Ahmed was so anxious that he walked over quickly, regardless of the procedures, and shouted loudly: "What's going on? How is this possible?"
As he spoke, he snatched the urgent report and started reading it immediately.
Mustafa was a little dumbfounded and murmured to himself: "The Ming army only has a small number of people, but he dares to attack so many troops and still win? What on earth is going on?"
But he had forgotten that as long as the Ming Emperor was around, how could he not defeat more with less, and always win a big victory? It can only be said that he believed that there would be no flaws in the defense. This did not exist for Emperor Chongzhen! Because he is not an ordinary person, he is a cheating god!
The Queen Mother was obviously a little panicked and did not reprimand Ahmed for overstepping. She just looked down and muttered to herself: "What should we do? Will Osman be in danger?"
At this time, Muhammad IV was woken up. He wiped his saliva and looked at the panic of several people in the palace. He didn't pay attention, or in other words, seemed a little impatient. He changed his posture and started to sleep again. . Little did he realize that the crisis before him would probably make it impossible for him to sleep here again.
Ahmed quickly read the urgent report, turned back, not to see the Queen Mother, but to look at Mustafa and said: "In just one battle, the Ming army destroyed all the armies outside the city."
"What about Bitlis guard Maclu's command?" Mustafa asked quickly after hearing this.
He had told Macru that he must keep that army. Moreover, when he was in Bitlis, he inspected the city defense accompanied by Maklu. Seeing that the city defense was in place, he was also confident that the Ming army could not easily capture Bitlis!
"He led the army to break through!" When Ahmed said this, he was obviously a little more lucky.
After Macru led the troops to withdraw from Bitlis, he certainly would not say to others that he had raised a white flag and withdrawn from Bitlis. It was obviously better to break out of the encirclement.
Mustafa was slightly relieved after hearing this, but he still asked worriedly: "How many men and horses did he lose?"
In his opinion, the Ming Emperor was so powerful that even if Maclu broke through, he would definitely suffer heavy losses.
"There don't seem to be many casualties!" Ahmed said this, feeling a little confused. Normally, it shouldn’t be!
Now that the urgent reports from the local government have arrived, Maclu should have sent an envoy back. Thinking this, he wanted to go back and take a look. He wanted to know the specific details of the battle.
However, he obviously couldn't leave without giving an explanation to the Queen Mother. No, the Empress Dowager is already asking: "Didn't you say that Bitlis is fine? Now that Bitlis has fallen, so many people can't defeat the Ming Emperor, what should we do now?"
When she said this, she suddenly raised her voice and asked sternly: "I have always believed in you, but you have always let me down. When will you make me worry less?"
After hearing this, Ahmed quickly faced the Empress Dowager respectfully and replied in a very confident tone: "Empress Dowager, it is true that the Ming army is the strongest army in the world, and the Ming emperor is an outstanding figure in the East. It is true that Wei Chen underestimated them and did not expect them to have the abilities of our Ottoman ancestors."
The Ottoman Empire, at the beginning, was just a Turkic tribe east of the Black Sea Strait. But later they rose up, swept across Central Asia, and even spanned the three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe. They continued to seize the territories of European countries, leaving the shadow of the Ottoman Empire in the hearts of European monarchs.
If the original historical development were to follow, it would not be until after the Battle of Vienna that Europeans would move away from the Ottoman Empire.
Ahmed said this, obviously elevating Emperor Chongzhen to the highest position considered by the Ottomans.
Hearing his words, the Queen Mother was stunned again. It was only then that she finally realized how powerful the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty really was.
At this time, she didn't even bother to blame Ahmed, but asked again: "Then what should we do? Think of a solution quickly?"
Obviously, she may be good at palace fighting, but she is not good at foreign affairs, especially things related to war. Therefore, the thing she talks about most is “what to do”.
Ahmed can be considered a capable person. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to take over the position of Prime Minister of the Ottoman Empire from his father, and then pass it on to his brother-in-law Mustafa, who would also continue to be the Prime Minister of the Ottoman Empire.
After just a moment of consideration, he reported to the Empress Dowager: "Empress Dowager, Wei Chen believes that for the Ming army, the superiority in military strength cannot be converted into a winning rate in the war. Therefore, Wei Chen suggested that from the western frontier army, Mobilize the elite. Only by using the elite to deal with the Ming army can it be possible to defeat the Ming army!"
It was also at this time that he finally realized this. The size of the army will not affect the pace of the Ming army's attack.
"But if this happens, what will happen to the west?" The Empress Dowager felt that this was demolishing the east wall to repair the west wall, not to mention that this topic had been discussed before and was not feasible. Because those countries to the west are also feuds to the Ottomans and must be strictly guarded against.
After hearing this, Ahmed quickly explained: "It's just to transfer some elites from the border armies to form a main force with Maklu's troops to deal with the Ming army."
"Then this will defeat the Ming army's attack?" Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager immediately raised the matter she was most concerned about again.
Upon hearing this, Ahmed turned his head and looked at Mustafa. After thinking for a moment, he answered her: "Maybe it can be done with other means!"
This time, he didn't dare to say things in a definite tone, lest he be slapped in the face again.
"What other means are there? Tell me quickly. We must stop the Ming army and protect Osman!" Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager immediately urged in a hurried tone.
After hearing this, Ahmed said with a serious expression: "Strengthen the wall and clear the country. If the Ming army continues to attack, the Ming army must not be allowed to receive supplies in our Ottoman territory. In this way, the Ming army will go deeper into our Ottoman territory, and they will The greater the logistical pressure. Weichen believes that since the Ming army has just conquered Persia, it is impossible for them to have enough materials to support a long-term war. As long as there is no money and food to supplement, even if the Ming army can defeat the Ming army, they will eventually have no choice but to Back off!”
"What the Prime Minister said is absolutely true!" Mustafa listened and quickly echoed, "Your Majesty, when I was on a mission to Persia, I saw Persia young and strong. The old and the weak were all working in the fields. This just shows that the Ming army is in urgent need of food and grass. They continue to use troops, and the food and grass will definitely be consumed a lot, and there will not be much left. As long as the walls are strong and the country is cleared, even if the Ming army can fight again, they can only retreat!"
One advantage of having a large empire is that it has strategic depth, and using strong walls to clear out the wilderness is a very good strategy for retreating from the enemy.
After hearing this, the Queen Mother asked with some confusion: "Since this strategy can work, why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"..." Ahmed was speechless after hearing this. He was really feeling a little emotional about the Queen Mother's laymanship in foreign affairs.
However, since the Empress Dowager asked, he still replied respectfully: "The strategy of strengthening the wall and clearing the field is to kill one thousand enemies and damage one's own eight hundred. It is necessary to divert manpower and materials on the Ming army's offensive path, so as not to gain anything for the Ming army." It’s only possible to supply supplies. If it’s not a last resort, it won’t be useful.”
"What's not useful?" Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager immediately shouted coldly, "To resist foreign enemies, we need to gather the strength of the whole country. Then do this, and make sure that the Ming army is not allowed to obtain any supplies in the Ottoman territory. !”
"I will obey my decree!" Ahmed breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.
Originally, he wanted to explain to the Empress Dowager the Ming army's method of fighting, which was to kill the powerful and powerful. Using this reason, he could persuade the local powerful and powerful to cooperate. The Empress Dowager's side can also reduce the hesitation in agreeing to strengthen the wall and clear the country.
But he didn't expect that he was obviously overthinking it. The Empress Dowager did not consider anything else at all, as long as she could force the Ming army to withdraw.
Therefore, the result of these discussions was to mobilize elites from the western frontier army, and to strengthen the walls and clear the country in the east of the empire. With joint preparations, I believe we can force the Ming army to retreat.
About an hour later, Ahmed and Mustafa came out of the palace. The two of them rushed back to their mansion without stopping at all.
As Ahmed expected, when he returned to his mansion, his men immediately reported that Maklu's people were waiting at the mansion.
Needless to say, Ahmed and Mustafa immediately received Makruh's emissaries and inquired about the specific details of the battle for Bitlis.
After getting the final truth, both of them couldn't help but feel a little lucky that Maclu's troops escaped from the clutches of the Ming army without any damage. At the same time, the two of them couldn't help but feel frightened. The Ming Emperor was able to understand people's hearts and captured Bitlis effortlessly.
In addition, from the words of the Maklu envoy, they once again confirmed the audacity of the Ming army, which actually dared to attack hundreds of thousands of troops outside the city.
After some emotion, both Ahmed and Mustafa became more determined in their previous plans. The Ming army can no longer be defeated head-on. The only way to defeat the Ming army is to defeat it logistically. In addition, only by intensifying war preparations, training elite soldiers, and constantly attriting against the Ming army can we finally defeat the Ming army!
With this in mind, the two began to prepare.
During this period, memorials from various places asking for help were constantly sent to Istanbul. This made Ahmed and Mustafa dare not neglect and urgently deployed their strategy to confront the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, in the eastern part of the Ottoman Empire, starting from the nearest neighbor Bitlis, with the cooperation of Maklu's troops, the local powerful took the lead, taking away everything that could be taken away, and burning everything that could not be taken away, in order to stop Ming army's attack.
