The two river basins, namely the Tigris River and the Euphrates River, are one of the birthplaces of mankind.
Baghdad is right here, straddling both sides of the Tigris River and just over 30 kilometers away from the Euphrates River. It was built by the second emperor (Caliph) of the Abbasid dynasty of Arabia, who is known as the "Great Eating in Black" in Chinese historical records. The city is round, so it is called "Tuancheng".
Moreover, Baghdad is divided into three levels: the outer city, the inner city and the imperial city, and has three walls. The city wall with the imperial city as the center forms three concentric circles, and each city wall has four equidistant gates. Four streets extend from the central area to the city gates, shaped like spokes of a wheel.
From the mid-8th century to the 9th century, Baghdad entered its heyday and became the political, economic, trade, cultural and religious center of the Arab Empire. The economy is prosperous, transportation is extensive, merchants gather in all directions, markets and shops are numerous, and there are markets specializing in Chinese silk, porcelain and other commodities. Scholars gather and culture flourishes.
It's just a pity that in 1258 and 1401, Baghdad was sacked twice by the Mongolian Hulagu and Timur armies respectively. A large number of architectural monuments and cultural relics were destroyed. All the classics collected in Baghdad were thrown into the river. It is said that the ink will make the river water Dye black.
At the moment, it was occupied by Persia, and then by Ottoman, until the coalition forces of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong passed by and destroyed Baghdad again.
As soon as these bandits left, before the Ottomans had rebuilt Baghdad, the Ming army led by Sun Chuanting captured it again and it became the territory of the Ming Dynasty.
As for the Ming Dynasty, before they started sending troops, at the imperial meeting in Nanjing, they had already decided to permanently occupy Baghdad. Therefore, after Sun Chuanting led the army to occupy this place, he did not leave.
Everyone knows that if the Ming army does not leave here, there will definitely be a war. At most, the scale of the war will be small.
Ming Dynasty has a comprehensive plan for the entire Middle East region under the auspices of Zhang Mingwei. Therefore, the planned war in Baghdad is to be fought in the big direction. There are two reasons for this:
First, the Middle East will be decided in one battle, and the military and national power of the Ming Dynasty will be unleashed at once to shock the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe!
Second, building the Suez Canal requires labor, and once a war is fought, there will be many prisoners, which can just solve the labor problem of building the Suez Canal.
Based on these two purposes, as soon as Sun Chuanting occupied Baghdad, he began to build Baghdad and transform it into a military fortress. Otherwise, just 50,000 troops would be too full to challenge the huge Ottoman Empire.
Baghdad originally straddled the Tigris River, with the main city on the right bank of the river, in the middle of the two rivers. After later expansion, there was also a part on the left bank of the Tigris River, connected by pontoon bridges.
The Tigris River is the largest river in Western Asia. Originating from the southern foothills of the Eastern Taurus Mountains in the southeastern part of the Anatolia Plateau in the Ottoman Empire, it flows southeastward and becomes gentle and wide when it reaches the territory of later Iraq.
Sea-going ships of later generations could sail directly from the Persian Gulf, passing through the Shatt al-Arab River to the port of Basra.
This is still a large-scale ship of later generations, and the water volume is not as good as before due to the construction of reservoirs, diversion and irrigation, etc.
In this seventeenth century, the Ming Dynasty steam paddle steamer warships sailed directly from the Persian Gulf to Baghdad without any problems. This is one of the reasons why Sun Chuanting's troops chose Baghdad to fight a decisive battle with the Ottoman Empire.
Baghdad is located in the Mesopotamian plain. The terrain in the north is slightly higher and has many hills, while the south is low and has many lakes and swamps.
In addition, in July and August, the average daytime temperature in Baghdad reaches 41-43°C, and can even reach 50°C at noon; while the average temperature in winter is 13°C, and the lowest temperature can reach 0°C.
Although the Little Ice Age affected the whole world, temperatures would be somewhat lower. However, no matter how low it is, it can't be much lower.
Therefore, when the Ottoman army marched to Baghdad, it was the twenty-seventh year of Chongzhen, which was the late autumn of 1654.
The cavalry of the Crimean Khanate was the vanguard of the Ottoman Empire's army. A total of 40,000 people appeared in Baghdad in a mighty manner without any concealment. A near rampage towards Baghdad without any scruples.
The troops scattered outside were not collected until tomorrow night, and they were forced to fully retreat to Baghdad.
The cavalry of the Crimean Khanate dispersed in full force, guarding and shielding Baghdad for hundreds of miles. The main force of its army stayed outside Baghdad.
The leader of the army was Muhammad Glei IV, the Great Khan of the Crimean Khanate. Surrounded by many of his men, he looked at Baghdad in the distance with high spirits.
Although the Crimean Khanate at this time had passed its heyday and had even been beaten into submission by the Ottoman Empire and became a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire, it is undeniable that the strength of the Crimean Khanate was still very high. Strong.
For a long time, the Crimean cavalry has continuously sent troops to plunder Tsarist Russia, and even captured Moscow. When Tsarist Russia was at war with Poland, they often took the opportunity to plunder Tsarist Russia, causing Tsarist Russia to suffer miserably.
In the end, starting from 1635, Tsarist Russia invested a lot of manpower and material resources to build the Great Wall of Crimea at the junction with the Crimean Khanate.
The Great Wall of Crimea is of course different from the Great Wall in China. It is not built on the top of a mountain. It is just an expansion or reinforcement of many simple fortifications left by the medieval ancestors. Based on the military engineering concepts of the 17th century, many sections were transformed into a modern bastion structure.
It is divided into three floors and is a village model integrating military and civilians. The last level is the regular army of Tsarist Russia. The idea is to use the common people and miscellaneous troops to first consume the Tatars in the Crimean Khanate, and finally let the regular army eliminate the remaining Tatars.
If the original historical development had been followed, the Crimean Great Wall would have been completed at the end of the 17th century, and the effect would have been good.
The large-scale plundering of the Crimean Tatars was basically contained, which greatly reduced the defensive pressure on the Russian army's southern flank and protected the fertile southern Russian steppes from the flames of war.
Later, thousands of Russian farmers would come to colonize the area, developing this black fertile soil into the largest granary in Europe, and also becoming the material guarantee for Tsarist Russia to continue its conquests in all directions.
At this time, in 1654, the Crimean Great Wall had initially shown its effect, curbing the plundering operations of the Crimean Tatars. Likewise, when Mohammed Grai IV received a request from the Ottoman Empire to send troops, he personally led the army there, also wanting to see if there was any opportunity here.
For example, if the Crimean Khanate performs well, then the suzerain country will divide a part of the Persian territory as a reward! Even if not, Persia is now considered the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and it is possible to rush in and plunder it.
For this reason, the 40,000 cavalry troops led by Muhammad Grai IV were his elite army.
The Ottoman Empire Prime Minister Koprulu Faqir Ahmed inspected the Crimean Khanate cavalry and was very satisfied with it, so he handed over the important forward position to Mehmet Glei IV.
You know, the forward is a very important position. Not only are they the eyes and ears of the advancing army, but if the vanguard is good, they can also clear obstacles for the following army and reduce a lot of trouble. Even a good forward can boost the morale of the entire army, and its role in the entire war cannot be underestimated.
At this time, after the Crimeans saw the situation in Baghdad, everyone immediately started talking.
"Great Khan, the construction of Baghdad has not been completed, and the Ming army wants to resist the Ottoman army here. Is this crazy?"
"Haha, look, they are still building the city wall. Is it still too late?"
"No, with this dilapidated defense of Baghdad, once the army arrives, it can be invaded in a day, right?"
"It is estimated that the Ming army relied on their powerful firearms, but didn't they think that the Ottoman Empire's Guards were also equipped with powerful firearms?"
"Either the general says, why not take advantage of the fact that we wipe out the Ming army before the Ottoman army arrives, and all the credit will be ours!"
"This is a good idea. It makes other people's journey go in vain. It feels good just thinking about it!"
"..."
Amidst the jeers, Muhammad Glei IV waved his hand to stop them from continuing, and just said to them: "No matter how good this Ming army is, they fought all the way to the west. And they knew that the Ottoman Empire would not sit idly by. Reason, if they keep occupying here but never leave, they must have something to rely on."
After hearing this, his men stopped talking and just looked at Baghdad, as if they wanted to see what the Ming army was capable of.
Muhammad Grai IV also took a look, and then said decisively: "We are cavalry and are not good at attacking cities. We have completed what the Ottoman Empire has assigned us and we have achieved our first success. Test the strength of the Ming army. , let other tribes do it!"
As soon as he heard this, flattering sounds sounded around him.
"The Great Khan is wise!"
"What the Great Khan said makes sense. We don't have to go head-to-head with the Ming army. Cavalry warfare is our specialty!"
"..."
Therefore, the Crimean Khanate army set the tone and did not attack the city. They retreated dozens of miles and set up camp, waiting for the scattered cavalry to return and at the same time waiting for the arrival of the Ottoman Empire army.
When it was still early, these Tatars walked their horses to Baghdad, showing off their riding skills and mocking the Ming army in the city.
It wasn't until night fell that they slowly retreated.
In Baghdad, most of the Ming army was okay. However, when the soldiers who joined the Ming army in Persia saw so many cavalry at the forefront of the Ottoman army, they all turned pale with fright. .
Not to mention, the Tatars' taunting and arrogance also greatly affected their morale.
