The Sun and the Lion

The war in the Indian Ocean continued to burn, the disputes in the Caucasus were extinguished, war preparations were in good order, and the mission to Europe traveled across the ocean. The winter of 1509 was calm for Ibrahim, with no emergencies and a weekly and daily schedule. They are all relatively fixed.

As winter turns to spring, at the Nowruz Festival at the end of 888 years after the Prophet moved to Medina, which is the spring equinox of 1510 years after the birth of Prophet Jesus, the King of Kings held relevant celebrations, rewarded his subjects, and rode horses as usual. Passing through the new town "Ibrahim Abad" received tributes from citizens in the streets and squares.

With things generally going smoothly, Ibrahim continued to advance his plans after the festival in preparation for the coming war.

There is nothing wrong with the current palace finances and the raising of military supplies. Ismail has performed his duties excellently, but Ibrahim feels that doing this alone is not enough-the troops are not enough.

Needless to say, the main body of the Safavid army is limited, but these military resources are limited. With the standing army and the red-headed tribe alone, the King of Kings can only mobilize a slightly larger force.

Fortunately, the territory under the empire's control was vast enough, and he could obtain the resources he wanted from other parts. For example, Ustaji Khan was able to recruit a considerable number of warriors from the Kurdish tribes within his jurisdiction.

Focusing first on the western border closest to the enemy, he has already used the power of the Kurdish tribes and Caucasian Christians. At the same time, some Turkmen tribes scattered in various provinces have sworn allegiance to him in the camps of the royal hunting grounds, and their manpower has been included in the Dewan. 's register. To distinguish themselves from the red-capped Founding Fathers, these later and lower-status riders would be given the title "Auxiliaries."

Although the names they bear are not very impressive, the treatment they deserve is adequate. These "auxiliary cavalry" who are required to wear green turbans are actually able to undertake all combat tasks, just like the red heads.

According to the principle of proximity, it is logical to mobilize these soldiers to participate in the war against the Ottomans. Ismail and the Grand Emir Hussein led the military vizier to report to him in detail the actual situation of these armed forces: "As long as your recruitment order arrives, it will only take two weeks at most, and all the additional troops on the register will be available." Able to arrive at the scheduled assembly point as required."

Next, Ibrahim turned his attention eastward, crossing the Iranian plateau to the Hindu Kush Mountains and the Indus Plain. Due to the distance, this densely populated and fertile land should be difficult to provide in the event of war. What troops to send to the other side of the empire.

But this time he came prepared. He did not intend to waste these resources. He wanted more Afghan youths to come out of the mountains and change their lives while working for the Shah of Iran.

Through the intermediary of the first collaborators headed by Gulbuddin and Mirwais, after several years of rule, the palace and local officials have been able to handle tribal affairs with ease, mediate tribal disputes and recruit Ghazi from them, and have become governors and governors. The daily routine of a collaborator officer.

"There is currently no border defense pressure on the eastern border. I think troops can be mobilized from here for reinforcement." Ibrahim pointed his finger at Afghanistan and Punjab, thinking about how much manpower to recruit from here.

Hussein asked: "Your Majesty, how many Ghazis do you plan to recruit from here? Considering the long distance, it is better not to recruit too many people. They are not well-known fighters in the world. It is not worthwhile to spend too much. when."

Ismail’s concerns focused on the religious level. He believed that “Huda will not protect the heretics and may even impose punishments, which makes the performance of the heretics on the battlefield very suspicious. If you rely too much on them, they may take away what is yours.” The victory was handed over to the enemy. Moreover, too many heretics can easily lead to discord in the army, which will not only make the commander waste energy in mediating conflicts among various departments, but also dissolve the cohesion of the team that should be united as one person."

"No matter what, they can still launch a heroic and fearless attack on my enemies with scimitars and lances." After some consideration, Ibrahim still planned to let Gulbudin lead the main force of Gulam's Eastern Army. Later, only the necessary fortress garrisons and security forces in the capital were left. The resulting shortfall allowed him to recruit temporary recruits in Kabul, Ghazni, Kandahar and other places.

All temporarily recruited Afghan horsemen are also titled auxiliary cavalry like the Kurds and Turkmen who serve in the Safavid army. At the same time, in order to distinguish and organize, these warriors from the Afghan mountains must be uniformly dressed in black. scarf.

Ibrahim quickly decided to bring ten to twelve regiments from Afghanistan—or more, twenty thousand people? There must be more than this number of local young men who can ride horses - the troops gathered in Diyarbakır to maximize the scale of the expedition. The military vizier kept a good record of this important matter to avoid accidents such as water and food shortages when these soldiers crossed the hinterland of the empire.

Recruiting troops from the southeast is not enough. Khorasan and Turandland including Hezhong, Khwarezm, Fergana, etc. also have nomadic populations that can be exploited. However, before talking about this topic, Ibrahim was directed to the management and organization of these new forces.

Prior to this, the palace had not recruited and concentrated the use of these irregular troops on such a large scale. Military chiefs in the relevant regions usually used them as supplements to strengthen their military power to temporarily meet their current military needs.

In this current situation, it is imperative to strengthen management.

He first summoned the military vizier: "If I ask you to create another register for the cavalry in charge for management, how long will it take you to complete this task?"

"Create a separate register for the auxiliary cavalry?" Ismail and Hussein repeated the key points of the question. "Auxiliary cavalry" is just a common name used to include these irregular troops. Now it will officially become theirs. Number?

Already before, Dewan and these tribes had formed a relationship in which economic subsidies and official positions were exchanged for the loyalty of all members. On this basis, Ibrahim planned to conduct more standardized and efficient management of the troops they provided, such as formulating standard.

These auxiliary troops are neither non-regular troops nor followers of religious orders. They do not have uniform clothing and equipment. In order to distinguish them for easy identification, removing the military flags and uniformly using headscarves of different colors is a cheap and feasible solution.

In addition, there are stable salaries, stable material supplies, etc., but compared to the standing army and Qizilbash, these auxiliary troops can get much less. Their main income still comes from spoils and meritorious service. reward.