Sivas.
Tamerlane led an army of 140,000 troops stationed here, which was only more than 300 miles away from the important military town in Angola controlled by the Ottomans. Miran Shah and Shaharul are Timur's third and fourth sons respectively, and they are waiting for Timur to speak at this moment.
After Timur read the letter, he sneered and said: "It seems that if we don't break his teeth, he will keep shouting."
Miransa was irritable and fierce by nature. He glanced at the letter and gritted his teeth and shouted: "Father, why don't you just lead the troops and kill him? Why is it that you are communicating back and forth with Bayezid to give him time to arrange things?"
Shaharul looked at Timur and wanted to know why.
In fact, this is not the first time Timur and Bayezid have corresponded. The two men have had several confrontations on paper.
For example, two years ago, Bayezid took advantage of Timur's southern expedition and reached out to Sivas to threaten Timur's vassal. In order to concentrate on the southern expedition and some military concerns, Timur chose Warn Bayese in a letter.
"You are like ants, remember not to provoke the elephant, otherwise you will be ravaged and retaliated by us."
This is the content of Timur's letter.
But Bayezid was obviously not afraid of threats. Instead, he wrote a more severe letter in reply to Timur. The content of the letter was:
"If I are scared away by your army, then my wife will abandon me; but if you flee from my army, all your women will find other husbands."
This is to tell Timur, if you dare to come, I will kill you and let your daughter be replaced by a man.
Naturally, Tamerlane would never forget such an insult. So Timur sacked Sivas and buried more than 4,000 defenders alive. Later, due to problems in the rear, Timur did not continue to attack the Ottoman Empire, but occupied Sivas, emptied Damascus, and allowed the Ottoman Empire to compete with the Egyptian Mamluk Empire. The cut off of contact also laid the foundation for this Western Expedition.
Timur smiled and said to his two sons: "Our main expedition this time is naturally to completely defeat Bayezid. If we don't give him a little more time, he can't stop him with the 40,000 troops in Angola." Our footsteps. We heard that Bayezid has lifted the blockade of Constantinople, and even the garrison that will remain in the north has begun to pull back. This is good news for us."
It is better to finish the battle in one battle than to fight today and fight tomorrow.
In Timur's mind, he always believed that there was only one Allah in heaven, and correspondingly there should be only one true ruler on earth, and that person must be himself.
Which one is better, Bayezid, the conqueror of lightning and thunder, or himself, who travels east, west, north, and south, is better? We will know in a fight.
Timur picked up the quill and started to write a letter, with a soft brushing sound. The content of the letter was:
To Sultan Bayezid:
I pray to Almighty Allah to keep you healthy. You are not worthy of being my opponent if you are sick. I will mobilize all my troops and power, with force that will scare you to your bones, to conquer you completely.
I will rule over your territory and enslave your descendants. I will use your people as my guards, guarding you within the strong walls day and night.
Bayezid, you are no match for me. You are of low origin and are just the dirtiest sailor in Turkmenistan. If you dare to stay on the ship and sail away to the distant Selis, I will admire you. It's a pity that you chose to leave the ship, betray your ancestors, and choose to go ashore to become my enemy.
I will make you regret it. I will destroy your proud army with strong winds and heavy rains.
I want to give you a sincere advice: mobilize your strongest strength to fight with me. I will make you feel real despair and complete failure, and you will be captured by me and live in a dark place. Meet death in endless repentance.
Timur sealed the letter and ordered it to be delivered to Bayezid.
Miransha was a little depressed. Just when he was confused, Tamerlane issued a military order: "Tomorrow morning, advance into Angola."
Timur stood on the city wall, looking to the west. At this moment, scenes from the past emerged.
He was born into a noble family. In his early years, he served under the Eastern Chagatai Khan Tulu Timur. Later, he and his brother-in-law, the lord of Herat, Mili Huxin, rebelled against the Eastern Chagatai nobles and divided the country by supporting the puppet Habil Shah. In the river.
After that, he killed Mili Huxin, seized the power of the Western Chagatai Khanate, called himself the "Great Emir", made Balihe his capital, and established the Timurid Empire.
The capital was moved to Samarkand and renamed "Sudan".
He conquered Khwarezm and Afghanistan, surrendered to the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, made many western expeditions, and conquered all of Persia. Later, he defeated the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh in the battles of the Kundulcha Valley and the Terek River, and headed north. Sweep the Golden Horde.
Four years ago, the Indo-Delhi Sultanate was conquered eastward, destroying Delhi, Punjab, and Kashmir.
Three years ago, he went to Syria and defeated the Mamluk dynasty.
Two years ago, he marched into Tiflis and conquered the Black Sheep Dynasty, forcing Georgian King Giorgi VII to flee.
A year ago, the Mamluk army was defeated under Damascus and massacred in Baghdad.
After decades of rule and conquering more than forty countries and regions, I am the king who stands at the top of the world. There are really not many people in the world who can go with me for a few rounds. Bayezid, you Count one!
However, there is only one true king!
Since war is inevitable, let's fight.
Angola.
Bayezid received Timur's letter, and after reading it, he yelled angrily. The eldest son Suleiman Celebi, the second son Isa Celebi, and the third son Muhammad Celebi saw their father being attacked. They were so insulted that they all asked for a fight.
Suleiman Celebi even said bluntly: "Father, Timur is coming with a large army this time. If we are trapped in the city, we will not be able to exert the combat effectiveness of the army at all. We might as well withdraw from the city and go to the mountains and jungles in the north of Angola. Arrange your formation and wait for Timur to attack and completely annihilate Timur’s army so that you can avenge your father’s insult!”
Bayezid nodded solemnly. Suleiman Celebi was right. Although he also had elite and powerful Sipassi heavy cavalry in his hands, Timur also had a large number of cavalry in his hands. His command His ability to use cavalry is no worse than his own.
This decisive battle should not be taken carelessly, and I underestimated Timur's marching speed. The number of troops mobilized in a hurry was only more than 80,000, less than 90,000. Without an advantage in the total number of troops, in the It would be unreasonable to directly fight Timur's cavalry on the Chubuk Plain.
The best option at the moment is to move the army out of the city, deploy heavy troops in the mountainous and hilly areas to the north and wait for Timur to attack. With the help of the geographical location, the advantage of Timur's cavalry will be weakened. After his forward is frustrated, lead the main force. Fight out and defeat Timur in one fell swoop.
Bayezid accepted the advice of his eldest son Suleiman Celebi and issued an order to move the army. However, the army moved first and Bayezid had to wait because he had to write a reply.
Since it was an insult in the letter, let's get it back in the letter.
Bayezid was not afraid of Timur. He remembered that when he besieged Byzantine Constantinople, the Crusaders came to the rescue and were wiped out by him on the Danube plain. The corpses of French cavalry and Hungarian soldiers were everywhere. , the world calls itself "Lightning".
If you want to win against yourself, Timur may not be qualified!
Bayezid wrote a reply, which read:
To Timur:
Thank you Allah for finally sending you to Angola. I have been waiting for you here for a long time.
I heard that you brought all the main forces, I will also respect you and bring all my elites to fight you. If you dare not come for a decisive battle, don't worry, I will also take the initiative to find you, chase you to Tauris or Sultana (which means far away), and finally bury you.
I hope you will not disappoint me, I declare war on you in the name of the Sultan, in the name of lightning, in the name of the conqueror, and you will die here.
Before that, I also want to give you a piece of advice. Please prepare a pair of crutches. After all, your other leg is likely to lose the ability to walk. By then, you, a lame person, will become a crawling person.
Bayezid's letter was delivered, and then he rode out of Angola City and headed for the mountains to the north.
As the horse jolted, Bayezid thought to himself: This world is destined to be unable to accommodate two overlords. In this case, let Allah choose one overlord to dominate the world.
Timur, he is indeed very strong. He has been spreading death and fear since the rise of Zhonghe. He is an extremely cruel person. Wherever he goes, he is accompanied by endless slaughter. The people who died in his hands have reached Hundreds of thousands of people.
But he is not in vain. After the war, he has occupied all the territory of the Byzantine Empire except Constantinople, and has also taken the Balkan Peninsula into his pocket, forcing the powerful Serbia to surrender to him, and West Asia. The Turkic tribes were also vulnerable. They executed the Karaman chief and conquered large areas such as Karaman, Malatya, and Eretna.
Now, no one can stop the war between the Ottoman Empire and the Timurid Empire!
In that case, let's fight.
Accustomed to war and journey, peace and ease are just painful! Leading thousands of troops and horses to gallop across the country and kill enemies thousands of miles away, this is the life I want.
Only force can expand territory, and only the victor owns everything.
Tamerlane moved, and Bayezid also moved. Different destinations will eventually meet on the fateful battlefield, and this war will be recorded in the annals of history forever.
The distance of more than three hundred miles was not too far, but Timur's speed was obviously not fast. It took him a full five days to approach the northern mountainous area of Angola. Such a slow speed was somewhat surprising.
But in any case, Bayezid received the news that Timur was coming, and the distance between them was only thirty miles.
The war between two empires and two Western hegemons is about to break out.
