With the soldiers confused and talking, White Sheep Army headed south.
In this battle, they referred to the tactics of Greece and Georgia Army, carried many baggage vehicles, and were able to form Wagon Fort when necessary. Wagon Fort has many advantages, but its disadvantage is that it moves slowly and is suitable for defense rather than offense.
Uzon Hassan felt that the infantry must be separated from Wagon Fort when attacking. In this case, the musketeers needed the constant protection of the close combat infantry to prevent the cavalry from attacking from the flanks.
During the journey, messengers from Ottoman and Black Sheep came almost every day to inquire about the news.
At first, the Black Sheep messenger's attitude was tough, but on April 14, the messenger's tone suddenly became gentle, and he also brought a personal letter from Jahan Shah.
In the letter, this Black Sheep Sultan affectionately called Uzon Hassan his brother, which surprised him.
"I have always communicated with this guy as a junior and a subordinate. Now I have changed my attitude. I estimate that the Black Sheep army did not achieve the victory they expected, and the two sides are most likely in a stalemate."
In the evening, Uzon Hassan convened a meeting in the camp. He knew that a few leaders were inclined to the Black Sheep Dynasty, so he forced these three people to express their stance:
"I heard that Jahan Shah intends to murder me. Now that the matter has come to this, I am determined to unite with Bayezid II to deal with the next war. What do you think?"
Aware of the potential malice of Sultan, the leaders unconsciously looked towards the entrance of the camp, fearing that the guards would rush in at any time and kill people. In order to save their lives, they were forced to swear a strong oath and promised to fight Black Sheep.
"Okay! After this battle is over, I will reward you based on your merits and distribute the pasture and money I gained to you..."
Sultan made a lot of intimidating remarks, and then sent people to inform the entire army and officially declared war on Black Sheep. In the next two days, White Sheep Army continued to advance towards the battlefield. According to the information obtained by the cavalry, the Ottoman army had won two battles in a row and was about to launch a counterattack.
April 17, morning.
According to the plan agreed between White Sheep and Ottoman, Uzong Hassan advanced towards Erciş. The villages on both sides of the road were uninhabited, and sometimes some dead human and animal bodies could be seen.
"It seems that both sides are short of military rations, so they searched so hard that not even a little bit of food was left for me. Unfortunately, the area around Lake Van is a rare high-quality agricultural area in the interior and is usually densely populated. After this war, it is expected to take a long time to recover."
He was sitting on the horse talking to himself, and suddenly he saw a group of reconnaissance cavalry running in front of him. These people looked embarrassed, as if they had seen some unexpected scene.
"Your Majesty, we met the defeated troops of Ottoman. They seem to have been defeated!"
What's going on? I've been winning a few days ago, why do I suddenly lose now?
Uzon Hassan took out his binoculars and vaguely saw a large group of defeated troops fleeing north. Judging from the flags, they were indeed the Ottoman army.
Faced with this unexpected situation, he quickly asked the entire army to form a formation, then sent cavalry to restrain the broken troops and inquire about Ottoman and Black Sheep.
The information given by the defeated troops varied. Some claimed that their side was ambushed and Bayezid II was shot dead by the enemy. Some claimed that Bayezid II met Jahan Shah head-on and was stabbed off his horse with a spear...
Based on what everyone said, Uzon Hassan deduced the general course of the battle: The Ottoman army pursued the victory, but their Musketeers lacked adequate cover. As a result, they were defeated by a counterattack by the Black Sheep cavalry. Bayezid II led his troops to rescue, but died in the chaos.
After thinking for a moment, a group of Ottoman soldiers appeared again in the south. Their formation was relatively neat, and they fled north surrounded by a carriage. Uzong Hassan sent someone to intercept this troop and learned that inside the carriage was the body of Sultan himself.
"What a tricky shooting skill. He actually hit the face with an arrow and avoided the protection of the iron armor."
The nomadic nobles rode horses and hunted all day long, so it was not surprising that a few sharpshooters appeared. He lowered the door curtain of the carriage, held on to the carriage and sighed for a long time, not only mourning the death of Bayezid II, but also lamenting his own bad luck.
"Did your Sultan make a will before the war started? Where are his children?"
The servant whispered back, "There is no posthumous edict. Sultan's heir is in Diyarbakir. In addition, he was blessed with a noble widow in Erzurum, who gave birth to a baby boy at the beginning of the year."
The next moment, Uzon Hassan had a sudden idea.
"No, Bayezid II issued an edict before he died, allowing the baby boy to ascend the throne and entrusting me to be the regent. Where is the seal of Bayezid? Write an edict quickly before it's too late!"
Under his coercion, the Eunuchs had no choice but to comply and drafted an edict in a hurry.
Sultan's children are generally young, with the oldest child only four years old. It is difficult for them to manage affairs, and their power is destined to fall into the hands of others. Ottoman officer used this reason to convince himself and acquiesced to the bold move of his allies.
After receiving the imperial edict, Uzong Hassan had dozens of edicts written to mobilize troops, sent messenger riders to look for Ottoman's defeated troops, and notified them to assemble at Erzurum in the north.
It was a rare opportunity, so he decided to gamble this time. As long as he defeated the Black Sheep army and avenged Bayezid II, he would be able to gain the allegiance of the remaining Ottoman troops and inherit part of Bayezid II's legacy...
More than a month later, Vitus received relevant news about the Lake Van battle:
White Sheep repelled the Black Sheep army, and the two sides are in a confrontation stage.
At the end of this battle, the rule of Ottoman collapsed, and the remaining tribes and territories were carved up by surrounding forces. The northern forces were taken over by White Sheep, the Diyarbakir area in the middle was occupied by Black Sheep, and the Syria area in the south chose to pledge allegiance to Mamluk.
"I was still thinking about solving Venice, and then marching eastward to completely eradicate the threat of Ottoman. I didn't expect them to lose so quickly."
Upon learning of the demise of his old enemy, his first reaction was not surprise, but lingering confusion and loss.
It is now June 1, 1445. Vitus has been entangled with this enemy for more than twenty years, and it is his most precious twenty years. Sometimes his dreams at night are all related events.
He sat slumped on the throne, ignoring the confused looks of Chancellor, Inner Palace Directorate Eunuch, and still talking to himself:
"Actually, I don't have a bad impression of Murad II, and I can't talk about personal grudges. The reason why things have developed to this point is because of this troubled world. It's really fate that makes people..."
After a while, Vitus asked Eunuch to draft an edict:
"Tell Frontier Army and Georgia that White Sheep Army is a level better organized than Black Sheep. White Sheep is likely to win this battle and become the number one threat in the east. Let them be prepared to repair their defenses and deal with subsequent threats."