Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 553 Sokoli's Father and Son
"Dad, what do you think of this message?"
On April 11, 1626, after careful consideration, Philip finally decided to temporarily cease fire. Then, he conveyed this message to Ibrahim through an intermediary.
At this time, Ibrahim's position as Grand Vizier was completely stabilized after his victory in the Battle of Jerusalem.
Since the battle on the northern front started around Istanbul, when the battle was at its most intense, every nobleman in Istanbul could hear the rumbling of artillery on the battlefield and the shaking of the ground caused by the shells. Therefore, the cruelty of this battlefield was deeply felt by the top rulers of the entire Ottoman Empire.
As a country that adopted the military fiefdom system as its foundation, most of the ruling class of the Ottoman Empire had military merits. In other words, they were not keyboard warriors who could "annihilate" hundreds of thousands of enemy troops by simply shouting "keys up". They all had the most basic military common sense. And it was precisely because of this military common sense that everyone understood: Fortunately, the Grand Vizier came to power a few years before this war and made corresponding preparations. Otherwise, we might have been taken away by the EU this time.
With this understanding, and after the victory in the Battle of Jerusalem, the Ottoman strategic situation improved significantly. At this point, the entire ruling class finally recognized Ibrahim's position from the bottom of their hearts: to gain the support of a class, you must guarantee the interests of this class, and the Grand Vizier has preserved everyone's ruling position! What other interests could be greater than this?
However, although the country's strategic situation has improved and everyone's support has increased, as a scientist, rationality and calmness are the norm. Not to mention that he has been in the position of Grand Vizier for so long, and has become more and more cunning under the influence of his surroundings.
So, after receiving Philip's message, the first thing Ibrahim did was to go home and ask his father for advice.
"My son, a hero who saved the country. Do you think we still have the strength to fight on?"
"Hmm..." After thinking carefully for a while, Yiprahin said, "I'm not sure."
"Well," the old father smiled, "Let me ask this question in another way. How many of our soldiers have been killed in the past year or so of fighting? How much of our combat power do we have left compared to before the war?"
"Our own 150,000 new troops have lost at least 30,000 permanent troops in Istanbul and Jerusalem. As for the 45,000 in Alexandria." He shook his head with a sad face. "It is estimated that there will be nothing left after the war. As for our Persian allies, the 40,000 reinforcements have lost more than 15,000 people, mainly because of the heavy losses of the cavalry. And the 15,000 have also lost 6,000 people, and the remaining troops have all withdrawn. Although we have recruited a lot of elite troops from the old army, if we are serious, it is estimated that our current combat power is only 60% or even half of what it was before the war."
"This is a miracle." The old father patted his son on the shoulder and said, "According to my previous experience of leading troops to fight, even the elite Sipasi will collapse if the casualty rate exceeds 30%. So, you did a good job."
Of course, modern armies are much more tolerant of casualties than medieval armies, and everyone is afraid of being massacred after becoming prisoners of war, so they naturally fight to the end. There is nothing to be proud of, right? After all, although the performance of the European coalition forces on the northern front was a bit poor, with 70,000 to 80,000 people being chased by more than 100,000 of us. But on the southern front, Spain's own new army is really capable of fighting!
"So, my son, how is our country doing economically? You must know that you are the Grand Vizier, and the Grand Vizier's duties are not only to fight wars, but also to govern the country."
Speaking of this, Yiprahin's mouth was full of bitterness: "Dad, the domestic economy is not good. In terms of industry, most of the workers in light industrial factories have gone to the front line. After all, these people are the most disciplined compared to the undisciplined farmers. It is much easier to train them than ordinary farmers. As for the heavy industrial factories, the workers work in two shifts every day, producing weapons continuously. After more than a year, their patience has reached its limit.
Of course, industry is still good, but business is really miserable. Since we are at war with the entire European Union, trade with Europe has completely stopped, and our ordinary handicrafts are highly overlapped with those of neighboring Persia... It can also be said that our foreign trade has been infinitely close to zero in the past year. As for domestic trade, although I directly used the old-style army as auxiliary troops to ensure the logistics of the army and did not draw civilians. But after all, this is a war, and it looks like a war to annihilate the country. So the people in the country are unwilling to spend money on things other than food at this time. In other words, in terms of domestic demand, except for food, other things are basically unsalable. In short, after more than a year of war, domestic business has withered by about 80% to 90%.
As for agriculture, as you can see, due to the loss of control of the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt, the granary, has actually lost contact with our homeland. Although the entire Anatolian Peninsula was not damaged by the war, the terrain here is mainly plateaus. Its grain output..."
"Where are our foreign aid?"
"The Chinese aid has been cut off since the fall of the Sinai Peninsula last June. As for the Persians?" Ibrahim shook his head helplessly: "His Majesty Abbas is old and is now suspicious. He has killed his two sons and is preparing to kill his last son. Moreover, Persia is our neighbor after all. If we ask them to send more reinforcements, it is very likely that they will directly ask for Azerbaijan or even the entire Caucasus. After all, that place is in a commanding strategic advantage for the Persian capital."
"Well, how about it? Son, have you made up your mind?"
"Dad, the country is in great trouble and it is difficult to continue fighting. However, if we stop the war at this time, we will lose a lot of land."
"Well, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Cyrenaica, Egypt, Palestine, Syria...anything else?"
"I guess not."
"Well." The old father stood up and said, "I suggest you start ceasefire negotiations with the other side now. We may lose a lot of land in the negotiations. But you have to note that these places are mainly inhabited by Arabs. Losing these places will not shake the foundation of the country. Besides, in negotiations, how can we just accept whatever the other side says? We still have strength now, and we can still bargain."
"...Okay, Dad, then do you want to be the chief negotiator for this negotiation?"
"You silly son, although I, your father, will do my best to benefit the country when I go to negotiate, no matter what, because we don't have control of the sea, our land in North Africa will definitely be lost. The negotiators will definitely face a lot of questions when they return. I am not afraid of these, but I am your father. If my reputation is damaged, it will lead to the instability of your rule."
"Then let Richelieu go?"
"That's impossible, my son." The old father smiled cruelly. "Richelieu is not loyal to you, he is loyal to France. He works for you just to rely on you to defeat the European Union. If someone with such an obsession hears that you are preparing to cease fire at this time, what will he think? Will he think that you have betrayed him? How can he negotiate? On the contrary, once you decide to cease fire, you have to be prepared to get rid of him!"
"Get rid of him? Father, how can we do that? Richelieu has done great things in Jerusalem!"
"So what? Once such a capable person has evil intentions, the harm he causes is much greater than that of an ordinary person with ulterior motives. My son, you are not allowed to have any personal feelings when you sit in this position!"
“…”
Seeing his son's silence, the old father was ready to persuade him again, but Yiprahin changed the subject: "Dad, can you recommend someone who is suitable for negotiation?"
"The specific technical bureaucrats of this mission will be sent by people you trust. But the chief envoy of the mission must be Murad."
"Murad? The current Sultan's younger brother? But he is only 13 years old now."
"So what? We have to let him go. Because of this negotiation, we are destined to lose the entire North Africa. Although we have actually lost it now, we did not sign it! Only people from the Sultan's family can sign it."
"...I understand. Thank you for your teaching and guidance. I will do as you ask."
