Damascus on the Mediterranean coast, this city that has experienced many wars has gone through vicissitudes. Whenever war comes, this commercial city located on the key transportation route between Egypt and Asia will be greatly hit. The most recent one is more than a hundred years ago.

The Turkic man Timur from Central Asia seriously damaged the city. He moved all the craftsmen in the city to Central Asia, which caused the city, which was famous for its business, to decline for a time, and even the most famous knife skills in Damascus.

All were greatly affected.

In the following hundred years, Damascus ushered in the rule of the Mamluk Dynasty. Although this dynasty is very corrupt, Damascus miraculously restored its own prosperity. Especially the Damascus swords produced here were sold far to the east.

The Ming Dynasty in the land became the favorite of monarchs and generals from all over the country.

However, today Damascus is in war again, because the Ottoman Empire, which destroyed the Byzantine Empire decades ago, launched the third eastern expedition. This time they set their targets for the Mamluk dynasty that occupied Egypt and part of Asia's land.

Damascus was one of the most important cities of the Mamluk Dynasty in Asia, but was captured by the Ottoman Empire in one fell swoop, which also marked that the Mamluk Dynasty had lost its territory in Asia and had only Egypt left in its dominance.

Selim I rode on the tall Arab war horse and entered Damascus with a smile. This historic ancient city is one of the most famous commercial cities along the Mediterranean coast. It witnessed the Roman Empire and Byzantines back then.

The empire was replaced by the emerging Arab Empire, and it also experienced the heyday of the Umayyad Dynasty. It was also severely destroyed by the Abbas Dynasty. It also witnessed the defeat of the Crusaders of Europe by the Arab national hero Saladin. Today, this

The city welcomed a new master, the great Sultan Selim I of the Ottoman Empire.

Selim I was the ninth sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Because he governed the country with severe means, he was called the "cold man" by the people of the empire. He was only fifty years old this year. Although he had passed the peak of a man,

But Selim I on the horse was not old at all. The Arab robe on his body did not cover his strong figure. When he sat on the horse, his waist was straight, but his temples were gray and his forehead were covered with gray hair and his forehead.

The deep wrinkles on it mean that this strong monarch is no longer a young man.

Selim I was very proud now. He was a little hesitant about his third expedition. Although the Mamluk Dynasty fought with the Portuguese for a full ten years, it was for land transportation from the Red Sea to enter the Mediterranean.

It is said that this war greatly weakened the Mamluk dynasty, and the Portuguese once gained the upper hand, but in the past two years, the Ming Dynasty, which was far away in the east, suddenly began to expand at sea. It actually defeated the Portuguese fleet one after another, resulting in the current Portuguese

The strength was weakened, and the Mamluk Dynasty once again gained the upper hand and its control over the Asian region was much stronger, so Selim I had no confidence in this expedition.

However, just when Selim I was hesitating, the Mamluk Dynasty did not know where to learn that he was going to march eastward to Mamluk, but it took the initiative to attack the Ottoman Empire. This finally helped Selim I make up his mind and

The Mamluk Dynasty launched a territorial war against the Damascus region of West Asia. As a result, the extremely elite Mamluk cavalry that year was no longer as brave as it was, and it was defeated by Selim I. The Mediterranean coast of West Asia represented by Damascus finally fell.

Under his rule.

Thinking of the Mamluk cavalry he had defeated before, a smile appeared on the corner of Selim's mouth. Unexpectedly, the Mamluk cavalry that was intimidating Eurasia back then had already declined and turned into such a thing. He only charged once.

The troops that were comparable to him were defeated, and after the opponent was defeated, he immediately gave up the territory on Asia, which made him occupy the Damascus city under his feet without much effort.

Speaking of the Mamluk Dynasty, the other party, like the Ottoman Empire of Selim, was a Islamic kingdom that was split from the huge Arab Empire. When the Arab Empire split, it encountered the Mongols who swept across Europe and Asia, but not only Baghdad

He was massacred by the Mongols, and the contemporary caliph was also wrapped in a blanket and stepped on to death by the Mongols.

However, although the contemporary caliph is dead, the highest title of Islam was inherited by the Mamluk dynasty and passed down from generation to generation. Although the title of caliph has long since no longer had the power of the past, it still has religion.

With unparalleled appeal, so in this expedition of Selim I, in addition to putting Egypt into his own rule and restoring the huge territory of the Arab Empire, the most important thing was to snatch the title of Caliphate.

Thinking of becoming the caliph of the entire Muslim world in the future, Selim couldn't help but feel excited. He looked at the Damascus land under his feet with a kind of greed. Today he could conquer Damascus and tomorrow he could conquer the entire Egypt.

In the future, he can even recreate the glory of the Arab Empire and build a huge empire again, making the Mediterranean once again the inland sea of ​​the Muslim world.

Because of the corruption and incompetence of the Mamluk Dynasty, Selim easily captured Damascus, so this ancient commercial city did not suffer much damage. Except for the damage on the city wall, most of the facilities in the city are still maintained.

Intact, even the Damascus people in the city did not escape, but calmly welcomed the arrival of Selim. After all, for the people here, they had long been used to the replacement of rulers, and Selim belonged to Muslims with them.

As long as they do not resist, they will not cause the other party's massacre. The difference is to change a ruler, which does not have much impact on Damascus.

Selim rode his horse and inspected the city of Damascus. This place will be one of the bases for his rule over West Asia in the future, and it will also be the rear of the attack on Egypt. In addition, it is located on the main transportation route between Asia and Europe, and it will be commercial.

It was very prosperous and was also a necessary way to pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. There were countless people passing here every year, and taxation alone was a considerable income, which would provide him with considerable convenience to attack Egypt.

After inspecting Damascus, Selim then came to the residence prepared for him in the city. This was originally the mayor's residence where the mayor sent by Mamluk lived, but the mayor of Mamluk had already siege the city before.

During the war, the Ottoman cavalry was stepped into meat paste, so his residence naturally became the temporary residence of Selim. However, it is said that after the mayor's wife heard that her husband was killed, this tough Mamluk woman actually

He killed all his children and died in the hall of the mayor's mansion. So when Selim arrived, he could vaguely smell a trace of blood floating in the mayor's mansion.

According to the tradition of the Ottoman Empire, Selim lived in the army before becoming a sultan. Moreover, he was strong and had amazing martial arts skills. He quickly won the title of warrior on the battlefield. Even though he has become a sultan now, he still uses it.

A soldier's request to restrain himself. For example, he doesn't care much about his residence and diet. In his opinion, as long as he lives, he can shelter from wind and rain, and eat food to fill his stomach. As for other requirements, it is essentially

It's just that it's unnecessary, so he never cared about where he lives.

In the next few days, Selim led his army to station around Damascus. On the one hand, Mamluk ruled in Damascus for nearly three hundred years. Although Mamluk's army retreated to Egypt, Selim was still worried that Damascus would be

There was a problem, so the army was ordered to temporarily garrison the local area.

In addition, Selim's army rushed from Asia Minor to Damascus, and the army was already a little tired and needed some rest. Moreover, it was not so easy for him to conquer Egypt in one go. He had to make corresponding preparations in advance

This also takes some time to prepare.

It is also worth mentioning that during this period, the Portuguese were defeated by the Ming Dynasty in the Indian Ocean. Although some of their strength was weakened, it also made them pay more attention to the land transportation line between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. According to Saili

The news received by M is that the Portuguese seem to be accumulating strength and preparing to defeat Mamluk in one fell swoop, but the situation has changed now. The transportation line from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean is exactly the junction between Selim and Mamluk in Egypt, so Selim

M also had to pay attention to the actions of the Portuguese, so as not to be exploited by the Portuguese when he fought with Mamluk.

However, what Selim I did not expect was that, not long after he had just captured Damascus and the news that Portugal had not yet been sent back, he suddenly received a message that surprised him because one from afar

The mission from the Ming Dynasty actually entered the Red Sea, then landed in the southwest of Damascus, and came all the way to the direction of Damascus where he was.

Selim is not unfamiliar with the distant country of the Ming Dynasty, especially in recent years, the Ming Dynasty's goods are filled with Ottoman shopping malls. From precious silk, porcelain to cheap cotton, sugar and other goods, there are all Ming merchants.

From a distant country, Selim also knew that the Arab Empire had a war with the Central Plains dynasty before the Ming Dynasty. As a result, they were lucky enough to win and gain control of Central Asia. However, they later had a war with the Central Plains dynasty.
Chapter completed!