Chapter Seventy-Three: The Bloody Battle of Kursk The Ottoman Empire was defeated

One is the absolute elite of the Ottoman Empire, with a neat lineup, bright armor, and a guard who is expected to fight for honor and faith; One is the Guards musket corps built by the Russian Tsar at great expense, equipped with the most advanced muskets, and aspiring to make contributions to Russia and the Tsar. On the battlefield, they almost ignored the other soldiers who were still fighting, and their eyes were fixed on their opponents, walking in the same direction. The thick murderous aura is even worse.

Both sides did not pause, and they all lined up while rushing towards each other.

When the Ottoman Guards rushed over, they had not yet seen what weapons the Russians were using against the invincible army. As the two sides approached, they realized that the Russians were holding muskets that they had never seen before. But when they saw it clearly, it was too late.

There was no nonsense on both sides, and they collided directly with each other. The Russian deputy shooter in the front row, just used his shield to fend off the bows and arrows fired by the guards for a while, and the Russian musketeers began to shoot.

Each musket is fired twice in a row, then quickly reloaded, and then fired again with a "bumper", which greatly increases the density of the projectile. Shooting these large-caliber projectiles from a distance, shooting into the dense formation of the Guards did not require careful aiming, but it quickly overwhelmed the Guards. However, the Guards were also very experienced, and the officers and soldiers in front of the rows fell, although they did not have time to think carefully on the battlefield, but they understood that the Russians had great muskets, and they had to lean on them to exert the power of their tomahawk spears and scimitars.

The guards rushed over with their horses and speed.

In a short time, the Ottoman guards who rushed over knocked out many people, which greatly increased the confidence of the officers and men of the Russian Guards musket team.

All this was done in a very short time, and the men of both sides immediately rushed together, by which time the officers and men of the Russian Guards musket corps had already changed their shotguns.

When both sides saw their opponents clearly, the officers and men of the Ottoman Guards thought that it was time for these barbaric Russians to teach the Guards how powerful they were.

A pikeman of the Guards in front of him stabbed at the Russian soldier with a spear, but the Russians were not polite, and with a "bump", a shot was fired in the face. Despite the armor worn by the Guards soldiers, the weak spots on their faces and bodies were filled with holes in the dense array of shotguns, and the powerful impact of the projectiles on the armor sent the pikemen off his horse at once. One of the pikemen in the back felt that the opportunity had come, he knew that after the musket was fired, it took a long time to reload again, and the pikeman rushed over to avenge his brother, but the Russian musketeer fired a shot at him with another "bump", and the pikeman didn't know why the Russian robbery had another bullet until he died, but he fell off his horse without looking at it.

The soldiers of the Guards in the back, although they were not afraid of death for the honor of the Guards, but the Russians robbed the guns and guns deadly, and they could shoot continuously, and they didn't know how many bullets the Russians could shoot out of the robbing. Just as they hesitated, the Russians loaded two more bullets.

Some of the guards took advantage of the numerical advantage and two horses rushed side by side to flank the Russian musketeers, but the Russian musketeers shot at the two of them with a "bang" and knocked them off their horses at the same time. The advantage is to deal with dense opponents.

Such a scene was happening in the two armies at the same time, and it didn't take long for more than 5,000 elite Ottoman Empire guards and officers and soldiers who rushed over to fall from the ground.

Although the Ottoman Sultan could not see the details of the battlefield clearly, he saw a square of his guards rushing past, which was wiped out by the Russians, and the Russians did not see the reduction in numbers at all.

The Tsar and his ministers saw through their binoculars what was happening in front of them, and jumped and jumped with joy.

The commander of the Ottoman Guard, who had always been calm and arrogant, really couldn't believe the scene in front of him. Those guards are the honor and pride of the Ottoman Empire, every soldier has been professionally trained for more than ten years, and usually one is ten, ten is hundred, but it is unbelievable that a hedge is beaten by the Russians. However, he could also see that the Guards were losing to the opponent's muskets.

The Guards quickly sent musketeers to meet the evil Russian army as they approached, and mobilized their hoplites to meet the attack.

The tactics of the Russians are still very effective, when the muskets of the Ottoman Guards are "bumping" to shoot, the secondary shooters hold shields to cover, although some shield bearers and war horses are killed and wounded, but the damage to the musketeers is still not large, and when the muskets of the Guards are finished, they will become the guns of the soldiers of the Russian Guards musket team.

In the face of the Ottoman hoplites, the Russian Guards musketeers did not dare to be careless. They have also carried out targeted research and training on this for a long time.

Against the hoplites, the soldiers of the Russian Guards Musket Corps loaded the muskets with one shotgun and one solid round.

When facing the heavy cavalry directly, they shot the heavy cavalry in the head. Although the hoplites wore iron masks, they had to leave two holes in their eyes, and shotguns could hit the vital points directly if they shot into the holes. Besides, even if the shotgun hits directly on the mask, the impact can also see the opponent's neck sprain.

Instead of facing the opponent directly, you can shoot at their plate armor with solid bullets, and large-caliber projectiles, even if they can't penetrate the plate armor, can shoot the opponent off their horse at close range.

The Ottoman hoplite cavalry was not as nimble as the lightly armed Russian Guards musketeer cavalry. The Russians immediately withdrew their bullets as soon as they finished firing, and soon they were coming back to shoot. It was the hoplites who had the opportunity to attack the Russian musketeers, and the Russians' secondary shooters were not ordinary fighters, they only had to resist for a while, and the musketeers would come back and solve the problem with bullets.

The elites of the two sides fought together, so that the soldiers who fought on other battlefields lost their interest in fighting. Soon the two of them lost contact, and both set their sights on the battlefield where the two elites were fighting.

The Guards, who had suffered heavy losses, could not be stopped, and began to slowly retreat, but the Russian Guards musketeers did not dare to relax, and the musketeers took turns to step forward and shoot the Ottoman Guards soldiers continuously. The Russians can't do it if they don't rotate, their muskets are fired at too high a temperature, and if they don't cool down, it's dangerous to shoot again. Besides, the musketeers also need to take a breather and rest. This is a right that only one side has after gaining the initiative on the battlefield.

Looking at this scene, the tsar put down his binoculars and said to the Ming army instructors who were watching the battle: "Your muskets are really good!" It's worth all the money! Then he said to the ministers who were also elated: "There were still those who objected to me spending so much money, but now it seems that you were wrong." Immediately inform Count Petrov and ask him to buy all the 1,000 muskets in the hands of the Ming army. If I had made up my mind to buy all the 1,000 muskets, the battle would have been over by now. After saying that, the tsar said: "By the way, tell Count Petrov to talk about the price again with those clever Ming Dynasty people!" ”

Now the tsar can already consider bargaining with the Ming people. The ministers laughed along. They all saw hope of victory.

At this time, on the battlefield, although it was beneficial to the Russian Guards musket team, there was also a disadvantage, the muskets of the musket team began to heat up and needed to be used in rotation, and although the Ottoman Guards suffered heavy losses, they still had a numerical advantage, and the Guards who were not afraid of death were still desperately counterattacking.

The Ottoman Empire had been sweeping across Europe and Asia, and it had few opponents, which was their advantage, but it also caused the officers and soldiers to be good at fighting good battles. As soon as he saw that his guards were all pressed and beaten by the Russians, the morale of the army was a little unstable.

No matter how much the Ottoman Sultan ordered his army to rush over and overwhelm the Russians with numerical superiority, the slow movement of the army was obviously no longer motivating.

In desperation, the Sultan had no choice but to send out one of his ambush soldiers, which was the Serbian cavalry.

When the Serbian cavalry rushed out, the Russians, the officers who were observing the battlefield, immediately informed the tsar. The Tsar picked up the binoculars and looked at them and smiled, "Haha! The Ottoman Sultan finally came up with his family. Ordered our brave Cossack cavalry to deal with them. Strike now! ”

The Russians, who had studied the Ottoman Empire in detail, were well aware of the tactics and military situation of the Ottoman Empire, and they kept the Serbian cavalry in their hands.

The Serbian cavalry were not religious, they were Christians, strictly speaking, about the same as the Cossacks who believed in Orthodoxy, but they met on the battlefield.

The Serbian cavalry and the Cossack cavalry were notoriously formidable troops, and they quickly fought together. For a time, it was also a river of blood, and it was difficult to see the winner or loser.

At this time, the Ottoman Sultan was already covered in sweat, and he wanted to send his Sipashi Guards cavalry to the battlefield, but a close minister next to him whispered to him: "Your Majesty, these thousands of people thrown into it are like sand thrown into the water, and it will not have a big impact on the whole battle situation!" ”

"Are we watching the Ottomans defeat here?" The Sultan was in a hurry.

The relationship between this close minister and the Sultan was very unusual, and he said calmly: "Your Majesty, whether you want it or not, I have to say it." You're about to retreat! You can't wait for the defeat to be decided. At that time, you want to walk, and there are thousands of miles ahead, in that case, you can't walk. The Ottomans have no chance to turn the tables again! ”

The Sultan also saw that his absolute elite guard had been defeated. They are still insisting that they are driven by honor. If only the other armies had been defeated long ago.

Seeing that the guards were retreating, the armies of the other lords were preparing to rout and flee, and no one dared to run first, because they were afraid of going back to the Sultan and cutting off their heads. But it can be seen that there is no intention of fighting. The Serbian cavalry and Cossack cavalry were also in a scorching state over there.

The helpless Sultan knew that it was time to think about how to retreat on his own initiative with minimal losses. But he knew that he couldn't go first, otherwise the whole line would collapse and the losses would be even heavier. Besides, the Sultan also saw that the Russians were also exhausted, as long as they did not rout, they did not have the strength to pursue.

The Sultan ordered several thousand of his Sipashi Guards cavalry to march forward to the battlefield and at the same time ordered the troops to be withdrawn. The pursuing Russian army was held back by the Sipahi Guards cavalry.

Seeing the neat Sipahi cavalry appear on the battlefield and the Sultan ordered the troops to be withdrawn, the Ottoman army did not cause much confusion and retreated in an orderly manner. In particular, the wooden stake that was made last night has played a great role now.

At this time, just as the Sultan estimated, the Russians couldn't help but respect the Ottoman army when they saw that it was defeated, and besides, they really didn't have the strength to pursue it anymore. If the Ottoman army were to flee completely, they would be able to chase them down. Now that the Ottoman army has been repulsed, the Russians have achieved a big victory, and for them this is the most important thing.

At this time, the two sides also fought to the west of the sun, and the tsar also ordered the troops to be withdrawn. The Russian army is also sleepy. The Russian army, which had collected its troops, brought out the best food for the soldiers, but controlled the amount of alcohol, because tomorrow, there will be a crucial battle to completely drive the Ottoman army out of Russian and Ukrainian land.

Unbeknownst to the Tsar, the Ottoman Sultan, after collecting his troops, gave the order for a total retreat.

Escorted by the Sipahi Guardsmen, the Ottoman Sultan withdrew south overnight, and the rest of the army also took a simple rest and retreated overnight. Until dawn, they left the Russians with an empty camp.

In fact, the Russians also discovered that there was movement in the camp of the Ottoman army at night, but they did not expect that the powerful Ottoman army would flee overnight.

At dawn, the Tsar heard the news that the Ottoman regiments had fled, and shouted with joy: "Pursuit!" Pursuit! Don't let them go! ”

Led by the Cossack cavalry, the Russian cavalry, launched a pursuit of the Ottoman army. The infantry of the Ottoman army, which lagged behind, became the target of the Cossack cavalry and the Russian cavalry.

However, the Ottoman army, in the end, is an old powerhouse, they heavy cavalry, with light cavalry, suddenly launched a counter-charge, but also made the advancing Russians suffer a big loss. This delay in the pursuit of the Russians caused half of the Ottoman army to flee back and completely withdraw from Russian and Ukrainian lands.

This is an earth-shattering event. The myth of the invincibility of the Ottoman Empire was shattered.

In this battle, the Russian army captured countless blades and booty, captured more than 50,000 Ottoman prisoners, and tens of thousands of war horses. Russia is a national jubilation, which means that a powerful can compete with the Ottoman Empire, and the Russian Empire has risen!

However, the Sultan, who fled back to Istanbul, was almost deposed from the throne. In the end, he retained the throne of the sultan with the power of a powerful big family.

The Ottoman warriors held a meeting at Topkapi Palace to discuss the reasons for the defeat at Kursk. They carefully studied the whole course of the battle, and finally came to the conclusion that the Russians knew the Ottoman army and tactics well, that they had adopted a very effective and targeted combat arrangement, and that our Ottoman Empire, because of its arrogance, knew very little about the opponent, and committed a great military taboo. Then there was a decisive factor on the battlefield that determined the defeat of the battle, and that was the sudden appearance of a powerful musket equipped with a new type of musket by the Russians. It was this musket team that changed the battlefield situation when the two sides were fighting fiercely.

Ottoman intelligence officers found out that these muskets were sold to the Russians by the Ming army, and the Ming army also sent instructors to train the Russians in the use of muskets and tactics.

This news was a bit groundbreaking, and the Ottoman monarchs could not accept it in any way. Because of the caravans and missions they sent to the Ming Dynasty, they received the highest courtesy from the Ming Dynasty. The leaders of the returning caravans told the Sultan that as soon as they arrived at the kiln, they were placed in the best hotels in the super luxurious kiln.

They described the hotel equipment and supplies that the Ottoman monarchs could not have imagined. When they returned, the leader of the kiln people also brought back many gifts to the sultan, saying that they would always be friendly with the Ottoman Empire, and when the caravan returned, he also sent cavalry to escort it. In particular, the Russians and they have been fighting in the Mongolian steppe and in the Ural region, and they do not believe that how the Ming army will support the Russians in their fight against our Ottoman Empire. However, the intelligence showed that this was the case, and the intelligence officers who followed the caravan to the Ming Dynasty also reported that only the Ming Dynasty had such advanced firearms. The Russians used muskets that were indeed of the Ming Dynasty. If the Russians could make this musket themselves, there would not be such a musket on the battlefield.

Regardless, the Sultan ordered the arrest of all Ming merchants who came to the Ottoman Empire. The Sultan was to interrogate them personally.

This time, the caravan that came to the Ottoman Empire, in addition to Lu Chengxiang sent a few hundred people, there were also many people sent by various merchant groups in the Ming Dynasty, plus the Ottoman Empire and caravans from various countries along the way, adding up to more than 2,000 people.

Ming merchants became the most popular people in the Ottoman Empire, except for local merchants who were willing to do business with them, walking on the streets, the Ottoman people would nod and smile at them. They brought a large number of goods to the Ottoman Empire that they had never thought of before, especially the Ottoman merchants, who were almost snapping up the goods in the hands of the Ming merchants. Later, the merchants of the Ming Dynasty learned that as long as the Ottoman merchants bought their things, they would immediately move them west again to seek more benefits.

The caravan brought many benefits to both the nobles and the common people of the Ottoman Empire, and the merchants became the honored guests of the Ottoman Empire.

The shopkeeper of the caravan sent by Lu Chengxiang is also a very capable person selected by Lu Chengxiang. He was generous in the Ottoman Empire and became friends with many nobles in the Ottoman Empire.

He also knew that the Ottomans had lost the war with the Russians, but he felt that it had nothing to do with them. But just as he and a few Ottoman merchants were drinking tea and chatting in the best inn in the Ottoman Empire, a group of Sultan Guard soldiers suddenly surrounded the place, and he became a prisoner.