The Sun and the Lion

After Aden was taken over by the Safavid army, Ahsan properly arranged the aftermath, appeased the local community, inspected the city defenses, treasury, etc., and designed a new island on the southeastern headland of the peninsula and the entrance to the port. Build a fortress and leave enough troops to defend this place, etc. Finally, he must appoint a subordinate he can trust to lead the garrison and preside over the aftermath as planned.

Doing all this does not mean that he can just walk away. What Ibrahim wants is not just the port of Aden, but the entire Yemeni region. This means he also needs to deal with the current ruler of Yemen, the Tahir dynasty Zafir Amir.

He didn't know how long it would take for the news of the fall of Aden to reach the ears of the Sultan of Yemen. Perhaps he should take the initiative to send representatives to negotiate, or wait for the other party to come and show force?

For Ahsan, he doesn't have much choice at the moment. Currently, there is only one regiment of under-manned naval infantry stationed in Aden. If the sailors are allowed to go ashore, they can defend the city, and there is no need to take the initiative to go deep into the hinterland of Yemen.

He asked the secretary to prepare a report and a letter of persuasion to surrender to the Sultan of Yemen. He hesitated because he did not know how many reinforcements the King of Kings would send him after seeing the battle report. Direct communication from Aden to Tabriz would take several weeks. , it takes time to prepare and mobilize reinforcements. If it is necessary to attack Yemen Sudan deep into the hinterland, the time will be delayed until winter or even next year.

The report sent to Tabriz was withheld first, and Ahsan planned to wait for the reply from the Sultan of Yemen. After browsing through the letter of persuasion to surrender, he thought there was no problem and summoned his close aides: "Find a courier to send this letter to the Sultan of Yemen. Is there anyone in Aden who knows where the Sultan's court is?"

The messenger who found the guide rode a temporarily requisitioned horse and carried the letter along the road deep into the interior.

…………

After several twists and turns, the messenger arrived at the city of Sana'a. At this time, traces of the siege could still be seen outside the city. The corpses had been cleaned up, but the dug trenches, traces of the army's encampment and the destroyed city fortifications still showed the cruelty that had been staged recently. fighting.

As soon as the messenger entered the castle and claimed to see the Sultan, he was arrested, and the letters on his body were found and presented to Sultan Zafir.

"Dear Your Majesty the Sultan, the invader's messenger has been arrested. This is the letter found on him. Please read it." The Sultan's trusted officer walked into the room and handed the letter to Zafir respectfully.

The Sultan of Yemen took the letter and opened it to browse, trying to get any potentially useful information from it.

"You stole my Aden by fraud and sneak attack, and now you dare to ask me to surrender and become a vassal? God bless you, are you planning to arrange for me to become a conqueror?" Zafir's anger suddenly rose, and he laughed in anger. He planned to immediately mobilize his troops and go south to recapture Aden.

At this time, the Sudan of Yemen can be said to be facing enemies from many sides and is in a very difficult situation. The greatest threat is the Zayd sect operating in northern Yemen. Many tribes worship the Zayd sect’s imams and are enemies of the Sunnis in the south. This has been a headache for successive Yemeni sultans.

Fortunately, Zafir recently captured the city of Sana'a from the Zayedi Imam after an arduous siege, killing many Zaydid warriors and inflicting heavy losses on these heretics. The Imam had to retreat to a smaller city in the north. The settlements are gathering strength for the future.

In addition to the annoying Zayd heresy, there is also a larger but distant threat in the north-the Mamluks. Some Yemeni tribes in the Tihama area were won over by Cairo and succumbed to Malik's will. Fortunately, although Cairo was interested in Yemen, due to various factors, it had not yet organized an expeditionary force to conquer Yemen.

And now there is another clear threat in the south, and it has also directly captured Aden, which makes Zafir a little unable to hold his nerve. The money bag is the lifeblood. If the financial income is severely cut off, then he, the sultan, can just wait for death.

"Dear Sultan, may Allah protect you forever." Yahya, who had been summoned temporarily, was trembling in front of Zafir. When he was turned to the Sultan when he had just escaped back to the palace, Zafir was furious. First, he was scolded in public, then whipped with a whip in public, and ordered to deprive him of his property and official position. If it weren't for the intercession of his colleagues, he would have nothing left.

Yahya bravely raised his head slightly, but still did not dare to look directly at Zafir's face. He only heard the voice of the Sudan reaching his ears: "As the Emir of Yemen, you have the responsibility to protect your territory. I have already punished you. Now I want to give you a chance to make meritorious service. Find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com. What do you think?"

"Dear Sultan, I... I will do as you please." Yahya was respectful, not daring to disobey in the slightest, but full of obedience and fear.

Zafir got straight to the point: "I plan to lead the army south to recapture Aden, but I know nothing about these new enemies. You are the only one under my command who has fought against these enemies. You will stay with the Chinese army and I will act and I will send you to fight when necessary. If we succeed in recapturing Aden, you will still stay here."

Yahya quickly praised the Sultan for his kindness and promised that this battle would not let him down again.

"First tell me where these enemies come from and how they fight." The Sultan of Yemen asked.

"Your Majesty, as stated in the signature of the letter, these despicable heretical pirates claim allegiance to the Shah of Iran. I do not believe that this is an impersonation of some bold pirate, but this issue does not need to be taken seriously at the moment."

Regarding Safavid's situation, both the monarch and his ministers had only heard a little bit about it, but the Sultan's close aides were well-informed: "The threat from the Shah of Iran is not small..."

When Yahya and Zafir listened to the general experience of Ibrahim's army and founding the country, they expressed their amazement, condemned and despised Safavid's official religion and religious policies, and expressed concern about the strength he possessed.

Then Yahya described his battle in Aden to Zafir in detail, especially about the power of firearms. Matchlock guns and breech-mounted revolving guns killed many soldiers, and naval guns attacked the castle walls and main building. The bombardment was so unforgettable that the soldiers and officers at the scene lost their courage to fight.

After such a reminder, Zafir felt that this enemy was a bit difficult to deal with: "There can be no delay. We must immediately raise our troops and make a surprise attack south before the enemy has a firm foothold in Aden!"