When the Ottoman Empire's Sanjak Apudullah Faris in Sana'a received an ultimatum from the Tang Empire's expeditionary force, ordering it to hand over 500 tribal culprits who had mutilated the citizens of the empire within a limited time, the whole person was stupid.

It's not that I don't want to do it, but I can't do it!

The Ottoman Empire ruled the entire Yemeni region, and every year it had to pay a lot of money, and the local farmers and herdsmen were so poor that they could not collect any taxes at all, and the government operation and garrisons all depended on the imperial government's subsidies.

And those wealthy tribal chiefs, big landlords own a large number of granges, and have countless cattle and sheep, but all of them are difficult to deal with, and they will turn the table and rebel when they say that they are not right.

The entire narrow coastal stretch of the Arabian Plateau along the Red Sea, from Yemen to the Hejaz to Jordan, was full of tribal militants. It was a barren and popular region, and the Ottoman Empire had a weak presence and only maintained a superficial state of rule.

In fact, the vast villages and towns below are all owned by the tribes, and they pay a symbolic amount of cattle and sheep fur every year.

The largest administrative region of the Ottoman Empire in its territory was its province, with "Eralet" (Pasha district), which was equivalent to the western governorship, Egypt was the frontier province of Pasha, and Ismail was the hereditary governor of one side.

After his death, according to the Ottoman inheritance law, his eldest son could succeed the Pasha by hereditary succession.

Baghdad in Iraq is also a Pasha, but the Governorate of Baghdad is higher than the surrounding capitals, and the Pasha of Baghdad administers the surrounding provinces, which is the great governor of the land that administers several provinces, and the frontier minister of the Ottoman Empire.

The province is divided into states, called "Sanjak", which is equivalent to the position of governor in the West.

The governor ruled the region, and the Yemeni region was Sanjak, and Sanjak Apdullah-Faris was the supreme Ottoman administrator in the region, a down-and-out imperial aristocrat who had to pay heavily to bribe the eunuchs around the caliph to get the position.

It stands to reason

Sitting on the largest city in the whole Yemeni region, Sana'a City, even if the city is pumped every year in the city to collect the city tax, cattle and sheep market transaction tax, merchant tax and other various taxes, it is a huge wealth, but it can't stand the corruption of Ottoman officials from top to bottom!

Led by Apudullah Faris, it was originally bought with a lot of money, and it must be a big fish. It would be nice to have half of the original quota of 2,200 city guards in Sana'a City, and all of them were old, weak, sick and disabled, and many of them were errands for local merchants.

When the bureaucrats came to inspect, these merchants closed their shops, changed their clothes, and walked to the city with knives and guns to do their duties.

The reason for this is to pay less poll tax. The officials above can eat empty salaries and drink the blood of soldiers, and they will rot from top to bottom.

In the Castle Lord's Mansion

Apdullah-Faris panicked when he received the ultimatum of the expeditionary fleet, and after the high-spirited envoy had left, he hurriedly summoned several powerful chiefs and the local French and British to discuss what to do.

"Woe to you, woe to Almighty, Allah Almighty, Hussein and your tribes have caused a great calamity. Killed people, robbed horses. Now that they're coming to the door and want me to hand you all over, what do you say? Abdullah Farris's fat face was sweating, and he was terrified.

There were dozens more large iron ships on the hills of Sana'a Bay, covering the bay with a shadow of the sky and the sun, and the troops coming down from the boats were like a forest of knives and guns, and the kind of chilling killing intent could be felt from afar.

Sanjak Apdullah Faris had neither intention nor power to stop him, and he originally wanted to be a turtle with a shrunken head, but he was approached by someone.

For the sake of the present

It is only who caused the disaster in the first place, and who is responsible for himself, and Sanjak Apudullah Faris is not willing to bear the blame for these local tribes.

Everyone's eyes fell on the chief of the Hussein tribe, Omar Hussein, who had hoarded more than 3,500 war horses by this greedy old man and the Red Oriental squad, instigating several other tribes to kill people and steal goods.

This was not an unusual thing, and everyone here had done it.

When they saw that Hussein and other tribes had grabbed so many excellent war horses, many tribes who were slow down secretly regretted it. I thought that the fat that I ate in my mouth would not be spit out again. Who knew that the background of those Orientals was so powerful?

Now he is secretly glad that he did not mix with this troubled water.

Lord Sanjak immediately raised his head, and some of the tribal chiefs who were watching quietly began to count down, and the implication of his words was that the Hussein tribe did things on their own.

"What's so bad about this, who stole the horse in the first place, who killed the people? Just go and negotiate with the Orientals yourself, but don't hurt us honest people. ”

"Allah, it is indeed the brothers of the Hussein tribe who did something wrong, since there is no reason to sell the war horses to others and snatch them back? Not to mention killing people, now that the owner has found him, he will definitely give an explanation. This matter is tricky, I'm afraid that the person who comes is not good! ”

"Who's to say it isn't?"

"The Orientals gave me five days, and I don't think it's going to be delayed until the end. In order to show sincerity, first return the horse that had robbed the people, and then prepare a heavy gift and ask the British and French friends to make peace in the middle, and then hand over some people to calm the matter. I am reluctant to make a lot of blood. ”

"Hmph, there are many people who sacrifice their lives and money, I'm afraid your kindness will be in vain!"

Several chiefs were chattering, and Chief Omar Hussein became very unsightly, and he scolded his mother in his heart, and asked all the female relatives in the family of the tribal chiefs who stood by and watched.

In the past few days, the chief of Omar-Hussein has not been idle, while inquiring about the origin of these Orientals, and at the same time actively contacting some nomadic tribes in the vicinity, promising to use horses and guns for heavy gains, and gathering troops to prepare for a good confrontation with these Orientals.

It is said that the Orientals were so angry that they had been snubbed by Ismail Pasha of Egypt at the Suez Canal, and they raised an expedition across the ocean, aiming at Egypt.

Thinking of the bad things I did to these Orientals, it was horse snatching and killing, it was much bigger than Egypt's affairs, and the nature was much worse, apologize These Orientals can really give up?

If you think about it yourself, you don't think it's possible.

From British and French friends, I can clearly understand more things in the world, ***-Chief Hussein knows that he is on the big side.

The Tang Empire was a powerful empire in North America, which had always pursued a policy of colonial expansion, brutal and brutal repression of the conquered lands (Note; French friends), ruled over a territory several times larger than the Ottoman Empire.

But it's too late to say anything now, the blood feud has already been settled.

It is impossible for the Hussein tribes to migrate because the fertile oases of Yemen are so large, that is, along the shores of the Red Sea, a slender oasis that crosses the barren mountains, and then the endless Arabian Peninsula Gobi and the Great Desert in the east.

Sana'a is one of the largest oases, with several seasonal rivers running through the oasis plains, and the powerful tribes of Sana'a have a large area of land, which are semi-agrarian and semi-nomadic.

The chiefs and tribal elders were also large landowners, and they had estates outside the city, houses and shops in the city, and many properties, how could all these riches be lost?

The Hussein tribe is not the kind of desert nomadic tribe with no roots and feet, and if it were not for the semi-agricultural state, it would not be possible to feed the tribe of tens of thousands of people. Cattle and sheep are grazing only in areas that are not suitable for farming, and they are basically in the area around Sana'a City, and the farthest distance is not more than 150 kilometers.

Compared with

Those poor clanging desert tribes have hundreds of people in the sky, and at most there will be no more than a thousand people, and with the barren oasis in the desert as the tribal base, no matter how many people there are, they will not be able to support themselves.

The fields and pastures occupied by the Hussein tribe are the ones that have been won through successive tribal wars.

A turnip, a pit, no extra space.

As long as they dare to leave, the front foot walks, the back foot manors, fields and pastures will be occupied by other tribes, and it is completely impossible to get them back without going through repeated bloody battles.

So many people fleeing into the desert is just a dead end, it is better to fight.

The 300 new fast guns promised by the Egyptian envoy Youssef Shaheen have been put in place, and the more than 3,000 war horses that have been stolen have also been divided among the various tribes.

If you are lucky enough to win, then everyone will naturally be happy.

After all, these Orientals came across tens of thousands of kilometers across the ocean, and there should be no reinforcements behind them. As long as they are repelled, they can naturally be stable for a year and a half, and we will talk about it later.

Now that the Hussein tribe is exhausted, plus more than a dozen tribal reinforcements from other contacts, it can make up a desert cavalry of more than 5,600 people. If you can sneak up on it, there is no possibility of victory.

Such a confidential matter, of course, could not be publicized on such an occasion, and Chief Omar-Hussein could only do it perfunctorily. Not being able to come up with the answer that Apdullah Faris wanted, much to the displeasure of Lord Sanjak.

He said sternly;

"I have officially conveyed to you the ultimatum of the Orientals, and this is no joke. They only gave 5 days, and then the army would come and slaughter.

Allah, forgive these greedy sinners.

The ancient city of Sara is innocent and cannot be destroyed by war because of your greed and fault. I will give you only three days, and you must have a clear answer.

Either hand over the horses that have been stolen, or hand over some people, at least show sincerity to solve the problem, and do not let the city of Sana'a be affected by the fighting, which is the home of all of us......"

Seeing the chattering and irritating appearance of Lord Sanjak, Mitterrand and Santos, the French businessmen, Mitterrand and Santos, did not interject, but exchanged a tacit glance from time to time;

The war has been ignited, so be blessed with the rest!

George Stockton, a British businessman sitting on the side, didn't mean to interject at all, but sat there with his head held high with his head held high and his legs crossed.

At this time, no one is stupid enough to come forward, pat their chest and say, "I'll solve this big problem", isn't that sick?

The international businessmen who can do business in Yemen are not generally well-informed, and they know much more than these locals and government officials.

Sara in town

The streets are filled with men and women in Arabic robes, and the crowded markets are lined with vendors selling local products such as melons, fruits, chickens and ducks.

On the streets, it is not uncommon to see groups of Imperial soldiers and sailors, each of whom is armed and strolling around leisurely.

More than a dozen hotels and houses in the city have been completely occupied, and a large number of heavily armed soldiers, numbering about 2,000, have been accommodated.

Once the action is made, half of Sana'a will fall in an instant.

There are more than 40 rooms and two large livestock pens in the front and back of the large mansion rented by the original team in the south, which was originally the local live cattle, live sheep and horse and mule business, and the Oriental people rented it at a great price.

After a short departure

The Oriental people once again moved in with more than 1,000 troops, and densely packed tents were set up in the open space of the cattle pens in front and behind, and sacks were piled up on both sides, as if it had become a small military camp, and soldiers stood guard there every day.

The people in the city also felt the tense atmosphere, and even the prices of commodities rose a lot, first, the Orientals outside the city purchased a large number of them and sent them to the camp, and every day more than 20 wagons of dried vegetables and fruits and hundreds of cattle and sheep were driven to the seaside camp.

Second, the residents of the city hoarded food for fear of war.

This tense atmosphere lasted until the third day, when it was broken by two events.

The first thing is that Sara Bay has once again ushered in a wave of fleets, which is the third fleet of the Tang Empire Expeditionary Fleet, mainly carrying the 4th Royal Marine Division and some supplies, and the 4th fleet is mainly immigrants.

Their arrival only intensified the panic in Sana'a.

The second thing is that there are many unidentified armed men in the city of Sana'a, although these people are wearing Arab robes of different colors, but the robes are bulging with weapons, some are guns, some are swords.

As a result, after noon, a number of fierce clashes broke out in Sana'a, resulting in more than a dozen casualties.

One of the two sides of the conflict is the Oriental army, and the other is the unknown armed personnel who poured into the city, and when they were interrogated by the Tang soldiers along the street, they suddenly burst out and tried to resist, and drew their swords and guns one after another......

As a result, the Datang soldiers took out the guns on their waists and fired again and again, beating this group of unknown militants all over the bloody holes and killing them instantly.

The gunfire exacerbated the chaos in the city, and unknown citizens screamed and fled in all directions, and their horses ran down the narrow alleys, knocking down many stalls along the way, causing even more chaos......

Soon there were more shootouts in the city, and some of the thugs tried to attack the soldiers of the expeditionary force, only to be killed directly in the street by the soldiers who had been prepared, and the gunfire continued.

The city of Sana'a was in complete disarray that afternoon, and even greater turmoil was yet to come......

(End of chapter)