Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1736 Operation

In late August, the northern shore of the Black Sea has gradually become a bit cooler.

This piece of water, known as the "Sea of ​​Hospitality" in the Middle Ages because of the integration of various ethnic groups and the prosperity of commerce, has become less hospitable since 1676!Today, this piece of water with more than 40 square kilometers has banned the entry of ships from most countries. Except for ships from the east coast and the Kingdom of France that have a special relationship with the Ottoman Empire, they are not allowed to cross the Bosporus Strait. Can only trade in places like Anatolia and Greece.

The reason for this is that the situation in the Black Sea area is very tense. The Ottoman Empire once again assembled more than 20 people to attack the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. At present, most of the Black Sea is full of various transport ships, which will come from Istanbul, Sinoe Soldiers, draft animals and a large amount of supplies from Pu, Trebizond, Burgas and other places were sent to the port of Kagibey, and then slowly transported to Kamenica in southeastern Poland.There, Ibrahim, the leader of the Ottoman Empire, will gather all kinds of troops and then lead his army to fight the troops of the new Polish king Sobieski.

And when it comes to Sobieski, one has to mention the current internal situation in Poland.After several modest victories against the Turks and a temporary truce with them, Jan Sobieski led his army back to Warsaw, and then forced the noble council to elect him as king, known as John III.

Sobieski was elected king of Poland, and many European countries sent people to congratulate him, which naturally included the United Provinces, England, France, Venice and other countries that had boomed trade with the Ottoman Empire. Some dissatisfaction.And just as this meeting is at a sensitive moment before the outbreak of the Great War, the navies of the above-mentioned countries are not weak—in fact, the navies of the major powers in Western Europe are all overwhelmed by the Ottomans—so they are afraid that their march into the Black Sea will threaten the maritime transportation of the Ottoman Empire. The Turks on the front line ordered the termination of merchant ships from these countries approaching Istanbul, and even the largest commercial port, Smyrna, was not allowed to approach, and they could only conduct trade in Antalya, Athens and other places a little farther away.The only Western European country that was exempted was the Kingdom of France. They had a very deep friendship with the Ottomans, so they were granted permission to enter the Black Sea for trade. Of course, this is especially true for the people on the east coast. Treated as a more reliable partner.

Li Qing, the special envoy of the East Coast Republic of China to Europe, came to Port Haji under such circumstances.In this port wholly owned by the South China Sea Transportation Company, Li Qing, Gao Wengang, the ambassador to the Ottomans on the east coast, and Malati, the head of the Haji Port Commercial Station (also responsible for Black Sea trade and liaison with Ukraine, Crimea and Russia) A short meeting was held, and the content of the meeting was the impending Polish-Turkish war—this was almost a certainty, and Koprulu Daweizi appointed Ibrahim Pasha as the president of the Austrian army, commanding the Turkish army, the Arab tribes An army of 20 soldiers, Egyptian Mamluks, Serbian Lord Christ's private soldiers, Hungarian servants, Moldavian servants, and Crimean Tatars attacked the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

This is a war of unprecedented scale. It seems that the Ottomans have the upper hand, but the people on the east coast have always made extra preparations, that is, what should they do if the Ottoman Empire fails to win or even loses the war?Will the Polish army enter Ukraine?Will the Cossacks in Western Ukraine rebel if the situation is not good?Will the Hungarians and Moldavians, who have always been at the two ends of the rat, rebel and take advantage of the fire?

You know, this kind of worry is not unfounded.Because the situation in Ukraine is also extremely dangerous today, East Ukrainian Cossack Getman Samoilovich, with the support of the Russians, gathered his troops and planned to launch an attack on West Ukraine again.The Russian army led by Romodanovsky has been stationed along the Dnieper River since this spring, and is ready to cross the river at any time. Will it suddenly send troops to occupy the entire Western Ukraine, so that the Ottomans who are suffering from the enemy will feel uncomfortable, and unpredictable things will happen on the battlefield if they are not kept together.

All of the above are actually very real issues that have to be treated with caution, so they held a small meeting and established some follow-up actions, such as the addition of Haji Port Commercial Station—in fact, it is not just a commercial station now, It is a small town, with a permanent population of more than 200, and it is quite conspicuous in the Crimean Khanate. Li Qing directly instructed Malati to find a way to protect the guards. The team has expanded to about [-] people (of course, they also serve as policemen and supervisors on weekdays), not only to prevent possible chaos in the future, but also to prevent the Ottoman Empire from winning in the event of a big victory. High) later, there are plenty of overseers to use when a large number of slaves arrive.

Of course, the above are all things to plan ahead, because it is really hard to imagine the concept of a 20 army defeated on the Great Plains of Poland and Ukraine, and the Tatars have always turned like the wind. Under the circumstances of their extreme mobilization, they can dispatch more than ten Wan cavalry, this is not a force that can be insulted, so everything we are doing now is really just in case.

Furthermore, work such as trade and intelligence must be reduced in due course, especially trade and intelligence personnel along the Dnieper River and the Danube River. Recently, the number of personnel and the frequency of activities have to be reduced to ensure their own safety.This is a bit of a pity, because these two major river basins are rare areas where intelligence personnel on the east bank can move freely without any restrictions. They have provided Haji Port with a lot of useful commercial, social and even military intelligence on weekdays (this It may be related to the rough governance of the country by the Ukrainians, Turks, and Tatars), but this is also necessary, because who knows what happened to the Ottoman Empire troops gathered from all over the place?Like those troops mobilized from all over the world, who didn't come here with the intention of making a fortune, can you guarantee that their military discipline will be good?Surely you won't embarrass the people on the east coast?It's impossible even if you think about it.

"By the way, what is the situation between Doroshenko and Samoilovich now? How should we face this situation?" After finalizing the first few questions, Special Envoy Li Qing changed the subject and asked Gao Wengang .

Gao Wengang is now the ambassador of the East Coast Republic of China to Istanbul. In the next one or two years, he will probably succeed Li Qing as the special envoy to Europe. He is a Mesozoic leader in the diplomatic system. Therefore, he did not ask Malati this question, but wanted to hear Gao Wengang's opinion.

Doroshenko and Samoilovich are the leaders of Eastern Ukraine and Western Ukraine respectively. Both are determined to unify each other and build a big Ukraine. For this reason, they do not hesitate to lure wolves into the house and use external forces to achieve their goals.Therefore, the problem of Ukraine has never been simple, and it can never be viewed individually. It involves the three major powers of Poland, Russia, Ottoman Turkey, and the Crimean Khanate, another force that has considerable appeal in the local area (maybe Called many Golden Horde survivors, mainly in Ukraine and the southern part of the Russian Empire).

In the past few years, fierce annexation wars have been going on on the Ukrainian steppes. The Cossack leader Samoilovich on the east bank has been crossing the Dnieper River to attack Doroshenko on the west bank with the support of the Russian army for the past few years. Group, and also successfully instigated many Cossacks in the West Bank, occupying a lot of territory (this is actually very understandable, the Russians also believe in the Orthodox Church after all, and many people were dissatisfied with Doroshenko's defection to the Communist Party), and at one time the Roshchenko was besieged in the city of Chigirin, and did not survive until the Turks and Tatars came to relieve the siege.

In order to regain the lost ground, Doroshenko led his troops, with the support of the Turkish army and the Tatars, to launch a bloody war of conquest on the west bank of the Dnieper River.This war lasted for a year and a half. All the Cossacks in the West Bank who wanted Samoilovich were suppressed, and many towns were also dilapidated. The people were either killed by the troops fighting back and forth, or by the Tatars Looted to Haji Port for sale.

Misfortunes never come singly. When Doroshenko paid a huge price and had just cleaned up the internal rebel forces and resumed his rule over the entire Ukraine on the west bank of the Dnieper River, the Poles who had been defeated in the last war made a comeback again.The Poles, who were never reconciled to Ukraine being ceded out, once again entered Ukraine, relying on the help of Turkish soldiers and Tatar cavalry to repel the enemy, but Bratslav and other places were destroyed by war again, and the Ukrainian people suffered heavy casualties. The land was plundered and sold to the east bank by the Tatars.

Doroshenko, who saw his hometown turned into a battlefield again and again, also regretted it at this time. Over the years, he has fought with Samoilovich and fought with the Poles, in order to unify the entire Ukraine and give Is the 300 million Ukrainian people a relatively strong and stable country?But after decades of struggle, it turned out to be the end in front of him. The greed of the Turkish and Tatar heretics made him blame himself, and the brutality of the Polish heretics made him angry. , it’s no wonder they want to gang up against themselves—when Samoilovich and the Russians threatened to attack Western Ukraine here, there were less than 1 Cossacks willing to follow Doroshenko. what?

Gao Wengang knew all of the above, so after sorting out his thoughts a bit, he said: "The situation in Western Ukraine is very bad now. Doroshenko has been in power for so many years and has caused anger and resentment. Many Cossack regiment leaders They secretly took refuge in Samoilovich, even if they did not openly take refuge, they no longer responded to Doroshenko’s call. They are not very resistant to the arrival of East Ukrainian Cossacks and Russians. It can be said that if Ottoman If the empire does not think of a way, Western Ukraine will definitely fall, and even if they send troops to help, unless they completely defeat the Russians on the frontal battlefield, the situation will still be irreparable. Today’s Western Ukraine is really changing people’s minds. The Tarts are disgusted, and would rather be ruled by the Russians than by the Poles or the Turks, because they are Orthodox and share a more or less common language with the Russians."

"Can Ukraine continue to exist as an independent country?" Li Qing asked with a frown after hearing this.

"I'm afraid it's unlikely." Gao Wengang shook his head and said, "From the perspective of our East Coast Republic of China, we naturally hope that the Ukrainian Cossack Emirate can continue to exist as an independent regime. Whether the Russian Empire moves eastward or Going south is not what we want to see. The best way is to block them back, forcing them to go west and fight with the Swedes and Poles. We have already personally fought in the east to block the Russians. In Nerchensk; in the south, to be honest, we have to rely on the Kingdom of Poland, the Ottoman Empire and the Crimeans, but to be honest, it seems a bit difficult at present, and they are all fighting themselves."

"The Ukrainian Cossack Emirate is an important buffer. Once it is lost here, these two countries with a lot of interests in us will bear the brunt of the threat from the Russians. Therefore, Ukraine cannot be lost, so that the Russians can smell the salty air of the Black Sea. Driving them back will cost too much." Li Qing suddenly stood up, walked around the room, and asked, "Xiao Gao, is it possible to persuade the Ottomans to cease war with Poland? Now the Russians Obviously, the idea of ​​fighting between the snipe and the clam for the fisherman's profit, the Turks don't understand this, right?"

"It's also difficult." Gao Wengang shook his head again, and said with some helplessness: "The Ottoman Empire occupied the Podolia Province in southeastern Poland, and at the same time turned Western Ukraine into its own protectorate. Poland lost a large piece of land. People are trying to avenge their shame, how can they stop! Unless the Ottomans take the initiative to return Podolia, which has been under the rule for several years, and spit out Western Ukraine, this will be a big deal for the Sultan Muhammad who always pays attention to face and It is simply unimaginable for Koprulu Daweizi. Therefore, this battle must be fought, and it must be fought if not fought!"

Li Qing understood that what Gao Wengang said was the truth, he was just excited and wanted to try again (I had reminded him tactfully before, but it was invalid).Thinking about it now, it is indeed impossible. The army has already assembled, how could it be possible to withdraw easily? Isn't that a joke?The Ottoman Empire is not so stupid yet!

So, from this point of view, there is a high probability that Ukraine will be lost to the Russians.Later, it depends on whether the Poles and Ottomans have the ability to take it back from the Russians. You must know that the Russians are also terrified to death. The young Tsar Fyodor may not have the courage to be a giant like the Ottoman Empire provoke.

"So, let's see how to operate later!" Li Qing thought: "For this reason, even if the Venetians and Genoese are brought over to help out, they now have a lot of commercial interests on the northern shore of the Black Sea. More than one-third of the country's food and livestock are supplied here. You should be very afraid of the war here, and even more afraid of the Russians. In addition, the modernization process of the Crimean Khanate must also be accelerated, otherwise If the economic, military, political, and cultural systems are not reformed, the future of the country will be in jeopardy. Ukraine, which has been manipulated so much that it is about to perish, is a lesson from the past.”

(End of this chapter)