The Sun and the Lion

After several small-scale offensive and defensive battles, the war situation in Aden has now reached a stalemate. The Safavid side needs to wait for follow-up reinforcements to arrive, and the Sudan of Yemen has to disband its army due to financial and logistical problems, leaving only a small number of cavalry to continue to maintain the land blockade. , cutting off economic ties between the inland and the port.

This failure angered the Sultan of Yemen, who reprimanded and even cursed Yahya before breaking camp, and finally executed him as a warning to other emirs.

Before leaving, Zafir finally wrote a threatening letter: "If your country does not give up its unreasonable occupation of Aden, the Sharif of the Holy Land and the Guardian of the Holy Land will come to justice."

This threat had to make Ehsan take it seriously. Was he going to kneel down and ask for help from the Mamluks in Egypt? If the Egyptian Sultan decides to intervene in the war in Yemen, this new variable will have to be considered.

After the Yemeni army breaks camp and retreats, Ahsan, as the top commander of the entire navy, needs to return to Hormuz to complete other tasks. He left only two Karavels responsible for blocking the port of Mocha, one Karak and one Karavel responsible for defending Aden, and up to 700 naval infantry. These meager forces were all left to the charge of his confidant Bachman who stayed here. , who was appointed acting Lord of Aden.

After the fleet left, the Safavid army who stayed here tried their best to maintain order. The citizens of Aden and foreign businessmen all had different views on these Persian garrison. Fortunately, this war did not make it lose its status as a transit port, and people traveling here Foreign merchant ships continued to maintain the city's economy.

Ahsan, who returned to Hormuz, had to start organizing reinforcements for Aden. In addition to organizing a stable supply route to transport ammunition and firearms and other military supplies that could not be purchased locally, he also selected new recruits based on the losses counted before setting sail. Allocate manpower to replenish the regiment stationed in Aden.

Beyond that, all he could do for the defenders of Aden was to get reinforcements from the King of Kings and raise enough transport ships to transport them to Yemen.

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The report from Hormuz was quickly sent to Tabriz through the post system. Ibrahim, who was still reviewing other official documents, saw that the secretary had sent the battle report and immediately put down other matters in his hands.

The report sent to Ibrahim's desk was actually several documents. He first looked through the battle report and described clearly the general process and results of the capture and defense of Aden. Seeing that the fleet he sent out successfully captured Aden made him feel much more at ease.

The second report is information about the Yemeni region collected by Ahsan while he was stationed in Aden. It briefly analyzes the current situation, including the conflict between the Tahir Dynasty and the Zaid sect and the internal power struggle. However, this information is all from Aden. I learned it from local dignitaries, but more specific and accurate information has not been found yet.

At the end of the report, it was mentioned that "the Sudan of Yemen has a tough attitude and firmly refuses to surrender. He also claimed that if he does not make compensation, he will invite reinforcements from Cairo. This is a provocation and threat to the King of Kings."

Throughout the whole article, Ibrahim was most concerned about the "invitation to Egypt to intervene" at the end. If the Yemenis really invited the Mamluks to intervene, no matter what price the Tahir Dynasty had to pay in the end to send away these foreign reinforcements, in Yemen The Safavid army is in a precarious situation.

Besides, now that he has taken the first step to conquer Yemen, does he still want to send a mission to Cairo to ask Kansu Gauri for mediation, so that the Mamluks can hold the heads of the Yemenis and cede the Port of Aden to him?

In this regard, Ibrahim plans to wait until the Mamluks really intervene in the situation in Yemen.

"Since the Sultan of Yemen is unwilling to surrender, I will appoint a governor to replace him." Ibrahim flipped through the last document, thinking about how many resources to free up and invest in Yemen.

Ibrahim is still very optimistic about his expectations for the invasion of India next year. He will not mobilize the entire country's military forces to participate, and can free up many troops to deal with other directions. When military resources are not tight, he only needs to consider the economic costs of moving troops across the sea.

In his report, Ahsan confirmed that he could recruit enough transport ships in Hormuz and other ports, but he said that due to logistical considerations, the conquest of Yemen did not require the dispatch of too large an army.

Ibrahim planned to raise an army directly from the coastal provinces and deliver it to Yemen. He couldn't help but think of the Sasanian-Axumite war in the late classical era, in which a force was sent to bring Yemen under its rule, but this time there were no Abyssinians to expel.

After some consideration, this expeditionary force to Yemen is composed of two regiments of red heads. Considering the high cost of transporting horses, these cavalry units will only be transported from Shah Port to Muscat nearby, looking for Shuyuanwｗ ． zhaoshuyuan.com Then cooperate with the fleet to march along the coast to Aden.

After the reinforcements arrive in Muscat, they can recruit local troops to expand their scale before heading to Yemen. At the same time, allowing reinforcements to appear in Oman can also demonstrate to the Sultan and tribes of Oman. The Nabni Dynasty organized many attacks to recapture the port city, but each time Ahsan led the reinforcements to arrive in time, frightened by the bloodbath of the Hassa Oasis. The local dignitaries believed that surrendering to Safavid was the right choice.

With the help of local forces in Muscat, Safavid successfully captured the northern coast of Oman, north of the Hajar Mountains, and the coastal territories from Khasab to Muscat. These surrendered tribes also It strengthened Safavid power in Oman and forced the Sultan of Oman to recognize the status quo.

After the reinforcements set off from Muscat, they have to pass through its territory to reach Yemen. Presumably the Sultan of Oman will not and dare not intercept them without good reason.

In addition to sending reinforcements, it is also very important to build Aden's city fortifications. In the plan, Ahsan divided the entire project into three parts - building a small fort connected to the city wall on the promontory of the peninsula, and a small island at the entrance and exit of the port area as a Garrison headquarters, build supporting fortresses and military ports, and partially renovate Aden's original city defenses to enable the deployment of artillery.

Ibrahim had no reason to oppose this plan. Building materials and labor could be obtained locally. As a prosperous transit port, these could be obtained through trade. The money needed to build the fortress could also be obtained by squeezing local finances.

Finally, there was the personnel arrangement. He recognized that the naval officers staying in Aden would be the commander of the war in Yemen, and the troops sent for reinforcements would also be at his disposal. He did not plan to appoint tribal nobles to serve in overseas territories in the Indian Ocean for the time being.

After arranging the layout of Aden one by one, we are waiting for feedback from the battle report.