Target! Damascus!

Damascus is the core hinterland of the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

If you want to trace the history of Damascus, you must start at least from BC. Later generations usually remember the Babylonian sky garden when talking about Central Asia. Among the four ancient civilizations, Babylon also occupies one of them. In fact, the history of Damascus is definitely not below Babylon. It is just that it is not as famous as Babylon.

In a vast desert, Damascus is located in an oasis, the source of life. The West Asia region is generally short of water. Looking around, there are white, gray deserts, or Gobi Deserts. However, Damascus is completely different. Two rivers gather in Damascus, providing a rich source of water. Throughout history, the areas around Damascus have been one of the densest populations in West Asia.

In ancient times, people lived to chase water, and people in the West Asian region established towns here very early. Later Arab Empire, Byzantine Empire, and Ottoman Empire were all developed on the basis of Damascus. It can be said that after Babylon, Damascus was the core of power in the West Asian region and the most critical support for ruling.

Before conquering Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Turkish Empire was also in Damascus. The place where Suleiman I ascended the throne was in Damascus. After moving the capital to Istanbul, Damascus still had a complete set of administrative institutions, a large number of officials left behind, a large number of religious clergy, and a large number of troops. This is similar to the situation when Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing.

In 1635 AD, the White-Clothed Army, advancing west from Iran, and the Ottoman Turkish team, launched a fierce battle near Baghdad. In this battle, the White-Clothed Army dispatched nearly 100,000 people and used a large number of heavy weapons, including 155mm howitzers. The Ottoman Empire dispatched more than 500,000 elite regular troops, as well as more than 2 million religious fanatics. As a result, in front of the powerful firearms of the White-Clothed Army, the Ottoman team suffered heavy losses. As a main force, the 300,000 Sultan personal soldiers were almost completely lost.

A large number of religious fanatics suffered heavy losses under the attack of the White Army. According to Xu Xingxia's instructions, the only solution for those hopeless religious fanatics was to eliminate them from the top. The White Army on the front line implemented Xu Xingxia's instructions without fail. In this process, the minion army from Japan played a very disgraceful role. In the end, the area near Baghdad was barren, with nine out of ten rooms empty.

But it doesn't matter. In this world, perhaps everything is lacking, and the most undesirable one is definitely human. After the local religious fanatics in West Asia were eliminated, a large number of immigrants from other regions quickly filled the local void. Most of the immigrants came from India, the Nanyang Islands and other places. In order to reduce the confrontational force in various parts of India, Xu Xingxia decided to send a large number of Indian religious believers to the West Asia region.

There are only two types of people who are most fanatical about religion in this world. One is the Green Sect, which believes in the true gods, and the other is the Buddhists who believe in Buddhas. The former is very aggressive and the latter is very strong in vitality. Xu Xingxia put the two of them together, of course he was uneasy. The White Army has always supported Buddhists and suppressed Green Sects. As Buddhism entered the West Asia region, the influence of Green Sect was greatly weakened.

After the defeat of the Battle of Baghdad, most of the Turkish troops retreated near Damascus to prepare for the final awakening with the White Army. The Damascus authorities gathered a large number of believers, claiming to have gathered a large army of three million. At the appeal of the top leaders of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, fanatics from all over the country were gathering in Damascus. The White Army conservatively estimated that the fanatics who eventually gathered in Damascus would not be less than eight million.

At the same time, reinforcements from Istanbul were also on the way to march towards Damascus. These reinforcements were basically equipped with various firearms donated by Europeans and a considerable number of cannons. According to the incomplete information currently available, there were estimated to be about 200,000 reinforcements from Istanbul. Among them, there were 100,000 newly formed Sultan personal soldiers.

In addition, there are a large number of mercenaries from European countries. They all voluntarily arrived in the Ottoman Empire and fought against the White Army. Among them, there were 50,000 mercenaries from the Kingdom of Sweden, while there were 30,000 mercenaries from the Kingdom of Poland. There were 10,000 mercenaries from the Kingdom of Poland, which were mainly composed of Germans, and there were 10,000 people. In addition, the mercenaries sent by other countries sporadically, the total number may exceed 130,000.

It can be said that the Battle of Damascus was no longer just a battle between the White Army and the Ottoman Turkish Empire, but the Europeans and Turks joined forces to deal with the White Army. In order to prevent the White Army from directly entering Europe, European powers must find ways to block the White Army in West Asia. If the White Army conquers Istanbul, the Europeans will be in trouble.

There are reports that Swedish King Gustav I have personally led his troops to Istanbul and are preparing to go directly to the front line to command the battle. There are also reports that the Western powers have decided to send more regular troops to West Asia to help. Even the British, thousands of miles away, have decided to send 10,000 troops to Istanbul to participate in the war. The French and Spanish troops will also be dispatched. Of course, this is unconfirmed news.

The White-Clothed Army gathered its main force near Baghdad, hoarding military supplies, and dispatching personnel to reconnaise the enemy situation. For the White-Clothed Army, defeating the enemy is actually not a problem. The only problem is to ensure its own logistics supply.

arts

Under word txt

The guns and cannons carrying the white-clothed army are of great power and unstoppable, but the consumption of ammunition is also quite amazing. In a battle, the ammunition consumed is often calculated in units of "tons".

After fighting the Ottoman Turkish Empire for more than ten years, the White Army has gradually summarized a set of rules that can effectively control the West Asian region. The first of them is that they cannot trust the local people. No matter what their faces they show, they will definitely not accept them. The only way to deal with them is to purge and completely extinction from the top. The White Army has done this.

In addition, it is best to concentrate on annihilation of the Ottoman team and not let them be dispersed. The climate environment in West Asia is too harsh. If the enemy is dispersed, it will increase the burden on the white-clothed army. Since the white-clothed army's war horses are generally not suitable for the local climate, the white-clothed army entering Baghdad are basically infantry. However, the Ottoman Turkish army has some cavalry. Obviously, it is unscientific to use infantry to deal with cavalry.

After conquering Baghdad, the White Army did not continue to advance, so that the Ottoman team could gather in Damascus to be wiped out in one fell swoop. For the White Army, the more enemies gather, the better. Anyway, when the war started, the White Army used 155mm heavy artillery, 105mm howitzers, 75mm mountain cannons and 60mm mortars to carry out carpet bombing. No matter how many enemies are, they are just a pile of corpses. The city walls of Damascus could not stop the bombing of 155mm howitzers.

It was against this background that Xu Canhuai quietly appeared on the battlefield.

Xu Canhuai is the son of Xu Xingxia and Wu Yunna. Xu Xingxia's eldest sons were all born to beauties on the grassland. Tesna, Wu Yunna, Namu Zhong and others are all the sons of the most gentlemen. He and the wife of the Masao Palace, Zhu Yilan, the most gentlemen are both daughters. Zhu Yilan's son is only less than ten years old now and is still following He Fengsheng to read and read. However, the sisters are a little older, and the biggest one can consider getting married.

Children of the grassland nation are generally more active and difficult to sit still. They seem a little stupid when it comes to receiving cultural knowledge. Both Xu Canxu and Xu Canhuai are like this. Their talent for reading can only be said to be average and can barely recognize words. As for the talent for writing articles, it is absolutely not. Even He Fengsheng, known as the great scholar of the contemporary, is helpless and let them go. They are lively and active, all hope to visit the front line and live a life of iron and blood.

Since the children have such a wish, Xu Xingxia naturally would not refuse. Since she does not have the talent to study, she should go to the battlefield to explore a career. Perhaps, it is possible that they can make some contributions on the battlefield. So, after a secret arrangement, several of Xu Xingxia's older sons all went to the battlefield one after another.

Xu Canhuai took a boat to Basra Port, and then followed the logistics forces to report to the Baghdad military base. Before that, he only received three months of training in the White-Clothing Army's recruitment training camp. It can be said that in addition to the knowledge he heard from others, his understanding of the battlefield was only three months of basic subjects in the recruitment training camp. Therefore, he was a little naive and always thought the battlefield was very fun.

As a result, as soon as he walked out of Basra, Xu Canhuai began to regret it. Obviously, the battlefield was not as strong as he imagined. Most of the time, the battlefield was torture, pain, fatigue, pain, and death. Objectively speaking, the first time he stepped onto the battlefield, was such a harsh environment as Xiya, which was indeed more challenging. Not to mention fighting, just fighting with the local climate environment was already hard enough.

Haven't you seen that Mao Shisan, Gao Jie and others who were responsible for leading the white-clothed army to fight westward are now covered in darkness. More than ten years ago, they were all white young men. However, more than ten years have passed and they have almost changed one person. All of this is caused by the harsh environment in the West Asia region. Fortunately, their wives are both goddesses from the Three Kingdoms of the Western Regions, and they can accept their changes.

Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others accumulated credit and became the commander of the battalion, and they were considered senior officers. Unfortunately, they are now covered with robes and black scarfs. It is said that Li Zicheng once attended a blind date meeting, but was despised by a group of girls. The reason is very simple, he is too dark. As for Zhang Xianzhong, he did not dare to attend a blind date at all. Therefore, neither of them has yet to resolve the marriage matter.

Of course, they don’t have to worry about their physiological problems at all. They have beautiful women. They have all kinds of goods. The white-clothed army fought all the way, conquered cities, confiscated houses, and captured too many beauties. As early as when the Three Kingdoms of the Western Regions were destroyed, many beautiful and elegant goddesses were given to them to enjoy, but they had no formal title of wife. It is probably because of this that they simply were too lazy to get married.

...

When Xu Canhuai reported to Mao Shisan, Mao Shisan was thinking about the combat plan with Gao Jie.

During the Western Expedition, the White Army had always implemented the leadership system of the two giants. Mao Shisan and Gao Jie were both equal in rights and obligations, and had no mutual affiliation. The purpose of this was of course to compete with each other and speed up the Western Expedition. In fact, this leadership system was indeed effective. Mao Shisan and Gao Jie were both unwilling to be inferior. As long as they had the opportunity, they would show their twelve points of ability to create military achievements.

This attack on Damascus was another invisible competition. Whether it was Mao Shisan, or Gao Jie, they all hoped that their troops could be the first to enter. Along the way, they had captured too many famous cities. At present, there were only two famous cities in West Asia. One was Damascus and the other was Istanbul. Of course, they had to compete in secret.

To the south of Damascus is the famous Golan Heights, which is later in life. The terrain is complex and the mountain roads are rugged, which is not suitable for large troops to operate. If the white-clothed army attacks from this aspect, its forces cannot be fully deployed and they are prone to ambush and suffer losses. To the east of Damascus is a swamp, which is impossible to pass through with light troops, let alone heavy artillery troops.

The best way to capture Damascus is of course to cover it all the way from the north.

The north of Damascus is a relatively flat wilderness. The defenders have no danger to defend in this regard. However, the white-clothed army, as the attacking party, can let go of their hands and feet, spread out all their troops, pull out all their heavy weapons, and move forward in a mighty manner.

After some research, the White Army focused on a town called Aleppo. Aleppo is also a city with a long history to the north of Damascus. Its status in the Ottoman Turkish Empire is second only to ancient cities such as Istanbul, Damascus, and Baghdad, and its strategic location is very important.

Judging from the information currently available, the Ottoman Turkish Empire had a very strong defense in Aleppo. In addition to more than 100,000 regular troops, there were at least 500,000 fanatics. It is said that tunnels were also dug in the city to prepare for a protracted battle with the White-Clothed Army. If the city wall was broken by the White-Clothed Army, the defenders would hide in the tunnels and continue to fight. Around Aleppo, they also carried out a strong wall to clear the fields, so that the White-Clothed Army would not get any useful materials.

At first glance, I think Aleppo's defense power is not as strong as Damascus. The 100,000 regular army and the 500,000 fanatics are no match for the White Army. Not to mention the attacking forces of the White Army, as high as 100,000, or only 100,000 or 20,000 people, can clean up the Aleppo defenders. However, if you think about it carefully, you will feel that Aleppo is even more difficult to deal with than Damascus and needs to be carefully considered before you can act.

Because Damascus itself is basically a dead city and there is not much room for movement. The defenders of Damascus can no longer escape the clutches of the White Army. The only thing waiting for them is the difference between early death and late death. No matter what, they are going to die. Even if the true god really comes, they cannot save them.

The Ottoman teams who came to reinforce from Istanbul must pass through Aleppo before they can reach Damascus. At the same time, if the Damascus army retreats, they must also pass through Aleppo. The White-clothed Army controls Aleppo, which is equivalent to completely separating Istanbul and Damascus. Everyone in Damascus will become turtles in a jar.

However, the Aleppo defenders were quite flexible and they still had the opportunity to escape. The purpose of the White Army was of course not to take down Aleppo. The bigger goal was to eliminate the enemy's vitality. If the Aleppo defenders ran away, this goal would not be achieved. We must find a way to capture Aleppo defenders in one place. Of course, it would be even better if we could also capture all the reinforcements from Istanbul.

...

In April 1636 AD, the white-clothed army began to attack.

The first move was the first battalion of the Leopard Cavalry. They advanced to the north of Aleppo in combat formation, with the goal of cutting off the connection between Aleppo and Istanbul. The commander of the first battalion was Li Zicheng. After receiving the order, he set out immediately.

There are five infantry battalions under the Leopard Cavalry Army. Each infantry battalion has a force of between 8,000 and 10,000 people. Each infantry battalion is equipped with a large number of mortars. Therefore, only one battalion's troops can block reinforcements from Istanbul. Of course, when necessary, they will also receive support from the artillery battalion. The artillery battalion of the military is equipped with 75mm and 105mm howitzers, which are more powerful than mortars.

As a clerk, Xu Canhuai naturally does not need to appear on the front line. Mao Shisan did not recommend Xu Canhuai to go to the front line. After all, his identity is a bit special and cannot be equated with ordinary people. However, if he wants to go to the front and experience it personally, no one will stop him. Xu Xingxia has already said that young people must experience the bloody battlefield.

Xu Canhuai's courage is not born, and he dared not to go to the front line and fight with the enemy alone. Therefore, he chose to follow the large army. The position assigned by Mao Shisan for Xu Canhuai was the clerk of the army, a position that was easier than the staff officer. As Xu Xingxia's son, you can't really use him as a combatant. There are crises on the battlefield. If Xu Canhuai accidentally sacrifices, it will be difficult for him to report to Xu Xingxia.

As a document, Xu Canhuai's standard weapon is a wrench gun, three magazines, and a total of sixty bullets. It is enough for self-defense. However, if he goes to the front line, it is not enough. Therefore, Xu Canhuai received another submachine gun and three magazines, and a total of ninety bullets. Later, he received four grenades.

Xu Canhuai followed the first team of the first squadron of the first battalion of the Leopard Cavalry. The squad was an elite squad of the Leopard Cavalry, equipped with all submachine guns. In order to transport ammunition and other military supplies, they were also equipped with five camels.

After the White Army controlled Baghdad, the logistics problems were greatly solved. The Basra Port originally had good unloading equipment. After the White Army's transformation, the unloading capacity was stronger. Therefore, each ship of ammunition was unloaded at the Basra Port, and then sent to the White Army Base Camp in Baghdad by land.

Of course, unlimited squandering is still prohibited. Hunting, fish frying and other wasteful ammunition is strictly prohibited. Every ammunition must be used in battle. However, there are only bare deserts and Gobi Deserts in West Asia, and there is no prey, let alone fish. Therefore, this regulation is basically not necessary to be implemented.

The group set out from Baghdad and arrived in Deirzur five days later. The place was controlled by a battalion of the Mastiff Cavalry. The subordinates of the Mastiff Cavalry also had five battalions. They had already set out before the Leopard Cavalry set off. They seized Deirzur in front of the Leopard Cavalry. So Xu Canhuai and the others replenished water and food here and continued to move forward.

After passing Deirzur, it is the war zone, and enemies will appear at any time, so you must be careful. Lei Hu and others have great combat experience. Most of his squads are veterans. Only Xu Canhuai can be regarded as new recruits. Therefore, Xu Canhuai's position is basically in the middle of the army. Outside him, they are all veterans.

That afternoon, I don’t know where I went. It was bare and there was no vegetation around me. In this environment, I could not judge my own position at all. They could only roughly estimate that they should be not far from Aleppo.

As they walked, they suddenly became anxious to pee. Xu Canhuai walked to the side to relieve his hands. Halfway through the urination, suddenly, a rapid sound of horse hooves came from the front, followed by a dozen cavalrymen. They found the white-clothed army and immediately waved the scimitar and rushed towards the white-clothed army. Xu Canhuai was shocked, and he didn't care to pull up his pants, and subconsciously held the submachine gun in his hand. After three months of basic training, the most familiar movement was this.

"Sipah Cavalry! Be careful!" Lei Hu shouted loudly.

The so-called Sipahi Cavalry was another elite force of the Ottoman Empire. They did not receive any salary and did not have a very formal organization. They depended on the landlord families. In terms of nature, they were a bit like armed servants before the Ming Empire. Their loyalty was to raise their own landlords, not the country.

The composition of the Sipahi cavalry is a private landlord, so their training and equipment are all responsible for each landlord and powerful. In order to expand their power, those landlords and powerful people will improve their combat effectiveness as much as possible. Therefore, relatively speaking, the combat effectiveness of the Sipahi cavalry is relatively strong.

However, it is precisely because the composition of the Sipahi cavalry is relatively complicated and only loyal to their masters and not to their country. Therefore, the top leaders of the Ottoman Turkish Empire generally do not use them easily. In the previous Battle of Baghdad, the Ottoman Empire did not use them. But now, of course, it is another matter.

After the White Army entered the heartland of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, the main opponent was the Sipahi Cavalry. Because the land owned by their master was stolen by the White Army. No matter who was stolen, they would not let it go. Therefore, the Sipahi Cavalry hated the White Army from top to bottom, and the hatred was as deep as the sea.

Along the way, the White-Clothed Army no longer knew how many times they fought with the Sipahi Cavalry and killed many Sipahi Cavalry. Almost every day, Sipahi Cavalry appeared in front of the White-Clothed Army and were then killed by the White-Clothed Army. However, the Sipahi Cavalry in black dress and wearing ugly masks still emerged continuously.

"Da da da da!"

"Da da da da!"

Xu Canhuai hurriedly raised his submachine gun and fired wildly at the Sipahi cavalry rushing up. After one magazine was finished, he immediately changed another magazine until all three magazines were exhausted. He only stayed in the recruit training camp for three months and basically had no ability to train his shooting. This time he suddenly encountered the enemy and felt a little panicked. In this strafing, even he himself didn't know where to hit the bullet.

Fortunately, other white-clothed soldiers were very experienced in combat. After the appearance of the Sipahi cavalry, they quickly formed a circular shooting formation and shot the enemy with short shots. Under their shooting, the Sipahi cavalry quickly fell down. The White-clothed soldiers had sixty people in a small team, and only twenty Sipahi cavalry, so they were naturally not opponents.

Xu Canhuai secretly thanked that when he went out, he brought an extra submachine gun, otherwise he would probably be over. The submachine gun can only deal with infantry, and it is too difficult to deal with cavalry. It can even be ignored. The best way to deal with cavalry is the submachine gun. On the cruel battlefield, no enemy will be ruthless just because he is Xu Xingxia's son. The sound of the gunshots, even if they only play a courageous role, are good.

The only flaw of the submachine gun is that the bullets are consumed too much. Because when people are nervous, they must have pulled the trigger to the end. In a short while, all thirty bullets were fired out. So, all three of his magazines were burned out. Looking back, it was so embarrassing.

After experiencing a real battle, Xu Canhuai couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He finally felt exactly what war felt. This was not a joke, and it was not as romantic and chic as others said.

In combat, people will die. Either you die or I die. If he is rushed to the front of the Sipahi cavalry, the consequences can be imagined. The Sipahi cavalry's sharp scimitar will definitely cut off his head easily.
Chapter completed!