"Father, we must send troops immediately to reinforce the Ming army!" Theodosio, the Portuguese prince, asked anxiously to Joao IV.
King Joao IV heard this, but did not agree immediately. Instead, he sighed and said, "Spain is eyeing us!"
"Father, we are a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. Now that the suzerain country is in crisis, how can we stand by and watch?" After hearing this, Theodosio said loudly.
When King Joao IV heard this, he quickly lowered his voice and said: "Keep your voice down, do you want to make the whole world know about this?"
"Why not?" Theodosio heard this and immediately asked, "Am I not telling the truth?"
John IV had no choice but to deal with his son, so he had to explain in a low voice: "If someone from other countries finds out about it and reports it to the Holy See, it might cause public outrage!"
"So what if it provokes public anger?" Theodosio immediately sneered after hearing this, "Are we still afraid of them now?"
With the support of the Ming Dynasty, among the countries in Europe, the Portuguese had the highest percentage of equipped with new guns. And it also has the most powerful navy.
After Theodosio finished speaking, a sincere look appeared on his face, and he once again advised Joao IV: "Father, as the saying goes, if you receive a drop of kindness from others, you should repay it with a spring of water. Not to mention, the Ming Dynasty He is so kind to Portugal! Duke Xingguo also attaches great importance to gratitude. If we sit idly by and ignore the crisis in our sovereign country, even if our conscience does not matter, what will happen if Duke Xingguo accuses us Portugal? So, father , we must rescue the Ming army!"
Hearing his son's oriental words, João IV suddenly felt a little regretful. His son had stayed in the Ming Dynasty for several years and exaggerated the Ming Empire to everyone he met. Even his other children were very yearning for the Ming Dynasty and clamored to go there. Study abroad. And he always wears oriental clothes, which is completely oriental style.
However, at this time, facing Theodosio's question, John IV was a little helpless, and immediately whispered to Theodosio: "What's the use of us going? Didn't the news say that how many people did the Ottoman Empire gather?" With a hundred thousand troops, the Ming army will definitely be defeated. If we send troops there, we are just asking for trouble, you know?"
"Then just sit back and ignore it?" Theodosio turned pale upon hearing this. He stared at John IV and asked coldly, "We have the most powerful navy in Europe!"
"The navy can't even go ashore!" João IV replied immediately after hearing this.
Upon hearing this, Theodosio continued without hesitation, "But it can harass the coast of the Ottoman Empire and contain their troops!"
After finishing speaking, when he saw the expression on João IV's face, he knew that his father still did not want to agree, so he said with a disappointed look: "Father, you have to be conscientious! When Portugal is in dire straits, God doesn’t care about us, only Daming helps us. If you don’t help this time, won’t your conscience hurt?”
"Presumptuous!" Upon hearing this, João IV became furious, pointed at Theodosio and shouted, "Is this how you talk to me?"
"Look!" Theodosio didn't care at all when he saw it. Instead, he continued: "The relationship between Portugal and the Ming Dynasty is just like the relationship between me and you. If you are in danger, can I just sit back and ignore it? ? Not to mention, you will be angry even if the tone of my words is wrong!"
"..." João IV was so choked that he was speechless.
After a while, he calmed down and replied: "If we send troops, our relationship with Ming Dynasty will probably be known to others!"
"Haha! Cover your ears and steal your bell!"
Hearing this, John IV was stunned for a moment, and then asked: "What do you mean?"
"That is to say, if you want to steal a bell but are afraid of the sound, you cover your ears and think that the bell will not make any sound!"
When João IV heard this, his face turned red and he became furious. When he was about to yell and scold him, he saw his son looking at him without fear.
Suddenly, Joao IV was like a ball being pricked by a needle, and he was discouraged, because he knew that what Theodosio said actually made sense.
In the end, João IV said with a little lack of confidence: "I am old and my health is not good anymore. From now on, Portugal will have to rely on you. You have to think clearly. Once you send troops, you will not be able to deceive others. You will be exposed." In front of all countries, not only are they directly at war with the Ottoman Empire, but they are also likely to attract other countries to denounce Portugal."
"What are you afraid of?" Theodosio said nonchalantly after hearing this, "The Ming Dynasty is invincible. Now we are just worried that the Ming army in the Ottoman territory will be outnumbered. After the main force of the Ming army advances westward, it will rule the world. , to coerce Europe, who dares to disobey?"
When he said this, he looked at Joao IV's face, and it was obvious that he didn't believe it, so he emphasized loudly: "My father has never been in the Ming Dynasty, otherwise, you wouldn't think that I am exaggerating!"
King Joao IV looked at his son, waved his hand a little dejectedly and said: "Okay, okay, whatever you say. You can do whatever you want. Portugal is yours anyway."
When Theodosio heard this, he couldn't help but be overjoyed and quickly replied: "Father, don't worry, with the support of the Ming Dynasty, of course I will make Portugal the most powerful country in Europe. Just watch it!"
Three days later, Theodosio led twenty steam paddle-wheel warships in Lisbon and set out on board with five thousand troops.
It’s not that he didn’t want to bring more troops, but because he refused to marry and publicly threatened that the Spanish princess was too ugly, and if he wanted to marry, he would marry a Ming girl, which angered Felipe IV, so he had to keep some troops. In Portugal.
………………
Even Portugal, which was deeply beneficiary of the Ming Dynasty and could be said to be the country that knew the Ming Dynasty best, did not believe that the Ming army could defeat the Ottoman army in this war. Not to mention what other countries think!
Therefore, after the news of the Ottoman army's crusade against the Ming army spread, countries far away gloated about the misfortune, and countries with bad relations stood idly by and did not dare to take advantage of this opportunity to counterattack the Ottomans, for fear of angering the Ottomans and causing the Ottomans to turn around. The front line of a large army is absolutely too much to bear.
There are also some countries and tribes, such as the surviving remnants of the Oman Empire, and tribes on the Arabian Peninsula that had already surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, and they also began to rebel. Because they felt that the Ming army would definitely be defeated in this battle.
Naturally, the Ming Army also received news of such a big movement.
In response, Sun Chuanting's troops not only did not withdraw their troops from Baghdad, but instead imported supplies from the Persian Gulf, clearly intending to hold on to Baghdad. He also threatened that if the Ottoman Empire took the initiative to go to war with the Ming Dynasty, it would be humiliating itself.
The commander-in-chief of the Ottoman army was Koprulu Faqir Ahmed, who personally led the army. The original plan was to divide some of the troops and attack Persia, which was occupied by the Ming army.
However, the Ming army was so arrogant and said such harsh words, so he changed his attention and decided to concentrate his forces and give the Ming army in Baghdad a thunderous blow. He would annihilate the Ming army in the shortest time and give the Ming Dynasty a cruel blow. Big mouth, let all countries in the world who are paying attention to this war see whether the Ottoman Empire is strong or not!
However, Abbas II did not want to do this. He was a little anxious and quickly advised Faqir: "The Ming army must be confident in saying this. What if the attack on Baghdad does not go well and the attack cannot be taken for a long time? , the more troops there were in the past, the greater the pressure on military supplies, which was not good for the Ottoman Empire’s army!”
This time, he really didn't get excited, but spoke matter-of-factly, trying to get Faqir to change his mind.
However, as soon as he finished speaking, those high-spirited generals began to curse before Faqir could speak.
"Haven't you seen that there are so many of us? Each one of us can flood Baghdad with just one mouthful of spit, and we still can't defeat it?"
"Haha, that's right, if you can't just pee alone, it's okay, right?"
"Are you blind or something? Didn't you see the elite of our Ottoman army? Even if the Ming army has firearms, we also have them. We have so many troops, why can't we defeat them?"
"Don't think that you Persians can't defeat the Ming army, just because all the armies in the world can't defeat the Ming army! Let you Persians see how the Ming army, which is invincible in front of you, was defeated by our Ottomans! "
"..."
Faqir was a little impatient. He waved his hand to stop his men from talking. Then he stared at Abbas II and said coldly: "Don't think that I don't know what you are thinking! I can tell you now that the attack on Baghdad will be a success." If you want to fight, you lead the Persian army and go first, and you must perform meritorious service. Otherwise, I don’t mind incorporating Persia into the Ottomans and becoming one or two provinces.”
Upon hearing this, Abbas II's face turned ugly. I didn't expect that the final result would be like this. If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have said anything.
However, people under the eaves cannot help but bow their heads. At this time, Abbas II did not even dare to refute.
When the Ottoman generals heard this, they all laughed heartily, and their gloating was very obvious.
There were even a few generals who suggested to Faqir in front of Abbas II that they should just annex Persia and behead the Persian emperor.
However, Faqir obviously had other plans. He ignored the booing from his generals and ordered the entire army to march towards Baghdad.
Including the troops of the vassal states, there were a total of 250,000 horses and horses. The marching ranks were as far as the eye could see, and the dust they brought up covered the sky and the sun.
Such a large-scale army makes all European countries tremble with fear, but now it is only 50,000 Ming troops attacking Baghdad.
A war is about to break out.
