"How much was lost?" Han Du asked in a more serious tone.
"The casualties exceed 5,000." Cao Tai was a little depressed.
"Then pull all the people back and let Faraij's people take the lead." Han Du said without hesitation.
Of course Cao Tai wanted to withdraw the Ming army. After all, they were his own troops, and he would be heartbroken if he lost one of them.
But......
"Sir, are the soldiers and horses of the Mamluk Dynasty helping us to resist the Ottomans? We have withdrawn our soldiers and horses now. Isn't it a little bad?"
Han Du's eyes widened, "What's wrong? After all the soldiers and horses under your command are lost, you think it's okay?"
"Yes, sir, I will go and give the order to withdraw the troops now." Cao Tai did not dare to argue anymore and immediately turned around to give the order.
As soon as Han Du followed Cao Tai into the Tianfang Governor's Mansion, Miransha came galloping over on his horse.
The moment Miransha saw Cao Tai, he became furious and drew his knife, pointed it at Cao Tai and cursed.
From the translator, we learned that Miransha was angrily scolding Cao Tai for withdrawing his troops without permission. If he hadn't found out in time and immediately sent troops to make up for it, his flanks might have been affected. ?????to the Ottoman attack.
Cao Tai didn't know how to explain to Miransha, so he stood without answering.
When Miransha saw that Cao Tai ignored him, he was about to get angry again. Suddenly he saw a figure that frightened him standing up from behind Cao Tai.
Han Du stared at Miransha coldly.
The anger in Miransha's heart was instantly suppressed by an invisible force. After a short pause, Miransha had to lower his head and salute proactively, "Milansha pays homage to the Duke."
Han Du looked dissatisfied and asked sternly: "I ordered Cao Tai to retreat. Do you want to question me?"
"Milansha doesn't dare!" Mirasha raised his head and said with an aggrieved tone: "But Your Majesty, even if the Ming army wants to retreat, it should inform me in advance. Instead of suddenly retreating like now, almost giving up the army. There is a gap in the entire defense.”
"Didn't you inform him in advance?" Han Du looked back at Cao Tai and frowned.
Cao Tai immediately bent down with a guilty conscience, "It seems that the official has indeed forgotten."
Han Du turned back to Miransha and said: "Okay, it was just a misunderstanding. Besides, there is no trouble now, so the matter has been revealed."
Miransha looked at Han Du with dissatisfaction and asked sternly: "Your Excellency, I am waiting in front to fight and bleed. Are the Ming troops hiding behind?"
Han Du paused and said: "The Ming army is not hiding behind, it is just taking a temporary rest. And you are not here to support. Since you are a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, you must obey the orders of the Ming Dynasty and find out your identity first. !”
Miransha was furious, but he didn't dare to show it. He could only complain dissatisfiedly: "Is this the Ming Dynasty's way of hospitality?"
"This is not the way to treat guests, this is the rule of the Ming Dynasty!" Han Du replied unceremoniously, "If you are dissatisfied, you can withdraw from the vassal state. Of course, in this case, the Ming Dynasty will no longer protect you."
Miransha clenched and opened his fingers, and had to compromise and said: "Your Majesty, the Mamluk Dynasty will always be the most loyal vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. But it is really difficult for us to resist the Ottomans alone. If the Ming Dynasty does not send troops and relies on us alone, I’m afraid there’s no way to defeat the Ottomans.”
Han Du looked at him indifferently for a moment, and then said: "It doesn't matter, you can shrink your troops. You don't want to fight back against the Ottomans, you just need to block them."
"This..." Seeing that Han Du had reached this point, Miransha did not dare to continue, so he could only nod helplessly, "Okay. But in this case, how long will it take to fight the Ottomans? ?”
Han Du smiled faintly, "Don't worry, it won't take long."
As long as Hader can persuade the Byzantine king to send troops, the Ottomans themselves, who are attacked from both sides and front, will be unable to bear it and choose to retreat. Why do they need to defeat them?
However, Handu would not explain this to Miransha.
Time passed day by day under the stalemate between the two sides.
More than a month later, Hader suddenly returned to Tianfang and was immediately taken to the Governor's Mansion.
The moment he saw Han Du, Hader quickly raised his hands and saluted.
"Xiaguan Hade pays homage to the father-in-law..."
This was a Ming Dynasty etiquette that Hader had learned. He felt that this action was very elegant and noble. It was just that he thought he was not qualified to use it before, but now that he became an official of the Ming Dynasty, he couldn't wait to take it out.
Han Du waved his hand to interrupt his greeting and asked directly: "How is the situation?"
Harder did not expect that the Duke was so urgent, and quickly smiled and nodded: "Don't worry, Lord, after Harder's hard persuasion, Byzantine King Manuel II agreed to send troops to attack the Ottoman Empire."
"Okay." Han Du immediately slapped his thigh happily.
Then he looked at Harder and frowned, "Then why don't you watch Byzantium send out troops and what will you do when you come back?"
"My lord, please come back and report to me!" Harder quickly explained.
"Then what if they lie to you and don't actually send troops?" Han Du asked again.
Hader straightened up and smiled lightly, "Please don't worry, sir. When I left, the Byzantine army had already invaded the Ottoman Empire. And the Byzantine army had successively attacked more than a dozen Ottoman towns. Now even if the king ordered Let them go back, I’m afraid those generals won’t agree!”
"Hahaha..." The scene was immediately amused by Hader, and everyone who heard it laughed.
The people here are all people who have personally fought in battle, so they naturally understand the pleasure of leading troops to sweep everything away. Not only can you gain trophies, but it can also greatly satisfy your inner desire to kill. No general will refuse.
"That's good." Han Du was finally able to relax.
He glanced at everyone and said in a deep voice: "The Ottoman Empire has been attacked into the hinterland. I'm afraid those people opposite us will soon receive orders to retreat."
Everyone's eyes gradually became serious, and they stood erect, waiting for Han Du's order.
"Pass my order to tell Miransha immediately and ask him to be ready to attack at any time. Cao Tai, you immediately assemble the army and prepare to go north to pursue the Ottomans."
"I will dye the Aegean Sea red with the blood of the Ottomans!"
"yes!"
...
When Miransha received Han Du's order, his face was confused. He has been suppressed and beaten by the Ottomans for more than a month. Now he is ready to attack? Isn't this courting death?
Miransha asked about the doubts in his heart, but all he got was a cold "This is the father-in-law's order, please carry it out, otherwise you will bear the consequences!"
The arrogance of the Ming herald made Miransha's generals go crazy with anger.
But Miransha waved his hand to stop them, and simply said to the herald: "Please report back to the Duke and say that Miransha obeys the order!"
He knew that the Ming Dynasty was too powerful to compete with it. Therefore, no matter how rude Han Du's order was, he could only obey it.
But Miransha was not a fool. Although he ordered the entire army to prepare for the attack, he was also carefully observing the movements of the Ottomans on the opposite side.
As a result, just two days later, he found that the Ottomans' fighting will suddenly dropped sharply, and they even showed signs of wanting to escape by boat.
How is this going? Miransha was extremely surprised and at the same time in awe of Handu's mystery.
But now is not the time to think about this. Seeing this, Miransha immediately drew out his sword and shouted: "The whole army attacks, kill!"
At the same time, a simple and desolate horn sound came from the defense line guarded by the Ming army.
"Kill! Kill! Kill..."
The sounds of fighting came one after another in the distance.
General Osman never expected that when the stalemate reached a stalemate, he would suddenly receive news that His Majesty the Sultan ordered him to immediately return for reinforcements.
Although he knew that if he retreated now, he would definitely be attacked by the opponent on the opposite side, the message left by the Sultan in the letter allowed him to fight even at the risk of heavy casualties. We must also return support.
Byzantium suddenly sent troops to attack the western part of the empire. In just a few days, the western part of the empire was retreating steadily. Large areas of towns were recaptured by Byzantium, even approaching Adrianople.
These places originally belonged to Byzantium. Muhammad I was afraid of being completely occupied by Byzantium, so he couldn't wait to order the withdrawal of troops and reinforcements.
The pursuit lasted from morning until the sunset filled the sea. Countless Ottoman corpses were left on the long seashore, and even the waves turned bright red.
at night.
Cao Tai found Han Du and asked, "My father-in-law, the Ottomans were defeated. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. How about we lead troops directly into the Ottoman Empire and completely destroy him!"
Cao Tai was holding back a fire in his heart, especially those soldiers who died in the battle, which made him hate the Ottomans.
Han Du sneered and glared at him, "How many people do you have under your command now? Do you dare to say that you will enter the Ottoman Empire?"
"Aren't there still soldiers and horses from the Mamluk Dynasty?" Cao Tai said matter-of-factly.
Han Du picked up the tea cup and took a sip, and said calmly: "Do you want to use them to attack the Ottoman Empire? Then, will the land conquered in the future be theirs or ours?"
Cao Tai looked stunned, obviously he hadn't thought about this yet.
"Even if it's ours, do you have enough troops to defend it?"
"No, no." Cao Tai laughed dryly and lowered his head.
The soldiers and horses he currently has in his hands can only hold several governor's mansions in Tianfang, and there is no extra strength to guard the land.
"Since we can't defend it, why should we waste all our efforts to fight it down?" Seeing that he finally figured it out, Han Du nodded and said.
And if the Mamluk Dynasty defeated the Ottoman Empire, its strength would inevitably grow rapidly, and maybe one day it would grow to the point where it would not be afraid of the Ming Dynasty.
By that time, even the Seventh Governor's Mansion of Tianfang will be in danger.
Han Du would never do such a thankless thing. Not only did he not do it himself, he couldn’t even let Milansha do it.
