The Sun and the Lion

While the messenger from Tabriz was rushing along the mountain road to Lahijan day and night, Gaolaberi was cleaning the battlefield and counting the heads in the camp.

Golaberi's tactics were successful, and the Red Heads' skillful feigned retreat successfully deceived Shamsuddin and the castle defenders. After relieving the siege of the castle, Shamsuddin joined forces with the castle defenders. He wanted to enhance his prestige by completely defeating Gaurabeli and bring the Qakia dynasty into his own possession.

But the pursuit soon stopped. Firstly, the red heads retreated too fast, like a hurricane, and Shamsuddin's cavalry could not close the distance between the two sides no matter what.

The second is the camp. The camp facilities are complete, and combined with the enemy's movements, it is clear at a glance that the enemy has no time to move the property and can only abandon it and let the victor deal with it.

Faced with such a huge amount of loot, the military discipline of the Mazandaran Army quickly collapsed. The soldiers either acted privately or under the leadership of officers and scattered around the camp to search for loot.

Shamsuddin didn't bother to care about these rabble. He directly led the guards to control the warehouse belonging to the supply camp in the camp, and also captured a few prisoners to help count the spoils.

Seeing that the enemy army had fallen into complete chaos, the dead soldiers hiding in the camp lit kindlings hidden throughout the camp to notify the ambush troops not far away. After completing their mission, they directly drew their swords and attacked the Mazandaran army who was grabbing the spoils, exacerbating the chaos in the camp.

"The enemy has an ambush!" After seeing the red head rushing out and killing two soldiers who were busy searching in a very short time, the Mazandaran people who were filling their pockets or clashing with their comrades were frightened. Stupid, the officers took the lead and ran first. Those who reacted quickly followed the officers, while those who were stunned were chopped down to the ground.

"Sarirang! Sarirang!" As soldiers continued to be chopped down without any defense, more and more soldiers joined the ranks of headless flies. Shamsuddin thought it was his subordinates fighting for the spoils of war. They fought hard and urgently dispatched their own guards to intercept the defeated troops.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!" Not long after, a guard ran back in a panic and stuttered: "It's not internal strife, it's an enemy..."

With a surprised look on his face, Shamsuddin looked at the billowing smoke and dust rising from the hillside pointed by the guard in the distance, getting closer and closer...

Then the red heads rushed into the camp to harvest weeds.

"General." The call of the soldiers brought Gaolaberi back from his memories to reality. He looked at his soldiers dragging a blur of flesh and blood with broken silk on them, and asked: "What is this?" ?”

"The Shah of Mazandaran was apparently trampled to death by horse hooves, General." The soldier replied respectfully.

Before the war, Gaurabeli offered a reward of 500 gold archers for the head of Shamsuddin. The coins minted by Ibrahim were called gold and silver after they entered the market because of the patterns on the front and back. , Bronze Shah or Archer, and in government financial reports, it is more common to use Toman (equivalent to ten thousand coins) or Kero (from India, originally meaning tens of millions, but in Persia it is quite For a large-scale counting unit like 50,000, the soldiers should be here to receive rewards, so merit cannot be recorded at all.

"Call the Quartermaster."

When the quartermaster came over, Gaolaberi reluctantly offered a reward: "The soldiers who brought Shamsuddin's body will be rewarded with one hundred gold each for the archers, and all the cavalry who participated in the battle will be rewarded with twenty gold. and two hundred pieces of silver.”

The quartermaster took down the account, and then began to call the soldiers to collect the rewards.

"After distributing the money, call the commander and interrogator to the big tent, and escort the captured officers in." The bored Gaolaberi suppressed his desire to go hunting and returned to the big tent and staff. , the clerks counted the loss of property and documents.

The property damage was minor, and Ibra was able to make up for it by giving him a few tumans. Maps, letters and official documents were not damaged;

After checking the big tent and waiting for half an hour, the captains entered the big tent and prepared to participate in the interrogation.

The prisoner didn't speak harshly, and before the interrogator began to torture him, the captured officer said: "I will tell you everything I know, as long as you let me live."

"How many troops did your master bring this time?" Gaolaberi asked.

The captured officer recalled for a moment, and then replied before the whip fell: "It was said to be twenty thousand, but it was actually about twelve or thirteen thousand. Most of them were infantry, and there were only two or three thousand cavalry. The castle defenders also came out. Participated in the pursuit, but I don’t know how many people came out of the castle.”

"In other words, the current castle garrison strength is empty?"

"Maybe..." The captured officer lowered his head and looked for Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuａ. com whispered uncertainly.

"Besides Ramsar Castle and this army, does your master have an army?"

"I don't know, but Shah's guards and fief lords are here. Maybe the villages and cities can mobilize a lot of militia, and there are some mercenaries to drive."

"Go ahead." Gaolaberi waved his hand and asked his soldiers to escort the prisoner out, with the interrogator following closely behind. Next, Goraberry and the captains sat on the carpet and began the meeting.

"We have defeated the Mazandaran people and killed their master. Tabaristan is no longer a threat." Gaolaberi first set the tone for the meeting.

"I think our mission here is over, and Gilan Shah can handle the rest of the war alone. We have fulfilled our obligations and made huge sacrifices, and now we should ask for payment from Ali Shah."

For the red-heads, staying in Tabaristan is no longer a good thing. Field battles, which are the easiest to gain military merit, will probably not be available in the future. Sieges and street battles are risky and time-consuming. Moreover, these cities are also for Ali Kakia, and they will not gain much from them.

"After returning to Lahijan, I will go to negotiate with Alishah. You can rest and recuperate the troops and let the quartermaster count the losses so that the recruiting officer can send supplements. Are there any other questions?"

The captains said there was no problem.

"The meeting is over and you can go about your business."

As soon as the officers came out of the tent, they saw the cavalry sent to chase the fleeing enemies returning victoriously, with three or five heads hanging around their waists. The red liquid was still flowing down from the break, leaving a trace on the armor.

"With the blessing of Allah, today is another day of hunting and harvesting!"