Behedashir Castle (later Kerman City). Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Named after Ardashir I, the founder of the Sassanid dynasty of Persia, the castle was built after it was completed, and it was a defensive castle that far surpassed the city of Shulgaz. The castle is not large, it can only accommodate more than 20,000 people at most, but now there are nearly 100,000 horses gathered inside and outside the castle. Around the 10th century, the city of Behedashir was renamed Kerman, and the city was called the city of Er Man in Marco Polo's account.

Behedashir Castle is covered with volcanic ash so much that the land is fertile, a gemstone called Turkic jade, and the surrounding mountains are rich in iron ore, and the mountain woods are home to an eagle that is slightly smaller than the Mobei Eagle, faster and more agile, and no bird escapes its pursuit.

Outside the castle there is a large area of farmland and woods, there is no river here, and the water is all based on qanats. Karez is a non-powered water absorption facility that uses the development of groundwater resources and can guide groundwater to the ground artesianly through underground channels for agricultural irrigation and domestic water, mainly used in arid desert areas, and has such facilities in many areas of Anxi Duhufu, Yizhou and Xiqin.

The inhabitants of the surrounding area inside and outside Behedashir Castle grew crops and weaved, and were famous for their Kashmiri wool scarves and other fabrics, which were popular in the Western Qin, Tang and Eastern Roman Empires, and were favored by royalty, magnates and wealthy merchants.

Castle Lord's Palace.

Mansur stood in front of the map and walked around a little anxiously, there has been no news of Shulgaz City, Bam Castle and Manhard Army for nearly half a month, which makes him feel very bad, either the reconnaissance and detective post of the Western Qin Army cut off the news exchange, or the Manhard Army, Bam Castle and Shulgaz City have all had an accident, this is more than 60,000 horses and a city, a castle, even if the Western Qin Army can fight again, it is impossible not to show the slightest rumor, right?

Thinking of this, beads of sweat oozed from Mansour's forehead like tree bark, and if the city of Shulgaz, Bam Castle, and the Manhard army were all finished in such a short period of time, it would be too great a blow to him.

The officials and generals on both sides stood and did not dare to make a sound, the atmosphere was a little depressing, and everyone looked at Mansur worriedly, lest he would be mad and kill people indiscriminately.

At this time, the intelligence officer quickly walked in and saluted al-Mansur and said: "The prefect of the believers (the honorific title given to the caliph by the subjects of the believers, first created by the second caliph 'Umar), something has happened, and the scouts we sent have received definite news that the 30,000 reinforcements led by General Manhard have been blocked by the main cavalry of the Western Qin army near the castle of Bam! ”

"What? Tell me, what's going on? Mansour immediately asked.

The intelligence officer immediately said: "Yes! According to the news obtained by the scouts, the king of Western Qin personally led 10,000 elite iron cavalry to appear near Bam Castle, and when General Manhard led his army to arrive under Bam Castle, he suddenly appeared in the rear of Manhard's army, cutting off their retreat! ”

Mansour was furious when he heard this: "Is Manhard a pig? Don't you know that when you send detective sentry to investigate around, how can you be touched behind by the Western Qin army and not noticed? ”

The general Ziyad, who was standing next to him, stood up and said: "The prefect of the believer (the honorific title of the subjects to the caliph), there are mountains in the north and south of the Bam Castle, if the Western Qin cavalry wants to appear behind General Manhard, they must bypass the Barez Mountains or the Kabudi Mountains, this is definitely not something that can be achieved in a hurry, it must be prepared for a few days, that is to say, they have already received the news of the realization, from this point of view, the Western Qin people must have spies here!" ”

Mansour said angrily: "Of course I know there are spies, but now is not the time to talk about this, I am asking why Manhard let the Western Qin army touch his back without noticing?" ”

The ministers and generals were trembling and did not dare to speak out, and no one wanted to stand up and touch the moldy head of the caliph, and Ziyad was an example of this.

And Boshilin turned his head to look at Vecchiel Khaled, and winked at him, secretly conveying a meaning through his eyes. Veyle is an official title in the Great Food Country, equivalent to the chief minister and prime minister. Khalid was a general of Abbas's during his lifetime, and his official position was not high, after the death of Abbas, Khalid supported Mansour, so he was favored by Mansur, and was appointed as the Minister of Field Taxes, and later was appointed as Vechiel, with power leaning towards the government and the opposition, one person under ten thousand people, he was the executor of all the decrees of Caliph al-Mansur, and his family was also promoted from obscurity to the most prominent powerful family in the whole country - the Barmak family.

Khalid and Boshilin were good friends, both of them were Persians, the difference was that he was born as a slave and Khalid was from an aristocratic background. Khalid noticed that Boshilin's gaze was looking at him, and he glanced up and immediately understood what Boshilin meant, and at this time he was the only one who could stand up and speak without being punished by Mansour.

Khalid thought for a moment and stood up and saluted Mansur and said, "The commander of the believers, the minister thinks that General Manhard must be careless, they think that there is no need to be too cautious in fighting in our country, but they don't know that the king of Western Qin is taking advantage of his contemptuous mentality!" ”

Mansour calmed down a little and pointed at the intelligence officer: "You go on!" ”

"Yes!" The intelligence officer agreed, and immediately continued: "After General Manhard's men and horses were cut off, Manhard sent only 5,000 cavalry to meet the 10,000 cavalry of the Western Qin Army, and the King of Western Qin only dispatched 5,000 cavalry of the Guards, and he personally led the army to fight, and there was also a general named Erzhu and a general named Nur to jointly command the troops. The Western Qin cavalry is well-trained, the military formation is tight and compact, and the action is like a whole, while the formation of our army is scattered, the armor is not as strong as the Western Qin army, the weapons are not as sharp as the Western Qin army, and the cavalry and archery skills are not as exquisite as the cavalry of the Western Qin army, so they suffered heavy losses from the beginning, and it is unknown what specific tactics were adopted by the two sides, but Manhard's five thousand cavalry were completely wiped out in this battle, and no one survived, and the loss of the Western Qin army was less than a thousand!"

"Shhh

Mansur thought that the combat effectiveness of the cavalry of the Great Food Army might not be as good as that of the Western Qin Army, but he didn't expect the gap to be so big, according to the intelligence officer, the King of Western Qin could obviously use all the 10,000 cavalry, but only used 5,000 cavalry of the Guards, the strength was comparable to Manhard's cavalry, and in the case of equal strength, the casualty ratio almost reached 6:1, which is really unimaginable, you must know that the Great Food Army has been pressing the Eastern Roman Empire in the past two hundred years, and they can't find the north. I didn't expect to be so vulnerable in front of the Western Qin Army.

And Bo Xilin was also shocked, he fought a few battles with Zhao Ziliang twenty years ago, and at that time he was shocked by Zhao Ziliang's ability to command the army, although Zhao Ziliang's army was powerful, but it was far less ferocious than it is now.

After a long time, Mansur came back to his senses and said in a difficult tone: "Intelligence officer, you go on!" ”

"Yes! General Manhard only had more than 20,000 infantry left, and there was no advantage in front of the Western Qin cavalry, they set up camp in Bam Castle, but they were harassed by the Western Qin cavalry all night, losing 3,000 people and most of the food, Manhard had to retreat into Bam Castle with a large army, and sent people to break through to Behdashir Castle, but all the people who asked for help were intercepted and killed by the Western Qin cavalry halfway! ”

"The Western Qin then occupied the camp and heightened it, they figured out the food in the castle and sent people to infiltrate the castle, burned down the granary, and poisoned the water source, the Manhard army in Bam Castle was cut off from water and food, and had to surrender the city, it is said that General Manhard was killed for refusing to become the commander of the servant army of the Western Qin king, and now it is the adjutant general Schneider as the commander of this subordinate army, he and other generals and all the soldiers have taken refuge in the Western Qin. Two days ago, news came from the direction of Shulgaz City, Zilz was defeated, the city was breached, and he and nearly 20,000 people were captured by the Western Qin army! ”

Mansour shook his body and almost fell, and the ministers and generals were so frightened that they cried out: "Commander of the believers! ”

Mansour was supported by the attendant, sat down and rested for a while before he got better, after all, he was over sixty years old, and he was old, and when he heard the news, his body was a little unbearable, he waved his hand and said, "I'm fine!" We have 200,000 people, and we lost more than 60,000 people in less than 20 days after the start of the war. We can't be so passive and defensive, we have to be proactive! I've been thinking about it for a long time just now, and I think I can send a force of soldiers and horses through the Luti Desert to attack Jiling City or Zaheidan, cut off the retreat of the King of Western Qin, and let him not get supplies! What do you guys think? Khalid, tell me about it! ”

Cold sweat broke out on Khalid's forehead after hearing this, and he walked through the Ruti Desert? Are you kidding? Isn't this sending to death? But he couldn't say this, his eyes rolled, and he immediately stood up and said: "The chief of the believer, although the minister has led troops to fight, but the military aspect is still better than Bo Xilin, why don't you let him analyze and analyze for Your Majesty?" ”

And Boshilin glared at Khalid fiercely, and then heard Mansur say: "And Boshirin, you say! ”

And Poshilin had to stand up and say: "Commanders of the faithful, your ideas are very bold! If we're lucky, we can really do a surprise! Although it is now the end of September, but the heat of the Luti Desert is incomparable, from May to October, no one has ever had the courage to cross the Luti Desert, sometimes in the daytime the sun can bake eggs, but sometimes the temperature there is relatively normal, it depends on luck, good luck can lead to the city of Jiling and Zaheidan unimpeded, if you are unlucky to meet the hot weather, I am afraid that you will be wiped out in this desert! The Ruler of the Believers, as the spokesman of Allah on earth, thinks that you can do this, then it must be possible! ”

Mansur was very satisfied with Boshilin's words, nodded and asked: "Since you said that it is feasible, then why don't you be the commander of this army, and I will give you 20,000 people, 10,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry to attack the city of Jiling, how about it?" ”

And Bo Xilin immediately said: "The commander of the believer, it's not that the minister doesn't want to go, it's really that the minister is old, and I can't fight on horseback, if as a commander is likely to live up to your trust, I can recommend someone to you, he is Ziade, he has fought with the king of Western Qin, he understands the combat methods and habits of the Western Qin army, and he has rich combat experience, he is the best candidate!" In addition, I think I can attack Zaheidan, but I can't attack Jiling City, which has the Seventh Army of the Western Qin Army, which is too strong and not the best target, and Zaheidan is a transit station on the supply line of the army under the jurisdiction of the King of Western Qin, and if you capture here, you can cut off his logistical supply! In addition, if the conditions allow to cross the Ruti Desert, it is necessary to go as fast as possible, but if there are 10,000 infantry, the speed of the march will be greatly slowed down, and the minister suggested that all the infantry should be ridden, so that they can catch up with the speed of the cavalry, and they can maintain enough physical strength to attack immediately after arriving in Zahedan! ”

Mansur was very satisfied with Boshilin's suggestion, and immediately ordered: "Ziyad, I will give you 20,000 men, 10,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry, all the infantry are equipped with war horses, carry enough grain and grass, and tomorrow we will set off through the Luti Desert to attack Zahedan, cut off the logistics supply line of the army of the King of Western Qin, and then march to Shuergaz City, and the main force of our army will attack the army of the King of Western Qin from the east and west!" ”

Ziad stood up and saluted and agreed: "Yes!" ”