The Sun and the Lion

A day's shelling directly caused the defenders on the city to flee. No matter how much Burke scolded them, they ignored them.

Faced with the fierce bombardment of the Safavid army, Miran Shah did not do nothing. He immediately ordered to raise manpower and tools to start building trenches and other fortifications behind the city wall. The excavated soil and dismantled construction debris were piled together to prepare for the attack. Used to plug gaps.

And he immediately sent messengers to convey orders to appease the defenders on duty on the city wall, saying that they would not be held accountable for leaving their posts without permission. At the same time, volunteers were recruited from the garrison and promised to pay double pay to all soldiers and companions defending the western city wall.

The same applies to non-combatants who assist the defenders, but they only include civilians who transport supplies, build fortifications, and repair city walls for the defenders.

After a whole day of consolidation, the defense line that had become chaotic under the bombardment was reconstructed. After spending half a day on the front line being bombarded, Miransha realized that these large metal pipes, which he had never seen before, were similar in use to trebuchets, but their efficiency in destroying the city was far superior to any siege equipment he knew.

In less than two days, the Safavid artillery opened the first gap. Although the trenches were not yet completed, Ibrahim ordered Kehobard to organize an assault, with the arquebusiers having only a few shields and camels carrying breech-loaded swivel guns for cover.

Despite this, they were able to pin down the archers of Gulegheni and kill some of the defenders posted in the gap.

Under the attack of the sword and shield soldiers, the Guregani army deployed on the rubble quickly retreated. But the loss of the first line of defense was only the beginning. After breaking into the city wall, they discovered that more Guregani troops were deployed behind insurmountable trenches and fences.

It was undoubtedly difficult for them to break through this line of defense. They could not easily obtain cover from their own shooters, and their front and sides were exposed to the threat of the Guligani archers.

After paying some price, they had no choice but to withdraw from the city and protect the auxiliary soldiers who were recovering artillery shells.

"Your Majesty, our army is now in a disadvantageous situation." In the big tent, Kehobard, who came to report the battle situation, unfolded the prepared sketch on the table: "The enemy has made sufficient preparations to deal with our army's attack. Prepare, they prepared fortifications behind the city walls and deployed an elite force to block any attempts by our troops to break into the city."

In order to cooperate with the explanation, he pointed to both sides of the city wall break in the sketch and the residences behind the ditch: "The enemy's archers are deployed here during combat, so they can exert pressure on our troops from the front and sides at the same time. Our army's arquebusiers and breech-mounted swivel guns will be difficult to support unless they break into the city together with the sword and shield soldiers."

But in this case, the almost unprotected arquebusiers could easily suffer heavy losses from the archers' attacks.

"Your Majesty, if this is not possible, we should rely on the irregular army to take the lead." Several Khan kings proposed a simpler and more direct method.

Ibrahim considered these two options. Mixing firearms to strengthen the siege troops and recruiting a large amount of cannon fodder and defenders to fight a war of attrition in which the exchange ratio was almost unequal were both feasible options for him.

After thinking about it, he thought that he was still too concerned about casualties.

At this time, a guard walked into the tent and whispered a few words to Ibrahim: "Your Majesty, there is someone who claims to be from Kabul and is Ulugh Beg's companion, and has brought you a letter. He is currently under control. , do you want to see him."

Aware of the curious looks cast by senior officers and staff, Ibrahim first praised the guard: "Very good, now go and ask him to hand over the letter to me."

After the guards walked out of the tent, Kehobard and others asked: "Your Majesty, is there any urgent military situation?"

Ibrahim nodded: "Yes, but let me read it first."

Taking advantage of this gap, Ibrahim planned to continue discussing this issue. He directly asked the participants: "Since our army now has sufficient resources, why can't we implement these two plans at the same time?"

According to the new idea, during the siege, the sword and shield soldiers and matchlock soldiers who participated in the assault will be reorganized according to the temporary organization. They will act independently according to the organization of the fifty-man team, including four melee ten-man teams and 1 Arquebus Ten.

At the same time, in order to enhance the survivability of the commandos, all close-combat soldiers will be equipped with armor vests or mirror armor on the basis of chain armor to strengthen the torso protection. Arquebusiers are issued leather breastplates that can be worn in the middle, and officers are issued iron breastplates. After all, they usually avoid close combat just to protect themselves.

To this end, Ibrahim ordered the quartermaster: "Send a letter to Herat immediately and ask them to report how many armors are still in the armory, and ask them to send as many as they have."

Anyway, this siege will take at least a few weeks. The waiting time can also allow the artillery to accumulate experience. After a few weeks, the Safavid army that invaded the city from multiple gaps will only have to face the weakened defenders. military. Find bookstore www.zhaoshuyuan.com

The letter from Kabul was quickly delivered to him. When he opened the letter, Ulugh Beg protested to Ibrahim at the beginning of the letter: "To the respected King of Kings of Iran, Ibrahim. You have no grudges, and after you conquered Herat, your embassy came to my court to maintain peace, but now you have treacherously attacked Kandahar without any reason. You and I are believers, and we do not fear the omniscience and omnipotence in doing so. Will Allah punish you? Aren't you worried that all your neighbors will despise you because of your bad conduct? If you withdraw within a week, it will be treated as if it never happened. If you don't, I can only You have no choice but to enter this battlefield of justice and punish you, the unbelieving heretic, for God!"

At the end, Ibrahim almost wanted to laugh. Ulugh Beg's ignorance was clearly revealed in the letter. Doesn't he know that a powerful neighbor who defeated the Emir of Herat cannot be scared away? The strength gap between the two sides can be compared through this incident even without deliberately inquiring. Hussin Baihara, as the most powerful emir of Guregani, could not escape the fate of defeat. What is going on? What kind of confidence?

Moreover, intimidation through an unfavorable diplomatic situation is groundless. Ulugh Beg now simply cannot win over allies who can contain Ibrahim.

He crumpled the letter into a paper ball, then changed his mind, unfolded the paper ball and handed it to Kamran: "You keep this letter, so that future generations can see how weak Ulugh Beg's letter is."

Then he said to the senior officers and guards: "It's not an urgent matter, it's just that our enemy sent me a ridiculous threatening letter. Go tell the messenger and ask him to go back and tell his master that I will not pay attention to him." If there is any threat to defend his property, then ask him to mobilize his troops and let Huda decide who is qualified to possess her!"