Sultan Mehmed IV of Ottoman Turkey was a thirteen-year-old boy.

He rode on a sturdy Arabian horse and watched the 200,000 Ottoman army marching in the desert east of Baghdad.

The young man took a breath and exclaimed, "Prime Minister, this is good, this is the most powerful army I have ever seen." “

Koplulu bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this is the most powerful army I have ever seen. No army in this world can defeat this great army. “

Mohammed IV nodded.

In front of him was an armed force ahead of his time.

The 200,000 Turkish soldiers all wore red traditional Turkish robes, which are tight-fitting tunics with two sleeves at the shoulders. However, the hem of the robe was long, dragging all the way to the soldier's knees. Underneath the robe are dyed blue trousers, and on the feet are short Turkish leather boots.

The soldier's head was covered with a white turban, covering all his hair.

On the shoulders of the soldiers were all kinds of muskets.

Some soldiers still used old muskets, but after the Indians brought in the Mini rifles, the Turks apparently caught up with the times and converted all the old muskets into flintlock muskets.

Some of the soldiers were carrying Mini rifles, which Turkey had made of itself.

The Mini rifle was not technically difficult for the 17th-century powerhouse of Turkey, and it was not long before the Turks discovered the magic of this simple rifle after obtaining a sample. In the past two years, the Ottomans organized thousands of craftsmen to copy mini rifles on a large scale, and produced 40,000 mini rifles.

These Turkish-made rifles are now all equipped with the Arab Legion stationed on the Iranian border.

Of course, there are also rifles from Europe that are British goods.

The British have been mastering the production of Minnie rifles for seven years. There are probably more than 3,000 musketeers in Britain who are engaged in the production of Mini rifles, and these craftsmen can produce one Mini rifle per month, and more than 3,000 people can produce 40,000 rifles a year.

The Mini rifle was regarded by the British as a weapon of the country, not only for their own use but also for export at a high price, so they have never stopped the production of rifles for more than seven years, and have produced more than 200,000 rifles in seven years.

After the armistice between Britain, the Netherlands, and Portugal, Britain no longer maintained a state of wartime mobilization and reduced the size of its army, so a large number of rifles piled up in warehouses. The rifles were not scrapped and rusted, but were soon sold to Ottoman Turkey at a high price.

Turkey, eager to build a new army of Mini rifles, purchased 90,000 Mini rifles from the British at a price of 3.5 pounds, which is equivalent to 40 taels of silver in the Ming system.

Ninety thousand rifles, the British sold them for a sky-high price of more than three million taels of silver. Although the British's national policy of following the Dutch to challenge Li Zhi has failed repeatedly, they have made a lot of money in this transaction.

But the Ottomans were not short of silver. In order to obtain the support of the Ottomans, the princes and nobles of India promised the Ottomans a heavenly reward equivalent to 65 million taels of silver. More than half of this money has already reached Ottoman Turkey. Therefore, more than three million taels of money to buy guns is nothing to Ottoman.

With these rifles, the Ottoman Arab Legion was strengthened, and it can be said that it was one of the most powerful land forces of this era.

Of course, the Mini rifle was accompanied by a curved cannon in the Middle East.

The curved gun was actually a small mortar with an increased elevation angle, and there was no problem with the production technology for the British. So this time the sale to Turkey also included 2,600 curved guns.

The production level of the British version of the curved gun is lower than that of Li Zhi's mortar, so it is heavier, a 60-pound copper cannon. Because the guns are heavy, there are also more gunners, and each gun requires three people to operate. The artillery used four-pound small flowering shells.

These more than 2,600 pieces of artillery cost the Ottoman more than 1 million taels of silver.

After the Ottomans got these guns, they did a little research and found that they could also be copied at the level of technology. But that's another story.

A smile appeared on the face of Mehmed IV.

The Ottoman emperor was precocious, and the thirteen-year-old had already understood the importance of the military to the empire. Seeing such an "advanced" armament, the young people could not help but be very proud.

"Great Sultan, according to our sentinels in Europe, the spies of the French, Spaniards, and Austrians have succeeded in stealing Formosa rifles and curved guns from the Portuguese battlefields, and have begun to copy them. The price of this equipment will fall rapidly in the future, and the British have slaughtered us this time. ”

Muhammad pondered for a moment and asked: "When will the Indians make up their money?" ”

Koplulu replied: "All the silver left by the Indians has been transported to the Persian border, where it is guarded in a city called Khandpha. As soon as our reinforcements enter India, the Indians will ship all their rewards into Turkey. ”

The young Sultan nodded and said, "Koplulu, the greedy British extorted us a sum of money, but we earned it back from the Indians. Koplulu, sometimes we need some money to do big things, as long as we can afford it, that's not a problem. ”

Copralu admired the courage of the young Muhammad IV, bowed down and said: "Great Sultan, as soon as our army enters the territory of Persia, the 200,000 Persian army will join us and enter India together. The Persian army purchased a large number of Formosa rifles and curved guns from the Dutch, and the combat effectiveness was considerable. In addition, we were joined by 200,000 soldiers from all Indian states. ”

"Together, we have an army of 600,000."

The young sultan asked, "Where did Li Zhi's soldiers and horses go?" “

Koplulu replied, "Li Zhi's 170,000 soldiers and horses have entered the eastern border of India. It took a month for Indian messengers to arrive in Baghdad, so we only know the intelligence from a month ago. A month ago, Li Zhi's general, Li Laosi, attacked the city and swept the countryside around Korna. “

"The Indian messenger told us that Li Zhi was very vicious this time, and robbed all the gold and silver treasures of the noble palaces when he encountered them. The easternmost nobles of India did not dare to fight to the death, and withdrew all the way to the west with their families and troops, waiting for our reinforcements. “

Muhammad IV pondered for a moment.

Soon, he nodded and said, "Good, very good, Koplulu, 600,000 against 170,000, we don't have any reason to lose." “

"Tomorrow the army! Let Li Zhi, who wants to conquer the world, understand the taste of failure! “1910