The Sun and the Lion

After five days of marching, the army of the religious order marching along the road saw a large settlement. This city is not Tabriz, but about 60 kilometers southwest of it, connected by a highway. This city has no city walls for some reason, most of the buildings are in ruins, and it lacks the most critical factor that makes the region prosperous - human beings.

This ruins was once named Wuyan and was the summer capital of the Ilkhanate established by the Mongols. Mongolian princes would move their palaces here during the summer. But with the collapse of the Ilkhanate, the city was destroyed in wars over the next hundreds of years and disappeared from the map. It was not until the Qajar Dynasty that it was rebuilt due to the increase in the number of settled tribesmen. Later, the place was renamed Bostan Abad.

Ibrahim rode his horse into the city. The main road that ran through the city and connected the outside of the city to the palace was very wide, but the roads in other neighborhoods seemed a bit narrow, and the small alleys were even tighter, with only one or two people allowed to walk side by side.

This city is not very big. In other words, all medieval cities were limited by the traffic conditions at that time. The area would not be as large as after the industrial revolution. In less than half an hour, Ibrahim on horseback saw it. Palaces and mosques. Although there is no one to maintain it and more than half of the roof has collapsed, the mosque is still the tallest building in the city. One of the two surrounding minarets collapsed, and several huge cracks appeared on the tower body, causing the parts above it to collapse. It fell to the ground, and the cross-section at the break looked weathered for a long time. The other minaret seems to have remained intact, as if the years have not damaged it at all. It can continue to stand proudly here, trying to tell this history to people hundreds of years or even longer later, and show the craftsmen of the past. their skills.

The palace was much more damaged than the mosque, except for the exquisite tiles on the ground. The roof was completely gone, as there were very few walls and columns left, and the decoration was completely destroyed, not to mention the furniture.

Ibrahim, who originally wanted to live in the palace, had no choice but to leave the ruins with his entourage and return to the camp being set up.

In the camp near Tabriz, Alvand, who had been camping here for twenty-four days, was still worried about Ibrahim's whereabouts. How could he dare to attack Tabriz without finding the poisonous snakes hiding in the grass?

Another group of scouts came back, but still found nothing. Alvand did not punish them. After sending the scouts away, he drank grape juice alone in the big tent.

Just as he was about to let the attendants bring the beautiful dancer up, an officer interrupted Alvand's enjoyment.

Although he was a little displeased, but business was important, Alvand still let the officer in.

"Your Majesty, they are coming." The officer first said something that made Alvand confused.

"Who? Is it Ibrahim, the bastard who went to hell? How many people are here?" Like the legendary repeater, these syllables were spit out quickly and clearly from Alvand's mouth, enough to reflect the question The eagerness of the person.

"Yes, Your Majesty, although we are still identifying the bodies, the red hat on the head of the enemy scout is enough to identify him."

"Scouts? They didn't run back, did they?"

"We have not been able to annihilate all the rats that came to spy on our army, but our scouts are tracking them from a distance to find out the exact location of their camp." The officer lowered his head when answering, and after finishing speaking, he secretly moved his head to He raised his head a little higher to observe Alvand's expression. When he saw that Alvand was not going to have an attack, he stopped lowering his head.

"Okay, very good!" Seeing that his subordinates had arranged things so well and that it was possible to solve the problem that had troubled him for nearly a month, Alvand was in a good mood. He waved his hand and dismissed the officer, and then put the returned items on the table. Half a glass of grape juice was consumed in one gulp.

The scouts of the Order were negligent during their retreat, allowing the scouts of the Aries Dynasty to find the location of the camp.

The next day, as soon as Ibrahim finished his lunch, he was told that tens of thousands of horses appeared in the north of the camp, about ten kilometers away. The composition of the troops was very single, consisting entirely of cavalry.

"What! Did you read that correctly?" Ibrahim's eyes widened, he supported the table with his left hand and stood up from the carpet.

"I dare not deceive Your Majesty because of my humble position!" The messenger who came to report knelt down.

"Quickly go to various camps to pass orders and assemble to defend against the enemy!"

"Yes." Then the messenger rushed out of the tent like lightning, jumped on his horse, and headed to each camp.

"Your Majesty, we don't have time to assemble the entire army. I am willing to lead some of the troops that have been assembled to stop the enemy." Gaolaberi, who was the first to arrive, took the initiative to ask for a fight. He had already put on his armor and was ready to fight at any time.

"Okay." Ibrahim couldn't think of a better way and could only agree.

Then Gaolaberi took his soldiers to various military camps to find troops that could fight. Although the time was a little rushed, Gaolaberry still took away 4,000 people, and the remaining troops went there one after another after they were assembled. to the location of Ibrahim’s flag.

Alvand's troops also took advantage of this time to complete most of the journey. He had just rejected the advice of his staff and did not send people to find a suitable temporary camping site. He wanted to make a quick decision and complete everything within one day.

Looking at the distance, at the gate of the camp, Gaolaberi's four thousand cavalry were still in formation. Alvand scanned it and found that the length of the enemy's line that came to fight was much shorter than his own, and the depth seemed to be less. Like an army with over 10,000 cavalry.

"Our raid has been half successful. The enemy has fallen into chaos and was unable to send all the troops to resist us for a while!" The excited Alvand said to the leaders and staff gathered around him.

"His Majesty the Sultan is wise!"

"Descendant of the great Uzun Hassan, your sharp blade will surely defeat all enemies that stand in your way!"

"Long live!" "Long live!"

At first, it was just the leaders who were flattering, but under the deliberate guidance of the officers, in the end the entire army shouted "Long live!" The shouts from the military formation seemed to be able to break the mountains.

The red heads arrayed in the north of the camp naturally heard this cry, but in the face of such a powerful force, none of the red heads present showed fear or shock on their faces. Gaolaberi, who was observing the Aries army formation, just frowned. It seemed that the morale of the Aries cavalry was very high. Coupled with the huge disparity in numbers, it seemed that he and the cavalry behind him had a narrow escape. But the subsequent defeat and death did not cool down the fighting spirit in his heart, nor did the courage in his chest fade away. He never knew what fear was or what cowardice was, he only knew honor and command!

Gaolaberi turned his head and looked. His eyes first swept across the soldiers gathered around him, and then observed the red heads behind him through the gaps between the soldiers. Everyone showed no fear, which was reflected on their faces. There is only calmness or excitement caused by fanaticism.

"Trumpers! The entire army forms a wedge formation!"

Then a dull horn sounded, and under the organization of the officers, the cavalry changed their formations in an orderly manner, and Alvand naturally observed it.

He first ordered the officers to restrain the soldiers and stop shouting to save energy. Then, he saw several wedge formations taking shape, and several leaders nearby exclaimed: "Are they going to take the initiative to attack? They are so overestimating their capabilities!"

"If they don't attack, can they still form a solid phalanx or a shield wall to defend in place like infantry?" Alvand pointed to the cavalry bows and quivers filled with arrows that almost everyone had in hand. "This alone is enough to kill them all."

"Go down with the order and prepare to attack!" Then, Alvand ordered the order soldiers around him.

"Yes!" Then, the messengers shuttled between the military formations, loudly conveying the Sultan's orders to everyone. In the end, his voice was hoarse.

After the order was conveyed, some chaos occurred in the Aries cavalry formation. Many cavalrymen were eager to try, looking at the pitifully small number of enemies in the distance and at the enemy camp further away. Many people were changing their positions, hoping to be the first to rush into the enemy's camp. The originally neat military formation became a bit scattered.

"All the troops! Advance!" On Gaolaberi's side, after the wedge formation was formed, he immediately issued the order to attack. The red heads rode forward. In order to preserve the physical strength of the horses, they first walked slowly and then trotted. Several wedge-shaped formations were staggered and advancing slowly.

"They're moving! They're moving! Your Majesty, give the order to attack!"

"Don't worry, let them get closer."

Less than a minute later, Alvand said again: "That's it."

"As you command, Your Majesty!"

The Aries cavalry formation immediately began to move. The cavalry on both wings were the first to attack. The center army followed Alvand forward. Looking down from a high altitude, 32,000 cavalry formed a huge crescent, while Gaola Berry's four thousand men seemed so small among them.

Gaolaberi didn't want to pay attention to the enemies surrounding him on both sides. His focus was on the enemy's center, looking at the handsome flags erected high and those gorgeously dressed soldiers surrounded by soldiers in the center. As long as the senior officers can defeat them, the remaining rabble will naturally retreat.

Because of nervousness, everyone's palms were sweating. Once they entered the shooting range, the cavalrymen took out their bows, took out arrows from their quivers, and threw them in front of them.

For a moment, a rain of arrows fell, and many Aries cavalry were shot off their horses. However, for the entire military formation, this was just a pebble thrown into the Caspian Sea, and the waves it caused were not worth mentioning.

Soon, the counterattack came. The arrows not only came from the front, but also from the sides. The shield could protect the front, but not the sides. Many red heads fell to the ground and fell to pieces. Fortunately, they survived. Those who came down became stragglers.

Gaolaberi threw away the shield with dozens of arrows stuck in his hand, and together with the soldiers, he took out the lance, held it tightly with both hands, then clamped the horse tightly with his legs, and used the horse behind the riding boots to The Spurs let their mounts charge, intending to rush through the last 100 meters in the shortest possible time.

The tightly formed red heads penetrated deep into the loose formation of the white sheep cavalry without much effort. The wounds became deeper and deeper. The red heads did not care about the threats behind them at all and allowed the white sheep cavalry on the sides and rear to cover up. For them, the only way to survive was to keep rushing forward until they cut off Alvand's head.

This kind of wild boar-style charge naturally caused a lot of trouble for the Aries cavalry. If it weren't for the huge disparity in numbers and the depth, they might not be able to withstand this attack.

"Steady! Steady!" Facing the fierce red heads with skilled combat skills and no fear of death, many Aries cavalry were confused and their previous thoughts were thrown out of the sky. Alvand was keenly aware of this change, and had no choice but to wander around the battlefield with his own soldiers to supervise the battle, trying to use his authority and noble status to appease these cavalry whose morale was declining, so that they could overcome the obstacles in their hearts and continue fighting.

Soon, as the Aries cavalry gradually adjusted and surrounded the red heads, the red heads' offensive weakened at a speed visible to the naked eye, but did not stop. It seemed that they were still unstoppable.

"Oh my God! How can there be such terrifying cavalry in the world! Are they from Hell? Even Timur's troops..." A leader was completely shocked by the domineering fighting power of the red heads. However, he could not be shocked for long. A spear passed through the gap between the soldiers and hit him in the face. He did not scream, but fell off the horse without saying a word, while his soldiers were Frightened, they tried to flee, but were quickly broken through by a group of blood-stained Qizilbash, and none of them could escape.

"The seventeenth." Gaolaberi counted silently in his heart. This was the seventeenth head he had chopped off. Although the battle was less than half an hour, the physical strength of both combatants was exhausted very quickly. He endured the pain in his arm and still held the Schecher scimitar tightly, while only a few soldiers were still fighting around him. to half way. Alvand's flag seemed to be very close, but blocked by a large number of Aries cavalry, this final distance was actually like a chasm, and the remaining red heads could no longer break through.

"Eighteen." But the dangerous and changeable battlefield environment did not allow him to think too much. In less than two minutes, he chopped down another cavalryman to the ground. But the incoming Aries cavalry seemed to be endless. The general's attire on Gaolaberi's body attracted the cavalry like nectar. The remaining red heads moved closer to him, while the Aries cavalry who wanted to make achievements were like a swarm of bees. Come and try to break through the restrictions to collect the sweet nectar.

A lance stabbed Gaolaberi in the abdomen, but his armor was very strong and did not cause him fatal injuries. However, Gaolaberi, who was hit hard in the abdomen, was unable to continue killing the enemy with his scimitar. He could only endure the pain to prevent himself from falling off the horse, and Schecher's scimitar fell to the ground. The soldier who reacted stabbed the Aries cavalryman in the eye socket with the tip of his saber. The force was so strong that less than half of the blade penetrated his head.

After a slight pause, Gaolaberi took the sword handed over by his own soldier and pierced the throat of another cavalryman. But the encirclement is smaller.

"Sudan! Sudan! The main force of the enemy!" A scout rushed in front of Alvand. Because Alwand was wandering around in the military formation, it took a lot of time for the scout to find him, but it should still be too late.

Alvand followed the scout's arm and looked in the direction he indicated. There was smoke and dust rising in the distance, and there was the chaotic sound of horse hooves. It was obvious that a large number of cavalry were coming.

"Commander!" Alvand called the messenger over, and then issued his adjustment order. The huge and chaotic military formation became even more chaotic.

Gaola Berry and the red heads, who were deeply surrounded, suddenly found that their pressure was much lighter, and it seemed that breaking out was not impossible.

In the south of the battlefield, Ibrahim led 11,000 reinforcements to appear in time. Due to the sudden incident and the poor communication of the news, the Aries cavalry in the south of the encirclement failed to adjust in time to meet the enemy. The Georgian cavalry was hit by the red-headed arrows. The enemy opened a gap under the cover of arrows, and then Ibrahim led the bowmen to rush into the gap, constantly tearing apart Alvand's encirclement. After being hit hard by this attack, these Aries cavalry were on the verge of disintegration. Gao Laberi, who was in the circle, also discovered something and led his men to break out south.

Ibrahim ignored the fleeing Aries cavalry and continued to charge forward. After the collapse of the Aries cavalry in the south, the cavalry on both wings reacted and began to organize a defense against Ibrahim, making Ibrahim's breakthrough not as smooth as before.

After a lot of hard work, Ibrahim finally reunited with Gaola Beili, but he had become a bloody man, with more than a dozen wounds on his body, but none of them were fatal. Most of them are flesh wounds.

"Quick! Send our hero back to the camp!" Ibrahim was frightened by the bloody man in front of him. He was afraid that Gaolaberi was seriously injured, so he hurriedly asked his soldiers to send him back to the camp for treatment.

"No... Sultan, I can also chop off the enemy's head with a machete." Gaolaberi was reluctant to leave the battlefield, for fear of making Ibrahim question his ability, but his voice was different from the one at the beginning of the battle. Much smaller than that.

"This is an order! You are so exhausted and have so many injuries, and you still want to continue fighting? Do you want to go to heaven now?" Ibrahim was anxious. He didn't want to lose a strong general.

Gaolaberi didn't open his mouth again, said nothing, and just allowed the soldiers to send him back to the camp.

"The current formation is too chaotic. Even if we win, we will pay a huge price." Alvand observed the battlefield situation, made his own judgment, and then issued an order: "Retreat to the starting position!"

"Your Majesty, no! Now the two armies are tightly intertwined, and the retreat is very likely to turn into a rout!" The staff hurriedly stopped, but it was too late. The messenger had already gone to convey the order.

"Brothers! The enemy slaughtered my brothers and feet. We have no reason to swallow our anger and chop off their heads with scimitars. For the sake of my brothers and feet! For the sake of the Lord!" Ibrahim watched as the Aries cavalry began to break away from the red heads. A large army is slowly retreating, thinking this is a rare opportunity. "Kill all these cowards who are retreating!"

"Your Majesty! For the brothers and sisters!" Thousands of red heads shouted in unison, while the Georgian cavalry on the side was seizing the time to rest. Many of the retreating Aries cavalry were frightened by this and lost their fighting spirit. Some cavalry broke away from the team and tried to leave the battlefield.