The Sun and the Lion

The army assembled in Tehran was not ready for the long march until early July, less than four months before the end of the fighting season.

Dada and Abdul were patrolling the military camp as usual. The commanders and centurions organized their cavalry in strict accordance with the establishment and ensured half a day of collective training time to run in the team.

After inspecting the combat troops, the two went to the auxiliary barracks and the baggage camp. There were enough pack animals to carry enough military supplies to participate in the march, and they could also solve the problem of insufficient food in an emergency. The doctors and craftsmen who accompanied the army were also provided as much as possible according to the needs, but the prostitutes who accompanied the camp did not appear here. The number of auxiliary troops is very small, with less than a thousand engineers. If they want to besiege Shiraz, the manpower is likely to be insufficient.

However, this mission was not a head-on confrontation. With internal cooperation and the local separatist forces being much weaker than Safavid, Shiraz was captured in one day.

After inspecting the military camp, Dada and Abdul summoned the captains to the tent.

"Everyone, you all know the mission assigned to us by the King of Kings. The troops have been gathering in Tehran for more than three weeks and almost a month. Although October is still about three months away, if we can set up the mission sooner, If we give the child to the King of Kings first, the greater our merit will be." Dada started the meeting first to set the main tone of the meeting.

Abdul followed closely: "Judging from the results of the inspection just now, we are very satisfied. The army is fully capable of carrying out any tasks assigned to us."

Then the order to break camp and set off tomorrow morning was conveyed to the captains. After the meeting, the commanders conveyed this information to their respective units. The junior officers and soldiers of each unit ended their night activities early after dinner, leaving only the necessary sentries, and everyone else went to rest. Prepare for the march early tomorrow morning.

The team first arrived in Isfahan after a week, and local administrative officials raised military supplies for the military station in accordance with their duties. After some replenishment, the red heads did not immediately go south to Shiraz, but turned a corner first and went to Yazd. It took another half a week to cross the desert and reach Yazd.

Yazd was first occupied by a tribal leader named Murad Beg Bindar in the name of the Safavid order. After occupying this place, he actively promoted Ibrahim's religious policies and used the excuse of suppressing heresy to plunder local property, which unsurprisingly aroused public outrage.

Then another tribal leader seized this opportunity and captured Yazd less than two weeks ago, drove away the Bindar tribe, occupied the land and became king, and colluded with Shiraz.

It is said that in order to protect themselves, the remnants of Alvand's old army that separated various parts of Fars colluded with each other and actively recruited foreign members (cannon fodder) to strengthen this warlord alliance. Attacking Yazd is the first step against this loose alliance and ensures that Isfahan will not be stolen by the local tribal cavalry when heading south to Shiraz.

"General, two generals." The scout ran back to the camp, panting. "There are no enemies in Yazd. We found no enemies. We only found traces of a large number of people moving on the road south of the city."

Which episode is this being dealt with? Dada and Abdul looked at each other and sent the scout away first: "Very good, you can go back and rest."

Although these Turkmen emirs did not know the history of Peach Blossom Stone, they did not know that the Peach Blossom Stone people had a strategy called the Empty City Strategy. But such an abnormal phenomenon could arouse the suspicion of any military commander.

Out of caution, only one centurion entered the city at first, and a centurion who was not afraid of death led his men directly into the city.

The city was very quiet, the streets were in chaos, and various debris including copper plates were discarded irregularly on the ground. The buildings on both sides are either abandoned or have their doors and windows sealed.

"Bang, bang, bang!" The red heads knocked on the sealed door roughly, knocking several times in a row with no response. Looking at the Zoroastrian temple in front of them, the red heads did not give up like ordinary people. After the centurion learned about it, he immediately ordered the messenger to report the situation to Dada.

Not long after, the messenger came with a team of engineers and a simple battering ram. Several red heads with big muscles and round waists took off their armor, stepped forward to pick up the battering ram, and banged on the door in rhythm with the centurion's commands.

"One, two, three, hit!" The red heads listened to the command and took a few steps back slowly. When they heard the command "hit", they rushed forward fiercely. The torn door panels and supports finally broke apart, and they rushed into the mosque together with the battering ram by inertia.

It was dark, and the turbid air was filled with dust. The centurion who was waiting outside led his men to enter first. In the indoor space illuminated by faint firelight, a figure appeared in front of them. The red heads quickly drew their sabers and pointed them forward, but there was no People came to attack them.

A few brave people went deeper and discovered a horrifying scene: hundreds of people were forcibly detained here and left to fend for themselves. Most of the residents were too weak to stand up, and did not even struggle or call for help when they saw outsiders intruding.

In the silence, the sound of the centurion's boots on the tiled floor was particularly loud at this time. He stepped forward and asked in unskilled Persian: "Who are you and why are you locked up here?" , those brave ones picked out one who seemed to still have the strength to speak, and went to Shuyuanwww. zhaｏshuyuan． com dragged it out, broke off a small piece of the dry food he carried and let him swallow it with water.

After he calmed down for a while, the centurion repeated his question.

"I...I..." The survivor looked at the red hat on his head and hesitated, "I am Ahura Mazda's servant, and those imprisoned here are all Ahura Mazda's followers. …”

Everyone looked at his attire and saw that he was a local Zoroastrian priest.

Then the priest started talking about the end of Murad's rule and spent a lot of time denounced the brutal behavior of Muhammad, the ruler of Abargu: "Unlike Bindar's red turban, those who don't wear red turban are extremely cruel! Bindal The tribes just collected our Jiziya tax, while Muhammad was trying to extract our marrow. They even removed the decorations on the temples. They also brutally slaughtered all the Muslims and extended their poisonous hands to us..." The priest even cried with emotion and pain when describing the tragedies in various communities.

The red heads have strong psychological endurance, and they have also done the acts described by the priest. The priest's vivid description did not impress the centurion, but he still listened patiently to the priest's story and picked out useful information from it.

"So, that man named Muhammad looted the entire Yazd and ran away with the population and property?" Dada concluded doubtfully after hearing the report brought by the messenger.

"It seems so, but why did they purposely drive the Zoroastrians into the temple and seal the doors and windows from the outside?" Abdul asked a question. But no one present could answer.

"That's it. Now that we have confirmed that there are no enemies in Yazd, let's go into the city and finish the finishing work." Dada immediately made a decision and passed this order to the red heads in the temporary camp.