The Mameluke Sultanate: 1526-1542

[stuie]

There is but one God, Allah, and Mohammed is His prophet! As my father before me wrote, so shall I, Qansah al-Bahri, set down the deeds of the Mameluki Sultans. I am the humble servant of Allah and our glorious Sultan, may his deeds shine forth through the ages for the praise of Allah. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of Worlds.

III. Turkey at Bay (The Third and Fourth Wars with Turkey)

My father was Yusuf al-Bahri, advisor and scribe to the Sultans of the Mameluke Sultanate. His death would have left a void in the Sultan’s council had my father not trained me in the art of patience and taught me the skills of diplomacy. And so, the Sultan embraces my advice, and I walk in high places with the powerful of our land. Nor would this history have been continued without my father’s guidance in the art of writing.

1526
The new year brought a new round of conscriptions to bolster the strength of Turman’s armies. Men were called from all provinces of the Sultanate to gather in the northern provinces. Once again the flames of war were to lick the Turkish homelands.

On the eve of war, there are two armies and two cavalry detachments in the field. The armies boast a combined might of over 30,000 men and some 50 artillery pieces. The cavalry detachments total 12,000 men and horse. All is prepared, Allah is with us, and the Turks will once again sing songs of woe at the coming of the Mameluke!

Late in the year, a much anticipated event occurs: Turkey’s alliance with Cyrenaica and Tripoli expires. This is our cue; the opportunity is seized and a Declaration of War is presented in Constantinople. Persia and Iraq are signatories to the declaration. Our cavalry advances into Sivas and Angora, while the Persians again mount a bloody siege of Trabzon.

1527
The Turks raise conscripts in Sivas and Angora; these troops are quickly and bloodily dispersed by our cavalry detachments. There is a gathering of a large Turk army in Smyrna, so our entire army falls back to Aleppo to await the movements of this new threat.

Meanwhile, the Persians become involved in a conflict with Georgia, widening the war. We sign on to their Declaration of War along with the Iraqis.

Some minor skirmishes take place in Adana as our troops fall back to Aleppo. An army of 2,000 Turks beleaguers Nuyssaybin briefly before one of our cavalry detachments is dispatched to deal with them. Tifni and his 6,000 horsemen quickly oust the Turks from Nuyssaybin. Tifni is then dispatched to Sivas to assist a combined Persian/Iraqi siege in progress there.

Then the hammer falls: an army of 90,000 Turks descends upon Adana. The province is overrun and the siege begins. Turman and our combined army wait in Aleppo as news of the siege trickles in. The Turks pour more and more men into Adana. According to reports, within the space of a couple months over 100,000 men have entered the province. They settle in, but as the siege drags on, desertion, disease, and casualties diminish the Turkish force. Late in the year, only 41,000 men remain when Adana finally succumbs to the overwhelming number of besiegers.

With Adana in their grasp, the Turks offer us 250 ducats for peace; Turman is convinced it is a sign of weakness, and refuses the offer. Now it is our turn to strike. We march on Adana to attack the diminished army of the Turks.

1528
But the Turks do not wait for us; they sweep through Sivas and then descend upon Aleppo; soon 39,000 Turks besiege that city, while Turman’s army besieges Adana. Then the unexpected happens: while surveying the siegeworks around Adana, Turman is thrown from his horse. Our Sultan suffers greatly for several days even though the best physicians of the Sultanate attend him. In the end the medicines of man prove ineffective; Turman succumbs to his injuries. May he sit better on his horse in paradise!

There is a power vacuum among the Mamelukes, as there are no proper heirs to the Sultan. A regency council fills the void, and to distract the army from this turn of events, Adana is ordered captured at once. The army assaults the city and it falls to the ferocity of our troops. With Adana back in our control, the army moves into Konya Province and prepares a siege. Then word comes that Aleppo has fallen to the Turks, and they are advancing on Syria. A peace offer is forwarded to the Regency Council: the Turks demand Aleppo and our treasury for peace. The Council refuses this offer.

Toward the middle of the year, Adana revolts, cutting off supply to our army in Konya. They are forced to fall back, retaking Adana with little problem. The army then moves south to Aleppo, freeing that province from the Turkish yoke. The Turks abandon their siege of Damascus and move north through Nuyssaybin toward Trabzon; these movements come as Trabzon has fallen to the Persians.

1529
The war enters its third year with no sign of a conclusive end in sight. The new year finds Trabzon besieged by the Turks, Konya besieged by our army once more, and Sivas besieged by the Persians. The Regency Council has set Smyrna as the ultimate goal for this war, and so when Konya falls early in the year the army moves on to besiege Smyrna.

Toward mid-year, the Turks recapture Trabzon, and their emissaries begin coming on a regular basis to offer Konya in exchange for peace. The council hints at Smyrna to their emissaries though that province is not yet ours, and they scoff, leaving empty handed.

After this embassy, the Georgians attempt to make their participation in the war felt. A small force enters Adana province, but their numbers are insufficient to effect a siege. The Turks meanwhile have entered Konya province in an attempt to wrest back control, and the Persians capture Sivas. Late in the year Smyrna falls, and Persian forces again surround Trabzon, spilling more blood for that ill-fated province.

1530
The war drags on. The Persians settle matters with Georgia, arranging a cessation of hostilities and a return to status quo. Our armies are able to lift the siege at Konya, and then we march on Anatolia. We send ambassadors offering peace in exchange for Konya and Smyrna, but this generous offer is declined.

The Turks have now captured Sivas, followed shortly by the fall of Trabzon (once again!!) to the Persians. Now both armies advance one upon the other, and as our forces enter Anatolia word comes that a great battle has taken place in Sivas. The main Persian army has been defeated, but the Turkish army in the east is woefully depleted in the contest. With Anatolia in our grasp, we again offer peace in exchange for Konya and Smyrna, and again this offer is declined. And so our forces advance on Thrace.

1531
Good fortune smiles upon us, as the winter months are pleasantly mild. Our forces in Thrace remain strong throughout the winter thanks to Allah and this mild weather, and the siege of Constantinople progresses well.

Early in the year the Turks again capture Trabzon; this is enough to force Persia into peace with the Turks. Iraq, too, is dissatisfied with the progress of the war, and they not only sign a separate peace, but leave our alliance altogether, choosing instead to ally with our enemies The Hedjaz. So be it! Their independence will be the price of such insolence… but all in good time.

Weary from the ongoing war, the population of Adana rebels, but this insurgency is quickly put down. The warning sign is clear to the Regency Council however; it is time to conclude this war.

The Turks, having captured Trabzon, now move on to Smyrna and initiate a siege. But within a month of this action the great city of Constantinople falls to our forces, and we begin crossing back into Asia to lift this siege. While our troops 'discover' (that is, remove...) the wonders of Constantinople, our generals search the palace of the Turk Sultan, and we discover a great trove of maps, showing areas of the world that we had heard of only by rumor. These are immediately dispatched to the Regency Council as a spoil of war.

Our troops are about to arrive in Smyrna at mid-year, when a new embassy from the Turks arrives before our Regency Council. They offer not only Smyrna and Konya for peace, but offer Anatolia as well! There is much rejoicing in the Sultanate at this turn of events, and we accept without hesitation. With the loss of these three provinces, Turkey will forevermore be relegated to a minor role in the affairs of Europe and Asia. Thus ends the Third War with Turkey, also called The Great War with Turkey due to its length and the satisfying outcome of the conflict.

1532-1537
Some years now pass in relative peace except for the occasional revolt. Our regency government invests in trade, fortifications, and military technology. Our armies begin the slow process of rebuilding, and our people the slow process of healing. Toward the end of this period we issue trade restrictions on all other nations for a period of three and a half years. This move is made to help protect our economy.

1538
The actions of Iraq during The Great War with Turkey have not been forgotten, and the Regency Council feels that appropriate retribution is in order. To this end, a large army is gathered in Syria, and at the end of the year a unilateral Declaration of War is presented in Bagdad. Our army in Syria marches into Kirkuk to begin hostilities.

1539
The Iraqis put up little resistance. Kirkuk falls easily, succumbing to an assault by our forces early in the year. Our army then marches toward Iraq, where the main Iraqi force awaits our onslaught. Seizing the opportunity of our distraction in Iraq, Turkey and its allies (Aden, Algiers and Morocco) present the Regency Council with a Declaration of War and march into Nuyssaybin. The city is besieged. Persia supports us in this new conflict with the Turks, and they fall upon (you guessed it) Trabzon.

We are not distracted by the Turks, and continue our operations in Iraq. The main Iraqi army is soundly beaten in Iraq Province, and Bagdad is assaulted and taken. We then march to Basrah and prepare siegeworks around the city. The city falls just past mid-year, and we formally annex Iraq. This causes some consternation in the Sunni world, but the benefits far outweigh the risks in this case.

Meanwhile, Nuyssaybin is in the hands of the Turks, and Anatolia is besieged. That city falls late in the year to the Turks. At the same time, we besieged Nuyssaybin with our Persian allies assisting, fresh from victory in Trabzon.

1540
A separate peace is concluded with Aden. Our hope is that by eroding the Turkish alliance, we can force them into peace, seeing as we are not prepared for offensive action at this time (having just completed our Iraq campaign). Turkey again besieges Trabzon(!), which falls rather quickly.

Once Nuyssaybin is liberated, our army musters in Konya. Toward the end of the year we march to Smyrna to lift the Turkish siege there, then head for Anatolia. The Persian army, meanwhile, is in Trabzon again.

1541
The Turks’ army seems to have dissipated, like sand blown away before the onrushing storm. Trabzon falls again to the Persians, followed by Sivas, at which point they arrange a separate peace with the Turks in which the Persians gain both of those provinces. They are the only winners in this conflict, as we are left too weak to resume offensive action once Anatolia is restored.

Contributing to our weakened state is a revolt in Lebanon. The rebels quickly take the city and then march on Damascus in Syria. They arrive just as a new group of conscripts has assembled, and these unfortunates are slaughtered to a man by the Lebanese Rebels. The Turks’ offer of a status quo peace comes soon after, and we are in no condition to refuse.

1542
What’s left of our army marches to Syria, defeats the rebels, and executes those who are captured. We then march to Lebanon and free the province. The Sultanate is at peace once more, a peace that will endure for over 40 years with only one brief exception.

[Aeryk]

Stuie,

What's next?! What's next?! ;-)

Entertaining and gripping AAR--Thanks!

EWA