The Sun and the Lion

Over the past six weeks, Ibrahim returned from his first tour to Tabriz, the loyal home of the King of Kings.

In the hall of the palace, senior officials gathered here, preparing to welcome the return of the Lord and report on their work during the tour.

"To the most noble and powerful King of Kings on earth, may you be immortal." Ibrahim, who returned and entered the palace, sat on the main seat, led by the Grand Vizier, and all the bureaucrats knelt down and bowed with their faces to the ground. . Only Hussein was exempted from kneeling and bowed instead.

"Everyone, get up."

After the officials stood up, Ibrahim was the first to name the fiscal vizier: "Tofmas, please tell me about the situation of the treasury first."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The Financial Vizier opened the prepared materials: "So far, in the long run, there is no problem with our country's finances, but the current balance of the national treasury is only for emergencies. Your Majesty, I suggest that we add more A war tax is levied to fund future military spending.”

"Okay, you can go back and estimate the additional levy and report it to me," Ibrahim replied.

After the financial vizier retired, Ibrahim learned in detail from the military vizier about the status of war preparations. Including the number of red heads who came to Tabriz to gather and their detailed status, the number of military supplies stored in warehouses, and the civilian men, doctors, craftsmen, etc. recruited to maintain the logistics operation of the army.

At the same time, a network of military depots covering major roads across the country is gradually being built to ensure that troops will not suffer from logistical difficulties when marching domestically. Fortunately, the baggage train does not need to transport a large amount of grain and grass. Materials such as weapons, equipment and tents that are difficult to obtain locally are the heavy burden on the shoulders of the mules.

But the military vizier said that six weeks was not enough time for him to raise the military supplies and auxiliary personnel for forty regiments.

"I am incompetent." After explaining the whole situation, the military vizier bowed his head again to apologize.

"Your Majesty, this is not the fault of the Military Vizier." Seeing Ibrahim's unhappy expression, the Grand Vizier planned to intercede for him. The Grand Emir also testified about the practical difficulties of related work.

"I know." Ibrahim looked at the military vizier: "How long will it take to be ready?"

"About... a month."

"So long," Ibrahim muttered.

"Don't you still have an army? Your Majesty." the great emir reminded.

After being reminded by the Grand Emir, Ibrahim remembered that before the New Year, he had ordered the recruitment of farmers and citizens across the Azerbaijan Province to join the army. The military vizier reported that they have all been assembled, and the required military supplies and military salaries have been distributed normally. They are currently training under the leadership of Emir Kehobad of the Talish tribe.

Ibrahim finally ended the meeting hastily and hurried to the military camp outside the city to inspect the troops.

………………

At the school grounds of the military camp outside the city, the infantrymen who had received physical fitness and formation training here for the past three months urgently gathered, put on their equipment and lined up neatly in a square formation.

Kehobard was riding a horse, accompanied by junior officers, nervously inspecting the results he had achieved in the past few months.

"The King of Kings has arrived!" While the officers were still figuring out when Ibrahim would arrive, a man with a bow broke into the military camp and informed everyone of Ibrahim's arrival.

The officers were startled and rushed to greet him, while the soldiers stretched their heads curiously, wanting to see the monarch to whom they were loyal. Some soldiers were originally devout believers of the Safavid Order, and their excitement could not be concealed.

"Hurry up and show your training results, I can't wait."

The small unit trained by Kehobard has a full range of arms, and the first one to appear is the infantry. They wore uniforms, were equipped with matchlocks and machetes, and did not wear any armor. All the conscripted infantrymen were trained as marksmen. In the eyes of the red-headed nobles such as Kehobard, the greatest role of the arquebusiers and artillery was to use firearms to hit the enemy like hailstones in the field, covering the red-headed soldiers to overwhelm the enemy formation. .

Under the guidance of the Italians, the first batch of Iranian firearms craftsmen also learned. They have mastered the production process of matchlock guns and breech-loaded swivel guns. The only thing they lack is sufficient experience to reduce the scrap rate. Even so, they were still able to provide enough firearms and ammunition for this small force.

Under the orders of the officers, the musketeers maneuvered in neat formations. They can increase or decrease depth and width in a short period of time and maintain a relatively complete formation while walking and running.

"Okay, very good." Ibrahim looked at the Musketeers with satisfaction. Although walking neatly on the school field does not mean that you can maintain it on the battlefield.

Then the musketeers showed Ibrahim their shooting skills. They skillfully loaded their matchlocks and then fired at a human-shaped target about eighty meters away.

In the stereotype, all muskets have poor accuracy. As long as they hit a target from a few dozen meters away, they are completely left to chance. Soldiers line up closely to shoot in order to trade firepower density for accuracy.

In order to improve the accuracy of the musket, Ibrahim copied the practice of the Western army-the Lord did not stipulate that the musket could only be loaded with one lead bullet at a time.

By loading a single projectile and a varying number of shotshells at the same time, soldiers can achieve an astonishing 200% hit rate within 100 meters. Even if the distance is extended to 200 meters, the hit rate can be guaranteed to be about 90%. Although these data are achieved under ideal shooting conditions.

And this is only the hit rate for one person. In fact, the musketeers' target is actually the enemy's entire military formation. Find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com As long as you don't care which enemy you kill, the accuracy of the musket is reasonable.

After the infantry solo was completed, the artillerymen led their camels to the range. These camels carrying rear-mounted swivel guns were called "little hornets" by the soldiers.

The gunners checked the condition of the artillery and muskets one last time, and after obtaining permission, began shooting at the targets.

The camels whose eardrums were punctured sat down obediently under the comfort of the gunners. The main gunner operated the breech-mounted swivel gun and adjusted the shooting angle and direction. After taking aim, he ordered his deputy: "Fire!"

The ignition candle ignited the fuse of the fire door, the gunpowder ignited and exploded, and countless canisters rushed toward the target with the help of gas.

After the solo, there was an ensemble. The musketeers and artillerymen lined up to shoot at the targets. The power of the gunpowder shocked everyone present.

Ibrahim dismounted and walked into the shooting range in person, observing the human-shaped targets that were embedded with countless lead bullets and beaten to pieces. Many of the targets were covered with chainmail and breastplates, but they were all ruthlessly penetrated. The breastplate was deformed to varying degrees, and the chainmail was broken in many places. The accompanying officers also expressed shock.

Ibrahim immediately summoned Kehobard and praised him: "The training is very good."

"It all depends on your Majesty's guidance. I just followed your guidance and did my best." Kehobard responded.

"You are no longer an emir. I promote you to be the sultan and command my model army. I order you to expand this army to have 5 infantry regiments, 2 cavalry regiments and 100 Wasps. Can you do it?" "

"As long as His Majesty supports it, I will do my best."

"Very good! You are the general of this model army, the Sultan of Kehobad of Talish." Ibrahim left the military camp with satisfaction.