The Sun and the Lion

On the same night, in the castle of Nishapur, bright lights illuminated the entire hall, and the captured map of Khorasan was hung on the wall for everyone to see.

This "Shapur's New City" did not have a complete outer wall. The red heads entered the city with only single-digit casualties and then surrounded the castle. The remaining defenders in the castle also chose to surrender and save their lives.

Nishapur is not far from Mashhad, with the two cities separated by Mount Binarang, a mountain range running northwest-southeast. Nishapur is on the west side of the mountains, while Mashhad is on the east side. There is no road on the mountain that can pass the army, so you need to make a big turn along the main road and walk about 60 kilometers to see the outer wall of Mashhad.

The forwards sent for reconnaissance returned not long ago, and they sent some intelligence about Mashhad, including a small river south of the city, surrounding rural settlements and fortresses, and signs of preparations for war.

On their return, there were far more guards on the walls of Mashhad than when they first arrived, and they appeared to be mostly archers. During this period, the city's defenders also tried to send scouts to find out the red heads' intentions, and sent teams of riders to try to expel the red heads.

The red heads used bows and arrows to shoot down the first few cavalry, and tried to use traditional Parthian tactics to eliminate them. But the Guleggani cavalry who rushed out were also mounted archers. After a brief exchange of fire, the red heads still drove them back into the city wall with their lances and Shersch.

Several horse archers who were shot off their horses were captured and taken to the interrogation room of Nishapur Castle for interrogation.

From the information delivered by Badi Zaman, we learned that Mirza, who was stationed locally, received an order to support Astarabad and mobilized local troops. Therefore, the only people left to guard the city walls were guards equivalent to militia and a small number of castle guards.

Combined with the results of the interrogation and the information passed back by the spies, I have the advantage.

Ibrahim stood up: "Tomorrow morning, the army will march to the south of Mashhad, leaving a regiment in Nishapur to watch the castle and help the local people return to the right path."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

………………

The Mashhad garrison who slept peacefully discovered yesterday's invaders again the next morning, but this time, they were more than just a team of scouts.

According to Ibrahim's arrangement, the main camp was arranged on the bank of the small river on the south side of Mashhad. All the bow holders and the Georgian cavalry provided by Heraclius were deployed here, plus the red-headed troops in this camp. Twenty thousand people.

The main camp is where Ibrahim is located, and the military supplies and cash of the baggage camp are mainly stored here.

There are 10,000 red heads distributed in the camps on the east and north sides of Mashhad, commanded by Romru Khan and Talish Khan respectively.

The guards of Mashhad soon discovered that red-headed military flags could be seen on the north, east, and south sides of the city. The news was quickly reported to Bey in the castle.

A small group of bow-wielders with helmets and armor approached the city wall, and the nervous defenders aimed their bows and crossbows at the intruders.

"By the command of our Lord Ibrahim Sheikh, I am urging you to surrender. If you lay down your swords, give the keys to the city gates, and return to the righteous faith, you can live in peace until the end of time. Our Lord is merciful and specially forgives you. I will pay your ransom. If you don’t obey, after the city is destroyed, you will all go to hell!”

The officer commanding this group of defenders was a staunch warrior. After hearing the threat, he just said with disdain: "Okay, then tell your monarch to let you all crash and die on this wall. Soldiers, we are Believers who are firm in their faith, kill all the heretics, and earn Imani to go to heaven!"

After receiving the expected rejection, the bow bearers returned to the camp and reported the matter to Ibrahim.

"snort."

Ibrahim had long been prepared, and sending envoys to persuade them to surrender was just a routine procedure.

Afterwards, the red heads started preparing to attack the city as planned.

………………

To the west of Mashhad city, a temporary camp on the hills. All the mobile forces outside the city were gathered here, with cavalry as the main force and some archers included, totaling more than a thousand people.

The scout who was in charge of going out for inspection returned and reported to Mahmoud, the head of the Qianhu household who was in charge of commanding the team: "Chief of the Qianhu, the enemy has begun to besiege the city. Their camp has been set up with fences around it. There are sentry towers and there are men and horses patrolling around. However, the enemy only camped in three directions, and did not even send scouts on the foothill side. Find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com "

"How many are there? How big is the camp?" Mahmoud asked.

"The exact number of people is unknown, but judging from the size of the camps and the number of military flags, all three camps are at least ten times our number."

Mahmoud took a deep breath: "This is the key to breaking the situation."

The surrounding households quickly braced themselves and prepared to listen to their superiors' orders.

"The three camps are at least ten times the size of our department, not counting the camp personnel, who consume horse chews every day. It just so happens that there are many farms and pastures around, and livestock and food can be used by them. They Ignoring the reconnaissance on the west side of the city now, there is a high probability that our unit will still be unknown to the enemy. We must use this opportunity to attack the big ones first."

The Khorasan region had a mild climate and fertile soil. Although its agricultural economy had suffered a devastating blow, it was slowly recovering under the rule of the Qureghanid emir. The existence of cities such as Nishapur and Mashhad shows that the surrounding agricultural economy has recovered enough to support the urban population. There are also a large number of orchards outside Mashhad.

The countryside outside the city is enough to extract food and grass for the army. For the Safavid army, it is only a matter of time before they control these resources.

At yesterday's meeting, senior military officers reached a consensus to clear the country. But this plan was interrupted before it started. The Guregani army only had this unknown opportunity to try its best to prevent the Safavid army from obtaining these supplies.

With these soldiers alone, there is a high probability that they will not be able to collect these materials into the warehouse in the city.

Mahmoud ordered all the archers to serve as sentries to stay in the camp, while the cavalry went out with him, taking with them all the kindling materials they could find, preparing to burn the farmland, pollute the wells, and slaughter the livestock.