Chapter 125 I Reflect on Myself Three Times a Day

Selim thought that his reforms were both tough and gentle.

Selim was tough in that he was ruthless when it came to the power of the monarch.

He would severely crack down on any political force that threatened the monarchy and centralization.

In this era of great contention, if the central government of the Ottoman Empire still needed to negotiate with local nobles, then it would be better to commit suicide.

Only by establishing a stable and effective autocratic monarchy can the Ottoman Empire be forced to reform step by step with an iron fist. Only in this way can this ancient and decaying empire be put back on track step by step.

This was also the reason why Selim first launched the Russo-Turkish War, and he needed to use it to regain power.

As for whether the Ottoman Empire could win or not, it was nothing more than a question of tactics and the army.

In terms of tactics, luring the enemy deep into the enemy and then counterattacking, striving to attack with superior forces in every battle, to this extent, can be said to be quite in place.

In terms of the army, are the soldiers of the Ottoman Empire really much worse than the Tsarist Russian army? This is really not the case.

The military strength of Tsarist Russia is not strong. In terms of the recent large-scale wars, its performance in the Seven Years' War was not too outstanding.

In the entire Seven Years' War, the most outstanding performance was actually the Austrian army under the command of Daun and the Prussian army.

Daun was known for his skills in defensive warfare and reorganizing the defeated army.

He fought four battles with Frederick the Great of Prussia, winning three and losing one, and was called the German Fabius by Frederick.

(Fabius was a Roman consul, known as the "delayer", who used delaying tactics to fight Hannibal in the Second Punic War and saved Rome from danger.)

The French army has a relatively high military quality, but the commander is poor, which leads to the French army's poor record.

The Prussian army has a relatively high military quality and a fairly good command ability, but it often fights with fewer troops.

The Austrian army under the command of Daun can be said to be another peak after Prince Eugene.

Eugen is considered one of the most outstanding military commanders in Austrian and even European history.

French Marshal Hermann Maurice Saxe, King Frederick II of Prussia, and French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte all highly respected him.

He defeated France, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Spain, and he had gained a lot of experience.

But after the peak, there was a decline. By the time of Selim, the Austrian army was, well, only average in combat effectiveness.

As for the Russian army, the quality of the Russian army was even worse.

Judging from the marching regulations in the late 18th century, the Russian army was not as good as the French, Prussian, Austrian and British lobster soldiers in terms of marching steps alone.

Don't underestimate the British army of this period. Lobster soldiers are actually just a joke.

When it comes to the army, Britain has always been relatively strong.

In the Hundred Years' War, the unlucky guy who was captured by others despite having more people than others and relying on his son to pay the ransom was the King of France.

It can be said that the quality of the Russian army was the worst among the European powers at this time.

Oh, and Prussia. Since the death of Frederick the Great, the Prussian army has been in decline.

As for Spain, the army of Banya.

I don't know Serbia, and it doesn't seem very strong.

Then the question is, how is the army of the Ottoman Empire?

In the last Russo-Turkish War, Rumyantsev defeated the Ottoman army all the way. He was so excited that he went deep into the heart of the Ottoman Empire, and he was alone.

There were only two cities he conquered that were related to him.

If you are so addicted to fighting, you will easily suffer retribution.

The Ottoman government, which received the news, quickly organized a large army to besiege.

Rumyantsev was eventually attacked by the army of the Ottoman Empire's Khalili Pasha.

He was almost desperate at the time and thought he would die without a burial place.

It's just that Khalili Pasha's military literacy was too rubbish.

Under his leadership, the Ottoman army suddenly changed its original station, advanced towards the Trajan earthen city, passed south of the Russian station, dragged a few versts, and then built barracks about 7 to 8 versts away from the earthen city.

This camp of the Ottoman army was actually in a unique "pocket" between the depression and the Prut River, occupying the commanding heights passing through here.

Its north is restricted by the Trajan earthen city, the deep Kagul River to the west, the wide depression to the east, and the passable area to the south gradually narrows and extends to connect with the Prut Valley.

There are 4 valley ridges scattered like fans in the space between the Prut River and the depression. The middle valley ridge passes through the Trajan earthen city and continues to extend southward for about 4 versts.

The new Turkish position was superior in every way: the Ottoman army could control the commanding heights; the low-lying areas between the ridges could easily mobilize cavalry to attack the Russian army in the south, or even the rear of the Russian army - if the Russian army attempted to attack the Turkish barracks from here.

But this was the limit of Halili Pasha's ability.

When Rumyantsev saw this, he immediately realized the fatal weakness of the Ottoman army's new position.

That is, the Turkish army was stationed in such a narrow area with superior forces, and the connection between the troops was cut by the mountain ridge. This was the perfect opportunity for the Russian army to annihilate them one by one, not to mention that the Turkish army's left wing was almost unguarded.

It is said that he once said at the time: "If the Turks dare to set up a tent here, I will attack tonight."

Did Halili Pasha see this problem? Maybe, because he sent people to build fortifications.

Unfortunately, Rumyantsev came too fast, and as a result, under the leadership of Halili Pasha, Rumyantsev defeated the Ottoman army, which was five times his own.

But is the Ottoman army really invincible?

If it couldn't be fought, Rumyantsev wouldn't have such worries.

The Guards did decline, but not all troops declined.

The Ottoman Empire was never that conservative.

Many soldiers of the Guards have been using new European training methods.

This may be just a few corps, but there are some.

This situation is more common in the private forces of the Ottoman nobles.

One example that illustrates this point is that the artillery of the Ottoman family private soldiers knows mathematics.

This is outrageous. Even the artillery of the Ottoman Guards basically doesn't know it.

So the military system of the Ottoman Empire is not far behind, but the military quality of the commanders is not satisfactory.

This is why Selim invited Napoleon. A genius is always a genius. Tactical literacy can be learned, but strategic awareness is innate.

This is also why Selim promoted the officers of the new army with higher levels in history while asking the nobles to disband their private soldiers.

The military power of the empire can only be controlled by the Sultan, and there is no room for negotiation.

After talking about the tough ones, let's talk about the soft ones.

The soft one is the reform of religion, which must be done slowly.

What Selim the Great has to do is to try to bring the two sides closer. What are the two sides?

That is, the people who can become Muslims and Islam itself.

Through this slight reform, he made Islam more adaptable to preaching little by little, and on the non-Muslim side, he used a lot of preferential policies to attract them to convert.

Only by combining strength and flexibility can the country truly recover.

Originally, this section was mainly about the wedding, but I haven't written the hidden plot that goes with the wedding, so I have been stuck, so I have to open a branch line to drag it out.