On the orders of Muhammad Ali, Ibrahim Pasha advances into Anatolia and occupies Adana and Tarsus, then closes a pincer on the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud Abdul Hamid. He leaves most of his forces in Adana, under the command of Mukhtar Bey and the chief of staff Suleiman Pasha the Frenchman, and moves north.. and attacks Ankara.

And although the Egyptian soldiers were not used to the cold weather in those lands, given that they came from a moderate environment.. the Egyptian army's forces win a resounding victory in their war in mid-October of the year 1832.

And Ankara falls.

Ankara was not the capital at the time, but it was a great and powerful city.. and its fall was a tremendous thunderclap that astonished the world.. Occupying Ankara at that time is as if you today, exactly.. occupied New York.

Ibrahim was extremely energetic, so he leaves Ankara under the control of the Egyptian commander Ahmed Effendi.. and marches south to northern Konya.. in order to join up again with the rest of the army under the command of Mukhtar and Suleiman.. and confront the Grand Vizier Rashid Muhammad Khosrau Pasha.

And on 18 December of the year 1832, the first vanguard of the Grand Vizier's forces appears on the horizon, under the command of the Ottoman Reuf Pasha.. and Ibrahim tries to skirmish with them and provoke them into entering battle.. but Reuf Pasha exercises self-restraint and camps in his positions.. until the rest of the forces of the Grand Vizier Rashid Pasha join him.. two days later.. specifically on 20 December.

The day of 20 December passes without fighting, and the next day a thick fog suddenly descends.. enveloping the region, to the point that none of the forces could see the other.. and Rashid Pasha seizes the opportunity.. and orders the artillery batteries to advance.. and by intuition and a sense of place.. he orders them to bombard what is supposed to be the position holding the Egyptian army's forces.

And amid the still fog the Ottoman artillery rains down with terrifying firepower on what is supposed to be the Egyptian army's position.. which appears to Rashid to have been taken by surprise.. because not a single shot is fired from its side.

The truth is that the Egyptian army did not return fire on the Grand Vizier Rashid Pasha.. because with the descent of the fog.. Ibrahim decided to move two kilometres south.. in order to avoid a situation like this.

And while the Grand Vizier was bombarding empty positions.. Ibrahim, with his reconnaissance divisions, was slipping through the fog to study the position of the Ottoman forces...

And Ibrahim discovers that the right flank of Rashid's forces rests on a fortified position at the foot of Mount Konya.. and that attacking it is a form of suicide.. but the left flank of the Ottoman army is fragile, resting on exposed marshes.

And with the silence of the Egyptian army.. Rashid's artillery advances through the fog and Ibrahim waits in patience until they are only 500 metres away.. while he stands in the fog to their left and they cannot see him.. and with their position determined by the sound of their movements.. he throws his forces forward and attacks them suddenly from the left flank, from an extremely close range, in which the Ottoman artillery lost its effectiveness.

And with the violent surprise attack the Ottoman left flank falls, and the Egyptian army advances on the centre.. and the Egyptian artillery moves and the cavalry attacks the right flank, which lost its fortified formation with the fall of the centre and the left flank.. and when the Grand Vizier Rashid Pasha saw that his forces were scattering.. he mounted his horse and came down to the field himself in order to lead them and strengthen their resolve.

But Rashid Pasha loses his way and strays in the fog.. and loses his direction.. and when he turns, trying to return.. he suddenly finds himself surrounded by Egyptian soldiers.. who attack him and strip him of his weapon.. and seize him and lead him away as a prisoner to Ibrahim Pasha.

And with the capture of Rashid.. the Ottoman army is thrown into severe disarray.. and its soldiers try to flee north across the marshes.. but the cavalry catches up with them, taking prisoner whom it takes prisoner and killing whom it kills.. and in the end the Grand Vizier's army is defeated and the rest of its forces flee across the marshes and the mountains to Bursa and Izmir, after only two hours and 45 minutes from the start of the battle.

The Sultan Mahmud Abdul Hamid is struck with terror.. and sends envoys to England, France, Austria and Prussia, to support him against Muhammad Ali.. but England was bogged down in Belgium and its revolution against the Dutch.. and France intended to restore an old glory.. and take Holland's place in Belgium.. and England wanted to push the two of them out of there.. so in the end no one had time for him.. and nothing remains before the Sultan but Austria and Prussia.

And in an astonishing historical incident.. both Austria and Prussia refuse to cooperate with the Ottoman Sultan.. and they tell him that confronting the Egyptian army is an adventure whose consequences are unsafe, and could cost them their armies..and that they would gain nothing from it but the anger of Muhammad Ali against them.. and perhaps he would attack them later.. and they would not be able to withstand this attack.. so they decide to stand neutral.

And at the same time he does not stop. Ibrahim Pasha. So he continues the march and occupies Kütahya and after it Magnesia on the edge of Izmir.. and there, at its gates, they meet the governor of Izmir and his forces.. who lay down their weapons without a confrontation.. and kneel before the Egyptian commander and his soldiers.. and declare their submission to the Egyptian state and their allegiance to Muhammad Ali...

And Ibrahim Pasha takes over the city and dismisses its defeated, surrendered governor.. and appoints over it one of its notables, Mansur Effendi Zadeh.

And with the fall of Izmir and Bursa.. and only 210 kilometres from the legs of the throne of the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud Khan Abdul Hamid.. the Egyptian army camps.

And the road remains open before it to the heart of the capital of the caliphate.

Constantinople.

The city that we all know today by its famous common name.

Istanbul...

And it seems that time has stolen us today and the story has grown long.. so we will continue our tale later.

And there remains to the conversation.. more.

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