders by the end of 915, but Crete continues to hold out, distressing those in the Turkish realm who have grown accustomed to the Persian wars ending in total defeat of the enemy inside a year. Those with faith in the soliders of Osman never harbor serious doubts, and sure enough, Crete surrenders after a valiant and lengthy resistance in Rabay' al-Thanny 917 (July 1511) over 2 years since the siege began. I proudly ferry these heroes back to their usual barracks in Adana before returning to the main front, where Venetian resistance remians negligable, as the Mad Assaulters attack Venice. They are held off, but the garrison inside the lagoon is down to 76 men and a single cannon, and as soon as the assaulters recover their morale, Venice is attacked again and taken by the MAs (as they have come to be called).

With Venice occupied by Janissaries, Bayezid makes the perfectly reasonable demand that Venice cede Cyprus, Crete, and the Cyclades to Ottoman administration, but the doge refuses, despite his nation's obvious defeat. The Mad Assaulters now move on Istria, which convinces the doge of the error of his ways, and he offers the same terms he refused a month ago on 6 Safar 918 (Apr 23, 1512), bringing the War of the Islands to a succesful conclusion, just in time for Bayezid, who is deposed as Sultan by his ambitous son Selim I (7/5/8 monarch stats) just 9 days later. Although I naturally make my homage to the new Sultan, I mourn the loss of Bayezid II (r. 1481-1512), the man who built the Ottoman navy and was to see it triumphant in his last days. In addition to his seizure of the Imperial Throne, Selim takes command of our forces stationed in Smyrna
(5/5/4/1 general stats) and announces to all of his subjects that his chief complaint about his father was the sluggish pace of conquests, which Selim vows to step up immediately...

[Braedonnal]

Nice, Zach. Just don't forget about Corfu, I tend to.

[zacharym87]

Nice, Zach. Just don't forget about Corfu, I tend to.

Corfu has not been forgotten, but I plan to leave until the end as I have a CB shiled on it. (plus I can only take 3 provinces in non-annexation wars.)

[Lord E]

Good update, and it is very smart of you to try not to take out all your CB shields at the start, I always like to take out the provinces that I haven't got a shield on first, since that makes it easier to take the same country out some more times

[zacharym87]

Selim I Yavuz, nicknamed "the grim" rose to the Ottoman throne in 918 (1512) via a coup d'etat against his father Bayezid II. So far, histroy as I had once learned it was repeating itself. Selim's chief goal for his reign is to conquer as much land for the House of Osman as is conceviably possible, he has barley even seen the capital before he leaves with his troops for the fortified town of Sivas near the borders of Persia and the Mamluk Sultanate. Conquest-driven warmonger that he is, Selim is no fool, and he wisely allows the realm 2 years of peace during which time new soliders are recruited and internal infrastructure improved. Being head of the fleet, gossip courses through a large seaport as easily as water, and now the gossip deals with which of our enemies has been singled out for conquest by Selim. All doubts are ended in the early months of 919, when word gets around that Hadim Sinan, hero of two Persian wars, had been relocated from Kurdistan to Adana, leaving the Ottoman Empire's two largest armies under its two top generals directly north of the lands controlled by the Mamluks of Egypt.

I should pause to mention goings on outside Turkey in this period, for as the Ottoman Empire prepares to attack the Mamluks, nearly all of Europe is engulfed in war, with those usual belligerants, Spain and France, having started the ball rolling. By the time the Turkish armies were crossing into Mamluk territory, Milan had been annexed by France and Kazan had fallen to Russia. The fall of Kazan would imperil the very future of the quadrupal alliance of Bayezid, as the notoriously paranoid Khan of Astrakhan disagreed vehemently with Selim's attack on the Mamluks, not only did the Khan refuse to join the alliance's war effort, he even refused free passage through his lands by Sibirian troops. The Khan of Sibir was a more honorable man and had several regiments ready to place at Selim's disposal. The Sibirian leader was most vexed when the Grand Vizier negotiated Astrakhan's continued membership in the alliance, and relations within the alliance grew colder. Astrakhan's treachery meant that only Turkey and the Hafsids would participate in the Mamluk war, which began with Selim's declaration of war on 16 Thaw al-Qid'ah 920 (Jan 2, 1515).

Hadim Sinan takes 28,000 men and several artillerey regiments and invests Aleppo, while the Mamluk Sultan Al-Kansur leads 28,000 of his best troops against Selim and 42,000 Ottoman troops in Sivas. The battle of Sivas proved to be a long and bloody ordeal, with the the tide of battle turning several times. Towards the end of Muharram 921 (Mar 1515), the Ottoman lines show signs of breaking, while the Mamluks with their unholy zeal continue to charge. Selim elects on a strategic withdrawl to Kurdistan with Al-Kansur in hot pursuit, it seems as if the Mamluks have the upper hand, but the wily Selim manages to re-energize his forces as they settle in to the mountainous terrain of Kurdistan. Al-Kansur and the Mamluks charge the Turkish positions, but they are outnumbered and facing an uphill struggle against an entrenched enemy and the battle soon turns into a rout. With the Mamluks retreating in disarray, Selim leads a group of Sipahis against them, Al-Kansur is felled by a Turkish arrow and the remnants of his army are either slaughtered by the Sipahis or flee into the mountains, where rumourmongers at court would claim they made their way to Astrakhan, where the Khan would grant asylum to any experienced solider willing to fight for him. Meanwhile, Hadim Sinan has captured Aleppo and advanced to Lebanon, Hadim Sinan claims this undefended and unfortified province merely by marching through it and by Jumaada 921 (Aug 1515), Judea is under seige by Hadim Sinan. A month later, Selim's victorious troops have advanced beyond the frontier and initiated a seige of Damascus.

With the situation in Syria increasingly desperate, the Mamluks open a new line of attack in the Meditteranean, involving my naval divisions in the war at last. It begins with an amphibious Mamluk assault against Turkish Cyrpus, defended by 8,000 Janissaries on anti-rebel patrols, the battle in Cyrpus is one of the bloodiest in this war, and is ruled a draw due to the fact that both opposing armies were utterly annihilated. In Cairo, with the Sultan dead and the authority of the government crumbling around them, the Mamluks send out more fleets against the islands of Crete and Cyprus, which they see as the Achillles Heel of the Empire. However, the Mamluks have not counted on Kemal Reis (yours truly) and my moments of glory in the Mamluk campaigns come in Jumaada 921. As Hadim marches through the Lebanon, I meet a squadron of Mamluk ships off the coast of Cyprus and send them to the bottom of the Mediterranean, I then sail down to the coast of Palestine, where a second contingent of Mamluk ships waits to be sunk. Shortly afterwards, good news comes from the land front, where Selim has launched a succesfull assault on Damascus and Hadim Sinan has captured Judea by sending his Janissaries through the breach made in the walls of Acre by the Turkish cannons.

As 921 fades to 922 (1516), Hadim Sinan has marched his troops through the trackless wastes of Sinai to advance to very gates of Cairo, the rich and fertile Nile valley now lays open to Turkish soliders. A small Mamluk force evades Hadim and heads to Judea with hopes of recapturing the province, but they are met and utterly destroyed by Selim's troops, who force-march their way across Sinai to join Hadim Sinan in Egypt, where the great generals combine their forces. At the end of Rabay al-Thanny (June), just I have chased away another Mamluk naval group from Crete, word comes that Cairo has surrendered to the Ottomans. With the Mamluks on thier last legs, the great generals split their forces once more, with Hadim and the artillery heading to Delta and Selim and his more mobile forces heading south, where Asyut (Cataract), the southernmost outpost of the Mamluks, a sparse garrison town of only 200, takes to its barricades to meet Selim. The defenders of Asyut fought bravely, but they were too few and their ramparts too small to hold off Selim and his Janissaries, and Asyut falls to the Ottomans, with the upper Nile valley claimed, Selim heads for Cyrenacia, a small city at the western edge of the Mamluk Sultanate. Hafsid contingents have already begun a seige of the city, and when Selim adds his Turks to the Hafsid forces, the Sultan elects to assault rather than leave the beseigers to face the scorching desert sun. The assault on Cyrenacia of Safar 923 (March 1517) will become one of the most famous events in all of Turkish histroy. The combined Ottoman-Hafsid force captures the citadel, but Sultan Selim I was cut down by an arrow from an unknown Mamluk sharpshooter, ending the reign of Selim I (r.1512-17), 5 years marked by some of the bloodiest warfare in all of Turkish history. Though bloody, these years also brought glory, as Selim dies with the Mamluks, long-time foes of the Ottomans, on their knees, with only 2 provinces remaining under Mamluk control, one of which was under seige. As Selim's body was laid to rest outside Cyrenacia, a Regency came to power in Istanbul (note: my Monarch general dies in March 1517, and I get a sudden death of monarch event in July, is the AI getting smart or is it coincidence?) vowing to complete Selim's work and see the final defeat and annexation of the Mamluks of Egypt. Meanwhile, far beyond the borders of Turkey, foreign observers watch Ottoman military success with alarm, some of them begin wondering if the Turks can be taken down a peg or two...

[Braedonnal]

Yeah, I imagine the BB is getting there. You are doing well though, keep it up!

[Morpheus506]

I hate it when the monarch-generals die because then you have to come up with a reason why your monarch is dead but still rules your nation