Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1889 The Aftermath (Part [-])

On January 1683, 1, Gao Wengang arrived in the port of Kajibei in the heavy snow, and stayed in a local trading station run by a Genoese.

"The shop of the Venetian is next to the Genoese, hehe. This pair of old enemies who have fought for countless years, fought from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. I didn't expect that they would live next to each other. It's also interesting." Wearing a thick mink fur coat, Gao Wengang stood on the vast snow field outside the commercial station, Gao Wengang said with a smile.

Not far ahead is the once rippling Black Sea, but it has been covered by a thick layer of ice and snow.There is no one on the ice. Occasionally a sled will pass by, and then it will be silent again in a blink of an eye. It is so quiet that people forget that hundreds of thousands of soldiers from various countries are fighting desperately hundreds of kilometers away. .

Of course, this is already the territory of the Crimean Khanate. Although it is a border, but because of the good location, more than 3000 cavalry are stationed to guard against the attacks of the so-called "bandits" from neighboring countries-don't doubt this. , although the Great Khan of Crimea and the Duke of Moldavia are both vassals of Sultan Mehmet IV, this does not mean that there is harmony between them. There are no major conflicts, but small actions are continuous-so the environment It's quite comfortable, but it's very different from the Principality of Moldavia, which is being asked to send troops, food, and money because of the Battle of Vienna at this moment.

The manager of the Genoa * Asia Commercial Station is a member of the Doria family. Paul Doria’s nephew, Victor, has been working here for several years, which can be regarded as a kind of experience and gilding.As a young man close to the inner circle of the family, Victor has learned too much about the Doria family and even the transactions between the Republic and the people on the east coast, so he is more polite to Gao Wengang, and he spares no effort in entertaining him, and he will not hide anything. with.

"Mr. Envoy, of course we can sit comfortably in the house, while roasting the fire, drinking coffee, and watching the beautiful snowy scenery in the wild. But at this time, the Ottoman army in Vienna, I am afraid, will be shocked by this icy and snowy climate. Why do you hate it? I don’t know if the supplies on the front line are sufficient or not. I find it difficult. When it snows, everything disappears. This is the power of General Winter. The Ottomans are too confident.” Victor also stood Behind him, while looking at the strange snow scene in the distance, he said to Gao Wengang: "The new grand vizier lacks prestige, and the sultan also wants to establish his authority. A hasty war that overwhelmed the country, a complete tragedy, what else can we say?" What?"

"The failure of the Ottoman Empire is of no benefit to your country, is it? You know that the Russians are still eyeing it. You have invested so much in the northern shore of the Black Sea. To a certain extent, it can even be called Sicily It is the two major grain supply bases in your country. Don’t you worry about such an important position? Not to mention that you have also set up business stations in Kajibei, Kafa, Azov and other places, which have certain commercial interests , Are you really not worried at all?" Gao Wen just turned around, looked at Victor, and asked with a smile.

"Not worried at all, it must be fake." Victor replied honestly: "But seriously, what's the use of worrying? We are different from the Venetians and have no territorial disputes with the Ottoman Empire. Our interests here Only investment and business, and even because the relationship between the two countries is not bad, our investment in the Black Sea greatly exceeds that of Venetian. Now we can only wait, wait for new news, and wait for the situation to become clear. Before that, We are mentally prepared to accept all possible consequences."

"This is a positive attitude." Gao Wengang praised.When he first arrived here, he had a preliminary understanding. He learned that the Great Khan of the Crimean Khanate rejected the call of Sultan Mehmed IV and did not send troops to Hungary to fight against Austria. Instead, he chose to protect the country and the people— —Don’t doubt that the Great Khan of Crimea in this era has the capital to do this. Their independence is very strong. Before the Battle of Vienna in history, the cavalry they sent did not obey the orders of the Grand Vizier and the Sultan. Participating in the battle and returning to the country—this attitude itself shows a kind of worry, a kind of worry about the powerful enemy from the northern border, the Russian Empire.

For this reason, the Great Khan of Crimea also sent people to the territory of Western Ukraine, and the leader of the Hetman who is now in power (the former Grand Duke Khmelnytsky of Western Ukraine has been taken over by Mehmet IV because he could not control the situation. The Sultan ordered his execution) to negotiate.They were ordered by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire to monitor the Cossacks in West Ukraine, so they were not polite at all. They came to the door with a high-spirited warning, asking the West Ukraine to prepare its troops and prepare for war, so as to prevent Samoilovich from East Ukraine. come over.

As for the troops from Russia, Grail Khan no longer expects West Ukraine to be of any help.In fact, if the Russian troops stationed in Eastern Ukraine move westward or southward, these Western Ukrainian Cossacks who have already heard the news will not be of much use.Rather than counting on them, it is better to say that the tens of thousands of cavalry of the Crimean Khanate and the more than 1 Ottoman Empire garrisons on the northern shore of the Black Sea are more reliable. They are the backbone of resisting Russian invasion.

Some people may say, haven't the Russians signed a 20-year peace agreement with the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate before, so why are they still going to war?Hehe, if you ask this, it can only show that you underestimate the brutality and shamelessness of the Russians!Unlike later generations, the truce agreement of this era is still somewhat effective, and many countries still abide by it.For example, after the Fourth Austrian-Turkish War, Austria and Turkey signed a 20-year truce agreement. The Ottoman Turkish Empire waited until the agreement expired in 1683 before sending the declaration of war to Vienna-this proves that they are not shameless. Undeclared war - but a country like Russia may not necessarily abide by this kind of stuff (in history they blatantly tore up the armistice agreement and launched the Russian-Turkish war midway), and the old tsar just died of illness, and the new tsar succeeded , They have sufficient motivation to do so, and this has always been one of Russia's basic national policies, and it will not encounter much resistance at home.

"Well, as you said, we can't do anything right now, so we'll just wait quietly and see what happens next." Gao Wen said helplessly as he walked into the room.Now he can only wait. Of course, this does not mean that he will wait here. In fact, he will only rest here for one to two days, and then continue to go to the Crimean Khanate by land, and stay here to wait. It was his followers who were searching for information.

On March 1683, 3, after more than a month of arduous trek, Gao Wengang and his party finally arrived in the territory of the Crimean Khanate.Here, it seems that because of the sudden arrival of good luck, they quickly inquired about the news of the Great Khan, and it turned out that the Great Khan was leading people to hunt on the northern shore of the Black Sea at this time - it was called hunting, but in fact it was arming. Strengthen your guard.

After learning of the whereabouts of Gao Wengang, the plenipotentiary special envoy of the East Bank, the Great Khan also received him immediately.Here in Gelai Dahan, the special envoy Gao received a grand reception, which was very different from the neglect he received in various places before, and this also made him seem to understand: the reason why the Ottomans are so slow to respond and not very enthusiastic about the east coast People's suggestions, probably have something to do with the fact that they haven't felt the pain yet?After all, they have been strong for so long, and have looked down on Europe for so long—whether they have this qualification or not—it is very possible that their thinking will not change for a while.They will only be touched if they have experienced a relatively disastrous failure and faced a severe strategic environment besieged on all sides, right?

Gao Wengang even guessed that after the siege of Vienna was not going smoothly or even failed, the Ottomans would probably have a clear understanding of their own strength, right?At that time, it should be much easier for people from the east coast to come to talk about things.It's just that I don't know how much land will be left in the most elite Balkan region under the Ottoman Empire.You must know that in new lands like Hungary, Transylvania, and Moldavia, the hearts of the people are unstable and the foundation is weak, and they are taken away by others if they are not preserved. up.Even, if Christian settlements such as Serbia, which have been ruled for many years, are also occupied by others, it will take a lot of effort to get it back.

At this time, the strength and value of the Ottoman Empire will be greatly reduced, which is undoubtedly not in the interests of the Eastern China Republic.That's why Gao Wen had just met Alberto Morosini in Zakynthos and asked the Republic of Venice to "take it easy" and not take the opportunity to beat the Ottoman Empire to death. After all, they have a naval advantage , the Ottoman Empire is not easy to deal with.In order to wake up the Venetians, Gao Wengang even pointed out that once the Kingdom of Austria becomes strong, it will also pose a great threat to the Republic of Venice. I hope this will touch the Venetians so that they will not completely destroy the Ottoman Empire. Too miserable, lost too much strength.

Well, let us turn our attention to the Crimean Khanate.Here, Gao Wengang finally got the news that he never got on the road, that is the final result of the Battle of Vienna.Gelai Khan, who had collected information through reconnaissance, told Gao Wengang that the 15 army led by Vizier Mustafa had finally failed!It is also necessary to divide troops to block the reinforcements of the German princes, and to defend against the tens of thousands of Ottoman troops led by Charles V. There are really very few troops that can be used to attack the city. Insufficient supplies, materials, and artillery, more than one hundred thousand troops who could not attack for a long time were forced to retreat.At this time, they had already lost more than [-] elite soldiers in the siege battle, and no less than [-] were killed or injured by "General Winter". The soldiers complained so much that they almost mutinied, so they could only announce their retreat.

Retreating in front of the enemy has never been a simple job. On the contrary, it is a matter of testing the overall quality of the troops and the level of the commander. The Ottomans are undoubtedly extremely lacking in this.Their complex composition, low morale, and lack of supplies, their retreat was a disaster from the beginning, and when the famous Polish hussars led by the Polish king Jan Sobieski flanked it, the Ottomans were already The somewhat chaotic retreat order immediately collapsed, the generals and the lords began to fight on their own, and the military commander Mustafa Grand Vizier didn't even know where his subordinates were and what they were doing. An astonishingly large rout.

In this great retreat, the allied forces of the Christian world, who were waiting for work and had sufficient supplies, did not waste the excellent opportunity God gave them, and started a relaxed pursuit of the tail, striving to expand the results of the battle.In this unprecedented pursuit battle, the Polish cavalry once again played the decisive role. They repeatedly defeated all the resistance of the Ottoman infantry group with ferocious charges, leaving them in chaos and being chased up from behind. The German Allied Forces (led by Charles V, Duke of Lorraine and Prince Eugen, respectively) numbered more than [-] people divided, surrounded, and annihilated. The whole scene was extremely tragic.

After hearing the expected news, Gao Wen was at a loss for words for a while, wondering how much troops and supplies the Ottomans had lost this time, how much land they had lost, and where the Austrians would go after them. Only one step will stop, has the Venetian fleet been dispatched!Thinking about these things made his brain hurt a little, but he didn't have a clue, so he could only take one step at a time.

After that, Gao Wengang was even more determined to contact the Russian side. On the one hand, he tested their tone—he didn’t believe that the Tsar had not received a similar message—on the other hand, he also advised Russia to be cautious and not to blatantly tear up the armistice agreement signed just now. sparked a war with the Turks.It's a pity that the envoys he sent to Eastern Ukraine and the Don River Basin failed to return, perhaps because of the chaotic situation in Moscow (the old tsar had just died of illness for less than a year, the young new tsar Peter's throne was not stable, and the court Central officials are in power), Russian local officials only promised to send the letter back to Moscow, but there is no guarantee of any response.However, just as Gao Wen saw their lack of enthusiasm, he guessed that there was probably no result. On the issue of whether Moscow would go to war with Ottoman Turkey, the influence of the people from the east coast could not be said to be absent, but the priority would definitely not be very high. It is not even as influential as some of its domestic veteran ministers.

The Russians probably think that instead of talking about Ukraine and the Black Sea with people on the east coast, it is better to talk about trade issues in the Far East colonial area.

(End of this chapter)