Taichang really didn't expect that Sun Chengzong could instigate the Persian Empire to counterattack the Ottoman Empire.

This is a good thing, so he naturally needs to support it.

If the Persian Empire counterattacked the Ottoman Empire, the 300,000 Ottoman Empire's troops on the west bank of the Ural River would inevitably rush back for rescue.

No matter where the Persian Empire fought, the Ottoman Empire would definitely not be able to participate in the battle on the Western Front.

On this Western Front, there were only 300,000 Tsarist Russia and 2 million troops under Wallenstein. He didn't have to worry about the line from Kandahar to the Ural River in the south.

When Lu Xiangsheng and Cao Bianjiao counterattack, they don’t have to worry about the enemy harassement in the south. They can concentrate on dealing with Wallenstein in the middle and Tsarist Russia in the north.

In this way, the Ming army soldiers did not know how many casualties would be reduced.

As for food and grass, it is all a little bit of a matter of food. Millions of stones of grain were nothing to the Ming Dynasty.

Taichang immediately issued an order, ordering the commander of the Nanyang Navy, Yu Zigao, to cooperate with Sun Chengzong's actions and ordered the Ministry of Revenue to mobilize food and grass nearby to transport it to the two rivers.

The Mesopotamia refers to the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, which is the ancient Mesopotamia.

This is the birthplace of the Babylonian Kingdom, one of the four ancient civilizations, and it is also the place where the Persian Empire emerged.

Originally, the Persian Safavi dynasty had already recaptured the Mesopotamian Basin when it was rising. Unfortunately, the mad emperor Safi, a mad emperor, slaughtered meritorious ministers, allowing the Ottoman Empire to take advantage of the situation. In a few years, nearly half of the Persian Empire's territory was seized, and the Mesopotamian Basin was also included in the territory of the Ottoman Empire.

If it weren't for the sudden death of Murad IV, the Lord of the Revival of the Ottoman Empire, and replaced by Ibrahim I with a problem, the Persian Empire would have been destroyed by the Ottoman Empire.

In the Persian Gulf, Sultan looked at the familiar coastline and couldn't help but burst into tears.

Most of this sea area named after the Persian Empire does not belong to the Persian Empire, and he hasn't been here for several years.

Originally, this place was once the pride of the Persian Empire, but now it has become a sad place for the Persian Empire.

The decline of the country, the broken mountains and rivers, the invasion of foreign races, and the loss of power and humiliation of the country, not only will the Central Plains dynasty feel sad, but the Persian Empire will also feel sad.

Sun Quan raised his telescope and looked at the mouth of the river not far away, then looked at Sultan, who was covered in dull faces, and couldn't help but curiously: "God General, what's wrong with you?"

Sultan hurriedly wiped his tears, then shook his head repeatedly and said, "It's nothing, nothing, I'm thinking about the next battle."

Sun Quan couldn't help but say curiously: "Is the next battle going to start soon?

It seems that there are still five or six hundred miles away from Baghdad. It seems that we can't get to Baghdad today, right?"

He was not familiar with this place, and there were several cities marked on the map. However, he knew that Baghdad was an important town in the Mesopotamian Basin, and other cities seemed to be not well-known.

If he thought, he would lead his army to Baghdad and take down this important city first while the enemy was unprepared. As for other cities, it would not be too late to slowly recover it.

Anyway, they have ships to transport people and horses, and they move very quickly.

But Sultan pointed to the estuary in front of him and introduced: "Your Highness, the Arab River formed by the convergence of the Socrates and the Tigris River.

We will reach Basra for about a hundred miles along the Hebei region.

Basra chokes the intersection of the Socrates, Tigris and the Arabian River, and is the second largest city in the Mesopotamia.

We also equipped a lot of artillery there, and I believe the Ottoman Empire would not move those artillery away.

If we don't care about Basra, the passing ships will be attacked by artillery from Basra City.

So, I think we should take the Basra first and then rush to Baghdad.”

So?

When Sun Quan heard this, he couldn't help but frown.

He really didn't want to waste time on the road, because they had been delaying for a long time. Eight out of ten people stationed in the Mesopotamian River Basin of the Ottoman Empire would gather in the important city of Baghdad to defend and wait for assistance.

If the enemy assembled tens of thousands of troops in Baghdad, it would probably be a bit difficult to take Baghdad with the 200,000 troops in the Persian Empire.

Sun Quan frowned and pondered for a while, then asked: "How many artillery do you have equipped in Basra?"

Sultan said without hesitation: "There are about one hundred gates on the four walls in total, and there are almost fifty gates on this side facing the port terminal."

It turned out that there were only fifty cannons, and it was no big deal.

Sun Quan thought for a while and then said decisively: "This way, you inform the forwards of the 50,000 troops to prepare to land. Today we will take Basra first, and tomorrow we will have to take Baghdad.

We must be faster. The longer we drag, the more defenders in Baghdad will definitely be.

If we delay for two or three days, your men will probably be killed or injured."

Uh, is this war a joke?

One day, I won the fortress Basra and another day, I won the important town of Baghdad!

Do you think the Ottoman defenders were made of paper?

When the Ottoman Empire attacked the Mesopotamian River Basin, how many months did our Basra defenders persist?

The defenders of Baghdad persisted for several years!

Upon hearing this, Sultan said in disbelief: "Can we take the Basra today?"

Sun Quan nodded without hesitation and said, "Yes, the Ottoman Empire has basically gathered on the west bank of the Ural River. It would be nice if Basra has several thousand troops stationed.

As long as you can take the wall facing the port terminal, Basra will almost be taken.

Then we will use artillery to cover it. You can just command the vanguard to land at the port and pier and rush directly to the city wall."

Uh, rush straight to the city wall!

Although Basra's wall is not very high, there are two or three people tall. How can you rush up to the wall without siege equipment?

Sultan said in a daze: "Don't we build siege equipment?"

Sun Quan asked without answering, "Do you don't have hooks? Ten thousand pairs are almost enough."

Uh, this one.

Sultan said in disbelief: "Young Master, do you mean to use a hook to climb the city wall?

We have one thing about hook locks, but at most only a few hundred pairs, which is not enough!”

When Sun Quan heard this, he couldn't help but pat his forehead speechlessly.

The equipment of the Persian Empire was too poor, with only a few hundred pairs of hook locks in the 200,000 troops.

He could only say helplessly: "Come, go to each ship to borrow ten thousand hooks and hand them over to the striker of the Persian Empire."

Fortunately, the navy ships had many hook locks, otherwise they wouldn't be able to take the Basra today.

Ten wolf-tooth warships connected to the flagship quickly dispersed, and soon, bundles of hooks and locks were thrown off nearby armed merchant ships.

Seeing this, Sun Quan waved his hand and said, "Okay, General, go and notify the command vanguard to prepare for the attack."

Sultan couldn't believe that they could take the Basra Fortress today.

He even suspected that His Highness, the young Duke, was not here to reassure them, but to supervise the army.

Such a fortress, use a hook to attack the city wall?

Even if they can rush up to the city wall, they will suffer heavy casualties!

However, he had no choice. The Ming Empire actually sent thousands of ships to help. Can they not listen to others?

If they get angry and don’t help, they will miss this great opportunity.

He could only run to the forward and prepare to personally command 50,000 troops to attack the city wildly.

The infantry may not be able to reach a distance of more than a hundred miles, but for the fleet of the Ming Empire, it is just a matter of time.

At noon, they had already arrived near Basra.

Sun Quan raised his telescope and glanced at the cannons on the city wall, then decisively ordered: "Transfer the order, ten Dragon Tooth Battleships line up a circular array, load ammunition, approach the port, aim at the city wall, and bombard continuously."

At this time, we cannot hesitate, as soon as we hesitate, we will give the enemy a chance to load shells.

The Dragon Tooth Battleship was not wearing black iron armor, and they couldn't stand it even if they were bombarded by other people's city defense guns.

At this time, the Ottoman Empire defenders saw a huge fleet suddenly coming from afar. They didn't know which country's fleet it was.

Do they dare to fire randomly under such circumstances?

The city guard frowned and pondered for a while, and ordered his gunners to load ammunition and prepare.

In case the enemy comes, they can at least use the defensive advantages of the city wall to defend the port position and prevent others from landing.

Unfortunately, his order was late.

At this time, the ten Dragon Tooth Battleships had already stepped forward and formed a circular formation, followed by continuous sounds of artillery.

Although a Dragon-Tooth warship can only fire fifty shells at a side volley, the alternating speed of the ten Dragon-Tooth warships is too fast, and the shells are constantly smashing towards the city wall without any gap.

The defenders on the city wall were stunned.

Not to mention firing a gun at this moment, if they dare to show their heads, they will be killed by raindrop shells.

Seeing this scene, Sultan couldn't help but be stunned.

The artillery fire rate of the Ming Empire is too fast, right?

Such terrifying firepower, you can know what is happening on the city wall without looking at it.

What a great opportunity!

He was stunned for a moment, then he hurriedly ordered: "Hurry, pass the order, the forward attack, land directly, and rush onto the city wall."
To be continued...