NationStates Jolt Archive

Bishkek, Kirgizian Eastern Province,
One by one, the soldiers lines up and presented their spears, swords and bows to their captains, who were inspecting the troops, the main square of Bishkek had been sealed of for the troops to assemble. They had all been called up through a public mobisilation message.

The message was sent out by governor Athanaro, who controlled the Eastern part of Kirgizia. The region were a well armed party of raiders had attacked small villages and caravans, killing about one hundred locals, before dissapearing again into the South east, escaping from the security forces sent out by Ahanaro. However, if the raiders believed they could get away with it this easily, they were wrong.

The governor brought together a small force of twothousand to follow the raiders to their homes, in this case, reports had revealed that these men came from Chowa, a city in Tibet, not to far from a city the Tadjiks known well, Lhasa.

As said his army was small, he had to leave a similar number of troops in Kirgizia or security duties, but the army grew bigger by the hour as Kirgizian tribesmen heard of the mobilisation. They packed some food for a period, extra clothes and their weaponry before they joined the government forces. The tribesmen wanted vengeance for what these bandits had done to their land, people and economy. When Athanaro made public that he wanted to sack Chowa, the tribesmen did not hesitate to answer the call to arms.

Some six thousand tribesmen marched off in Eastern direction, together with Athanaro's troops. It was in reality barely enough to take Chowa, and the Emperors advisor Corazin, had asked them to wait until the regular army could be sent. But Athanaro wanted to enhance his reputation and increase his wealth, he marched off without the Imperial troops.

War? tomorrow!

Bah, why wait till tomorrow for something that I can do on my own.

Finally after a long march, Athanaro's troops reached the city of Chowa, situated in a small empty valley with an entrance on each end. The city itself had two big gates and about twenty towers connected to eachother by the citywalls.

Athanaro's force had already been sighted a few days earlier by merchants and they did not hesitate to inform the king of Chowa of their aproach. Without further delay, the king blocked the Eastern gate and set guards on the walls while his troops gathered whatever supplies and weaponry they could before closing the Western gate.

Athanaro didnt know how strong his enemy was, he had rushed his troops into a war without knowing who he was going up against. He did not care about it, it was another problem he'd solve later. The tribesmen however, were not so reckless and asked the governor to find out what they were up against.
Thus Athanaro sent a number of soldiers to the Eastern gate for a short shootout with bows before pulling them back again. In the meantime, one of Athanaro's officers had positioned himself on one of the hills surrounding the city and watched as the defenders responded to the attack, trying to count how many there were. As soon as the Kirgiz soldiers reached their own lines again, the officer returned to Athanaro to report.

"How many are there?" Athanaro asked his officer as he arrived

"Well, I do not know how many exactly, there is no position high enough where I can count them all, but I think they can rely on atleast 1500 to 2000 men"

When he heard that estimate, Athanaro began to worry, the city had enough troops to keep him out and the tribesmen werent going to stay around for a long siege unless he paid them, something Athanaro wanted to avoid.
He had to make a choice and he had to make it now: "Prepare the men and wait for my signal, we're going to attack as soon as we can".

"Mylord, we're going to charge and try to take them by force? Then should we not prepare our siegeweapons and stormingtowers?"

"We will use whatever weaponry we have now, use the catapults to put the city on fire and make a battering ram to breach the gate. And do it quickly."

"yes Mylord, may I also suggest sending some troops to the other side to block the only exit out of this city?"

"Go ahead, send my own men and have some tribesmen join them, that way they can halt and attack caravans that could otherwise supply the city."

The officer jumped on his horse and rode off to prepare the troops for the assault.

A bit later the Kirgiz troops and their tribal supporters attacked the Eastern gate in an all out charge. The few ladders they had brought with them were placed against the walls, soldiers ad tribesmen get up under the covering fire of the archers below. The battering ram was rushed forward to the gate.

The attack wasnt going as planned, the tribesmen didnt believe in this assault and they preffered to let the soldiers do all the fighting while they waited for a hole to move through.
The soldiers, too few in number to neutralize the defenders behind their walls and towers, failed to breach the Eastern gate.
After the loww of some 500 men the military commander of the Kirgiz troops decided to pull back and end this attack, it wasnt going to bring them inside anyway.

It was the last thing governor Athanaro wanted, the tribesmen wanted to return home unless they were paid, Athanaro had to use all his diplomatic skills to convince them to stay.
In the end, he did pay them, but not much. Most of them were willing to continue their siege knowing the regular army was on its way. With their help, the city would fall within days.

ooc: interest and keeping track of the world tag goes here

As the sun rose above the horizon, a large body of heavily armed troops appeared in the East, the long awaited regular army led by General Corazin. All the longbowmen of the Empire were present, as well as 12 battalions of footknights with spears, maces and hammers followed by a thousand horsemen. An engineer group completed the army at the rear with a single cannon and a catapult.

governor Athanaro was pleased to see the column arrive, even though he could no longer claim a victory as his, it was still better than giving up. Corazin on the other hand was angry at his governor, who had gone to war unprepared.
"Governor, you have brought shame upon your men and the Empire, therefore I relieve you from your duties, go back home with your wounded, leave your men here."

"But Mylord..."

"We shall discuss this later, governor, now go. I have a city to burn."

As Athanaro left with an escort and a group of wounded soldiers and tribesmen, Corazin lined his men up in front of the city, pikes and infantry in front with archers behind them.
The artillery was set up on the left with cavalry and Kirgiz soldiers covering their left flank.

The engineers rushed their loaded cannon up and readied it to fire.
"Ready" the officer bellowed while he raised his arm.
The crew of the gun and the men around the cannon covered their ears with their hands, as did the officer before he gave the order :"Corporal, ignite!"

A loud bang, the recoil pushed the gun a few meters back as it jumped a few inches into the air. a large cloud surrounded the cannon and its crew, taking them a few seconds to see that they had shot a hole in the left door of the big wooden gate. Unfortunatly they aimed to high.

As quick as the order "Reload" came, One crewman pushed a brush into the barrel to remove the dirt and irregularities. A second crewman placed hay in the barrel which the first man drove to the rear with his brush, subsequently, a small bag of gunpowder was brought into the barrel followed by the actual projectile.
In the meantime, the firer had removed the spent fuse and replaced it by another.
Once the cannon was loaded the firer put his cannon back to its original postion, which he had marked with a flag, he looked over the barrel and aimed : "Ready to fire, sir"
The officer repeated the process of raising his arm to make sure everyone knew it was going to be fired, allowing everyone to put their hands on their ears and their mouths open to cope with the loud explosion.
The cannon was fired again and this time the left door of the gate was blown to pieces.

The defenders had recovered from the shock of the first shot, this was a weapon that was pretty new to them. But they were not yet convinced of their enemies strength, their earlier victory over the attacking forces had given them the required courage to defend the gate with a few hundred men.

General Corazin was, however, not ready to send him men into a wild charge yet. He preffered to make his enemy a bit weaker first, He called the Master of the Archers to him: "Open that gate for me, have the archers aim behind the gatehouse."

Within seconds the archers formed their lines, veterans to the front, new soldiers to the rear(the new archers will follow the example of the veterans when they aim), each battalion with its own captain.
The Master of the Archers observed the city and turned his horse, riding past the captains of the archers he yelled "Ready at 200!"
The Master of the Archers was a Citadel Guard, a knight who knew how to fire a bow, a rare threat among army troops, but a comon trait among the Citadel Guards.

The Captains repeated the command, the front rows pulled their arrows out and placed them on the string of their longbow. The veterans took aim and pulled the bowstring far behind their right ear. The men in the back, whom often had not heard the order of the capatin, followed the example of the veterans.
The Master of the Archers turned his horse around at the last man of the last battalion on looked on as he saw the longbows go up, arrows ready to fire. Once more he passed all the Captains while he gave them the order to fire: "Loose".
The Captains echoed the Masters command, the veterans fired and the rest followed the example, sending thousands of arrows skywards, with most of them landing right behind the gatehouse, wrecking havoc among the defenders.

General Corazin ordered his Master of the Archers to give them a second volley and prepare for a third forcing the defenders to either seek cover in the gatehouse or move away from the gate.
The way was now open for the Footknights to move in, spears at the front, with shields covering them they marched forward to the gatehouse, behind them were the swordsmen. They'd surge forward as soon as they were close enough to their enemies and the gatehouse. A clash of cold steel ensued and resulted in a Tadjik victory.

Tadjik forces took all official buildings within the city as priority; the walls, the towers and the kings palace. The king had mobilized all his reserves of militiamen and personal guard to protect him against the invaders but they were no match for 6000 trained and heavily armed Tadjik regulars. The king was captured alive and sent to Dushanbe for execution (in the presence of the families of those whom had died during the raids in Kirgizia).
Everyone within the city whom had resisted the Empire was taken prisoner, their properties seized by the Empire or given to the tribesmen. Those who were innocent were sent away while the city was burnt.

Emperor Nimruzirim I had already decide to build a new fortress in this location, better stronger and bigger, the old inhabitants would return once it was finished. Yes, the Emperor wanted to treat occupied peoples as equals, only then would they support the new Emperor.

OOC: The command "fire" did not exist until muskets had become the main weapon of the infantry, so loose was used instead.
And anyone who has fired a rifle or been close to a rifle being fired knows you have to cover your ears and open your mouth, that is no different for a cannon.

Captain Loa Ming and his cavalrymen rode through the northern mountain pass with ease. They were a small insect-sized portion of the Western Garrison upon the River Indus in what the dark skinned locals called "Inda" in their tongue.

Two weeks before hand local traders had come down from the north in territory not yet within the Han Empire's control saying that a large city of bandits was there, and that they had come down from the mountains, attacking several villages. General Toa Han had then ordered Captain Loa Ming and his cavalry lancers regiment to ride north a investigate it.

So, here he was, riding his horse along with 500 of his men through the chilled mountain passes.

A lead scout suddenly appeared further up ahead and was riding fast. Loa Ming raised his hand and halted the regiment. The scout came up to Loa Ming and saluted.

"Sir, we've discovered a battle!"

"Between who?" asked Loa Ming urgently.

"We don't know but it seems like another force of some kind is attack the Bandit city that we had been sent to investigate."

Loa Ming thought about that. He needed time to think and to send a message back to General Tao Han. He looked up at the scout.

"Find us a camping ground and have the other men secure it. We will see this battles outcome."

"Remove the flag of the defeated and raise the flag of the Empire, this city now belongs to Emperor Nimruzirim of Tadjikistan."
Cavalry captain Maethor arrived in the city ater most of the fighting was over and the infantry was securing the castle, he sent his men to the Western gate so that noone would escape, for a while forgetting Athanaro had sent a group of 300 soldiers around the city to do just this. Captain Maethor knew the battle was over and although there was still some minor resistance, the Tadjiks had won. He raised the Imperial flag as a sign of the Tadjik victory.
When he saw this, General Corazin was pleased, he had restored the reputation of the army among the tribesmen and enemies of the Empire, without losing to many soldiers.

The cavalrymen saluted as their flag was raised, oh yes, it was custom to salute the Emperors flag whenever they raised it, especially in the persence of strange peoples like the ones in this city.
The Tadjiks would show them how a civilized army goes to war and honors its leaders, like any true warrior does.

Maethor and his men then returned to the fighting, a last group of men from the kings guard tried to get out of the city but soon found themselves trapped between the horsemen at the Western gate and Maethors men, demoralized as they were by the sight of several hundred of wellarmed knights on horseback, reinforced by footknights they surrendered eliminating the last pocket of resistance.

In the hands of the tribesmen, they would have surely died. They were lucky, Maethor accepted their surrender and once disarmed, the prisoners were brought away. The Judges of the high court of Dushanbe would flush out the murderers and give them the punishment they deserved.

For the victorious, it was time to consolidate their gain.

Captain Lao Ming lay on the ground hunched just on the edge of a nearby mountain ledge. In front of him was a burning city-castle that had obviously once held the bandits. Now it was a slowly smoldering pile of destruction.

He estimated that there were some 3 to 4 thousand troops in the area, judging from the number of tents sitting outside the castle where the be-siegers had sat before entering the castle.

He watched as a large, obviously important, banner was raised over the keep of the castle.

A scout scooted up next to him.

"Sir, we've found the route that will take us directly to the city."

"Do we have the Imperial regiment banner with us?"

"Yes sir, why?"

"I think we'll go down and greet these victors. They might be from a local principality or from some other kingdom we don't know of...its possible that they could be the remnants of the Mongols."

The scout shuttered at the name. All Hanese hated the Mongols that had once ruled Han many centuries before hand, and had been so brutal that people to this day still shivered and cursed them.

"Well sir, I'll have the deputy officer get it out."

"And have the men saddle, we'll ride in before night fall, with full banners showing, and no weapons drawn."

"So when will we be returning home?" Said a soldier standing on guard on the eastern side of the city to his collegue
"I dont know but it shouldnt take too long, this was a very short battle and there is little here that requires our presence"

"I wouldnt want to stay until the city is rebuilt, that could take a while and this place is so desolate with its dry soil, nothing but rocks and only a few fields to grow crops on, This place is only good for a military..."
One of the guards interrupted his friend when saw a group of cavalrymen approach
"Hey, whats that?"

"What, whats what?"

"Look over there we've got visitors" He said pointing the the cavalry "Go raise the alarm, I'll warn Captain Maethor, he'll know what to do"

They both ran as fast as they could to the encampment with their heavy equipment, one of them went straight to the tent with the unit on guard duty where the commanding officer raised the alarm with a horn.
As it sounded through the valley, soldiers took their weapons and reported to their officers, waiting for orders while they tried to find out what was going on.
Even Maethor was taken by surprise when the horn was blown, stumbling into the second guard as he left his tent
"MyLord, cavalry, aproaching from the East!"

"Foe or friendly?" Maethor asked as he looked the guard in the eyes.

"No Idea, Mylord, I've never seen these people before"

Maethor jumped on his horse, as quickly as he could, to get his heavy riders organized and led them the the Eastern side of the city yelling "Draw your swords" to his men.

While General Corazin prepared for a possible battle, he sent his Master of the Archers to the troops in his place. The latter following the cavalry with his footknights and archers, forming lines and preparing for the worst. He then joined Maethor
"And Captain? Do you know whom these people are?

"No idea, They do not draw their swords and those flags are to expensive to be used in the frontline"

"Maybe I should prepare my archers for a volley, who knows, these men might have been called upon to reinforce the bandit king"

"I hardly doubt that, they dont look like an band of thieves. It seems they are regular soldiers as we are."

It was a dillema for them, whether these were enemies or friends. Before they had to take a decision as to what they should do, General Corazin arrived. They asked his advise
"I have heard of an empire in the East, allegedly possessing a regular army as we do though I have never met them. Captain Maethor, take our Imperial banner and approach them. My assistent will help you, he speaks the local language, lets hope they do too."

The Master of the Archers was not convinced of this idea :"Whats if this is a trap?"

"If they are regulars" Corazin responded "They will try to communicate, otherwise he will have to hope your archers can protect him in time."

-snip-

Lao Ming's cavalrymen saw the reaction to their presence quite clearly. The captain sat on his horse at the forefront of the column and watched as archers came to the walls of the city.

An aide leaned close. "Your sure they won't attack us?"

"We have our Imperial battle standard up, its our color, and they won't attack out-right a group of soldiers flying their banners and with no weapons drawn."

"So they won't?"

"Who knows?"

"I hate it when you say that."

They rode closer to the city gates and saw it open. Out came several men bearing a banner of their own.

(ooc: could you describe your banner? Mine is all red with a gold dragon and a black dragon on it.)

They called out in a strange language of their own. One man down the line of riders called up to the captain. "Sir! I think I know that language. My sisters husband is a merchant and I worked on hsi ships for several years as a lad. I think they're speaking Turkmen...er...or maybe Tadjik..."

"If you can understand then come up here," yelled Lao Ming over his shoulder. The man rode up next to him. Lao Ming raised his arm and halted the column. They had heavy armor on, but those archers on the wall were not a willing sight.

With just himself, the banner bearer, and the rider who thought he knew the language, they rode up to the approaching men bearing the strange banner.

OOC: The banner is black, with a golden crown, like the one in my flag.

"Halt" Maethor said as they were only a few yards from the strangers, the assistent came forward. He approached them and started speaking in the local language
"Greetings strangers, may I welcome you to the Tadjik Empire."

The rider next to Lao Ming nodded. "I know this language." With the captain's permission he responded in kind.

"Greetings from the Divine Emperor Shui Hau Di of the Empire of Han and the Son of Heaven. We are messengers and scouts searching these mountinous lands."

"Ask for shelter," said Lao Ming.

"We seek shelter as well, and ask if we can speak with the commander of this city.

Maethor was surprised to see some strangers speak his own language "Go get General Corazin", he said to one of his men.

He then continued the conversation
"We will give you shelter and if our commander permits it, an audience with our Emperor. It does not happen to often that we meet people who speak our own language and certainly not anyone from a distant empire."
"May I ask what exactly you were looking for in this region?"

Corazin, who had in the meatime arrived at the scene now joined the group with a small escort of 2 Citadel Guards.

The rider translated what the man had asked. Lao Ming nodded. "Tell him we heard reports of a bandit city, they were attack cities in our Empires land not more than four days hard ride south through the mountains. We came here to investigate those attacks."

The man translated this for Maethor.

"The city has already fallen to the Tadjik Empire and the bandit king awaits trial in Tadjikistan, the war is over."

Corazin joined the conversation "We will give you shelter, as for speaking the commander of this city, I am its commander now."

Herat, late afternoon
An officer in his wargear marched through the citadel of Herat, everyone who saw him pass saluted him but he did just walked by, often neglecting them. His thoughts were somewhere else now, he had been called by Kamran Shah, the governor of Herat to come to him for a special task.
After a long walk through the citadel he got to Kamran Shah's room, he knocked and an armed servant opened the door for him.

"Ah, general Whatanjar, just the man I wanted to see"

"Mylord? the soldier you sent spoke of a special task."

"Yes, general! I plan to expand the Empire through a great campaign that will give us glory throughout the region!."

"Where might this campaign be going then, Mylord? East as the Emperor wishes?"

"No, a much more valuable prize; the Caspian coast! We'll destroy the khanate of Ashgabat and absorb its territory! It is an area the Emperor has been interested for for quite a while. The locals want to be part of our empire anyway."
"I also plan to move our forces West through this Persian empire, I have contacts there. I might just be able to get some support from the inside."

"And Mylord is aware that such an operation will require a large number of troops?"

"Just minutes ago, I sent several couriers to the other governors and our Emperor. Soon we will have an army large enough to defeat anyone whom dares to walk in our way."

"It is quite ambitious, but if this is your wish, then it is my command. If MyLord will permit it, I shall make arrangements for the activation of his troops."

"You may go general, do whatever you need to do."

"The city has already fallen to the Tadjik Empire and the bandit king awaits trial in Tadjikistan, the war is over."

Corazin joined the conversation "We will give you shelter, as for speaking the commander of this city, I am its commander now."

Lao Ming bowed, as did his men, to Corazin. The rider translated. "Greetings General Corazin. It is good to know this petty bandit has been destroyed. I am Captain Lao Ming of the Imperial Army of Han, I was sent here to investigate bandits attacking our cities further south through these mountains. Once beyond them there is the Han Empire, or rather its outward new provinces."

Lao Ming coughed and continued. "We would glad to have shelter. You do not mind me and my troops being in your castle? We have tents with us, if you would prefer us camp outside the gates."

"There is currently no room inside the city I am afraid, part of it is occupied by tribesmen and the rest is rubble. You will have no other option but to set up your tents outside the city."
"You may set up camp right next to our own encampment. Once you have settled in, we will engage in further talks."

Herat area, military encampment

Just weast of Herat, General Whatanjar had brought together all of his cavalry, several thousand of them, strengthened in number by a regular unit, the Farah Cavalry.
Men from the different other provinces were arriving as well, soldiers from Mazar i Sharif and Kandahar. An army from Kabul was also on its way to Herat were they'd meet and start their campaign.

The governor Of Peshawar and his collegue in Karachi preffered to keep their forces at home, the Chinese invasion of India was not to their liking and they thought it foolish to send their soldiers away when an unknown force approached their border.

In the North, the Governor Of Khiva too refused to send his men, but he had other reason to stay out of the campaign to the West. The governor amassed his forces for his own little campaign that would bring the Empire to the coast of the Caspian sea.
The Turkmen and Uzbek regions were full of excellent horsemen, among the best in the world. One of the most favorite games in this region was Kuzbashi, a game were two teams of horsemen try to score by throwing a dead goat in the other teams goal. An old and very popular game that helped the men improve their ridingskills. The Khivan Governor would need o help from anyone save the regular army with its heavy weaponry.

"Thankyou for your hpspitality General. I do indeed wish to continue speaking later," said Lao Ming. He rider translated this.

Lao Ming bow once more then turned his horse away and went back to the column of cavalry behind him. He called over his officers and had them gather the troop and it's supplies.

Lao Ming sat down and composed a report on some spare scrolls he had brought with him for the purpose. He wrote down everything that happened and was said. He set the date and time from the sun, and gave it to three messengers. One a banner bearer of the Imperial Han banner, and the other two guards. They road off into the south passes.

Lao Ming and his troops led their mounts to a sparse plate of ground near the Tadjik encampments and erected their triple thick silk tents, red-black in the Imperial colors, and set in for the night.

from Khiva to Ashgabat

While Kamran Shah prepared for his march to the West, he was notified that Salgant, governor of Khiva had sent out his forces in Western direction. The coming of Salgants troops was no secret, even his enemies knew he was marched upon them. The story of those who had failed to take the bandit city in the mountains had reached their ears and while they feared the Tadjik Regulars, they believed they could stop a local governor and find a diplomatic solution.

Salgant was not impressed by his opposition, petty warlords who usually quarrel over minor disputes. Even if they managed to maintain cohesion within their army, Salgant thought, they could not match his men.

Salgants forces were divided into three groups; Horsemen, lots of them, experienced riders from the Uzbek and Turkman lands supllemented by mercenaries. Regulars, good soldiers with proper weaponry and militiamen; mostly volunteers who wanted to get their share of the looting.

Just south of Yerbent, the two armies met. Salgants forces in the North with regular infantry in the center, protected by militiamen on the flanks. The cavalry was kept in reserve behind the main force.
The enemy had raised several ad hoc battalions and brought their mixed force into the field in square formations, seven battalions from West to East with two battalions on each flank and two mixed cavalry battalions in reserve.
The rebel forces kept their distance, for them the defense was the best option. An attack would surely result in chaos, especially with the large amount of irregulars among them.
Salgant on the other hand had listened to his advisor, Suladan to make a bold move.

Salgant waved his partisan* and ordered his officers to advance, his troops, formed up in three lines moved forward, shields and spears in the front, backed up by swordfighters. Everyone remained silent as they closed in on their opponents, waiting for the order to charge.
Salgants advisor Suladan in the meantime took the majority of his cavalry and moved up to his left flank, leaving the heaviest riders with the main force to support the infantry whenever they were threatened with a breakthrough.




Partisan* :An officer's shaft-hafted weapon. The distinction from a pike is a crescent of two short metal spikes between the shaft and the spear-head. In wielding a partisan is much like a halberd. A partisan has gained a wide application as an officer's weapon in XVI century in lance-knight squads. A partisan has remained in armory till the XIX century. Early versions of this weapon possessed a broad and long spear-head, but later it became smaller. A partisan was an attribute of power rather than a weapon, so the spear-head was often decorated with engraving, gilding, and etching.

The warlords saw Suladans cavalry on their right and they responded by sending their reserves to that flank while the two armies clashed with eachother. To intimidate their opponents the soldiers and rebels began to scream all kinds of dirty words to eachother. The intimidation phase ended quickly with the sound of swords hitting eachother and the flesh of their enemies.

Salgant remained close to his forces, making sure his troops would not waver, ordering them forward whenever necessary. The rebels managed to keep their troops under control, the tribesmen felt strong in their defensive position.

The rebel reserves were still on the right side of their army, awaiting a cavalry charge that would not come. Suladans light cavalry had left its positions on the Tadjik left flank and exchanged it for the Tadjik right where they moved around the two armies, turning left behind the rebel forces.
In loose formation, Suladan led his horsemen into the rebel rear, drawing two scimitars he smashed into the tribesmen.
The tribesmen panicked, now forced to fight on two sides. It was a fight they could not hope to win, some tried to escape but the scimitars of the Uzbek riders were unforgiving and deadly, cutting heads and limbs of all those that tried to slip through their lines.

The element of surprise and the sharp blades of Suladans scimitars had a devastating effect on the reserves and uncommited troops of the warlords. Many whom still had the opportunity fled, leaving only a handful of men to continue the battle. A battle that ended an hour later when the last defenders were slain.

The road to the Caspian sea was open.

Koppeh Dagh

The news of Suladans victory had spread like a fire and reached the troops around Herat a few days after the Yerbent battle. Suladans reputation had been enhanced and he was now widely respected among the tribesmen. This included many of those whom got away safely when Suladans cavalry encircled the rebel forces.

Yes indeed, these tribesmen had respect for those who were fearless and strong in battle, Suladan had proven how strong he was by coming up with a good tactic and leading his men into battle himself.

Instead of opposing him, more and more tribesmen began to flock to Suladans side now as he claimed the coasts of the Caspian sea for the Empire only to turn south and guide his army to the Koppeh Dagh mountain range, ready to march on into the Persian lands.
All he needed was a notification from General Whatanjar telling him to start his invasion.

"Thankyou for your hpspitality General. I do indeed wish to continue speaking later," said Lao Ming. He rider translated this.

Lao Ming bow once more then turned his horse away and went back to the column of cavalry behind him. He called over his officers and had them gather the troop and it's supplies.

Lao Ming sat down and composed a report on some spare scrolls he had brought with him for the purpose. He wrote down everything that happened and was said. He set the date and time from the sun, and gave it to three messengers. One a banner bearer of the Imperial Han banner, and the other two guards. They road off into the south passes.

Lao Ming and his troops led their mounts to a sparse plate of ground near the Tadjik encampments and erected their triple thick silk tents, red-black in the Imperial colors, and set in for the night.

The next morning a citadel guard was sent to the Hanese encampment to invite their leader to the Tent of General Corazin.

As the man did not speak the Hanese tongue, he gave the written message to the first Hanese guard he encountered, The citadel guard saluted with a slight bow and returned to his master.

OOC: The command "fire" did not exist until muskets had become the main weapon of the infantry, so loose was used instead.
And anyone who has fired a rifle or been close to a rifle being fired knows you have to cover your ears and open your mouth, that is no different for a cannon.

OOC: It doesnt really matter when your typing it in English you know, because your troops probably didnt speak English....
TAG from Frozopia

The great march West

Messengers had reached Suladan in the early morning, warning him that General Whatanjar had moved out of Herat in the direction of Birjand with the majority of his troops while sending a small contingent to Zabol to protect Whatanjars flank.

Most of Whatanjars troops were cavalry, led by the Farah cavalry, a regular heavy cavalry unit followed by Afghan horsemen from the Hazara group.
Whatanjars infantry moved slower. They had trouble keeping up with the riders but the general did not care much about it. Speed was of the essence as he wanted to take favourable positions when they met the local defenders.

These defenders were mostly regular troops from the local ruler, with the bulk of them infantrymen backed up by a cavalry arm. While not as experienced and trained as the Tadjik regulars, these Persians were more than a match for the Afghan troops under general Whatanjar.
The Persian commander felt superior but remained calm and cautious as is expected from a trained officer

In the Meantime Suladan crossed the Koppeh Dagh mountainrange near Bojnurd and marched through Sabzevar, North of Birjand. The victorious army that had won the battle of Yerbent was not attacked by local tribesmen, they preffered to sit back and wait for regular troops to support them or travelled south to join up with those soldiers.