The Sun and the Lion

The scout galloped on the road, the horse's hooves kicked up dust, and the rider was panting on the horse, but he had no intention of resting at this time, and just kept urging the horse under his crotch to speed up.

He still looked behind him from time to time, but no arrows had been flying towards him for a while, and it seemed that his pursuers had been shaken off.

When they rushed along the road to the east bank of the Hari River, the large army led by Ibrahim happened to be crossing the river. At this time, the Safavid army was only twenty kilometers away from Herat. They could camp under the city tonight or tomorrow.

"Where is Your Majesty? I have an urgent report!" The scout asked the surrounding soldiers after approaching the team. Then he saw Ibrahim's banner, turned his horse's head and rode away.

Ibrahim, who was surrounded by personal guards and flag officers, saw a light cavalry coming towards him. The soldiers on the side immediately stepped forward: "Who is coming?"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty." The scout jumped off his horse and saluted Ibrahim: "Your Majesty... Herat fell into turmoil for some reason and the city defenses were empty. However, I encountered enemy cavalry when I approached for reconnaissance, but the number was not large, and the pursuit was We turned back halfway."

"Is this true? I will order five thousand cavalry to raid Herat, and you will lead the way." Ibrahim turned to look at the large, slow-moving troops. He was worried that the troops would miss the opportunity if they marched too slowly, so he planned to separate thousands of troops. Riding as a vanguard to attack, as long as the city gate can be controlled.

If the fighter plane has been lost, then choose a camp location for the army and block traffic in Herat to prevent small groups of enemy troops from leaving the city to harass. And control the surrounding villages to ensure that the army can obtain sufficient military supplies from these villages.

"Yes." The scout was delighted and mounted his horse again to prepare for battle.

Ibrahim immediately sent messengers to order five randomly selected captains to lead their troops to assemble by the river, and appointed Talish Khan to lead the raid.

………………

In the city of Herat, Ibn Hussein got what he wanted and mobilized all his cavalry into the city in the name of appeasing the people. These false vanguards rushed straight towards the castle. The castle guards were caught off guard, as well as Ibn Hussein who was in the castle. Due to deliberate obstruction, it is certain that the castle will change hands.

His soldiers quickly rushed into the hall and killed the senior officials who were discussing countermeasures in the hall.

Ibn Hussein stood up, drew his sword and pointed it at the civil officials present. They looked around and saw that the entrances and exits of the room were controlled by Ibn Hussein's personal soldiers. They wanted to call the castle guards, but no one responded.

"You don't have to struggle anymore. The guards on the outer wall and the castle have been controlled by me. Herat is already my property. I am the new owner of Herat."

Faced with his declaration of usurping the throne, none of the civil officials present, including the Grand Vizier, dared to speak out to resist, and in the end they could only sigh and surrender to the usurper. Even if they are still loyal, any normal person can only die for their country or be patient under such circumstances.

Seeing that he had successfully conquered the bureaucrats in the city, Ibn Hussein was in a good mood. He did not yet know that Ibrahim would soon come to steal his Khorasan pearls.

At this time, he was still imagining that he had a safe environment - the successful capture of Herat meant that Hussin Baihara lost his most important base and the resources needed to maintain the army. When his father's army dispersed due to lack of money, food and supplies, Mirza, who was guarding other places, would also take the opportunity to raise troops to separate the kingdom. Because Hussin Baihara had deployed most of his elite troops in response to the Safavid army's offensive, the various fragments could only be novices pecking at each other.

As for other relatives, they all have their own affairs, and they are unable to intervene in the internal strife in Herat.

In the next hour, he received good news one after another that his soldiers successfully took over the treasury, took control of the palace, and took over the militia. It seems that today's usurpation operation went very smoothly.

However, his entourage soon brought him unpleasant news - a large cavalry force was approaching the city of Herat.

"Is everything you said true?" Ibn Hussein never believed that Hussin Baihara could lead his troops back so quickly. Could it be that the battle on the front line was going very smoothly?

"Your Highness, I saw this with my own eyes. They are coming with such force that we don't dare to get close and take a closer look."

"Trash!" Ibn Hussein kicked the soldier who was kneeling on the ground to report to him, and then became very anxious.

"How is this possible?"

He kept asking questions in his mind, but he couldn't think of any logically consistent possibility. He learned through the letters left in the mansion that his eldest brother had already made connections with foreign countries, but Hussin Baihara didn't know it yet, so he appointed him as deputy general. If the intelligence of the army is leaked to a powerful enemy and the enemy is defecting before the battle, won't this lead to the defeat of the army? Or is it that the strength of the Safavid army is just an exaggeration?

As for the menacing cavalry, is it possible that the news of his usurping the throne has been known? Obviously the soldiers had taken control of the city gate, and he ordered that traffic could not be resumed until stability was restored in the city. Even if he has an informant, how can he inform Shuyuan www.zhaｏｈｕｕｏｏｏ? The use of homing pigeons to deliver messages to a marching army was something he had never heard of.

In the end, he ended his random thoughts. After realizing that wasting time was useless, he planned to mobilize all his forces for city defense. Perhaps after this battle, he can establish his authority over the citizens of Herat.

Heralds carrying orders ran around, officials guarding the treasury were asked to count the existing inventory, priests and guild leaders were asked to serve the city defense, and a large number of urban poor were forcibly recruited to serve as auxiliary soldiers.

Due to the useless performance of this scout, he also planned to personally lead his troops to investigate to see what kind of troops could scare his own soldiers into not being able to approach for investigation.

………………

When Talish Khan arrived with his troops, the gate was already closed, and some archers were deployed at the top of the city. When he saw the red heads approaching on horseback, he fired arrows in an attempt to force them back.

Seeing that the fighter plane was lost, Talish Khan faithfully implemented Ibrahim's backup plan, leaving two regiments to rest and standby outside the range of the bow and arrow. Only a small group of scouts approached to monitor the city gate. The other three thousand cavalry dispersed to the surrounding countryside to declare the military power of the Safavid army to the locals.

Ibn Hussein learned from the guards' reports that the enemy troops outside the city had arrived at the city gates and sent scouts to monitor the city gates.

He immediately ordered the archers to use crossbows and even siege engines on the towers to drive away these scouts, and first sent a ten-man team out of the city to clear the way.

Scouts are not stupid people. Their task is only to monitor the city gate and do not need to put themselves within the range of bows and arrows. The accuracy of the trebuchets was astonishingly poor - for a small cavalry squad of only a few men - and it did little harm to them.

It wasn't until a group of cavalry rushed out from the small gate of the city wall that the scouts quickly retreated.