Chapter 166: Clumsy

May 1839.

The Austrian army suddenly appeared in Novi Sad, which caused panic in the Bosnian Governor, and Serbia also sent a distress signal to the Ottoman Empire.

Because as long as the Austrians crossed the Danube, they could attack them.

The Austrian side had at least 50,000 regular troops, and at this time neither Bosnia nor Serbia could produce a force to fight against them.

After overthrowing the rule of Milos Obrenovic, Serbia fell into turmoil. The members of the Seventeen-member Parliament bribed the Ottoman Pasha stationed here, and they continued to attack each other for the so-called supreme power.

This was a good thing for the Ottoman Empire, and Esor Pasha was also happy to see this scene. He wanted to use the weakness of internal disunity among the Serbs to weaken their strength and ultimately achieve the goal of regaining control of Serbia.

However, the sudden visit of the Austrian Empire army made the situation tense. Vucic, who apparently had the upper hand, suffered heavy losses in the civil war and offended all the Serbian princes.

Vucic was backed by the Russians, and Milos Obrenovic, who was suppressed by him, was backed by the Austrians.

In fact, Milos Obrenovic had never been truly loyal to any party. He could follow Karajdjoer (the former leader of the Serbian independence faction) to seek independence. He could also chop off Karajdjoer for wealth and glory and send his head to the Sultan as a stepping stone for his own promotion.

He could declare allegiance to Russia for independence, and he could also flirt with Austria to get rid of Russia's influence.

Milos always had only one goal, to establish Greater Serbia. The Greater Serbia in his mind was a superpower empire that included Slovenia, Croatia, and the entire Balkan Peninsula.

Milos's double-faced behavior had offended Austria, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire long ago.

But Vucic and the Seventeen-Man Parliament didn't know, and only thought that the Austrians were going to send troops to help Milos suppress the rebellion.

Vucic's envoys soon arrived in Russia, but were told that the Tsar could only guarantee that Serbia would not be annexed by Austria, and the reinforcements were only a Russian military adviser, and even the ubiquitous Russian spies disappeared unknowingly.

At this time, Vucic and the Seventeen-Man Parliament could only temporarily abandon their personal prejudices, stop attacking each other, and ask for help from the Ottoman Empire together.

On the other hand, the Bosnian Pasha was also panicking. Serbia had an army of 15,000 people and Esor Pasha's 5,000 Ottoman soldiers, while the whole of Bosnia had only 5,000 soldiers, and they were distributed in nearly 100 fortresses of all sizes.

Bosnia was a negative income province of the Ottoman Empire, and the taxes collected were not enough to pay for the cost of maintaining its stability. There were 150,000 Croats and nearly 300,000 Serbs living in Bosnia, and there were only 240,000 local Bosniacs.

The above three nations were considered disloyal by the orthodox Ottomans.

Fearing that the Austrian Empire would attack Bosnia, he could only lead his troops to fight guerrilla warfare.

The news reached Istanbul.

Mahmud II was furious.

"Damn it! A guy who doesn't believe his words! A treacherous villain! Savage Russians, despicable Austrians, shameless British!"

Mahmud II cursed the powers, but he could only ask Grand Vizier Ferchak to urgently recall the Balkan troops and let the army return to Tulcea to continue to confront Russia across the Danube, while sending troops to reinforce Serbia.

Bosnia was of little importance to the Ottoman Empire, its income was almost negligible, but the cost of maintaining stability was very high.

Facing this rotten land, the Ottoman Empire also ruled in a rotten state. The Ottomans only had strongholds in towns, and they collected as much tax as they could. As long as the rebels did not shout independence or attack cities, they would turn a blind eye.

More than 90% of this area is rugged mountainous, and the crop yield is less than one-fifth of that of the neighboring Vojvodina Province.

Industrial and commercial trade is almost non-existent, and in the 19th century it still relied on farming, animal husbandry, fishing and hunting to survive.

Moreover, the mountain people here are wild and unruly, fierce and warlike, and they often revolt and make trouble. The Ottoman Empire has sent troops to encircle and suppress them many times, but they have all returned in vain.

Although this piece of rotten land is the "ancestral foundation" of the Ottoman Empire, Mahmud II did not feel sorry for losing it. On the contrary, Serbia, which is now basically independent, cannot be lost for the Ottoman Empire.

Because once Serbia falls, Austria's path to the Ottoman Empire will be unimpeded. There is also a century-old feud between the two countries. Once the Austrians taste the taste of blood, they may become the next Russia, and they will easily start a "Turkey-Austria War" or something.

Therefore, Mahmud II had to leave 150,000 troops to confront Russia and Austria. He only had 200,000 troops on the southern front, which was weaker than Muhammad Ali's troops. He could only hope that the civil unrest in Egypt was real and that his vanguard could directly take Syria.

Syrian battlefield.

The Ottoman vanguard, led by Havz Pasha, quickly entered Syria. At first, there was no resistance. He wanted to take Damascus in one fell swoop while the Egyptians were weak.

However, what Havz Pasha did not know was that from the moment he entered Syria, he had fallen into Ibrahim's trap.

When the Ottoman army advanced all the way to Aleppo, Havz Pasha decided to rest and replenish supplies in the small town of Nizip.

As a result, he was attacked from both sides by the Egyptian troops who had been ambushed in Nizip and the main force of Ibrahim who followed, and suffered heavy losses. Havz Pasha himself was also captured.

Ibrahim personally chopped off Havz Pasha's head and cut off the beards of all the prisoners of war, and gave them as gifts to Mahmud II.

In the Great Sarakirio Palace, the 54-year-old Mahmud II cursed Muhammad Ali and everything in the world. He worked day and night for his whole life to reform, but suffered repeated setbacks and was almost crazy at this time.

The news of the disastrous defeat was torn to pieces by him, and Havz Pasha's head was kicked away by him.

"I still have new troops! I still have a fleet! Send the Mahmoudiya! Tell Ahmed that if you can't win, you'll have to come to me with your head!"

"Go and ask that Palmerston to come over. Where is the British support? If I don't see the British fleet, chop off his head!"

Fer Chak wrote the order with great anxiety. He didn't know where the war would go, but he was more worried about the Sultan's health than the war.

Fifty-four years old is considered a long life in this era. (The average age is 30 years old)

After receiving the order, Ahmed, the commander of the front line, immediately ordered the army to march along the coastline, with the navy and the army advancing side by side, so that they could support each other when encountering the Egyptian army.

But what Ahmed Pasha didn't know was that the Ottoman navy had long been bought by Muhammad Ali with money.