The Sun and the Lion

Since the construction of the Jingguan and the pointed wooden stakes with corpses, the Guregani army in the city has become much more peaceful. The Safavid army collected materials, requisitioned grain and grass, and the civilians were not disturbed. The red heads went to the city wall to provoke them, but no one responded.

Without being threatened, quartermasters and military engineers did their best to mobilize resources, turning the entire siege camp into a large construction site. Even Ibrahim, who was living deep in the tent, could hear the noise of moving wood and making siege equipment outside.

Not only Ibrahim, but the Guregani archers on top of the city also endured the noise for a week. However, contrary to the red heads, although they instinctively rejected the noise, they hoped that the noise would not stop. If the attack was built, If the noise of the city's equipment disappears without a trace, it means that the enemy thinks they are ready to attack the city.

The Jingguan and the pointed wooden stakes also frightened the defenders. No one was willing to take the responsibility of going out of the city to harass them anyway. However, the struggle on the ground ceased, but engineers in the city discovered Safavid engineers digging tunnels. This situation was immediately reported, and underground tunnel warfare and anti-tunnel warfare began.

Mashhad and Nishapur are home to the most famous turquoise mines in Khorasan and even Iran. Both the Safavid Army and the Mashhad garrison can recruit experienced miners.

Miners from both sides dug tunnels under the arrangement of engineers. The Safavid side hoped to complete the work without being discovered, and ordered the miners to dig multiple tunnels in case of emergency.

The defenders prepared enough firewood and kerosene. After discovering the tunnel, they usually used smoke to drive away the Safavid engineers, and then used kerosene to burn the wooden pillars supporting the tunnel, causing the tunnel to collapse.

Sometimes, the engineers would also receive surprises from the defenders - a small group of fully armed soldiers suddenly appeared, killing the defenseless engineers with swords, and then dragging the bodies back into the city and hanging them on the city wall to dry.

Ibrahim was annoyed by the miners hanging to dry on the city wall. He ordered the red heads to cooperate with the engineers to prepare countermeasures, but it did not seem to work.

Fortunately, after a week of games, the overall situation was still in the upper hand of the Safavid Army. The siege ladder and siege tower had been prepared. The Safavid Army also used trenches and shields to move the starting point forward to shorten the distance.

After the collective morning prayers, all trumpeters blew their horns to announce the beginning of the attack to both warring parties.

The siege towers and siege ladders slowly moved toward the city wall from three directions, driven by civilians. The archers deployed on the top of the siege tower began to fire arrows at the city head. As the distance got closer, these bows and arrows The threat of hands to the defenders cannot be ignored.

Unlike their trash counterparts in Astarabad, the guys who could be used to defend the city had already been taken out from the warehouse. The ballista on the top of the tower was loaded with stone bullets and aimed at the behemoth that was slowly approaching.

"put!"

Under the command of Officer Gulegani, the operator loosened the taut string through a mechanical device and sent out the stone bullet. Then began to use the winch to tighten the string, preparing for the next shot.

Although the stone bombs hit, the sturdy siege tower did not fall. The specially reinforced tower body was enough to survive multiple stone bombardments. The crossbowmen on the tower and the archers on the siege tower exchanged fire. Both sides had good protection and did not achieve much results, but it did reduce the pressure on the defenders of the city wall.

Just as the defenders were focusing their attention on the siege tower, the battering ram arrived at the city gate first. The protected top blocked the arrows for the cannon fodder below. No one was injured or killed during the march.

The defenders took out the fire oil cans, ignited them, and then smashed the battering ram.

Amid the wails of their comrades, siege towers, siege ladders and ordinary ladders were put up on the city wall. The red-headed men began to climb up. The Guregani soldiers on each section of the city wall also held their breath nervously. Waiting for the next bloody fight.

As soon as the springboard of the siege tower was lowered, the blows from the Gulegani crossbowmen were like a violent storm, destroying all the red heads who tried to rush out. Even so, there were still many strong men who braved the rain of arrows and rushed to the city wall to kill the crossbowmen who had not had time to evacuate.

Seeing that conventional arrows were unable to stop the red heads, the Guregani officers tried to use kerosene and ballistae to block the red heads passing on the springboard, causing considerable damage to them.

The weakening of the offensive allowed the defenders to breathe a sigh of relief, and Bey immediately adjusted his deployment. In order to be able to withstand the impact of the red heads in the next round of offensive, even the personal guards of the heads of each thousand households were replenished on various sections of the city wall - these Well-trained soldiers can be said to be the most elite force of the defenders.

The red heads quickly resumed their offensive intensity and soon established a foothold on the city wall. The two sides fought for each section of the city wall with all their strength. Bodies fell one after another, each section of the city wall changed hands repeatedly, and the Safavid flag was almost planted on the top of the tower.

The battle situation has reached a stalemate, and the next thing to compete is the endurance and resilience of both sides. Find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan. com

However, Ibrahim still had a backup plan.

Thanks to the hard work of engineers and soldiers, the efforts to dig tunnels over the past week have not been in vain. Once enough was dug, it would be difficult for the defenders to clean it up, which was also due to the defenders' negligence.

When everyone thought the war situation was at a stalemate, Ibrahim planned to do a whole ruthless job.

Engineers transported boxes of gunpowder through tunnels to the foundation of the city wall. In order to ensure the power of the explosion, they buried as much gunpowder as possible and then arranged fuses at a safe enough distance. After confirming that all engineers had withdrawn, the military engineer personally lit the fuse.

Watching the flames gradually disappear, the engineers began to pray to Huda to ensure that their work would not be in vain.

Ibrahim, who was present at the scene, set his sights on the target city wall in the distance, silently counting the time in his heart.

Suddenly, there was a muffled sound underground, and the impact of the gunpowder explosion hit the city wall. Coupled with the collapse of the foundation, the city wall began to collapse and disintegrate. The defenders above hurriedly ran towards the towers on both sides.

A gap was opened between the two towers, and the ruins and rubble piled up into a hill that could barely accommodate people's passage.

According to the plan, the bow holders rode their horses to the foot of the city wall, then dismounted and climbed up the rubble to enter the city.

The archers who entered the city quickly divided into two teams. One team rushed along the streets into the city center and tried to assault the castle. The other team entered the tower and formed a double-team with the red heads who used siege equipment to attack the city.

The tragedy for Bey and the heads of thousands of households is that they no longer have the troops to defend the castle. The bow-wielders who raided the castle did not receive any decent resistance. Even though the castle gate was closed, they still managed to collect it from the residential areas. He climbed in using a ladder and captured all the senior officers present alive.