Rakı, also known as "lion's milk," was a traditional Ottoman strong distilled liquor, brewed from grapes and anise, with an alcohol content as high as 45%.
Rakı was widespread throughout every stratum of the Ottoman Empire. Though drinking violated religious doctrine, when had doctrine ever been such an inconvenient thing?
Fermented fruit juice—that was all it was!
What the Ottomans did not know was that Russian soldiers had already landed. These troops all came from Saint Petersburg; every one of them was among the Russian army's elite, and most of their weapons had been manufactured in the Austrian Empire.
Most of their officers had been trained by Austrian instructors. These soldiers were not comparable to ordinary Russian troops.
Most of the Ottoman sentries dozing atop the gun emplacements had their throats slit in their sleep. The Ottomans in the barracks ultimately could not escape death either, for the Russian army had already surrounded them.
The Ottoman soldiers who had been boasting and playing cards in the barracks suddenly caught the smell of smoke. At first, they thought it was an illusion, but they quickly realized something was wrong.
It was not merely the smell of smoke—nearby, they could even hear the crackling of burning wood.
"Fire!"
"Put it out, quickly!"
The barracks descended into chaos, yet the door simply would not open no matter what they did.
Kasim, the sentry captain, shoved aside the soldiers around him and stepped forward to kick the door violently, but it still did not budge. Only then did they realize the gravity of the situation. This was no accidental fire—someone had set it deliberately.
The Ottoman soldiers inside the barracks rammed the door like mad, while some tried to climb onto the beds and escape. Suddenly, gunfire rang out, and the man who had