Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 538 The so-called backlash of public opinion
"Sir, are we just going to surround them and not attack them?"
"Of course, why should our soldiers charge forward under dense machine gun bullets? The life of every Grand Vizier's soldier is precious."
"But I saw their messenger leave with my own eyes. Those people from the EU will definitely come to rescue them."
"Hahaha, generals, pashas, I just want those devils from the EU to rescue them. In this way, they will have to charge under our dense machine gun bullets. As for the messenger leaving? Of course I did it on purpose. In fact..." Richelieu shook the piece of paper in his hand: "I even wrote the press release for them. I will help them publish it even if they don't publish it themselves!"
On August 10, 1625, 100,000 new Ottoman troops (including Persian support troops) suddenly appeared outside Jerusalem. Coutinho's detachment, which had only 25,000 logistical support personnel, naturally retreated into Jerusalem to defend and wait for reinforcements. At this point, the situation that Ibrahim and Richelieu had been striving for finally appeared: using Jerusalem as a suction cup to attract part of the European Union troops to attack and then annihilate them.
Although the current situation is slightly different from the two men's previous plan, this deviation is beneficial: with more than 20,000 troops entering the encirclement, the Ottomans can completely use this to surround the point and attack the reinforcements!
"Everyone, are the civilians organized?"
"Yes, sir. Well, although you are a Christian, I must say that the Crusaders in the past were too cruel to us Star-Crescent believers. This memory is so deep that even after hundreds of years, the Arabs here still remember it. So, we just mobilized a little, and the 50,000 to 60,000 Arabs around here responded enthusiastically. And as time goes on, more and more tribes will come here to help."
"Hahaha, I am a Frenchman first, and a Christian second. Well, I won't say any more. Let them start digging quickly according to the blueprint we planned in advance. If my prediction is correct, a new batch of EU troops will arrive in seven days at most."
"I will follow your orders, sir!"
By this point, Iprahim and Richelieu's plans were completely clear.
The first step is to use Jerusalem as a suction cup to attract some EU troops. If there are many troops coming, then we will fight a blocking war. If there are few troops coming, then we will completely annihilate them. As for the 20,000-plus troops of Coutinho's detachment, no more, no less, then we will surround them first!
Of course, it is absolutely impossible to surround more than 20,000 people with 100,000 people, which is not conducive to terrain or fortifications. Therefore, the second step is to dig trenches around the walls of Jerusalem! Although this is a holy city for the three major religions, the part of the old city of Jerusalem surrounded by the walls is only 1 square kilometer. This means that even if the Ottomans dig trenches three or five kilometers away from the walls of Jerusalem, it will not be a big project. Not to mention that the Arabs nearby are desperate to dig trenches because they are afraid that they will not be able to defend this place if they cannot dig trenches, and they will be massacred if they cannot defend this place.
The third step was to wait for the EU reinforcements to arrive. Regarding this, Ibrahim had to stay in Istanbul, so he only gave rough guidance in advance. The one who really operated here was Richelieu. Richelieu's plan was to actively submit articles to major EU newspapers, such as the heroic coalition forces recovering the holy city, the remaining Christians in Jerusalem warmly welcoming the Lord's army, etc. In short, to stir up the atmosphere first. After that, the news that this heroic army was surrounded by the despicable Ottomans was sent out. Hehe, do you want to send someone to rescue it, Philip?
At least at this time, the literacy rate in Europe was far lower than that of the Ming Dynasty. But in the past twenty years, on the one hand, Philip has vigorously promoted education in the country. On the other hand, the construction of a large number of factories has rapidly increased the concentration of people. In order to consolidate his rule, Philip requires factories with more than ten employees to arrange special newspaper reading time every day! Besides, there are so many Slavs under the Ottoman Empire, and it is much easier to be a spy than the Ming Dynasty at least in terms of race. For those of you who don't read newspapers, can we help you with free publicity?
In short, after the people of Europe went crazy for the recovery of the Holy City for a day or two, they heard that the heroes who recovered the Holy City were besieged by pagans. What do you think the voice of the people of the European Union will be?
You, Philip, want to control public opinion through newspapers, but I will let you bear the backlash of public opinion!
As for the content of the newspaper being controlled by Philip? Hehe, we still have underground allies like Venice. Moreover, the EU is definitely not a monolithic entity. Many countries or princes who are intimidated by Philip's power are waiting to see the joke of His Majesty. Do you really think you can control everything?
In short, when public opinion is stirred up, you can’t get rid of the more than 20,000 people in the encirclement even if you want to. This leads to the fourth step: strangulation!
I built so many trenches in Istanbul and Alexandria, but you just didn't launch an infantry charge, but instead patiently plowed the land inch by inch with cannons. Well, my country is not as strong as you, and we don't have as many cannons as you, so we really can't do anything to you. Over time, my defense line will definitely have problems.
But you are here to rescue the "heroes" in Jerusalem, right? The water source in Jerusalem is limited. After I finish digging the trenches, I will divert the underground water in the city. And it's not just water. Jerusalem is almost an empty city now. Food is also a big problem. So do you have to hurry up and move forward? If you have to hurry up and move forward, do you have to launch an infantry charge? At that time, it will be time for my heavy machine guns to harvest the lives of your soldiers in large numbers.
In short, the fundamental purpose of this plan is to annihilate the EU's vitality. As a time traveler, although Ibrahim is an engineering student, he has made a great step back and abandoned the entire Balkan Peninsula. This fully illustrates that: if you save the land but lose the people, you lose both the land and the people. He is very clear about the principle of saving the people and losing the land, and gaining both the land and the people. After using Jerusalem as a millstone to drain the blood of the EU, won't the lost places such as the Balkans and Libya automatically come back? Who knows, there will be more.
…
Coutinho's messenger set out from Jerusalem on the 8th. The speed of this single-horse courier was much faster than that of the army. On the 9th, the messenger arrived in Gaza and boarded the ship. With the fast communication ship transportation, the messenger went all the way to Alexandria, all the way to Crete, and all the way to Rome. Along the way, the news that the holy city had been liberated spread completely.
On the 12th, Milan, which was still a direct Spanish territory at the time, first published the headline "The Allied Forces Recovered the Holy City!" in its Milan Daily. Soon after, newspapers in Madrid, Frankfurt, Paris, London and other cities published similar news. The news that the EU coalition forces had recovered the Holy City spread across Europe at a whirlwind speed in August!
Wherever the news spread, people were enthusiastic and extremely excited !
As a time traveler, Philip actually has special laws to control the media in various places, and there are certain regulations on the content reported by major newspapers. However, this regulation is mainly aimed at some content that affects the unity of the European Union. For example, in the years since the establishment of the European Union, except for Spain, all countries in the alliance have traded in surplus. After the death of Rudolf, the Basques clamored for independence. The Portuguese expressed dissatisfaction with the Castilians' opium trafficking, which led to the expulsion of their colonial residents... Even if the parties continued to submit articles to the newspaper, the newspaper would not dare to publish these contents.
But the recovery of Jerusalem? This is a great thing! How could it not be published? Even Philip himself, without knowing Ibrahim's overall plan in advance, arranged for reporters from major newspapers to interview the soldiers at the front line, didn't he?
In short, although there were various deviations in the early stages of the implementation of this plan that Ibrahim and Richelieu racked their brains to come up with, in the end, the EU fell into the trap.
In August, passions surged across Europe, with large numbers of people gathering in churches across the country. While praying for the jihadists, they also put Philip on the spot!
On the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, on August 15, thanks to the hard work of Arab laborers who arrived one after another and eventually numbered more than 100,000, the 23-kilometer-long Jerusalem Trench was initially completed.
On the 12th before that, Maurice led two divisions to approach Jerusalem. Richelieu sent three divisions with 50,000 men to fight a head-on battle with them and repelled them.
By the time four divisions of reinforcements from Crete landed in Gaza, it was already August 18. What Morris was going to face this time was a trench that made people feel extremely desperate!
