Part 23 - Change of the Wind (1601-1609)
[video=youtube;A4OwGez8ffU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4OwGez8ffU[/video]
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The great reformer Ali II was dead but his creation lived on - his son Muhammad followed him on the throne and the new sultan had quite a few plans about what he would do with his heritage. In fact he had more than enough time during the long reign of his father to came up with those plans. The question that remained: will he have the time required to execute all of them?
Nevertheless one thing Muhammad recognized in the last few years of his father's reign was the relatively decentralized system of the armed forces of Tripoli - the armies operated under regional commands and the autonomy of the captains in the fleet was even greater compared to that. This was kind of tradition amongst the Corsairs which originated in ancient times when every city and every 'tribe' was considered to be roughly equal to each other so a direct chain of command could not have been developed. Though - and that wasn't Muhammad's opinion only - for the sake of proper military operations against the threatening Emperor and the rising British Empire this had to be changed!
So as one of his very first acts Muhammad ordered the implementation of a new command system in the army of the Corsairs - a brand new chain of command of which he would be the supreme commander. Along with this the numbers of the army were also extended so new, loyal officers could have been promoted and the overall discipline of the army has risen too.
Meanwhile it seemed that the late Ali II's thoughts about the economy were correct - even the otherwise not very rich wool market started to bring in exceptional profits.
Though it was nothing compared to the yearly setting of 1602!
Muhammad was in a very fortunate situation - his father had built up a strong economy and then he left it to his son to spend all the money on whatever his wishes would be.
And the good news just didn't stop arriving: one of the cities on the Island of Cuba which was 'acquired' during the last war with the Portuguese had reached the size when the tobacco plantations of it started to bring in more profits than expenses.
It turned out that heading to West in the footsteps of the Infidels wasn't a bad idea after all - the riches of the New World were truly amazing compared to the bare sand of Northern Africa.
Though the home were still home and it seemed that the mamluk aristocrats of Alexandria also understood this as by the year of 1604 the very last of them had fled the city too towards their empire in decline.
During the last decades the Corsair merchant class have slowly taken control of the local administration and it can be stated that their new system of governing brought much more joy to the citizens than any rulers of the city before - though it should be noted that the merchants used to call the all-time sultan 'despotic' and they always had 'better ideas' regarding the government. Yet they are merchants after all and nothing is good enough to them, right?
Meanwhile the implementation of the new command system in the army was going on and combined with the recent military success of the Corsairs it seemed to catch the interest of the foreigners too.
All that left was the 'testing' of the reformed army - so war was declared on the pathetic Mamluks with the goal of liberating the Holy City of Jerusalem from their incapable authority.
While Muhammad has bigger ambitions than Jerusalem, the strong alliance of the Emperor and the British made him to delay the execution of that plan - and it turned out that the Mamluks were to be the victims of this.
They offered literally no resistance - Corsair and allied armies marched through their country uncontested and their cities fell quickly to the hands of Muhammad who led the campaign personally.
Even the economy didn't seem to feel the change of being at war.
In little more than a year the war was over - the Mamluks didn't have much choice than to hand over the keys of Jerusalem and along with it the rich salt mines of the Sinai Peninsula.
When the new Corsair garrison arrived at Jerusalem the people welcomed them with no less joy and hospitality as they had treated the Great Prophet
Isa hundreds of years ago. They were truly fed up the weak Mamluk nobility after all.
Though there was a darker side of the campaign too - due to the concentrated armies of Tripoli and the endless deserts of the Mamluk Empire casualties in the Corsair army were higher than expected. To prevent this in the future an extended base equipment was designed for the soldiers (including clothes and the like) to protect them from the harsh conditions and the huge differences between the temperatures of the day and the night in the open desert.
The prestige of Muhammad - as the new authority in Jerusalem - also rose in the eyes of the common Muslim people across the World.
He even ordered the construction of a new mosque in Tripoli to show his faith and commitment towards Allah - in fact he was much more pious than any of his predecessors and he had plans for the Infidels under his rule as well...
And it seemed that not only Muhammad favoured Allah but Allah favoured Muhammad as well - in early 1607 his brother, Mansur - the Crown Prince - had fallen ill but after a week of fast and praying from Muhammad he miraculously healed.
This fueled the piety of Muhammad even more - he started to look upon himself as leader of all Muslims and his ultimate goal was now none less than the destruction of all the highest Infidel authorities. The Pope was already a subject (in terms of the military at least) to him but now his ambitions were to see the English king (self-proclaimed leader of the Catholic infidels) and his Austrian ally (the Holy Roman Emperor) defeated. All he needed for this were bigger army and navy - or at least that was what he thought.
Lucky for him he had the best governors and statesman his father had had before and those men kept the economy running even in the zeal of their Sultan.
The preparations for the war were disturbed by an unexpected message from the allied Syria - they attacked the small kingdom of Georgia on their northern borders and though the Novgorodian merchants chose not to help their allies the Syrians still requested the aid of Tripoli in the conflict.
Muhammad agreed though he didn't bother to send any troops - the Syrians had all the advantage after all and the Sultan didn't expect the war to be very long.
His expectations were right after all. The war ended in one year with the result of Georgia being annexed by Syria. But for Muhammad there were bigger news too.
Due to their long time financial aid in the wars the Crosairs have fought in the last decades the citizens of Pisa, Firenze and Ceuta were granted some privileges that didn't apply to all the subjects of Tripoli - with this Muhammad hoped to strengthen the Corsair rule in Italia and gain a strong bridgehead for the inevitable conflict with the Emperor...