Chapter 1591: Pacifying the West, Facing Down Russia — the Ottomans

Istanbul, Topkapi Palace.

Sultan Mehmed IV of the Ottoman Empire never imagined that he would actually shed tears over the death of a Spanish king — and a Spanish king at that!

The Kingdom of Spain was the Ottoman Empire's mortal enemy!

Ever since the Battle of Lepanto more than a hundred years ago, this fanatical Catholic upstart nation had been the object of curses gnashed out by every Ottoman sultan in turn.

Mehmed IV was, of course, no exception!

Back when he was still a child sultan, he had more than once begged Allah to destroy this evil and fanatical Catholic nation — thinking back on it now, how young and ignorant he had been!

And now, the Kingdom of Spain that generations of Ottoman sultans had cursed for over a hundred years had truly been cursed out of existence — it was about to become the Roman Empire's Province of Spain, Province of New Spain, and Province of Italy (the Kingdom of Naples plus the Duchy of Milan plus a scattering of other bits of territory).

This was a catastrophe!

There are some things whose worth you only truly know once they are lost — and to the Ottoman Empire right now, the finest thing in the world was undoubtedly a unified, prosperous, and powerful Kingdom of Spain!

Because as long as the Kingdom of Spain still existed, there could never be a unified, prosperous, and powerful Roman Empire!

But alas, the Kingdom of Spain was gone, never to return. And the Roman Empire would soon be coming — ten, perhaps twenty Roman legions, perhaps joined by the great armies of Rome's two allies, Russia and Poland, surging like a tide from the west and the north against the Ottoman Empire.

And the Ottoman Empire now stood alone and without allies — the Great Ming Empire was busy with funerals, the Timurid Empire of India was on the verge of civil strife, and Persia was in chaos as well!

Was the Ottoman Empire to perish in his own generation?

Just as Mehmed IV was sighing in despair, soft footsteps sounded.

The Sultan looked up — it was the Köprülü family arriving.

There was the Grand Vizier Mustafa Köprülü, and Mustafa Köprülü's brother-in-law Mustafa Kara, and Mustafa Köprülü's cousin Hüseyin Köprülü.

The ability of the Köprülü family was beyond question — whether as generals or as officials, they were the Sultan's best choice.

But this time the opponent the Ottoman Empire faced was unprecedentedly powerful — the Christian civilization of Europe, about to unite.

"Your Majesty the Sultan, Austria is carrying out war mobilization!" Mustafa Kara, who handled military affairs, saluted the Sultan and immediately reported news that infuriated the Ottoman Sultan.

The Archduchy of Austria was actually carrying out war mobilization!

"How large is the mobilization?" the Sultan asked, struggling to suppress his anger.

"Very large!" Mustafa Kara said. "Styria and Lower Austria are both mobilizing. Enthusiasm among nobles and commoners for joining the army is very high — an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 men will join the army!"

"100,000 to 150,000?" the Sultan said in astonishment. "How is that possible? How could they possibly afford to maintain so many troops?"

"Your Majesty," the Grand Vizier Mustafa Köprülü said to the Sultan, "the vast majority of Austrians hate us, so apart from a standing army of about 15,000, the rest are serving voluntarily."

"They are nothing but farmers and townsmen — they will collapse at a single blow!" Mustafa Kara sneered. "This Henry must be counting on sheer numbers to intimidate us."

He had guessed exactly right — Henry had no intention of sending troops into Ottoman territory. Henry only wanted to deter war; holding Styria and Lower Austria would satisfy him completely, and he had no extravagant hopes of expanding his borders.

Moreover, in Henry's view, the situation in Central Europe and the Balkans was far too complicated — every piece of it was a hot potato.

Henry had no interest in ruling Hungary, Bohemia, Serbia, or Transylvania! Half of Austria was already enough of a headache for him — why would he expand?

Besides, Henry was at heart a banker. He did not need vast territory — he only needed a patch of land that could remain neutral, on which to open a bank.

So even half of Austria was too big for him; Vienna alone was enough.

And in order to placate the Germans of Austria, he had not only racked his brains for years but also spent a great deal of the gold louis and silver marks earned from Vienna's banking industry. For the Archduchy of Austria had the lowest agricultural land tax in all of Europe, and was also the only country in all of Europe to provide four years of compulsory education (for a small fee) — in this world, the only other country providing four years of compulsory education was the United States of the New Continent, that golden land of tycoons.

The Archduchy of Austria had no inexhaustible gold mines, and half its territory was mountainous. Apart from Vienna's financial services, it had no other strengths.

So from a fiscal standpoint, the Archduchy of Austria used its neutral status to do financial business, and then used the income from finance to buy peace.

And Lower Austria and Styria were in fact merely the shell wrapped around Vienna, the "good fruit" — providing a little protection, and that was all they were good for.

So Henry did not need to take Hungary, Bohemia, or Croatia into his hands. If he did that, the shell around Vienna would be too thick — and such a thick "shell" could not be sustained by one little Vienna, with so much territory to support!

"If he only wants to intimidate us..." Mehmed IV breathed a sigh of relief, thinking: Actually, I am very timid, so I have already been intimidated!

"Your Majesty, we should march on Austria at once!" Mustafa Kara said loudly. "The Ottoman Empire cannot show weakness to the West at a time like this!

Because it is not only the Roman Empire that is stirring — Poland and Russia in the north have long been in league with the Roman Empire... especially the Russian Empire, whose national and military strength has greatly improved under the reorganization of Peter I. A few years ago they even seized our fortress at Azov!

If we are intimidated by Austria's mobilization, then Peter I's Russia will soon pounce.

Therefore we must, with the utmost resolve, put down Austria's rebellion, in order to overawe Russia, Poland, and the Roman Empire in the west!"

"Can we win?" Mehmed IV asked in a low voice.

"We can!" Mustafa Kara nodded. "The Archduchy of Austria is very fragile, because its economy depends utterly on Vienna's banking industry. And Vienna's walls have long fallen into disrepair (the Ottoman Empire forbade Austria from repairing Vienna's fortifications). The army Henry has hastily raised will not have much fighting strength. If we can swiftly dispatch 100,000 Janissary warriors and strike straight at Austria like lightning, we can certainly force Henry to submit."

"But..." Mehmed IV hesitated. "But do we have that much military funding?"

Dispatching 100,000 Janissary warriors at once was not cheap! Last time Aurangzeb had paid for it — who would pay this time?

"No money is needed!" said Hüseyin Köprülü, who managed finances. "Because our target is Vienna — the banking capital of Europe!"

Indeed, once Vienna was taken, would there be any fear of lacking money?

And the Ottoman Empire had already broken through Vienna once before. The current Archduchy of Austria was no longer the Holy Roman Empire of old — its territory was only half of Austria, its standing army just over ten thousand, and it had no strong cavalry, nor any generals worth naming.

Mustafa Kara appeared highly optimistic. "This time we will first secretly assemble our army at Győr, then suddenly launch the attack. In three or four days we will be at the gates of Vienna. Archduke Henry will either flee or have no choice but to surrender. If his hundred thousand troops dare to come out of the city for a decisive battle, then we can annihilate them all on the banks of the Danube!"

Mehmed IV let out a breath: "Very well, so be it. We must quietly assemble the army at Győr, then strike suddenly and catch Henry off guard!"

(End of Chapter)