The Sun and the Lion

"Quick, get everything ready, we will be preparing to attack the city soon!"

Just like in Kandahar, the Safavid artillery fired at fixed targets for several days. In Balkh, many large holes were opened in the city wall. The soldiers and civilians in the city worked hard to repair the gaps, but they were harassed by red-headed and arquebusier soldiers who fired across the ditch. Slow progress.

As for why no archers came out to stop them, you have to ask how much pressure the dozens of artillery commanded by Salman and the Italians exerted on the city's defenders.

At present, the only obstacle that can prevent the Safavid army from entering the city in large numbers is the trench. Several stone bridges erected on the trench can allow some soldiers to pass, but this way the attack path is restricted.

The military engineer accompanying the army also pointed out that it would be very time-consuming and laborious to fill in part of the trench, so he suggested: "Your Majesty, I see that the defensive trench in Balkh is not very wide, and there are many long ladders stored in the baggage camp. After asking the carpenters to process enough wooden boards, I think we can use these long ladders and lay them with wooden boards to build a temporary passage."

At this time, Balkh's city fortifications were very poorly protected, and Huslao did not pay attention to these. The trenches outside the city were not only as wide as ditches, but they were not as wide as creeks. The bottom of the trench was abandoned and overgrown with weeds, and some areas were even used by vegetable farmers to grow fruits and vegetables. The officers stationed there thought they could squeeze more money out of the people, so they just let it go.

Ibrahim's eyes lit up when he heard this idea, and he waved his hand and said, "This is a good plan, you might as well give it a try."

So the infantrymen and the dismounted red heads approached the trench with a lot of long ladders and wooden planks. The sentries in the city gave a timely warning, and a group of Guregani troops quickly rushed to the gap to form an array. Archers also climbed up high enough to shoot into the gap in the city wall. Prepare to support friendly forces.

At the forefront of the siege team were the arquebusiers. They stopped not far from the trench and began to adjust their formation.

"Check the matchlock, check the gunpowder, check whether the matchlock gun is loaded!" The infantry officers shouted to the matchlock soldiers under their command, ordering them to make final preparations before shooting.

"Free fire!" After the last order was conveyed, a sharp whistle reminded the arquebusiers that they could fire.

The shooting of thousands of arquebusiers was truly terrifying. Many Guleggani soldiers were shot and fell to the ground. The troops responsible for blocking the gap in the city wall were at a loss. They did not dare to retreat or attack. They could only stand there and fight. After being shot, many soldiers' morale plummeted when they heard the gunshots, and their formations were severely damaged.

At the same time, a group of Safavid troops had crossed the trench through the stone bridge. They carried gunpowder and planned to blow open the gate directly. The towers on both sides of the city gate have been destroyed by artillery fire. There are not many archers who can be deployed at the city gate, and it is difficult to stop the Safavid army pouring in through the stone bridge.

After the Safavid arquebusiers fired four times, the defenders came to their senses. The officers quickly ordered their men not to use their bodies as walls to block the gap, but to retreat to the back of the gap. The shooting blind spot of the Safavid arquebusiers.

The infantry officers immediately blew the trumpet to ask the arquebusiers to give way to the passage, and asked the sword and shield soldiers and dismounted red heads behind to set up a temporary passage, and then carefully mobilized the troops to pass through the trench.

"Rush, rush in and kill all the disgusting heretics!"

The dismounted red-heads still showed the momentum of leading the way. They first crossed the ruins at the gap with the infantry, entered the city and fought with the Gulegani army who was still in shock.

Where is the red-headed opponent of the Guregani army, which has just recovered from the chaos? Even the well-equipped companions were mostly horse bandits. Hus Lao never allowed his subordinates to spend time on the training ground. In addition, the level of civil war among the emirs of Guregani was not high. In the past, everyone was basically It was fooled like this.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the defense line formed by the defenders was destroyed. Everyone rushed towards the castle frantically. The Safavid army chased them all the way, leaving the main road in Balkh covered with blood and stumps.

The last remnants of the army were stationed in the strong main building. They still shot arrows and spears tenaciously. Even the matchlock soldiers could not suppress the Guregani archers who were protected by stone walls in the main building.

As a last resort, the Safavid army had no choice but to push the artillery into the square, so that the enemy troops who were still resisting in the main building and the surrounding citizens watching the battle could open their eyes to the most advanced weapons of this era.

The castle as the center of the city is much stronger than the towers on the city wall. Multiple hits from iron cannonballs have not caused the main building to collapse, but some gaps have been broken.

At the same time, the infantry had entered the castle through the damaged main entrance. Although they were not as fanatical as the red head, they were worthy of the salary paid by Ibrahim on time.

They slowly but surely swept every corridor and room inside the castle, trying not to miss any enemy.

When the head of the last resister was thrown out of the castle, Ibrahim was already meeting with the surrendered communities and guild leaders in the city as well as the defeated army officers who came to surrender in the big tent outside the city. Lost the useless city gate keys and castle keys.

When Ibrahim heard that the fighting in the city was generally over, he rode his horse and entered the castle accompanied by the surrenderers.

While marching on the main road, the citizens on the roadside cheered for joy. When they saw the Safavid army passing by, they shouted "God's Messenger of Justice". When they saw Ibrahim surrounded, they knelt down and saluted.

"Your Majesty, you don't know that ever since Khosrow began to rule the northern foothills of the Hindu Kush, the people on this land have begun to suffer."

When Ibrahim heard this, he still didn't believe it. After all, years of war in Central Asia had made it commonplace for large and small warlords to expropriate and extort money. But as he continued deeper into Hus' old territory, he felt that he needed a very offensive word to call the owner here.

This was the first time he had seen someone who could make the people shout "Justice" when they saw the foreign troops and help them beat up the drowned dogs.

Not long after, he walked to the castle treasury. The quartermaster in charge of statistics said that he could not find any usable documents in the castle. In other words, Ibrahim had to do the statistics himself if he wanted to know.

"Hu Si Lao has no administrative talent, and he does not hire talents who know administrative management. He just relies on his officers to rule violently. How much he will pay this year is all improvised. If he doesn't collect enough, he will lead troops to rob..."

Ibrahim blocked these complaints and continued to wait for the quartermaster's statistics on the treasury.

Ahmed Bek did not lie. The property obtained by the Safavid army in the treasury and granary did not satisfy Ibrahim, but the ordnance reserves in the arsenal were unbelievably large.

He immediately ordered the quartermaster to transport all these ordnance and other belongings to the camp outside the city, preparing to leave for Kunduz.