1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 211: The Fall of Karaman

The southern part of the Anatolian Peninsula, the Kingdom of Karamanbay, the port of Icher.

This city, located on the northern coast of the eastern Mediterranean and on the southern foot of the Taurus Mountains, is the largest port city in the Kingdom of Karamanbay and shoulders important responsibilities for external communications.

The port of Ichel is very close to the island of Cyprus, with ships departing from it day and night, and trade between the two places is very frequent.

During the Crusades, the port of Icher served as an important port for communication and trade between the Kingdom of Cilician Armenia and the Crusader States. It had a large population and a prosperous and diverse culture.

Later, the Cilician Armenian Kingdom was destroyed by the Mamluk Dynasty and the Karamanbay State. The kingdom's territory was occupied by the Karamanbay State and the Ramazan Bey State respectively. The Kingdom of Cyprus began to attack the northern coast, and several important trade ports declined for a time.

After the island of Cyprus returned to the Eastern Roman Empire, the port of Icel experienced a revival. In order to raise funds, Prince Ishak, who was in trouble both internally and externally, sold many of the trade privileges of the port of Icel to Eastern Roman merchants, resulting in a large influx of Eastern Roman goods and a large number of bankruptcies of domestic industries.

At the same time, the port of Icel also became the first port of entry for population exchange. The Armenian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox Christians of Karaman were coaxed and deceived by the Turkish nobles from the inland to this port, and then went to Cyprus and further North Africa.

In return, Eastern Roman slave traders transported more Berber slaves and West African black slaves to the port of Icel to do heavy work.

Due to religious reasons, many Turkic nobles were unwilling to oppress Berber slaves of the same faith, but instead had a special liking for the uncivilized West African blacks.

Over the past decade, the number of West African blacks in Port Ichel and surrounding towns has exceeded 3,000, accounting for one-fifteenth of the total population in the area.

Through foreign exchanges and foreign trade, Karaman's national strength has been improved. The arrival of new weapons has improved Karaman's armaments, and the influx of strong slaves has also led to a year-on-year increase in Karaman's agricultural, animal husbandry and mining outputs.

Of course, this trade model actually inadvertently turned the Karaman government into a comprador, forcing its own citizens to leave in exchange for slaves, exploiting slaves to increase the output of low-end industries, and then exchanging low-end products for high-end handicrafts from the Eastern Roman Empire, resulting in a complete trade deficit.

The lives of the nobles were indeed getting better and better, and the national strength had also improved to a certain extent. The black slaves at the bottom had no say and would not threaten their rule.

Planting mines for future generations? Sorry, after I die, I don’t care about the floods!
Therefore, the Karaman nobles who held this mentality were really going to cause a disaster.

Karaman is a very tenacious country. Their cultural traditions and geographical location determine that they will not be easily conquered by outsiders, nor will they easily surrender to outsiders.

Tough, strong and unruly, this is the portrayal of the Karaman people.

The last Seljuk, the last Rom, and the last blue double-headed eagle, have restless blood flowing in their bodies, and naturally they have their own indomitable spirit and pride.

Therefore, this tenacious little regime dared to challenge the surrounding powers on its own. From the Ilkhanate, the Rum Sultanate to the Mamluk Dynasty and the Ottoman Empire, all of them were beaten by Karaman.

Karaman was not afraid of losing. They had the Taurus Mountains as a barrier, Muslim soldiers from the east as reinforcements, and the nomadic spirit passed down from their ancestors to build a spiritual fortress for them.

Therefore, whether it was the Ilkhanate, the Rum Sultanate, the Mamluk Dynasty or the former Ottoman Empire, they could defeat Karaman again and again on the battlefield, but they were never able to completely destroy him.

However, the strongest fortresses are often breached from within.

The predecessor, Karaman Bey Ibrahim II, was a mediocre ruler. In order to gain the favor of the Ottoman Empire, he married two princesses of the Ottoman family and gave birth to six princes.

Ibrahim II did not want his son of Ottoman descent to inherit his position, and had been strongly supporting his eldest son Ishak, who was born to an Armenian slave.

However, Ibrahim II was unable to curb the power that the six princes had cultivated, nor did he intend to kill his relatives for the sake of national justice. This hidden danger was thus taken to his grave.

The six Karaman princes were all nephews of Murad II and cousins ​​of Mehmed II. They had rather complicated feelings towards the Ottomans, hoping to get their help but not wanting to be interfered with by them.

After the death of Ibrahim II, due to the poor succession system, Karaman unexpectedly broke out into civil war again. Several princes occupied the land and sought interference from powerful foreign forces, which eventually pushed the country into the abyss of destruction.

Among the several heirs, Prince Ishak, the only one who did not have Ottoman blood, chose to seek help from the Eastern Roman Empire, but the latter really did not have the time and energy, so they could only assist him in building the army and help him find other help.

With the help of the Eastern Roman Empire, Prince Ishak approached the recently rising Aries King Uzun Hasan, who had destroyed the Dulkadir Bey State and carried out military and political reforms in the country, with a strong military force and a prosperous country.

At the beginning, Uzun Hassan did provide assistance to Prince Ishak in accordance with the diplomatic strategy of containing the Ottoman Empire. He sent troops to the Ottoman border to confront it and explicitly prohibited Mehmed II from interfering in Karaman's internal affairs.

After experiencing many failures, the Ottoman Empire is no longer as powerful as it used to be, and Mehmed II's prestige has never returned to what it used to be. If he was not the most qualified member of the Ottoman family to be the Sultan, rebellions and civil unrest would surely continue.

Mehmed II no longer dared to take the risk, and signed an agreement with Uzung Hasan at the end of 1461, stating that he would not directly interfere in Karaman's internal affairs, but Karaman Prince Ishak must guarantee the legal status of his brothers.

In this way, many Karaman cities, including Konya, have actually broken away from Ishak's control and become vassals of the Ottoman Empire.

Muhammad II, who temporarily retreated, did not become discouraged, but kept his troops in place, silently waiting for the best opportunity.

In early 1463, a Karaman prince died, and Prince Ishak was ready to take back his brother's fiefdom, but Mehmed II insisted on taking control of the city in his own hands, and the shadow of war once again loomed over Karaman.

Prince Ishak was not so lucky this time. The Eastern Roman Empire was busy fighting with Venice, and the Ayuntamiento, on which he had high hopes, was also facing a big trouble.

Jahan Shah of the Qara Qoyunlu was preparing to invade.

Upon receiving the news, Uzun Hassan no longer wanted to care about Karaman's mess. He withdrew his troops back to Diyarbakir, stockpiled military supplies, and prepared for war.

So, Mehmed II seized the opportunity and launched a large-scale invasion.

It turned out that Karaman's old-fashioned army was clearly unsuitable for warfare in the new era. Under the command of Prince Ishak, it suffered defeat after defeat and lost all morale.

In just a few months, Karaman lost all the territory on the Anatolian Plateau. Even the capital city of Karaman was directly destroyed by the Ottoman royal heavy artillery. Prince Ishak led thousands of remaining soldiers south to the Taurus Mountains and hid in the port of Icel.

If nothing unexpected happens, Karaman's downfall is inevitable.

"This is the situation. If we don't take action, Karaman won't last more than a few months."

In the meeting hall of the Carthaginian palace, Prime Minister Isurte finished his long introduction, bowed slightly, and returned to his seat.

Isaac finished reading the report compiled by the ministers and rubbed his sore brows.

After the Ottomans withdrew to the Anatolian Peninsula, in order to maintain the stability of the regime, Mehmed II carried out a series of reforms on the advice of several trusted ministers.

Simply put, he went in reverse.

The Ottoman Empire was different from many Turkic Bey states on the Anatolian Peninsula. It absorbed a large number of Eastern Roman systems and Christian talents, always looked westward, and looked down upon its barbaric Turkic brothers in the east.

As a result, the Ottoman Empire was able to quickly integrate its territories in Europe, and its open and inclusive policies enabled the country to flourish culturally, economically, and technologically. Everything was so prosperous.

However, after the Ottomans retreated to the Anatolian Peninsula, the core area shifted to the eastern coast of the Aegean Sea. After a hundred years of migration, the number of Turks here had become large, and the Greeks in some places had become a minority.

As for the interior of the Anatolian Plateau, there are no longer any Greek settlements.

The Turkish nobles believed that it was a Greek conspiracy that caused them to lose the war, and advocated strict suppression of the Greeks on the east coast of the Aegean Sea, the abolition of the Devshirme system, and the improvement of the political status of the traditional Turkish nobles. In order to stabilize the situation, Mehmed II adopted some of the suggestions and began to promote traditional Turkish nobles to the government, and he no longer trusted the Devshirme officials as much as before.

At the same time, the persecution against the Greeks became more and more severe, and the hatred between the two sides became deeper and deeper. Many Greek people took boats across the Aegean Sea and fled to the Balkan Peninsula.

When a country is on the rise, open and inclusive policies can be icing on the cake, but when the country is in decline, such policies will not be a timely help.

Based on the actual situation, Mehmed II no longer adopted a contemptuous attitude towards the Turkic nomadic tribes on the Anatolian Plateau, but actively formed alliances and marriages with them, hoping to bring these people under his control and obtain taxes and manpower.

It has to be said that Mehmed II's reforms did stabilize the situation in the Asia Minor territory, improved national strength in a short period of time, and gradually emerged from the shadow of the Battle of Constantinople and the Battle of Belgrade.

The butt determines the head. After the Ottoman rule focus shifted from Europe to Asia, this change was inevitable. Either Mehmed II changed it himself, or the Turkish nobles forced him to change it.

"In the Karaman War, Mehmed II wisely chose a conciliatory policy. He did not forcefully demand to take over Karaman's territory, but instead divided these cities among his cousins ​​and gained their sovereignty himself."

Isaac spoke up.

"This approach has quickly stabilized the situation in Karaman, and in the short term the benefits outweigh the disadvantages."

In the original time and space, Muhammad II had a high prestige and a prosperous national strength. Naturally, he could lead hundreds of thousands of troops to directly conquer the Karamanbay Kingdom without resorting to the tactic of cultivating vassals, which would only be used when he had no other choice.

However, the current Mehmed II obviously does not have this ability.

"Can we communicate with some of the Karaman princes and encourage them to revolt against the rule of Mehmed II?"

Foreign Minister Sfranchis suggested.

"Because we have always supported Prince Ishaq, they probably have a lot of resentment towards us, and communication is difficult."

Isaac shook his head slowly.

"Besides, they are indeed unwilling to be outdone, but they lack an opportunity."

"If we or the Aq Qoyunlu can launch a large-scale attack on the Ottoman Empire and disperse Mehmed II's forces, those Karaman princes will definitely do something about it."

Thinking of this, Isaac sighed slightly.

In the original time and space, the biggest obstacle to the Ottoman advance into Karaman was not Karaman himself, but the interference of surrounding powers. Neither the Aq Qoyunlu Dynasty nor the Mamluk Dynasty wanted to see Karaman completely destroyed, and they supported princes loyal to themselves and fought against Ottoman.

Due to their own butterfly effect, the Mamluks were in turmoil and obviously could not play any role.

The White Sheep Dynasty, sandwiched between the two great powers of the Ottoman Empire and the Black Sheep Dynasty, was not enough to make Mehmed II hesitate.

"So what are you going to do?"

Isaac was silent for a moment, and plans kept coming up in his mind.

"First, allocate some ships to Cyprus. Whether Ichel falls or not, Prince Ishak's life must be saved."

Sfrangis nodded, this coincided with what he thought.

"Second, expand the legions. After the Guards have twelve legions, we will no longer create new ones. Instead, we will expand the number of people."

"Currently, the First and Third Legions of the Guards have expanded to two thousand people."

"The next expansion will be the Ninth Guards Corps, and the personnel will be recruited on the island of Cyprus."

The 9th Guards Corps was reorganized from the former Cyprus Royal Guard. It is stationed on the island of Cyprus and is known as the "Brass Guards".

"Third, send envoys to Bulgaria to persuade Mahmoud to abandon the Ottomans and stop working for them."

"In addition to Mahmoud, the envoy can also talk to the Orthodox nobles in the Bulgarian region to see what they want."

"Before we fully advance into Asia Minor, we must deal with Mahmoud, otherwise it will be a big trouble in the end."

Isaac frowned.

"What if he insists on having his own way?"

"You know, even if he doesn't fight for Osman, just for his own status, he will definitely work hard to unite the surrounding forces and jointly oppose us. This is determined by the geographical location. It doesn't matter who sits on the throne."

Isurt spread his hands.

Isaac shook his head slightly.

"Now we have the initiative in the war, and we have two targets: Bulgaria or the Ottoman Empire."

"When we attack the Ottomans, Mahmoud can provide support and delay us."

"But if we target Bulgaria directly, the Ottomans will have no way to stop us."

"He can support his monarch, but his monarch cannot support him."

"This is a very simple truth. Mahmoud will understand it."

Isaac sneered.

"If he still refuses to change his ways, then beat him!"

"If it really comes to this, even if I have to sit back and watch Karaman perish, I will definitely wipe him out completely!"

Isaac stood up, straightened his clothes, and faced his ministers.

"Everyone should still perform their duties. The development and production of the territory cannot be neglected. Necessary cultural work must also be carried out. It cannot be put on hold because of the war."

"Finally, gather the army and prepare for battle!"

(End of this chapter)