The Sun and the Lion

Near the assembly point, on a high ground near the fishing village, the captains of fifty and ten captains were observing the pirate den. A few red heads who acted as scouts to find out the information came back with a tongue. After a brief interrogation, they learned about the pirates' situation and reported this information to the general.

The red head who was responsible for liaison with friendly forces rushed back: Sir, I sent the information up, but the emir said that all the troops have not arrived yet and asked us to continue to stand by.

The fifty-man commander spat on the ground: Tajiks are cowards wherever they go. These pirates are already packing up their loot and planning to escape. They have no fighting spirit, and none of them are equipped with weapons. Although our brothers do not have horses, they do not have armor and equipment. Complete, they can’t hurt the brothers.”

You mean... The ten captains realized what their superiors were going to do.

If they don't charge, I will charge. When the time comes, not a single copper plate will be theirs. Assemble the brothers, prepare the attack horn, and listen to my orders. The fifty men with long hair gave orders.

With the sound of the attack horn, the fifty men took the lead and cut down a pirate sailor. The captains of ten led their troops to follow, protecting the fifty men's flanks and rear. Dozens of soldiers formed a group and rampaged through the village, fighting all the way from the village entrance to the beach.

The defeated pirates all gathered on the trestle by the beach and scrambled for the small boats and fishing boats that happened to be docked beside the trestle. Many of the boats were overloaded and were originally used to load cargo. However, some people still tried to squeeze in and ended up being trapped. The consequences of kicking into the water.

The redheads advanced to the shore, and the sailors either surrendered or simply jumped overboard and tried to swim back to the ship. The sailors who tried to swim back to the ship did not escape the disaster. The arrows hit them accurately, making each pirate incapacitated.

Several galleys docked not far from the shore seemed to have discovered that something had happened on the shore, and more small boats tried to rescue the sailors who fell into the water.

Stop! The fifty-man leader called out to the red heads who were shooting. Well-made arrows should not be wasted on such an enemy.

At this time, the friendly forces were belatedly arriving. After hearing that the red heads did not care about the troops that had not yet arrived, Emil directly led his soldiers to pick up the missing troops.

Go back! Tajik cowards, go back! All the loot belongs to us! the red heads shouted in Azerbaijani to the friendly forces, while other red heads directed the prisoners to collect property and concentrate it on the beach and pier.

Emir was naturally furious when he saw that the red heads were determined to monopolize the war glory. However, he only brought his own soldiers and the follow-up troops had not arrived yet. He had no confidence to compete with the red heads for the spoils, so he had to leave temporarily.

After a while, new movement came from the sea. Those galleys couldn't escape either. Several majestic sailing ships came from a distance. The grappling hook was thrown from the higher side of the ship to hook the galleys, and then the gangplank was lowered. Arrows falling from high places swept away the sailors who dared to be exposed on the deck. Another group of pirates quickly boarded the ship along the gangplank and seized control of the ship.

The battle on the water didn't last long. Another group of pirates succeeded in killing each other very smoothly, and the captured galleys sailed away from the coast. A dhow lowered its boat, and the boat carrying several people approached the trestle.

A few red heads guarding the trestle drew their bows and nocked arrows, aiming at the small boat. The fifty-man captain carefully observed the small boat and was careful not to give a rash order to shoot. The passengers in the dinghy seemed non-hostile and allowed them to approach.

They boarded the trestle, and the leader was dressed like an ordinary businessman in a long robe and a white turban. He was stocky, with a thick black beard and a rugged face. The attendants were not sailors, but warriors wearing chain mail, carrying scimitars on their belts, and open helmets with nose and throat guards. Their equipment was considered sophisticated among the pirates.

While the fifty captains were sizing up this group of elite pirates, the leader of the pirates was also sizing up the red heads. He has never seen such warriors, but the equipment level of the palace guards of the Sultan of Qeshm Island is not inferior to them.

A captain of ten who knew Persian acted as an interpreter, through which the two parties communicated.

Ehsan, an ordinary maritime merchant, is currently employed by the Sultan of Qeshm Island. The leader of the pirates introduced himself.

We are Qizilbash who serve the King of Kings. I am the Captain of Fifty, the commander of this force.

Ahsan continued: One of my captains once told me that a group of Turkic warriors wearing red hats came to Qeshm Port. I was still half-convinced. It seems that the current Iranian masters want to take over all the small islands here. bingo.

Yes, my master will plant his Lion Sun flag on all the islands in the sea, just like the cities and fortresses on the mainland. The fifty captain continued to follow Ahsan's words, Constantly revealing all kinds of information that was not completely true, he promoted the power of Safavid to the pirates in front of him.

Ahsan put together the information revealed by the fifty captains and the news he had heard recently, and suddenly understood something.

It all started when Ibrahim sent an envoy to Hormuz to ask them to surrender and pay tribute, but the diplomacy failed. The envoys themselves were detained and the guards were expelled. But for some reason, the fifty-man commander in front of him did not return to report to his superiors to move reinforcements. Instead, he wanted to use forces hostile to Hormuz to attack Hormuz.

At the same time, the Sultan of Qeshm Island has also coveted the wealth of Hormuz for a long time. However, firstly, he lacks strength. The city defenses of Hormuz are very strong, and most of the military power he can call upon comes from pirates. weak. Second, the army came from nowhere, and he had no reason to attack Hormuz.

The arrival of the red heads can solve these two problems. The Safavid envoys were detained by Hormuz for no reason. This in itself is an excellent reason for war, and they can also accuse the other party from the moral high ground. At the same time, the red heads are backed by the Safavid dynasty. If Hormuz cannot be taken in a single raid, they can go to Basra to shake people. When the pirate ships carry countless red heads and engineers and land in Hormuz, how can an isolated island resist the army?

Therefore, the Sultan of Qeshm Island suddenly made preparations for a cross-sea expedition to Hormuz.

Thinking of this, Ahsan felt that he could open up another way out for himself through Red Head. Both Hormuz Island and Qeshm Island were small forces, and they were just dogs of the plateau regime. It's just that the previous regimes didn't pay much attention to the Persian Gulf, so they were still very free. But now if a monarch comes who has plans for the sea, he will inevitably be less tolerant of rampant pirates.

At this moment, Emil arrived at the beach with a mighty army and confronted the red heads, asking them to give up at least half of their loot. Ahsan stood by and watched. He could not lose his foothold on Qeshm Island until he was sure that he could get a new backer.

Outnumbered, the fifty captains finally chose to compromise and paid half of their belongings in the name of purchasing supplies and hiring pirates.