The Sun and the Lion

From noon to dusk, the sound of gunfire on the city slowly stopped. The corpses of Yemenis were piled into hills under the city wall. The defense line composed of Safavid sailors still stood on the city wall.

This failed offensive, which destroyed almost all the siege equipment and thousands of soldiers, can be said to have caused heavy casualties. Yahya, who was in charge of the command, was disgraced and was immediately left in a corner where the Sultan did not take him seriously.

Zafir, who was watching the whole battle from behind, was greatly shocked by the battle conditions during the day, especially the naval gun attacks on archers and trebuchets. The Yemeni army, which lacked countermeasures, lost its firepower against the shooters on the city wall. Suppress, allowing the arquebus and breech-mounted revolving gun to leisurely shoot the siege soldiers climbing the ladder from the flanks.

"If such a powerful weapon can be obtained..." Zafer became active, but obtaining gunpowder weapons that can shine in the siege is a matter for the future. The most important thing now is how to continue the unfavorable battle situation.

After the siege of the city, there have been two battles so far. Both the Yemeni army and the Safavid army have an understanding of the current war situation. Zafir is ready to temporarily ease relations with the Persians who stole Aden, so he asked the guards to bring the arrested messenger to the camp.

"Heretical Sultan of Yemen, you, a vicious dog from hell, did you realize it hurts after being whipped by your master? Did you realize you should obey your master properly?" The captured messenger taunted Zafir in a very personal way. He was so angry that he immediately ordered the guards to whip him until he could not stand up.

The Sultan of Yemen looked at the bruised messenger with disgust and did not want to waste money on healing his injuries. He planned to throw it directly to the Safavid side as a sign of sincerity in the peace talks.

Ahsan received a notification in the castle the next day. The officer below said that the Yemenis had released a prisoner. He was not surprised by this. He only felt that the Yemeni Sultan was aware of current affairs. When I came back to my senses, I had doubts again - where did this prisoner come from?

It wasn't until the seriously injured courier was brought that he remembered that there was such a person. He thought that the courier had been killed and died for his country, but he didn't expect that he survived. Ahsan did not expect the detained messenger to know any key information about the enemy. He just arranged for him to have a doctor and a place to rest.

The messenger merely conveyed his wish for peace talks, and the Sultan invited "the Persian governor of Aden" to come out of the city to meet with him, and both parties met at the causeway with only their guards. Ahsan rejected this request outright and instead asked the Sultan to send an envoy to the city to negotiate with him.

During the day the next day, riders from the city brought the letter to the siege camp.

"Is this cowardice or caution?" Seeing Ahsan's request, the Sultan of Yemen was a little shaken. Maybe the Persian garrison in the city is not strong? Yesterday's major failure in the siege was just... luck?

In any case, let’s talk first. Anyway, the land blockade on Aden has not been lifted yet. Zafir selected one of the civilian officials who accompanied the army whom he considered suitable to appoint as a representative to enter the city.

After a brief welcome, the commander got to the point: "What does your master, the Sultan of Yemen, intend to do in exchange for peace?"

"Your Excellency the Emir, my Sultan is willing to pay you five thousand dinars at a time and share Aden's port tax with your country." The Yemeni representative stated the conditions to Ehsan. Obviously, this did not satisfy the Safavid side. .

The commander refuted word by word: "Your Excellency, Ambassador, are you kidding? Now the Port of Aden is mine, and my master and I can take all the trade profits here!"

"I need to remind you, Your Majesty the Emir, Aden is a sacred territory belonging to the Sudan..."

"Then ask him to come and get it himself." The Yemeni representative's speech was directly interrupted, causing a burst of ridicule.

The Yemeni representative asked rather unhappily: "Then what are you going to ask for? Your Majesty the Emir."

"First of all, correct your attitude. I serve the most powerful monarch in the world. If the Sultan of your country does not take the initiative to pay tribute, it is a sin. He also upholds heresy, which is even more unforgivable." This time in Yemen. Feeling odd about the representative's grandiose words, Ahsan then made his request.

"The most benevolent and benevolent Huda, now our Lord does not intend to pursue the sins of your Sultan. He only needs to cede Aden so that we can forget the past and live in peace. This is already very lenient. Please consider carefully whether you want peace. It’s still war.” Without waiting for the other party to bargain with other conditions, the Yemeni representative was asked to leave the castle by the guards.

Ahsan's arrogant tone successfully angered the Sultan of Yemen, who angrily announced that he would continue to siege the city until "all the heretics who invaded Aden are eliminated."

Naturally, this declaration of war was understood by Ahsan through scolding and provocation. Find Bookstore www.zhaoshuyuan.com Faced with such an overly violent reaction, the commander still pitied the Yemenis for not figuring out who was the weak side.

He immediately asked the secretary to draft a report. First, he excerpted a large number of remarks about the Yemenis insulting the King of Kings and orthodox beliefs. Then he asked Ibrahim to authorize him to destroy the Tahir dynasty that ruled Yemen and send his troops and appointed officials The governor of Yemen came to Aden with reinforcements.

In addition to reporting, he also planned to take the initiative to attack. Although the sailors could not defeat the Yemeni army without the city fortifications, the attack did not necessarily have to be through land. In addition to Aden, the trade ports in Yemen include Mocha, located on the west coast of Yemen. This place is the main trading port for Yemeni coffee. The eunuchs asked merchants operating on the Red Sea to buy coffee for the King of Kings in Mocha and Aden.

For Ibrahim, in addition to the great strategic significance of blocking the entrance and exit of the Red Sea, controlling Aden also has the intention of controlling the coffee trade.

As for what is more important in modern times, the Port of Hodeidah, located north of Mocha, was a construction result during the Ottoman rule and is currently unknown.

Ahsan immediately ordered the captains to be summoned for a meeting. He announced the plan to blockade Mocha Port, hoping that there would be enough volunteers to complete the task.

"Your Majesty Commander, how many ships do you think are needed to blockade such a trading port?" Several captains asked Ahsan how many troops he wanted to invest.

"About two to three... Karavels." Ehsan glanced at the captains of the Karavels.

Several captains soon began to compete for the task of blocking the port. Among other things, the cash and cargo of the merchant ship alone could make a lot of loot.

After the negotiations broke down, both sides were actively preparing for the next war. However, the current balance of victory was clearly in favor of Safavid.