Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 671 May 1873

Ismail's statement has garnered the support of most of the Ali family, who, compared to Iranian nobles, are somewhat like nouveau riche from the countryside.

In the canal district, the Iranians all wore suits and silk top hats, typical of Europeans, looking every bit the British gentleman. They could casually spend more money than a farmer could earn in a lifetime.

The children around them begged from these people, and if they encountered a kind person, they could get at least one rial. If they were lucky, they could get more.

A sense of jealousy permeated the hearts of every nobleman and landowner. Coupled with the current calls for unification, they felt fear—fear of losing their current status and wealth.

As calls for unification grew louder each day, they finally decided to take decisive action to stop the movement. Led by Ahmed, several large landowners gathered 2000 men, intending to storm Cairo, remove Ismail Pasha from his post, and then declare Egypt's independence.

But before they could even begin, the details of the rebellion were discovered by Iranian security agents and sent to the canal zone. Local officers quickly mobilized 1000 soldiers, arresting 25 leaders, including the Grand Mufti, a religious figure.

Ismail Pasha was prepared, after all, according to the agreement, the powers of the army and police were the first to be handed over. Now, he was no different from an ordinary nobleman.

The previous Ottoman reforms hadn't yet affected Egypt because Nasser al-Din didn't want large-scale unrest. Now that war with Russia has broken out, it's necessary to accelerate control over these North African regions.

The local tribal chiefs, sheikhs, and all hereditary nobles who owned large tracts of land would be compensated with land or annuities of equal value in other parts of the empire, but they would have to leave Egypt and relocate to designated new fiefdoms. At the same time, nobles, meritorious military officers, and merchants from the core regions of Iran and the Ottoman Empire were encouraged to move to Egypt to receive these vacated lands and properties.

The confiscated lands of the rebellious nobles were partly distributed to landless or land-poor Egyptian peasants, and partly converted into state farms or distributed to newly relocated nobles. A unified, modern tax system based on land surveys was implemented, abolishing the tax farming system and various exorbitant taxes, thereby increasing central government revenue.

Furthermore, the Baghdad government included Egypt in its imperial railway and telegraph network construction plans. Priority was given to building railway lines connecting Alexandria, Cairo, the Canal Zone, and even leading to Palestine, as well as laying a telegraph network across the Nile Delta to strengthen central control over Egypt and its ability to allocate resources.

On May 31, Ismail Pasha, Egypt's last Khedif, relinquished all power and was promoted to the Imperial Upper House, moving his family to Baghdad. He became the final symbol of the end of Egypt's old era.

The Khedif State of Egypt has been reorganized into 10 provinces and a municipality directly under the central government, Cairo, which will be governed by personnel dispatched by the Iranian government. As for Tunisia and Cyrenaica, those will be addressed after the war. Nasser al-Din's plan is to stabilize Egypt first and secure the Suez Canal before considering anything else.

Meanwhile, news of the other two fronts in the Caucasus also reached Constantinople. While Duke Rostovsky's central army suffered heavy losses at the Darya Valley, Duke Grigory Golitsyn's western army launched a fierce offensive along the narrow plains of the Black Sea coast. The western army's strategic objectives were clear: to capture the two major Black Sea ports of Batumi and Sukhumi, both under Ottoman control, to control coastal transportation lines, and, in coordination with troops crossing the Pontin Mountains, to threaten the eastern heart of the Ottoman Anatolian Plateau, attempting to form a pincer movement with the main Russian forces on the Ottoman front.

However, the geography on the western front was extremely unfavorable to the attackers. The towering Pontin Mountains hugged the Black Sea coast, leaving very narrow passages for the army, riddled with rivers, swamps, and dense forests. The Iranian commanders made full use of this natural barrier. They constructed a multi-layered, mountain-and-sea-bound defensive system around the key towns of Al-Havi, Sukhumi, and Batumi, supported by fire from the remaining gunboats of the Black Sea Fleet.

Duke Golitsyn's offensive was fraught with difficulty from the outset. His heavy artillery struggled to deploy in the jungle and mountains, while the Allied forces, relying on their pre-established positions and familiar terrain, put up a fierce resistance. The battle devolved into brutal jungle warfare, street fighting, and mountain warfare.

Despite his continuous deployment of reserves and even attempts at small-scale amphibious landings to flank the enemy, his efforts were largely ineffective against the Allied forces' strong defenses and harsh natural conditions. The Western Route Army made slow progress, suffered heavy casualties, and fell far short of its strategic objective of linking up with the Russian forces on the Ottoman front. When news arrived of the complete annihilation of the Central Army Corps, the morale of the Western Route Army was dealt a severe blow, forcing Duke Golitsyn to adopt a defensive posture to guard against a potential Allied counterattack.

The Eastern Route Army, commanded by General Ivan Lazarev, adopted a more brutal and ruthless approach to the local population: wherever the army went, villages suspected of supporting the partisans were burned, livestock and grain were looted or destroyed, and civilians were driven away or executed, attempting to break the will to resist through absolute terror. However, this atrocity only fueled stronger hatred and resistance among the Chechen and Dagestan peoples.

Arslan and Muhammad-Giri's cavalry, along with numerous local resistance groups, used their familiarity with the terrain to wage a fierce guerrilla war against Lazarev's main Russian forces. They attacked supply lines, ambushed small units, and assassinated officers, plunging the Russian Eastern Route Army into an invisible quagmire, where every step forward was accompanied by continuous bloodshed.

When Lazarev finally advanced his main force to about 100 kilometers north of Baku after much difficulty, he encountered the main Iranian Eastern Army Group, commanded by General Shiraz. General Shiraz did not simply hold Baku; he adopted a proactive defensive strategy.

In the Kousare region, General Shiraz carefully selected a strategically advantageous location, constructed a formidable defensive line, and dispatched elite troops to continuously harass and lure the enemy deeper into his territory. On May 25, eager for glory, General Lazarev commanded his troops to launch a fierce attack on the Iranian army positions.

However, he made a fatal mistake: he severely underestimated the fighting capacity of the Iranian army and their determination to defend their homeland. The Iranian army was equipped with a large number of advanced breech-loading rifles and Krupp field guns supplied by Germany and Austria-Hungary; its soldiers were well-trained and highly motivated. Once the battle began, the Russian assault suffered heavy casualties under the dense and precise fire of the Iranian forces.

Just as the two armies were locked in a stalemate on the front lines, Arslan and Mohammad-Giri's cavalry, who had been active behind enemy lines, appeared on the long and vulnerable flanks and rear of the Russian Eastern Route Army! They coordinated with a rapid-fire Iranian force to launch a fierce surprise attack on the Russian army's logistics hubs and artillery positions.

Caught between two attacks, Lazarev's eastern army was thrown into chaos. General Shiraz seized the opportunity and ordered a full-scale counterattack. The well-rested Iranian main force pressed forward from the front, forming a pincer movement with the cavalry on the flanks.

The Battle of Kousare lasted three days. The Russian Eastern Route Army suffered heavy losses under the combined attack of Iranian forces, forced to retreat northwards, abandoning large quantities of equipment and supplies. General Lazarev himself was wounded in the chaos and narrowly escaped capture. The Iranian army pursued their victory, driving the Russian forces back to their starting point and completely eliminating the direct threat to Baku.

(End of this chapter)