The Sun and the Lion

The walls of Gabala were stained with blood. Prisoners of war and slaves cut off the heads of Georgians and threw them into the Damila Maran River. The bodies of the red heads were transported back to the siege camp and prepared for burial.

The storming lasted for several hours. It only took less than half an hour from the time the red heads climbed onto the city wall to the time the Kakheti defenders were driven off the city wall. However, the defenders were tenacious and relied on the streets and alleys in the city to resist house by house. It took a lot of effort to drive all these stubborn Georgians to the castle area.

Just as everyone was preparing to storm the castle, the messenger came out and came to the big tent of the camp.

"Let them come in." Ibrahim, who pretended to be diligent in his work, swallowed the snacks in his mouth, wiped off the debris at the corners of his mouth with a silk handkerchief, adjusted his posture to sit upright, and waited for the soldiers to place the snacks and drinks After carrying it down, the messenger was let in.

The envoy who had been waiting at the door for a short while did not dare to be dissatisfied. As soon as he came in, he made a non-standard kneeling salute to Ibrahim. After receiving permission, he stood up, bowed his head and held his chest in his chest, and bowed to Ibrahim very respectfully. Xin talked about surrender.

"I'm not an ogre. You can't hand over the gold and silver, so just change the vassal relationship a little bit."

The messenger's face softened a little, but he was still a little worried, and he said again: "Then shall we change our faith..."

"No need, you people of scripture should keep your faith." Ibrahim shook his head. He had no interest in reforming pagans, and the taxes that Dhimmi had to pay were heavier.

Heaving a sigh of relief, the envoy's face became relaxed. Under the guidance of the soldiers, he left the camp and returned to the city.

"The conditions proposed by these Turkmen are not excessive." Padra breathed a sigh of relief. Having seen the red-headed combat power, he had lost the courage to resist, and he had no intention of martyrdom for his country. Surrendering and changing the suzerain is not an unacceptable thing for small and medium-sized lords like Padra, who make up the majority of Georgia. Don't you see, are there Serbs serving under the Ottoman tent?

Looking at the mosaics of the Virgin Mary and Child on the wall, Padella crossed herself and said, "Thank you Lord for your blessing." I don't know if this sentence was sincere.

Afterwards, all the defenders on the castle walls and towers were removed, the gate was opened, and Padella personally went out to greet the new lord who had arrived not far from the castle gate.

Seeing that Padela was so polite, Ibrahim also expressed his satisfaction with Padela's service attitude, and then made arrangements for the subsequent aftermath.

Ibrahim did not intend to divide the Georgia region into several provinces and directly dispatch bureaucrats to manage them. Instead, he continued to maintain the local feudal system and relied on local Georgian lords to rule through the vassal relationship between the monarch and his vassals. To the local nobles, it was just a new king.

Then there is the issue of real estate. According to Ibrahim's usual practice, the owner's real estate will not be moved first, and the wasteland and ownerless fields will be rewarded to red heads according to beheadings. At the same time, the slaves who were not selected into the Gulam will be temporarily placed in Pa Working in Deira's territory can be regarded as alleviating the local labor shortage dilemma.

You cannot blindly trust Padra. Ibrahim will arrange garrison and supervisory officials here to monitor his work, and ask Padra to send troops to join the crusade against Catli. Padra was somewhat reluctant, but forced by the situation, she handed over her family's assets and obtained a thousand Georgian cavalry, while Ibrahim left some of the red heads and a group of gulam who had been allocated real estate to guard the house.

More than half a month has passed since the troops were dispatched. I don’t know what the situation is like in Havac, and whether the Georgian coalition will be formed. These are all unknowns for Ibrahim. Without enough information, it would be impossible to make effective decisions, so Ibrahim had no choice but to take it one step at a time.

News of the capture of Gabala and the threat to Sheki spread from near and far to Telavi, Tbilisi, Akhaltsikhe, Kutaisi and Sukhumi.

At this time, King Alexander I of Kakheti was very procrastinating in doing things, and his troops had not yet been assembled. The death of Shirwan Shah and Ibrahim's capture of the city of Gabala in half a month made him hesitate. After thinking about it for a while, he decided to try his luck and write to the other four great lords, hoping to form a The coalition forces went to expel the Turkmen army that threatened everyone.

After sending the letter, Alexander I decided to urge the vassals who were working hard to send their troops to Telavi as soon as possible. Gabala and Sheki could be lost, but Telavi could not.

While the messengers were working conscientiously among the five capitals, Ibrahim was also leading the rested army to continue marching westward, shaking the rule of the lords and further exacerbating the tense situation in Georgia.

Soon, Alexander I received a reply from Tbilisi. Constantine II obviously knew the meaning of death. Kakheti was over, and Catli would be the first to bear the brunt. Therefore, Constantine II agreed to join. The coalition also promised in the letter that it would actively persuade others to participate.

After receiving Tbilisi's assurance, Alexander II just shook his head. All the lords knew that Tbilisi was broken and Katli's military was weak, otherwise the Kingdom of Georgia would not have disintegrated like this. Find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com Two lords with the same weak military strength are tied together to deal with an unknown powerful enemy. Can they fight?

It was clear that Alexander II was out of luck, and the replies he received over the next few days were not very good. Although Kvakvare agreed to join the coalition, he said he could not send troops on the grounds of guarding against the Turkmens in the south and west. In order to enhance his persuasion, he also sent several lime-treated heads together with letters, so that at first Alexander II thought that the Duke of Samhertz was threatening him, and even wanted to go through Catli Make war with him.

The reply from the farthest Duke of Abkhazia was very brief, rejecting the request directly without any polite words.

Alexander I of Imereti was interested in the coalition launched by the man of the same name. He agreed to join and promised to lead the army in person, but he requested that the position of leader be transferred to himself. Since King Imereti defeated the King of Georgia and briefly took control of Tbilisi, he has regarded himself as the co-owner of all Georgians. He is also the ruler of the Bagrationi family, and he is obviously more powerful than the one who occupied Tbilisi. The one who is more qualified.

What made Alexander II even more speechless was that Alexander I also designated a gathering place on his own and required all the lords participating in the coalition to gather. If they were absent without reason, they would be regarded as colluding with the Turkmen.

But there was nothing he could do. He couldn't afford to offend King Imereti, so he could only lead his troops to the gathering place. I just hope that Imereti can be severely damaged while expelling the Turkmens, so that he is unable to interfere with other kingdoms and principalities. If the Turkmens cannot do it, Alexander I will not mind taking action against friendly forces.

After ten days and a half of wrangling, a Georgian coalition with different ideas was finally established. I wonder how they will perform when facing the aggressive Ibrahim.