The Sun and the Lion

Due to Hus Lao's escape, the companions in the camp were unable to organize resistance at all. They originally hoped that their master would organize a defense and counterattack to reverse the situation, until they learned that all senior officers were missing.

In this way, Abdul obtained the property that Huslaw gave up and the companions who surrendered. However, the number of these spoils was too huge. Just disarming and guarding the captives required a large number of manpower.

While he was dealing with the aftermath, he also assigned scouts to investigate Hisar, which was less than a day's journey away.

After placing the prisoners, he began to screen the officers among them, and then began to interrogate them. Because it was a surprise attack, he did not have time to bring an interrogator and secretary, so he had to interrogate himself. Fortunately, he was somewhat literate and could take notes while asking questions.

Abdul soon discovered something was wrong. The captured officers were all middle- and lower-level officers, not to mention the Emir and the Sultan, and none of them was Burke.

When faced with this question, the interrogators all answered unanimously: "I don't know." and went on to explain that the situation was chaotic and no one paid attention to their movements. It was difficult for everyone to save their lives, let alone take the initiative to find Hus. old.

Various phenomena can show that Abdul's most important target to kill or capture has escaped, and the most likely destination is the city of Hisar.

After the interrogation, the returning scouts reported to him, further proving this fact: "The gates of Hisar city are closed and completely isolated from the outside world. I tried to disguise myself as a shepherd and peddler, but was told by the guards that there was going to be a fight and that I was not allowed to." The humble men entered the city. The walls were covered with sentries, all armed with bows and arrows."

Abdul could not rely on his troops to besiege Hisar. All he could do now was to escort the spoils and surrendered troops to the large team.

…………

Although he escaped back to the city of Hisar, the raid a few hours ago still left this great warlord with lingering fears. He was fortunate that he reacted quickly enough. It's just that this failure made him lose face again, and I don't know how many Burkes will be upset.

He looked dejectedly at Vali and other cronies beside him, and steeled himself to preside over the meeting: "Now let's talk about what to do now."

In less than a month, he lost the two important strongholds of Balkh and Kunduz and all the land south of the upper reaches of the Amu Darya River. Now the enemy has not given up the pursuit and intends to seize Hisar, the last stronghold.

The word Hisar originally means castle or fortress in Persian, and the previous owner Masud also managed it well. After taking over, Vali also tried his best to renovate the city's fortifications.

But in such a strong castle, Huslao and the other Burkes who had escaped from Kunduz did not feel a sense of security at all. They were all dejected and frightened, thinking that they were not far away from the Day of Judgment.

In this strange atmosphere, it was Vali who spoke first: "Emil, and all Burkes, there is no need to panic. There are thousands of armored men and hundreds of good generals in the city, plus this wall The high and vast city fortifications are not comparable to those of Balkh, so it is not impossible to defend them for a while."

After hearing this, Hus Lao also came to his senses. He didn't know what happened when Balkh fell, but he was indeed scared to abandon the city of Kunduz. This made him couldn't help but imagine, if he had persisted at that time, would the situation have deteriorated to this point when reinforcements arrived?

But there is no point regretting it now. Abandoning the city and escaping has already weakened the morale of many soldiers. After a few seconds of thinking, Hu Si Lao decided to take a stand this time.

"What Vali said makes sense. The loss of Kunduz was only because I was too suspicious. The defeat of the camp outside the city was due to the laziness of the entire army. This time, with the help of Hisar's city wall, let's see if we can defeat it. Invading enemy."

Seeing Huslao become firmer, the Burkes suddenly regained their confidence and had no intention of surrendering or continuing to flee.

The Guregani Army was preparing for city defense work in this confused and confident mood.

On the road to Hisar, Ibrahim, who received the spoils presented by Abdul, was really confident. He was sure that Huslao's main force was all here, and then he would capture Hisar and the surrounding areas. Areas should be just as easy.

However, the mobility of the Safavid army marching with artillery was not as good as before. It would take only four or five days for an ordinary caravan to complete the main road between Kunduz and Hisar. Abdul's army It only takes two or three days for a pure cavalry force to march, but it took Ibrahim a full week to complete this journey.

At any rate, this military operation did not have strict time requirements. When the Safavid army arrived, they set up camp as normal and prepared to besiege the city.

While the artillerymen were still building positions, the Safavid army followed established procedures to show force to the defenders on the city wall and persuade them to surrender. Then the defenders, who had strengthened their confidence, also followed the procedure and stated that they would guard the city wall until they died of old age.

Then it was time for the artillery to show its prowess. When facing the city walls of Hisar, the snake cannons and mortars still showed their power. The city defense systems of Balkh, Kunduz and Hisar were not essentially There is no difference. It happens that the Safavid army has enough ammunition, so this is not a problem.

What happened next was a replica of the Battle of Balkh. The artillery opened the hole in the city wall, and others took advantage of the interval between shelling to push carts and fill the soil, paving the passage for the siege troops to advance and retreat.

Under the cover of the arquebusiers and rear-mounted revolving guns, the ferocious red heads launched an assault on the gap in the city wall. After a battle, they overran the Guregani army that came to stop them.

The defense line that originally relied on the city wall collapsed in this way. This series of events directly shocked all the soldiers defending the city. Huslao and Vali's original confidence had completely dissipated, and they planned to repeat the scene in Kunduz.

But after giving up Hisar, they will become completely homeless wild dogs. The Burkes who originally relied on them will change their families. Finally, if they find a master who is willing to take them in, they will only be slaves for the rest of their lives and never rise again. possible.

Husslaus was cruel and planned to go north to Fergana to stir up the muddy water. It would be safer than going to the river anyway.

However, one thing leads to another. Knowing this truth, Ibrahim did not intend to make Pili's mistake. In addition to the siege troops, he deployed heavy troops to guard the other three sides of Hisar City in order not to let important people escape.

Hu Si Lao, who had no idea about all the arrangements, organized the remaining soldiers to break out of the city.