The Sun and the Lion

A few days later, news reached Amol that Rasht had been captured in a surprise attack by the Qakia dynasty of Gilan.

In the meeting hall of the palace, the owner of Mazandaran and the current Shah Shamsuddin of the Marash dynasty urgently convened the cabinet members to discuss how to deal with Ali's expansionary behavior.

But the atmosphere of the meeting was not tense. The Marash dynasty itself was not weak in military strength, and it also had an advantageous location. The narrow plain of Tabaristan was actually composed of two wider flat areas and a narrow corridor connecting the two. of. The border between the Marashi Dynasty and the Kakia Dynasty happened to be the western end of this narrow corridor. A castle was enough to block the road and prevent the army from advancing.

After roughly arranging relevant military affairs, the next step was diplomatic action. He wrote a letter condemning Ali Kakia for provoking sectarian conflicts in Rasht City and executing the entire family of the Eshavind dynasty: "Such atrocious harm is for everyone. As a compatriot of muslims, it is difficult not to doubt whether this is a Kafir or an uncivilized savage."

The letter was quickly delivered to Ali.

Looking at the content of the letter condemning his atrocities, I have to say that Safawi did a good job of keeping it secret. Others thought it was Ali who did it.

Ali didn't want to argue. For him, controlling the entire Tabaristan was the most important thing, and everything else could take a back seat.

"Meaningless garbage." Ali crumpled the letter into a ball of paper, then gave it to the servant for processing, and then ordered: "Go and invite General Gaolaberi."

"Lord, or rather, the respected Kakia Shah." Gaolaberi entered the room. The two greeted each other first, and then started talking about business.

"General, our actions against Rasht are very effective, but it has also aroused the vigilance of surrounding forces, especially the Marash dynasty. Coupled with the geographical location, I think it is no longer feasible to capture Amol City by spies. "Ali first expressed his thoughts for Gaolaberi's reference.

"Sir, do you have a map here?" Gaolaberi wanted to study the terrain out of habit.

But Ali was not Ibrahim, and he did not pay much attention to maps. For Ali and his officers, the terrain was usually imprinted in their minds, or they relied on the scouts to figure out the local terrain. This was also a routine operation of the ancient army. .

However, after a brief explanation, Gaolaberi was generally familiar with the terrain.

"The small castle on the border is actually not a problem. Master Ali, Tabaristan has no shortage of wood, and you have no shortage of manpower."

"But, General, we have more than one castle to face."

"I know, but if the enemy's illusions are not shattered, how could he send troops for reinforcements?" Gaolaberi seemed confident.

Ali Kakia slowly raised a question mark.

"Dear Gilan Shah, how many ships can you call upon?"

Ali understood Gaolaberi's idea, but taking the water route seemed a bit unrealistic to him. For him, solid soil was much more reliable than a rickety board.

"That question needs to be answered by my military chief."

"Your Majesty, we have a total of five warships with less than 400 sailors. The transportation force can only requisition fishing boats and merchant ships."

…

The meeting was very brief, and the meeting adjourned after determining their respective tasks.

One day later, a mighty cavalry team arrived at Chaboksa, close to the border. The business travelers passing by here inevitably brought the news back to Amol.

"Your Majesty, your spymaster wishes to see you." The attendant reported to Shamsuddin, who was having fun with a beautiful woman. "Let him wait." Shah's impatient voice came from inside the room.

Afterwards, Shamsuddin, who had put on his trousers, first sent away the slave girl, and then put on his clothes with the help of his attendants: "Let him go to the study to meet me." After tidying up, he went to the study to handle state affairs.

"My spymaster, tell me, does Ali have any new moves?" Shamsuddin asked casually while drinking grape juice.

"That's right, Shah. According to the rumors from businessmen and the information provided by my informant, a large army appeared at the border, and it can be determined that it is coming towards us." The spy chief was a little panicked.

"Really? So, this army is not necessarily Ali's? Whose is it?" After drinking the drink, the servants prepared hookah for Shamsuddin, but he waved his hand to refuse.

"Your Majesty, look for Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com Because these people all wear red hats on their heads. If Ali is not being clever, these should be his allies, that is, the troops of Shah Ibrahim of Azerbaijan. And there were a lot of them. My informant first roughly counted the number of tents in the distance, and then pretended to be a herdsman and went to the military market. Although he couldn't enter the military camp, judging from the number of tents and the size of the military market, this troop was no less than Ten thousand people.”

"This is a bit tricky." Shamsuddin began to think. He would not be afraid if the two novices Gilan and Mazandaran pecked each other. They are of similar size, and he is the defender.

And he was not ignorant of the outside world. He felt relaxed after thinking about the map. Although the Safavid dynasty is stronger than itself in terms of combat power and size, it is surrounded by enemies on all sides and will be overthrown if not careful. It is impossible to mobilize all its troops to attack Mazandaran.

After listening to other information collected by the spymaster, Shamsuddin ordered the guards: "Let the military chief and the financial chief come."

…

At the border, Gaolaberi looked at Ramsar in the distance. I have to say that the terrain here is very suitable for defense. The flat land at the border is only one kilometer wide. One side is the Caspian Sea, and the other side is not suitable for large armies to pass. of the Alborz Mountains.

"There's no way around this." An accompanying officer sighed.

"It's not easy to fight, it's not easy to defeat, and you can't get through without paying a big price."

"Then we have no choice but to take this route. If we escape from the battlefield, we will not even be able to see Shah's face, and we will be executed by the military judges and military police."

After surveying the terrain, Gaolaberi turned around and said to the accompanying captains with a subtle expression: "Then, who pays this price?"

The officers looked at each other in tacit understanding, and then each of them smiled heartily.