The Sun and the Lion

Ibrahim did not rigidly wait until all the troops were assembled before setting off. He and the senior officers would stay in Kabul, and Afghan fighters provided by various tribes would take the lead.

Gulbuddin, a Pashtun warlord who was very interested in Safavid rule, was ordered to lead two thousand Afghan cavalry through the Khyber Pass. The march went very smoothly, and Lodi had no idea about the arrival of the invaders. The dynasty did not deploy troops to defend this place.

The Afghan cavalry who rushed out of the mountain pass immediately launched an armed reconnaissance of Peshawar. Gulbuddin did not rush the entire army to attack rashly, but sent a small group of troops to wander around here acting as marauders.

The sudden appearance of Afghan horse bandits alerted the Delhi Army in Peshawar. The governor immediately sent troops to suppress the bandits, but was lured into the mountains by Gulbuddin and annihilated them all.

After this battle, the attitude of the Governor of Peshawar changed. After receiving the ransom, Gulbuddin pretended to retreat, leaving only the scouts to continue reconnaissance near Peshawar and pay attention to the next movements of the Delhi army.

The battle report and half of the ransom were sent to Kabul. Knowing that Peshawar's defenses were weak, Ibrahim ordered the army to set off. He was very confident that the first battle would go smoothly. The Delhi army thought it was just Afghan plunderers coming down the mountain. It was impossible. Military forces deployed to defend against large armies.

In fact, the news of the Safavid army gathering in Kabul could not be concealed from the Indian businessmen traveling there. Many travelers also believed that this was an Iranian invasion of India imitating the lame Timur.

As for the authenticity of these rumors, the Governor of Peshawar has never sent anyone to Kabul to confirm, and he is not concerned about the fortress being built in the Khyber Pass. To this day, Sikandar Khan as far away as Agra does not know that there are many in the West. An enemy.

It was not until Ibrahim personally led his army to send a messenger to deliver a letter of surrender to the Governor of Peshawar after crossing the Khyber Pass that he knew that the big one was really coming. However, the letter of persuasion to surrender was sent at a tight time. He did not have time to count the inventory of ordnance and the number of soldiers at the moment, and it was unrealistic to seek reinforcements from Lahore or other areas.

The magnificence of the army outside the city made the governor's scalp numb. He decided that he was unable to resist and immediately made the decision to abandon the city and run away. He only left the city of Peshawar for the enemy to ravage in the hope of delaying the enemy's pursuit.

This is not the first time that the Safavid army has come to Peshawar. The surviving defenders and citizens remember that the army under this banner ravaged the city in the past few years.

Fear dominated them. Officers, wealthy businessmen, and landowners came to the castle hoping to get protection from the governor. However, the guards responsible for guarding the castle repeatedly prevaricated them, which made them feel bad.

The governor, who had packed up his belongings, and his soldiers took advantage of the fact that the encirclement outside the city had not yet been formed. They left this place under the cover of night and ran eastward.

It was not until dawn that the abandoned castle guards told the citizens the truth. The angry crowd cursed the escapees who abandoned the city. At the same time, they realized that it was impossible to defend the city. The representatives who were urgently elected acted in this crisis. The city was to be preserved by presenting it to the conqueror with the keys.

"Your Majesty, a representative came out of the city and claimed to dedicate the city to you." Hashayar, who was in charge of the security work, reported to Ibrahim.

The representative who was escorted into the tent by the guards had a pitiful look on his face. He knelt down directly in front of Ibrahim and presented the city door key with both hands: "To the greatest conqueror, the humble city of Peshawar has surrendered to you, here. The people and the wealth belong to you."

Ibrahim asked the attendant to bring him the key, and reassured him: "Since the city of Peshawar is willing to take the initiative to be loyal to me, I will naturally not harm the subjects under my rule."

The Safavid army then successfully took over the city. In addition to the property in the treasury, the local dignitaries were forced to pay a city redemption fee, but this was much better than massacring the city.

After confirming that the King of Kings accepted Peshawar's surrender, the officials, wealthy businessmen, and ulema who stayed in the city came to see him. In order to maintain order in Peshawar and even the entire Punjab, Ibrahim temporarily asked the Governor of Kabulistan, who was responsible for rear affairs, to temporarily take charge of Punjab affairs.

Ibrahim, who was stationed in Peshawar, immediately summoned the generals to arrange the next combat mission.

All the troops planned to participate in the war gathered here, including all the Guards and Standing Army, 25 regiments of red-headed and 10 regiments of Afghan irregular cavalry, and accompanying battalion personnel, with a total of about 66,000 combat troops.

The next target of the Safavid Army was undoubtedly Lahore, but other areas in the Punjab also needed to be sent troops to take over. He decided to separate the Afghan cavalry and hand them over to Gulbuddin and Mirwais, two Pushkars who took the initiative to surrender to him. Picture warlord.

Six thousand Afghan cavalry marched south to ensure that the Afghan tribes of Kohat and Bennu did not threaten Peshawar. Find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan． com Gulbuddin and Mirwais acted very quickly, and immediately led their troops to set off after receiving the order.

In just one week, the partial division led by the two men marched from Peshawar from north to south to Miyamwali. There was no resistance in Kohat, Bennu and other places on the way, allowing the two men to confirm that there was no threat to the south of Peshawar for the time being.

At the same time, in order to raise supplies and conduct reconnaissance intelligence, these irregular cavalry folded their flags and crossed the river to operate on the territory belonging to the Sultan of Multan.

At the same time, the main force led by Ibrahim himself moved eastward, intending to capture Mardan first and then cross the river to advance to Lahore. Before his official departure, he sent a formal diplomatic document to Agra, accusing the Sultan of Delhi of "repeatedly offending our country and contemptuous of the prestige and faith of the King of Kings." and demanding "respectfully cede the land of the Five Rivers to me and honor As the sect master, I pay tribute every year and come to court every year. Otherwise, I will personally come to take what you should have dedicated to me, and you will lose more."

The messenger rushed to Agra with an apparently provocative document, followed by Ibrahim's army on Mardan, which, like Peshawar, would receive a letter of surrender.

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News of the massive invasion by the Safavid army reached Lahore along with the Governor of Peshawar who fled eastward. This surprised the Governor of Lahore. He first asked his soldiers to detain the Governor of Peshawar who had fled the battle and reported the news to Lahore. Sent to Agra along with the deserters.

For him, the most important thing at the moment is to fight against the invaders. He needs to gather troops to consolidate the city defense, and also needs to send scouts and spies to investigate intelligence about the invaders.

While gathering troops, he also contacted Sultan Mahmud of Multan on his own, hoping that the other party could reach an agreement on fighting the invaders who broke into Punjab.