The Sun and the Lion

Even though he suspected fraud, Gaolaberi still planned to implement the plan he had conceived before, which was to enter Khuzestan directly with 10,000 riders and take out Ahvaz, the largest city.

This was his decision after some thinking. After two battles in Basra, he had basically understood the level of his opponent. If the other party was an Ottoman, he would not dare to take the risk. After all, the failure experienced by his fathers could be described as disastrous. However, facing these Musasha dervishes, he could guarantee that he could bring the red heads under his command in and bring them out unscathed - even if they were ambushed.

"Call the captains here!" Gaolaberi ordered the soldiers to notify the officers to come to the meeting.

During the brief meeting, Gaolaberi briefly talked about tomorrow's mission. The captains accepted their respective missions and then returned to their respective troops to prepare for the march tomorrow day.

The redheads were ready to see what the "mud in the swamp" was going to do.

The next day, the army marched along the Karen River. The countryside was deserted, leaving only unripe wheat growing in the fields. But perhaps due to the hasty retreat, the troops responsible for clearing the country did not take away all the supplies. The red-heads consciously left a group of troops to guard these trophies, and relied on these supplies to form a group along the road along the river. Approval of temporary military stations.

The remaining troops continued to advance towards Ahvaz, encountering little resistance along the way.

In this way they arrived near Ahvaz.

"Dear General..." The guide was a little embarrassed. It seemed that his comrades who had agreed to stay on this road were letting go.

Gaolaberi held a horsewhip and observed the empty temporary camp, while the scouts reported the nearby situation to the general: Although the raiding Musasa warriors had cleaned the battlefield, there were still a large number of traces that had not been cleaned up. In short, only the bodies and loot were disposed of, and the enemy made no attempt to conceal the fact that a battle had taken place here.

Looking at the city wall of Ahvaz, he ordered the red heads to camp here to prepare for the siege, and sent messengers to the rear, asking them to send a batch of cannon fodder, craftsmen and raw materials.

The red heads outside the city were observing Ahvaz, and the Musasas inside the city were also observing the red heads outside the city.

"Sir Huda, how many of them are here?" The officer responsible for observing the enemy's situation on the top of the city counted the number of felt tents in the distance, but found that the number far exceeded his calculation ability.

The dazzled officers continued to observe the fortifications outside the camp. The fortifications under construction seemed to be in vain, but the red heads patrolling nearby did not. Once completed, attacking the camp will become an almost impossible task for the defenders in the city.

What they have to face is no longer a few isolated scouts, but an army of nearly 10,000 people.

But fortunately, the Musasa people did not intend to rely on the city wall of Ahvaz alone to withstand Gaola Beli's offensive. Khuzestan is their home ground, and the swamps are a major support for their operations.

Musasa warriors who are familiar with the terrain can skillfully and flexibly carry out guerrilla operations through swamp areas, constantly harassing the Safavid army's supply team, and unplugging military depots can effectively paralyze its logistics network. The mud in the swamp prevented the cavalry from using their mobility, and the red heads lacked experience in fighting in swamp terrain.

On one side is a city wall that is difficult to conquer, and on the other side are guerrillas who are constantly harassing the supply line. Because of the strong walls and clear fields, Gaolaberi could not scavenge enough military rations in the rural areas unless he could force the red heads to eat immature wheat and rice.

Obviously, this cannot be done.

At that time, the Safavid army will be out of food and food and will have to retreat, and Musasa's warriors may be able to take advantage of the chaos of the enemy's retreat.

At the same time, a group of lightly-armed infantry passed through the swamps on the banks of the Karun River. It was summer and the spring floods of the Karun River had ended. The Musasa people quickly crossed the river and came to the west bank.

This is an unknown village, and the red heads directly used these ready-made buildings, which also gave these raiders an opportunity. Some of them were born in this countryside.

As the first arrow leaves the string, the battle officially begins. The raiders quickly stormed into the village, cutting down everyone in sight and wreaking havoc within the camp.

The quartermaster who heard the movement planned to go to check the situation, but was quickly blocked by arrows. The approaching figures reminded him that it was time to run.

"Quick, hurry up and inform the soldiers! The heresy is coming!" The quartermaster crawled and ran to the mosque. Only then did he remember how to deal with the Musassas, and quickly asked his guards to inform those who stayed here. garrison strength.

"Yes, look for Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com Yes." The guard was infected by Shangguan's nervousness and stumbled out of the mosque.

The red heads stationed here responded in surprise. They quickly put on their armor, and then formed a team to sweep away the Musasha people wandering in the village. These lightly armed raiders were completely unable to resist the Turkmen in a frontal encounter, so they simply avoided the battle and went straight to the warehouse.

However, there is an open space in front of the warehouse, without any obstruction or obstruction. The fifty men responsible for garrisoning here arranged sentries and archers on the roof. Looking at the Musasas who were approaching, the Qizilbash fought back with the bows and arrows in their hands. A ten-man team was also deployed at the entrance of the warehouse, everyone wearing iron armor.

One by one, the soldiers were knocked down, and the commander of the Musasa army realized that he might not be able to complete the task. The red heads who were mopping up the enemies in the village were also attracted here. They were surrounded by front and rear, and they won the victory as expected. The only regret is that the leading officer committed suicide, preventing the red heads from obtaining more information through interrogation.

This battle, which will not appear in the history books, was the beginning of the short-lived war in Khuzestan.

After several days of fighting, Gaolaberi roughly understood the intentions of the Musassas through the reports continuously sent from the rear. He made a prompt decision and dispatched an additional regiment to patrol along the traffic lines, cooperating with the garrison troops at various nodes to attack the intruding troops of the Musassas.

The boring siege continued, and the fighting on the rear roads and villages spread in the military camp. The captains responded to the request of their subordinates and hoped that Gaolaberi would allow their troops to take a share of this military success.

The general finally agreed, and he decided that each day's patrols would be assigned to different regiments. He also asked the military police to relax restrictions on military entertainment and provide alcohol to alleviate the boredom of the red heads.