Chapter 19 The Sons of Osman
Waiting for my troops to finish readying the city for defense the day passed away... The following afternoon my retinue finally arrived bringing extra horses and supplies, if any spies were around they could see I was preparing for an extended campaign but luckily for me, none were there. After my troops arrived, I sent some men to the countryside and to the local towns, tribes, and mosques to recruit willing men as auxiliaries to my army and find some baggage men to carry our supplies it is always good to find men like this locally as you do not need to drag them around on our transport ships from place to place.
I also decided to send a messenger to my other brother who did not join in the rebellion supposedly, that brother being Murad. I am sure he is responsible for this rebellion, but I have no proof as he never left and joined the rebel camp around Iznik. But if I can have him join my Auxiliary army and have him believe I trust him, then I am certain he will either leave after feeling he obtained enough information and can successfully defeat me, or he will attempt to set a trap by giving me "advice.
But if he comes to my camp, the only thing he will find is death... I am not truly happy about fratricide, but it is a Turkish tradition to fight for power. I have to say though, this will ensure your realm is not ruled by a weakling majority of the time, but what does it matter if the ruler is strong if the realm is destroyed during the succession every few years...
I plan to have both of my brothers join my newly recruited auxiliary force and pose this force as my only army, other than my bodyguard. While parading around this false army of local tribesmen, mercenaries, and peasants I will make as much noise as possible drawing the attention of the rebels toward this force, but once Murad and the rebels make a move on this army and they can taste victory on the horizon I will plunge them into despair.
After another week passed my new auxiliary army is complete, rounding up 6,000 tribesmen horse archers and 2000 local peasant infantry, plus a contingent of 2000 "mercenaries". These mercenaries are just my Sapahi unit I decided to have 2000 of them join this auxiliary force to keep order among the troops and guide them to follow my strategy without truly letting anyone know my plan.
Just after finishing our first march toward Iznik, we marched the day away but did not get far I guess this is the difference between professional armies and untrained militiamen. After our march, we built what some would call a camp, but just a camp it is not truly fortified at all leaving us open to ambush in the night... Although I know my troops are nearby shadowing me I still feel unsafe without at least a wall, but I don't think my enemies will attack tonight.
The next morning, I would say I woke up, but I did not sleep well, to say the least. My brothers were spotted headed this way so I had the troops line up in wait for them as when they arrived we will continue our turtle march. Time flew by and my brothers were finally here, my eldest brother Suleyman came with a retinue force of 500 men all armored and look highly trained, all riding on horseback carrying a bow with a sword on their waists.
Murad arrived with 30 men all lightly armored riding swift courser horses, also armed with a bow with a sword on their waists but these men in contrast to Suleymans retinue look untrained and gritty more like hardened criminals or bandits than soldiers.
Moving my horse over to my brothers I greeted them "My prince brothers, I am glad you decided to join my expedition... As we know one realm cannot shelter two padishahs… The enemies that surround us are always watching for an opportunity. If Our brothers believe it is their right to drive our sultanate to ruinous disaster with the help of foreign enemies, they are wrong and it shall be their undoing."
My eldest brother Suleyman responded, "We only follow Allah than the sultan, anyone who wants to break our order is a mortal enemy of mine!"
Suleyman Pasha is very conservative in our family, he is wearing furs over top iron lamellar armor. He is not flying the current blank green flag but flying the blue flag with the white letters IYI the Kayi flag from the original tribal lineage we come from. Showing his character and age as well, A true son of Osman indeed. He just gives off the aura of a great general or special warrior, I cannot see myself swearing loyalty to him, but I can easily see the inverse, and the support he can bring could be like a Belisarius for Justinian if I allowed it.
After we spoke Murad stepped forward on his horse and said "My brothers have made a mistake I think they have been misled, but there is no excuse for rebelling against our sultan father against our state and lineage it is inexcusable indeed!"
Murad has the look of a ruler honestly if I weren't brought to this timeline, he would wreak havoc among the Balkans and the Christian lands in Europe for sure. But his downside in this timeline is simply his hunger for power, it is not suppressed but written all over his face as if our state was made specifically for him to rule, not sure if it is arrogance or confidence but it seems so natural for him.
I began walking my horse towards the rebels again down the crumbling roman road, saying to my brothers "We set off now, hope your men can help keep order as this army was raised here and hold no loyalties toward us, my army is tied down by another one of our enemies... So we must find a way to defeat our brothers with our current forces unless we plan to ask the sultan to send reinforcements."
Suleyman replied "My brother there is no need to worry, we need no reinforcements. We only need God, a horse, and a sword and all our enemies will eventually be crushed!"
Murad gave no response but just nodded, and the unwashed army moved forward. By sundown, we can be considered to be camped within the skirmishing range of the rebel armies. This is the pillar of my strategy, getting the rebels involved in an ever-evolving skirmish, losing soldiers, and killing my men slowly building up the intensity of these skirmishes until all the forces want the other side to die... This is when the next and most integral part of my plan will take place!
After a short rest, I had the troops get up around 5 a.m. and had my elder brother lead a few Sapahis' who to them are mercenaries and his retinue and I had a Sapahi captain lead some tribesmen to the east hoping to start a skirmish there as well... All the troops who left were told not to engage in a forced melee and to disengage when the battle is to heat we do not want to force an army vs army field battle just yet...
I believe this will work out quite well, first, we will seek the enemy scouts and skirmisher troops kill a few of them lose a few of our troops then retreat to the safety of the camp... After a few dogfights like these across the border between the two armies, the troops under me, and the enemy troops will then start to pressure us, commanders, into sending the whole army and either get revenge or destroy the enemy whatever drives them doesn't matter as long as the whole army wants to give chase that is all that matters!
Sitting near the entrance of the camp, I see a group of horsemen riding toward us. Luckily this is my Sapahi captain returning, his tribesmen look shaken up a bit but the Sapahi is perfectly fine... They are dragging a few stretchers with some wounded men and some dead bodies, sadly men were lost today but that is war. Noticing they were able to bring the dead bodies back they must have driven off whoever they were fighting.
After getting the details from my vassal, I now know this plan will work! His group met a group of tribesmen scouts who were lightly armored wearing no armor at all, and they caught sight of these men from their flank riding toward the direction of Iznik. Immediately they let loose arrows in the direction of the enemy which caused a few men to fall from their horses, the enemy who was caught off guard retaliated with arrow volleys killing or injuring a few men of ours as they charged in our troop's direction.
Our men then ran away from the chasing enemies firing arrows backward in their direction constantly chipping away at the enemy's numbers. These enemy scouts having lost the heart to continue a useless fight turned and fled never to return, so our men gathered the dead and injured and returned to camp.
After chatting with the Sapahi captain, I heard the drums at the camp entrance again signaling the arrival of our men, this time being my elder brother Suleyman... I of course went to the entrance to greet the incoming troops who seemed untouched not a single injury today, clearly outfitted with enough armor to ignore most arrows from these lightly armed and armored enemy scout teams.
I walked up to my elder brother's horse looking for someone I kinda knew would not return... I asked my brother "How was it? did everything go as I expected?"
dismounting his horse we walked toward the shabby stables, and he said "Brother, this is hard to say but everything went just as you expected... Just after leaving that snake, Murad claimed he knew this area better than anyone and he could be a guide to help us, scout, just acting along with him I followed his lead while keeping my wits about me, then BOOM! A tree dropped on the path we walked and a few spearmen and bowmen ran out of the treeline in ambush, these men were not that well trained otherwise even with knowing beforehand he could try something I could still have been killed... When the battle was over Murad was already gone his retinue as well" he said whilst shaking his head.
I replied "Brother I am glad no one got hurt... But it is worth getting bitten to expose a snake, better now than later because later that snake would not just bite but devour us all. I knew he had to have something to do with this rebellion! Although brother I am happy to get rid of a spy, I am sad because I had to use you as bait, and for that, I am sorry truly sorry."
After saying these me and Suleyman walked off to where no one could hear us, so I could explain the real strategy. I need someone like him on my side, it is worth the risk of him betraying me because if he doesn't, I will have gained a loyal ally and a great general if I can become sultan. But he agreed with me about my strategy to destroy the rebel forces, the only way to destroy this very mobile army is to take away that mobility and trap it somewhere they cannot escape and dispatch them to the afterlife!
After discussing with Suleyman, the days flew by and the bodies began to stack up into the dozens, maybe even a hundred or so men have perished on our side. The tribesmen are the ones dying and being injured for the most part, but they are directing their anger toward the enemy which is due to the bond all of us built together whilst fighting these small battles.
As my tribesmen have reached the point of wanting a bloody battle, I don't need to assume the other side is thinking the same as well, well my spies also told me they are preparing to attack us with the entirety of their forces. But the biggest upside to my troops wanting revenge is I can also involve them in my plan somewhat, I don't want to sacrifice these men or abandon them to their deaths either.
So, I will have these men play a vital role in the upcoming decisive battle, this auxiliary army is responsible for baiting the rebel troops into a chase, we want these men to chase us in a famous false retreat, leading them into a deadly trap! We will act like we are routed and begin a retreat toward my troops who are already entrenched behind my current camp in a perfect area for trapping anyone who would enter...
a land surrounded by high ridges on 3 sides and one opening where we shall enter waiting for our pursuers, then once they arrive, it will be too late to ever think about leaving again... that is unless they have strong control over their armies but I doubt that as once a man's eyes are full of blood they will chase with determination like never before...