The Sun and the Lion

In February 1495, the season had transitioned from winter to spring, but the weather in Transcaucasia was still very cold.

The red heads marching on the road were all wearing woolen clothes and trousers, and some were wrapped in woolen blankets. Some of the red heads still had dried meat in their hands, eating cheese and the cold Transcaucasian air to satisfy their hunger. No one except Ibrahim drank. Because it was a long march, most of the equipment of the red heads was placed on the carriages of the baggage troops at the rear. Only the guards and scouts of the Bergs would wear equipment throughout the march.

"Your Majesty, after crossing this river is the territory of Kakheti. After crossing the river are several villages and the two cities of Gabala (Q?b?l?) and Sheki." Hayashar took the He took the map from the staff and pointed it at Ibrahim.

After less than three days of marching, the 11,000 troops assembled by Ibrahim had marched to the Gaokchay River, the boundary river between the former Shirvanshah Kingdom and the Kakheti Kingdom, and the Kakheti King Alexander I seems to have been unaware that the Order was coming to visit his territory.

There is a bridge across the river, which looks like it is made of stone. It looks like a dangerous bridge due to lack of maintenance. The other end of the bridge leads directly to a village not far away. From the markings on the map, this village should be On the verge of being abandoned.

"Send scouts over first to take a look." Although the information on the map is very clear, it is still the 15th century after all, and the delay in information transmission is very high. It is more reliable to send a few scouts on site to take a look.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Hayashar received the order and immediately ordered several bow holders: "You, you, and you, you three will cross the bridge first."

After receiving the order, three cavalrymen were randomly selected to cross the bridge on horseback. Because no one was maintaining it, the bridge was not very smooth to walk on, just like the road, but the nomads had long been used to the bumps on their horses.

Entering from the entrance of the village, the houses in the village, whether they are villas of wealthy people or shacks of serfs, look like they have been abandoned for a long time, and the wells in the village have been filled in. The unevenly distributed farmland in the village has grown grass and can be used for grazing, and the abandoned shacks naturally have no live livestock for Ibrahim to requisition.

Only the church in the center of the village still stands stubbornly, becoming the most intact building in the village. But the church in front of the scouts was short and small, and the cross on the top was also made of wood. It looked very shabby.

On the dirt road in the village, the scouts saw few living people. They could only see a few wild dogs eating a rotting corpse. The feast was also attended by dense maggots.

Near the ruins, you can also see some dried blood.

After walking around the village for a while, they found that no one was there, so the three of them planned to go back. The scout spat: "What the hell, there are not even beggars, only wild dogs."

"Hey." The other scout was greatly disappointed. His biggest motivation for participating in the war was to obtain trophies. If the poor in the combat area didn't give up, then he would be at a loss.

"Cross the river." After listening to the report of the returning scouts, Ibrahim turned his head and glanced back at the endless team following him, then raised his arms, pressed forward, and gave the order to move forward.

Although the stone bridge was in disrepair, it still withstood the pressure of 10,000 horses, and Ibrahim crossed the river without any danger.

There are six settlements between the Gaokchay River and Damila Maran. These settlements are not all like the first village, but the situation of the villages that are not abandoned is not much better. Because of the war, almost none of the farmers are left. When it comes to storing food, there is a shortage of supplies, and it is difficult to even hold your breath.

Seeing this, Ibrahim became kind-hearted and decided to free these poor Georgian farmers from the pain of slowly waiting to die from starvation.

It just so happens that the city of Gabala is a city that has stood since the classical era. In the classical era, it was an important town in Caucasian Albania, and the city walls look spectacular. Although the city is not as prosperous as it was in the past, the height and thickness of the city wall will not change automatically with the population in the city.

In this way, along with the refugees and beggars caught on the road, there were thousands more people behind the army whose arms were tied and connected in series - these slaves were sallow and thin, dressed in ragged clothes, shivering in the cold wind of only a few degrees in the Transcaucasus. But no one cares about their life and death. For Ibrahim, the army's supplies are tight. These slaves are disposable items, and there is no regret in using them to death.

Gabala City

A guard standing on the city wall yawned. He either stood on the city wall or patrolled the streets every day. His life was monotonous and boring. The local bandits and passing Turkmen were unable to siege the city, but the Georgian lords were able to siege the city. They will not go around in a big circle to the easternmost city of Gabala. After all, the political center of Kakheti is the city of Telavi in ​​the west.

The guard tightened the blanket covering himself in the cold wind blowing from the Transcaucasus and shrank down. Just when he was about to wrap himself in a blanket and rest against the cold stone bricks, he saw someone on the other side of the river, and there seemed to be someone in the distance.

He rubbed his eyes, trying to see more clearly. As the Turkmens continued to get closer, he did see clearly.

"One, two... Lord, the Almighty Lord!" He originally thought that this was just a group of Turkmen horse bandits that he was used to seeing, but the number was beyond his imagination. These people were definitely not horse bandits. Look at them. You can tell by wearing iron armor and wearing a red hat.

The iron armor reflecting sunlight and the conspicuous red hat were like waves, rushing along the road towards the river bank. He had to hold on to the parapet to prevent his legs from weakening and falling down.

The red head below seemed to have seen him, and after a while, several arrows flew up the city wall, scaring him so much that he quickly shrank and hid behind the female wall. Seeing the panicked look of the guards on the wall, the red heads who fired the arrows laughed unscrupulously. It was so loud that it could be heard behind the female wall. Although they could not understand the Turkic language, the guards could still feel their words. He was ridiculed and ridiculed, but there was nothing he could do about it.

And Ibrahim, who was protected by many bow-holders in the middle, looked at the city wall. The city wall standing on the river bank and the two towers next to the city gate look tall and majestic, while the vicissitudes of bridges and stone bricks tell the world about its history.

Ibrahim was not in a hurry to detach his troops to the roads to the west and south of the city to block traffic. He just waited for the defenders in the city to pass on the news. It would be best to be like a magnet, attracting the troops of all the Georgian lords to attack. A Kosovo campaign belonging to the Order.

After staying on the shore for a while, Ibrahim returned to the tent in the temporary camp and arranged for scouts to monitor the roads to the south and west of the city. If there were messengers coming or going, be sure to report them, but do not block them, and then ordered to prepare to attack the city. , and then wait for the local lord to send someone to negotiate.