The Sun and the Lion

A few scouts dodged the arrows thrown by the defenders at the top of the city. Their horses' hooves trampled over the corpses of cannon fodder, crossed the narrow passage between the Caspian Sea coast and the city wall, and ran toward the big tent in the siege camp.

"Is there any movement in the east?" Gaolaberi was a little surprised when he saw the scouts entering the tent. He didn't expect Shamsuddin to move so quickly.

"Yes, General, the enemy is very numerous, estimated to have exceeded 10,000 people. They are a mixture of infantry and cavalry. The enemy's monarch seems to be in the army." The scout finished telling the information he knew in one breath.

"Unexpectedly, in less than half a month, the enemy's reinforcements have arrived." Gaolaberi thought, and then said to the scouts: "You can go down."

"Call the captains over."

"yes."

But this is also a good thing for him. Although he has less than 10,000 cavalry under his command, the advantage is that they are all veterans who have followed the religious order for generations. It is easy to defeat the army of a small country in the field. As for the plan to besiege Amol by waterway from the Caspian Sea and force Shamsuddin to travel back and forth with the main force, it was abandoned because it could not raise enough transport ships - there were many ships to transport people, but horse transportation was a big problem. Combating will not only greatly reduce the combat effectiveness of the red heads, but also seriously dampen the morale of the troops. The tribal cavalry who are accustomed to fighting on horseback will only be willing to give up mounted combat when they have to be in a desperate situation.

Ten minutes later, after seeing that everyone was gathered, Gaolaberi conveyed the intelligence sent by the scouts to the captains. The captains were unfazed. They knew that the scouts had brought important information on their way here.

"General, what is your plan..." a captain asked proactively.

"Since we can defeat the enemy in a field battle, why don't we do it? Siege of a city is a thankless task. Although it has only been more than two weeks, I believe you are also very impatient about this matter, especially in To house the humble and timid farmers."

Everyone agreed. Although the troops had sufficient supplies, the siege would test not only logistics, but also the discipline and morale of the troops. Siege warfare is the easiest thing to tire of an army, no matter where its soldiers come from. What keeps these herdsmen in the siege camp is nothing more than strict military law and generous salaries from the King of Kings.

When Gaolaberi and the captains discussed the next battle plan in the big tent, they basically ignored the "recruitment" sent by Ali. Most of these levies came with their bare hands. They were no different from civilians. Ali did not even provide them with extra tents and blankets. He only provided them with rations, and the portion of the rations was also very pitiful - the original quartermaster of Gaola Beli They also wanted to save military expenses by withholding supplies from the Allied forces, but the part given to the civilians could be said to be undeductible. However, even so, the quartermasters still forcibly withheld some of the food regardless of life and death.

After a brief discussion, all the commanders supported Gaolaberi's decision, but the location for the field battle was not easy to find. There were still many obstacles in the villages and farmland that could hinder the movement of the cavalry, and Ibrahim made repeated orders. The local government prohibits the army from destroying karez, canals and other facilities. A decisive battle is imminent, and the current resources do not allow the completion of such a huge amount of work.

But they can't fight west of the castle. This army is here to relieve the siege. If they run west to lure the enemy, wouldn't it mean that the enemy has accomplished their goal.

Of course, if they can defeat the enemy, they can gain more.

"I have decided that this little victory is nothing. I will retreat to the open plains and fight the enemy decisively." Gaolaberi said decisively. As soon as they heard that the siege was to be abandoned, the captains all put on worried looks, and one bold man asked tentatively: "General, if we retreat without any reason and the enemy does not take the bait, we will be sentenced by the military judge." Those who run away in the face of battle may not even be able to see His Majesty by then."

"Besides, what will happen to the property here if we evacuate in such a hurry?" the quartermaster present complained with some dissatisfaction.

"Why should these properties be transported away?" Gaolaberi asked, "They will take the bait. The properties sent by Alishah can be said to be piled up like mountains."

"The soldiers' personal belongings..."

"What kind of belongings should you bring? Bring all the dry food and arrows!"

This sentence made the senior officers present speechless, that is, there are no ordinary soldiers here. Senior officers did not care about the losses of ordinary soldiers, but the emotions of the soldiers were something they could not ignore.

"I know what you are worried about. Mr. Quartermaster, could you please make a promise to the soldiers on my behalf - for their losses, they will be compensated double after the war - if this still cannot suppress the soldiers, then I and I will You come forward together and make a commitment in the name of His Majesty. I believe Your Majesty will understand us. Besides, I am the general of this army. If you want to behead, behead me." Gaolaberi said in a tone of voice when he said the last sentence. Very relaxed, just like chatting about what to eat today.

Gaolaberi is confident that he dares to do this. Within the scope of his knowledge, no army can continue to fight after defeating the enemy and seizing a large amount of property. formation and discipline.

Everyone was convinced, and then the battle was arranged.

"Davoud, that young man's centurion belongs to your regiment, right?" Gaolaberi first said to one of the short, thick-faced commanders, "From now on, this centurion responsible for luring the enemy will Out of your control—it will be returned to you after the war.”

"Brend, your group needs to work harder. I will give you all the trash that Ali doesn't want." Gaolaberi smiled slyly, "Let your boys take off their red hats and take these trash with them. If we go to attack the city, we can only lose but not win, but our young men must protect them."

"General." The bearded man who was called opened his mouth, "There are too many broken troops. I'm afraid a thousand soldiers can't stop them. How about you assign one or two more regiments to cooperate with me?"

"No, if I fight too hard and capture the city, how can I lure the enemy to pursue me?" As soon as the joke came out, the captains could not hold their nerve, and the tents were filled with happy air, as if they really The castle can be taken at any cost.

After laying out the two steps to lure the enemy, Gaolaberi next had to solve the intelligence problem. Without satellites or telescopes, the army hiding in the ravines could only learn about the situation in the camp through scouts. However, Gaolaberi still believed that the scouts would alert the enemy, so he asked the captains to come up with ideas.

"We need a few determined traitors who can provide us with information in a timely manner." After discussion, the final plan was to leave a few "captives" and "renegades" in the camp to assist Shamsuddin in transporting property and delivering Military intelligence. In order to prevent accidents, Gaolaberi finally agreed to let a few scouts disguise themselves as ordinary herdsmen and bandits to operate nearby.