The Sun and the Lion

Ignoring the intrigue between Kansu Gauri and the Ottomans for the time being, the army that went to counter the rebellion had already arrived in Herat, and from here they entered the rebel activity area further east.

At this time, Abdul and Ismail knew nothing about the rebels. Their top priority was to go to Kabul to join the governor, or at least to send a messenger to get in touch with the governor.

"Dear General, and Your Highness, there are two roads from Herat to Kabul." The map was spread out, and the local officers of Herat were introducing the geographical situation to the court's reinforcements.

Abdul, who had fought here before, did not steal the guide's words. He quietly learned about the geographical information with Ismail and thought about how to deal with these rebels.

"Which two roads are they specifically?" Ismail glanced at the Hindu Kush Mountains and various cities marked on the map.

The guide pointed to the two black lines on the map: "If you want to go to Kabul quickly, you can directly cross the mountain road east of Herat. This is the most suitable road among the mountains for large armies. The size of the army you lead is not It’s huge and it’s not difficult to get through here.”

Having said this, Ismail carefully calculated the troops he and Abdul had in hand. In addition to the five thousand men allocated by Ibrahim in Tabriz, the Emir of Khorasan also provided him with He received two thousand tribal cavalry and supplies. After arriving in Herat, local officials and powerful men served as intermediaries to help him hire one thousand Afghan cavalry.

"However, if you take the mountain road, you will be easily ambushed." Abdul said cautiously.

The guide nodded in approval: "Yes, Your Highness, I think it is better not to take this road. The various settlements in the middle are very poor, it is difficult for the troops to raise military supplies, and it is very troublesome to transport from the rear. The terrain is rugged and prone to accidents. Also, the general reminded us that mountains are excellent ambush locations."

Therefore, Ismail and Abdul naturally chose another route. They planned to march to Kandahar first to learn more information from officials and tribal leaders there.

…………

After several days of rest, the army was marching on the renovated road. There were few business travelers on the road. Ismail, who volunteered to be the vanguard, arrived first with his own soldiers and a large group of "Friends of the Shah" A village close to the main road.

"Master, please show mercy. We have no heretics and we have no food to pay." As soon as he entered the village, an old man and dozens of villagers knelt in front of them and kept begging.

The soldiers were very vigilant and wanted to drive away these beggar-like villagers.

"What's going on?" Ismail looked up and saw the body hanging at the highest point of the mosque. Judging from the dress, he might be a mullah. The obvious frown and angry tone were enough to make everyone around him feel Mirza's displeasure.

"Go back to the army, go back to the army. The one who was hanged was the mullah of our village, not us, but other groups..." The village chief told Ismail intermittently how the bandits ravaged the village several times. you.

Mirza quickly grasped the key point. Who hasn't done this before: robbing food, extorting villagers, and kidnapping women? Bandits, officers and soldiers can do these things. But why did the village mullah have to be killed?

Although Ibrahim did not allow the tribes in the mountainous areas to be brought under the rule of the administrative agencies, there were many Shia mullahs and qadi who went to Afghanistan to replace them. It was obvious that he wanted to strengthen it through religious means. control.

But the King of Kings had good intentions, but the governor below carried them out crookedly. Ibrahim's methods were relatively gentle. Even weak-minded clerics who converted on the spot could save their lives. However, he was very restrained and had no plans for ordinary people who did not directly rebel.

In the process of promoting Shiaism, the governor's methods were somewhat rough. In addition, he repeatedly blackmailed some tribal leaders, which gave those who tried to cause rebellion an opportunity to rebel.

Ismail, who roughly understood that this was the work of the rebels, first sent his own soldiers to inform Abdul, and then asked the village chief for other details, including information about the rebels who had recently come here.

Seeing that he could get no other information from these survivors, Ismail raised his whip and asked the soldiers to disperse them. The villagers lowered their heads and retreated consciously, not daring to look at Mirza again.

He glanced at the village again, and finally left with the cavalry. At this moment, a group of people suddenly surrounded the village from all sides and fired arrows into the village without saying a word.

"There are enemies!"

The shout alerted all the cavalry present, and they all took out their weapons to fight back. The soldiers who quickly found the enemy's movements quickly shot several of them off their horses.

Even so, the raiding riders did not flinch and still rushed into the village to face the Safavid soldiers. Shooters with good eyesight could clearly see the whites of these tribes' green eyes.

These warriors armed with scimitars and short spears had murderous intent in their eyes, and their equipment was not bad either. Most of the riders had leather armor, and the leader also wore chainmail, but it didn't look like the workmanship was very good.

Some riders threw short spears in their hands before the official confrontation with the enemy, hoping to kill or disrupt the enemy in front of them. However, these well-equipped "Friends of Shah" successfully avoided or simply blocked it with their shields due to lack of accuracy. These short spears.

In less than a few seconds, the sound of metal impact hit their eardrums, and the Afghan rider reacted quickly to block the blow.

The battlefield at this time was in chaos. Both the Afghans and the Safavid cavalry were basically divided into various open spaces in the village. The friends of Shah basically consciously formed small teams to fight together, and were quite concerned about the tribal horsemen fighting on their own. for disadvantage.

Ismail's performance on the battlefield was astonishing at this time. Many ordinary tribal riders saw him dressed in luxurious clothes and tried to kill him or capture him alive, but they never thought whether he could do it.

Ismail was not polite to those who came looking for death, and took all of their heads with a knife. After he slaughtered more than ten people with his own hands, no one dared to fight with him anymore, and they would crawl away from him when they saw him.

"It's not good. Is this really a small group of scouts here?" The leader who was observing the battlefield felt more and more something was wrong. He found that the number of people brought over might not be as many as those from the opposite side.

how did this happen? The leader was still thinking hard about the answer. He didn't know whether to persist.