Bringing the Railway to Daming

February 5th, the 26th year of Hongwu (1388).

Jinyang (Cairo), the capital of the State of Jin.

Tie Mingyi, the commander of the Guangming Guard, met with Prince Zhu Gang of Jin. The heir apparent Zhu Jixi, military advisor Wang Xu, and others were also summoned to participate in the discussion.

“Your Highness, our spies in the Ottomans have finally obtained important intelligence by bribing their ministers.”

"The Ottoman ruler Bayezid is currently not interested in the conflict on the southern coast of the Mediterranean. Although he accepted the gifts from the Hafs delegation, he ultimately refused to send troops to aid Hafs."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jixi, Wang Xu, and the others all showed joy.

Since the Guangmingwei and Jinfan had dispatched spies to neighboring countries, they naturally wouldn't forget the rising power of the Ottomans. Therefore, when the Hafs delegation arrived in the Ottomans last year, Zhu Gang and others learned that Hafs intended to seek assistance from the Ottomans.

However, since the spies of both the Bright Guard and the Jin Fan had relatively low status in the Ottoman Empire and were mostly merchants, all that was known was that the Hafs delegation was received with great ceremony by the Ottoman ruler and stayed in the Ottoman Empire for more than a month before leaving.

As for whether the Ottomans would agree to aid Hafs, it wasn't until after spring that they found connections, bribed ministers, and obtained more reliable intelligence.

After his initial excitement subsided, Wang Xu couldn't help but ask, "Tongzhi, is this intelligence reliable? Could it be a false report deliberately released by the Ottoman ruler to lower our guard?"

Tie Mingyi laughed and said, "Military Advisor Wang has overestimated the Ottoman monarch and his ministers. According to the intelligence we have collected over the past few years, Nabayeset is indeed a skilled warrior and is known as 'Lightning' and 'Thor's Hammer' on the battlefield."

"Four years after he ascended the throne, he also won a series of victories in the war against the Eastern Roman Empire (which was actually a multi-nation alliance), bringing Serbia, Bulgaria and other countries into submission, and destroying several small countries in the west, such as Sarhan, Aiden and Menteser, expanding the territory by hundreds of miles."

"But he was not known for his skill in using intrigue and trickery; on the contrary, he was somewhat tyrannical. However, he had exceptional military talent, especially in commanding cavalry."

"Besides, Bayezid shouldn't know that we sent spies to the Ottomans, so why would he release false information in a targeted manner?"

Wang Xu and Zhu Jixi nodded in agreement, feeling that Tie Mingyi's words made some sense.

If the Ottoman rulers and their ministers truly intended to spread false information to strategically deceive the Jin state, they should have proclaimed that they would not come to Hafs's aid.

It is possible that the Ottoman monarchs and their ministers knew about the presence of spies from the Bright Guard and the Jin Dynasty within the country, and used these spies to spread false information, but it is very unlikely. Such actions would also be inconsistent with Bayezid's style.

At this moment, Zhu Gang said, "Even if the Ottomans deliberately spread false information, they just want to take advantage of the time when our Jin state sends troops to attack Hafs to attack Jin state."

"If that's the case, then let them come. I will let the Ottomans taste the might of our Jin army."

Wang Xu said, "Your Majesty is right—our army has firearms, which makes us more advantageous in defending the city. The Ottomans are known for their cavalry, which is precisely what makes them less effective in attacking cities. If they really cross the sea to attack, they will only be asking for trouble."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jixi's heart stirred, and he said, "Since the Ottomans started as nomadic tribes, their navy must not be very strong, right? Could we assign a fleet to guard the Nile estuary area as a precaution?"

Zhu Gang shook his head. "Using the navy to defend against the Ottomans is completely unnecessary—not to mention that our navy is an important force in attacking Hafs, we also have to be wary of Aragon, Sicily, and other countries in the western Mediterranean getting involved."

"In comparison, countries like Aragon and Sicily, which are known for their seafaring history, are more worthy of our naval defense."

When Zhu Gang came to Northeast Africa to establish his fiefdom, he only brought four warships. Later, since he didn't need such powerful warships in the Red Sea area, he had his fleet sail around Africa to the Mediterranean.

As a result, the fleet encountered a storm en route, losing one ship, and ultimately only three ships successfully entered the Mediterranean.

In addition, the warships ordered by Zhu Gang were all of two to three thousand liters, with the largest flagship having a capacity of only four thousand liters and carrying a maximum of twenty-two Shenwei cannons. The other two ships were even less equipped with only twelve Shenwei cannons.

Furthermore, in the past few years, Zhu Gang has focused on land development and has not developed the shipbuilding industry. Therefore, the other warships of the Jin navy were "inherited" from the Mamluks.

To be honest, such a navy would not be confident of victory if faced with too many enemy ships or an enemy that is particularly skilled in naval warfare.

When attacking Hafs, the navy and numerous ships were the guarantee of Jin's logistics supply lines and retreat routes. The ships were already insufficient, so it was impossible for him to spare another fleet to stay behind.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gang added, "The fleet sent by the court to provide support should arrive in May. At that time, we will have at least one more elite garrison. As long as we are not wiped out by the enemy in the next few months, we have nothing to fear." "Therefore, I have decided to send troops to attack Hafs in a few days!"

Zhu Jixi said, "Father, King Hafs did marry off his daughter last year as you wished, and he also provided a sufficient dowry. If we attack Hafs again, under what pretext should we do so?"

Zhu Gang didn't really care about being called untrustworthy, but it would be better to have a reputation for it, so he asked, "Mr. Wang, do you have a plan?"

Wang Xu smiled slightly, "It's very simple. Just say that a team of soldiers we have in the Tripoli area were abducted by an unknown force while patrolling the border and have disappeared into Hafs territory."

“If Nahafus doesn’t hand over the missing soldiers, how can he be considered a friendly nation of Jin? A neighboring country that is hypocritical on the surface but secretly plots against us should naturally be destroyed.”

"Hahaha, good!" Zhu Gang laughed happily. "This is a great idea—then Mr. Wang will have to trouble you with this proclamation of conquest."

"This is my duty."

···
On February 12th of the 26th year of the Hongwu reign, the Prince of Jin of the Ming Dynasty issued a "Proclamation to Punish Hafs," dispatching an army of 50,000 to attack the Kingdom of Hafs and demanding that Hafs return a group of Jin soldiers who had been abducted to his territory.

Out of caution and to train his troops, Zhu Gang did not launch a surprise attack on Hafs' capital Tunis with a fleet of ships this time. Although Tunis, like Tripoli, is a coastal city, its walls are much taller, and even with the help of powerful cannons, it might not be easy to take it by sea.

Moreover, the sea route from Jin to Tunisia is twice as long as that to Tripoli, and it also requires passing through the waters where the naval forces of Sicily and Naples operate, making it far too dangerous.

Therefore, the Jin army used Tripoli as its main forward camp and attacked the coastal cities of Hafs from east to west—most of Hafs' important cities were located on the southern coast of the Mediterranean.

In mid-February, the Jin army successively captured the cities of Bengaldan, Kyrgyzstan, and Midon on the eastern coast of Hafs.

On February 23, Jin general Yang Jun led more than 40,000 troops to attack the Hamai-Hanongchi defense line, which was defended by nearly 50,000 troops from the Kingdom of Hafs.

In just one day, the Jin army breached this defensive line that King Hafs had placed high hopes on!
More than 8,000 of Hafs's 50,000 troops were killed on the spot, and more than 10,000 were captured. The remaining troops retreated into the cities of Hama and Hanonchi, intending to hold them to the death.

However, Hamai and Hanongchi were just ordinary stone cities with neither tall nor thick and sturdy walls. As a result, they fell one after another within three days when attacked by the Jin army carrying cannons!
The Hafs soldiers who retreated to these two cities were either killed in battle or captured, with only a few managing to escape.

Hafs's army was never more than 100,000 (similar phenomena of embezzlement also exist in foreign armies, such as lords exaggerating their own strength), and this battle directly reduced Hafs's army by more than half, leaving only more than 30,000 troops left to defend the capital Tunis.

Upon hearing the news, King Gibb of Hafs fainted immediately and never recovered...

Tunisia.

Gib lay dying in bed, giving his final instructions to his most beloved third prince, Tabu.

“Tabu, the Ottomans won’t help us, so now we have no choice but to ask Aragon and France for help.”

Tab nodded. “Father, I understand. I will send men to Aragon and France for help immediately.”

Gibb, however, held onto Tab's hand tightly and said, "Aragorn's current king, Juan, is a mediocre man who is addicted to pleasure and has little ambition. So we can get closer to Aragorn."

"We need to be careful with France, after all, they sent troops to attack us three years ago."

Tab asked, puzzled, "Father, since France has only recently become our enemy, why are we asking them for help?"

Gibb sighed—this was all the prince he valued most was capable of; he couldn't even understand such a simple question. How could he go to see the true God with peace of mind?

Then he had to pull himself together and explain, “First, the Jin army is formidable; asking Aaragon for help alone probably won’t be enough to stop them.”

"Secondly, no matter how mediocre Juan is, Aragon is still a great power. If we only invite them, it will only make them also develop ambitions towards Hafs."

Tab seemed to understand something, and then, drawing inferences from this, asked, "Then why not ask the Kingdom of Marin for help again?" (End of Chapter)