Mount and Blade Central Asia

What he can get on the battlefield, he will never get at the negotiating table.

If Haidam wants more, he'd better come up with chips that match it, otherwise why would he put the food back on his plate?

Hiram, who was sitting at the negotiation table, seemed to hear the sound of battering rams hitting the city gate outside. The thumping sound was like a death warrant, making his heart beat faster and sweat on his forehead.

Chapter 497 Professional Backstabber

"My lord, Haidam has just sent someone to deliver a message." Just as Abiram was arranging his troops to take back the half-occupied tower, a personal soldier covered in blood rushed into the inner room of the tower that was temporarily chosen by Abiram as the command center.

Although the roof of the tower had been blown down by artillery, the view from the lower floor was still good, allowing Abiram to observe the entire battlefield.

"What happened to him?" Abiram asked impatiently when he saw the frightened expression on the face of his personal soldier.

He had disliked Haidam since the first time he met him. Although they were nominally members of the Central Powers faction, abandoning other allies on the battlefield and running back from Urfa Castle by himself was not a positive news.

Not to mention that there were many soldiers who ran back from Urfa Castle. It has been rumored that it was Haidam who poisoned Dimurati, which eventually led to the fall of Urfa Castle.

Although it seems now that there may be no causal relationship, after all, the Mongols now use cannons to attack cities, but before Haidam clears the rumor that he poisoned Dimurati, Abiram plans to treat this matter as true.

"He said... he said that Captain Abdureheman was in cahoots with the Mongols and that he was the one who secretly brought those Mongol soldiers into the city." The guard reported to Abiram with a look of disgust on his face. "He also said that he has temporarily detained Lord Abdureheman in the military camp. I want to know what you plan to do next."

"Abdureheman is colluding with the Mongols?" Abirama's face suddenly showed the same expression as his personal guards. "He also asked me what I planned to do next?"

There's one undeniable fact: Abdureheman is of Mongolian descent. You can't even tell him apart from other Mongols based on his appearance. But based on this alone, they've falsely accused Abdureheman of colluding with the Mongols. That means almost everyone in the Black Sheep People's territory is Mongolian...

What's more, compared to Haidam, Abiram would rather believe in Abdurehman's character.

But no matter what Abiram thought about this matter, he could not affect the accident happening in the military camp for the time being. The bastard Haidam had already captured the people and was probably under control of the situation.

Unless he takes his men back to the military camp now and rescues Abdurehman, there is probably no hope.

"The messenger also said that Haidam is organizing reinforcements to rush to the city wall to assist in the defense." The personal soldier recalled and was relieved when he was sure that the message he had missed was about to be delivered.

As he rushed to the tower, he met several soldiers who were trying to escape from their posts. A not-so-fierce battle broke out between the two sides. If those deserters had not fled in fear of the battle, he might not have had the chance to deliver the news to Abiram.

Before Abiram could react or adjust further, the reinforcements promised by Haidamu had already appeared on the main road behind the city gate.

What surprised Abirama was that the person leading the team was Hainam himself!

The coward who took advantage of Zhuo Gelu's death to encourage them to escape actually has the courage to come back?

Abiram silently blamed Haidam for his escape from the city wall. He had to admit that the scene of Zhuoglo being killed by a cannon was indeed memorable, but Abiram swore that if Haidam had not been by his side to disturb his mind, he would not have done such a cowardly thing!

A rough look showed that Haidam had at least 500 men behind him, and the arrival of the reinforcements undoubtedly greatly boosted the morale of the Black Sheep people on the city wall.

Correspondingly, the morale of the Bardock Thousand-Man Squad, which had occupied a section of the city wall but was temporarily unable to expand its position, inevitably dropped. Although the brother troops behind them were continuously sending reinforcements and arrows from outside the city to the city wall, this was in no way comparable to the speed at which they were being consumed.

Moreover, many soldiers had lost the strength to continue shooting their bows. They could only lean under the battlements and carefully protect their vital parts with shields to prevent sneak attacks from arrows from the tower and take a short rest.

The space on the city wall was limited, and even though this section of the wall was occupied by them, forming a blind spot for firepower, other soldiers would reach the siege ladders through the wide open space outside the city of Mardin, and they would still need to pass through the arrow killing zone crossing from other areas.

Bardock glanced at the Black Sheep reinforcements who were reorganizing their troops on the street not far away, then drew his bow and shot a few arrows from a distance as a greeting.

With Bardock's archery skills, these arrows naturally hit their targets, and they were all soldiers around Haidam, which almost scared Haidam into fleeing back to the barracks again.

"Lord Bardock! Shaman Rufeng said to let them in. They...are one of our own." One of Li Rufeng's personal guards, who was responsible for conveying messages to Bardock, hurried over to him and whispered, "Lord Bardock just reached an agreement with the Black Sheep. He will help us deal with them."

Chapter 498 Territory Expansion

1409, December 4, sunny.

After a whole night of fighting, Li Rufeng finally completely occupied the city of Mardin. In the end, less than half of the Black Sheep People originally stationed in the city of Mardin "broke out" from the west gate under the leadership of Haidam.

Many generals under Li Rufeng were eager to have a chase with the Black Sheep, which was the type of battle the Mughals were best at, but they were eventually held back by Li Rufeng. After the previous exchanges, Li Rufeng now felt that keeping a talent like Haidam by the side of the Black Sheep King would be far more beneficial to him than eliminating him on the battlefield.

A traitor will never betray only once. Now that the door has been opened, Haidam will probably be a sieve, and he can infiltrate him however he wants. Compared with this, the force of just over a thousand men is not important.

What Li Rufeng needs to consider now is how to avoid being blocked in the city by the same method after he is stationed in Martin City.

The city of Mardin is indeed a city with an excellent location. It occupies the only high ground in the surrounding plains. It can be regarded as the control node of this vast plain. Whoever controls the city of Mardin is the master of this plain.

Now this plain has welcomed its new owner. From the perspective of the inheritor of Eastern civilization, although this vast plain is not considered high-quality arable land because it is too flat and lacks mountains and undulating terrain, that is only relative.

Compared to the desertified area in southern Aleppo, this place is like the promised land. What's more, it is an excellent pasture and the "homeland" of the people from the river under his command.

When Li Rufeng thought of the people in Hezhong, he frowned slightly. Although the war had just begun and had achieved certain results, he would soon be caught up in a more tense and exciting balance of interests among internal forces.

Most of the Armenian soldiers who had previously infiltrated Mardin as a surprise attack were locals. Should they be relocated? And a significant number of those from Transoxiana, previously forced to relocate to what was once Li Rufeng's territory due to pressure from the Black Sheep, were also natives of Mardin. If they planned to return home, should Li Rufeng agree?

If this loophole is opened, and the people in the river make further demands and want to get back their former pastures, how should Li Rufeng respond?

"Sir, I am glad that I have fulfilled my mission." The Armenian Marcelino stood in front of Li Rufeng, panting, with several cotton bandages tied around his body, looking very embarrassed.

Marcelino himself was obviously a little uncomfortable, but this move was suggested by Adolfi. The young man was smart and had many ideas, so Marcelino decided to listen to his advice.

"You fought well, Marcelino. Do you have any idea of ​​becoming a centurion?" Li Rufeng looked at his brave general with admiration in his eyes.

Li Rufeng didn't know what the reputation of other Armenians was, but he saw that Marcelo was brave and not afraid of death. His only shortcoming was that he was stubborn and often no one could stop him when he got too angry.

But Li Rufeng planned to formally establish an infantry team of 1,000 people with Marcelino as the core, and specifically use it to fight tough battles. What he needed was this kind of stubborn type. If the infantrymen were not afraid of death, what kind of infantrymen would they be?

"Captain? Me? Stop joking, I can't do it..." A trace of confusion appeared on the face of the burly man. In Marcelino's cognition, the captain was someone who could be called a master. How could he, a farmer who couldn't even grow crops properly, be called a master?

"I said you can do it, so you can do it. Work hard, and Eternal Heaven will bless you." Li Rufeng patted Marcelino on the shoulder and decided to get him a good set of armor that suits him in a while.

Li Rufeng could not refuse the request of the Hezhong people's tribe to return home, but in order to check the expansion of the Hezhong people's power, he could support another force in the city of Mardin. At present, the Armenians seem to be a suitable choice.

First of all, Li Rufeng's army is currently lacking brave and combative infantrymen. However, there are a large number of Armenians living in this land, and their customs are more suitable for infantry training than those of nomadic peoples.

Moreover, Li Rufeng also needs to set an example in the eyes of other ethnic groups, and use the deeds of the Armenians to tell them that he is different from the great conqueror, and that everyone has the opportunity to succeed in his eyes.

With the Kurds in front and the Armenians behind, there is a long road ahead for all ethnic groups. The fact that Marcelino can become a centurion today has actually revealed the invisible ceiling that has been hanging over the heads of Armenians.

During the reign of the Great Conqueror, although many Armenians were conscripted, no one became a centurion.

In fact, in the military system of the great conqueror, in those units that could be called regular troops, all officers of the rank of thousand men and above were monopolized by the noble descendants of the Mongols and Sartars (Note 1).

At this time, Marcelino didn't know what kind of reward he had received, but this did not prevent him from bringing the good news back to others, because Li Rufeng also gave him three places, allowing him to choose three centurions from among the people he trusted.

In addition, Li Rufeng also gave Marcelino the right to recruit soldiers locally in Mardin and its surrounding areas. There are many small villages around Mardin, mainly inhabited by Armenians. This kind of thing would be very trivial for Li Rufeng's people to do, but if Marcelino, an Armenian, did it, it would be more efficient.

Li Rufeng is now very skilled in playing this game of power. Next, he will need to transfer a group of people from Aleppo's already stretched administrative staff to manage the city of Mardin.

After all, Mardin is a city with a population of several thousand people. Unlike a garrison fortress like Urfa Fort, it needs someone to manage it in order to operate normally.

Otherwise, even if they occupied this city, their fate would be the same as those of the people of Hengyang. They might as well treat this place as a larger tent with walls, or even a big brothel.

Although the Mongols did nothing after breaking into the city, the Black Sheep People followed their example. After the city was broken yesterday, no one knew how many Black Sheep People were killed by the local people of Mardin in the dark of night.

Even now, local villagers still come to Li Rufeng with the corpses of the Black Sheep People to claim the reward. In such an environment, even places where the people are not tough will gradually learn to be tough.

Li Rufeng estimated that Ulhun, who nominally led the political affairs of Aleppo for him, might not react much, but Muzaffar, who was the one who actually did the work, would probably curse. Of course, it was estimated that Her Royal Highness Princess Parisa would also curse along.

After all, Muzaffar also needed to supervise the city of Hama, and had to travel back and forth between the two places for the war. Many times it was actually Parisa who helped maintain the normal operation of Aleppo.

Chapter 499 The aftermath spreads

"Heferson, have we become nobles just like that?" Barris was wearing a gorgeous suit, but he felt uncomfortable all over.

What made him even more uncomfortable was the change in identity. Last month he was still a hunter hunting in the deep mountains and forests, occasionally coming out to rob the rich and help the poor with this group of people to have a bite to eat. But today he suddenly became the master of his horse!

"Ahem, I'm a nobleman, and you're not yet, but I think you will be in the future." Hefelson also had an incredulous smile. Just as Hiltberg predicted, the Baron didn't care whether Hefelson was Caius's illegitimate son or not. He only cared whether Hefelson would continue to be loyal to him.

Caius even felt that the fat-looking baron seemed quite happy about Caius's death. He heard from Hiltberg that Caius was so proud of his martial arts prowess that he often did not give the baron face.

To be honest, this made Heferson's awe of the nobles disappear a lot. Although Caius's death had shocked him once, it was not as shocking as this time.

After all, Caius was the kind of noble lord that you would want to avoid at first sight. Even without armor, he looked a size larger than an ordinary person. When it came time to pay taxes, the common people would rather starve their children to death than dare to bare their teeth at Caius.

Even Hefferson himself had to gather a considerable number of people before he dared to attack Caius. And that baron, who was theoretically much more noble than Caius, turned out to be just as afraid of that devilish knight as commoners like him...

No, Heferson suddenly smiled. He was also a knight now. He looked down at his fingers to make sure that his nails had not suddenly become sharper or horns had grown on his head.

Why had Hefelson been so afraid of these nobles in the past? They were just flesh and blood, and would die if killed. If one had to say who was scary, none of them combined were as scary as Hilterberg.

When he thought of this, Heferson couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. The man who was far more martial than Caius was no longer by his side.

Hiltberg spent two weeks helping Hefferson confirm his illegitimate status and settle the issue of inheritance rights. He only killed six people in the whole process, without a single redundant one. His efficiency was terrifyingly high.

Then, he found another target that was easier to control than Heferson, that is, Baron Edoard Shalabi. Of course, the word "baron" was added mainly to highlight the irony.

Because this lord is like a middle-aged man. Whenever he faces the toughness of the knights under his command, he will become weak and helpless.

Adorad's title was naturally inherited from his father, a very orthodox way of inheritance. It was a barony that was not very large in area, and Hiltberg estimated that the total population should not exceed three thousand.

Although Hiltberg, who was born as a squire of the Bavarian knights and had been wandering for half his life, knew that this population was not a glorious number for a baron. However, considering that the territory of the Sarabi family was almost entirely mountainous, this number suddenly made sense.

But what really made Baron Adorard feel miserable was that due to external pressure, several of his strongest knights were dissatisfied with his rule because of his usually weak character, and often embarrassed him on various occasions.

Seeing Adorad's predicament, Hiltberg offered him an olive branch, and the hungry little baron immediately took the bait.

"John, I don't have enough prestige. No, I don't have it." Adorad picked up the ceramic jar of wine with a bit of self-mockery and poured another glass of wine for Hiltberg. "Sometimes I feel like even the servants in the castle are gossiping about me behind my back, calling me a loser."

Your intuition is very accurate. Hiltberg patted Adorad on the shoulder and said, "If you feel that these servants are not loyal to you, you can replace them and let me do it. It won't cost much."

"No, I mean that if you ask me to convene this meeting of lords now, I simply don't have the ability to do so!" Adorard sighed deeply, feeling that John in front of him was the person who understood him best in the world, and he completely opened his heart to him.

"My father, old Sarabi, was a hero. He built his own legacy with his own two hands. It was he who restored the Sarabi family to greatness. But what about me?" Adorad said self-deprecatingly. "On the first day after I inherited the title, I gave away a third of my most fertile land!"

Hiltberg had already heard about this matter. There is nothing new under the sun. The old hero is old and his successor is a waste. Naturally, there are other new "heroes" around who want to reproduce the glorious deeds of the old "hero". This is normal.

These Armenians have been stuck in their traditional territory, with no one expanding their territory. How did old Shalabi restore his family's greatness? Did he beg for it from the Mongols?

That's impossible. If such a thing really happened, Hiltberg would have heard about it even in Samarkand, thousands of miles away. The great conqueror must have plowed the land so many times that not even a blade of grass grew.

"But things are different now. You have new enemies. Those Black Sheep may appear powerful, but they are actually hollow within. This is your chance, Adorad. You can become a hero like your father, as long as you seize this opportunity!" Hiltberg said seductively while drinking. "More importantly, this time, you are on the right side."

"Sultan Khalil is the legitimate heir of the Great Conqueror. As long as you succeed in your rebellion, he will surely remember your achievements. Think about what benefits those Armenian lords favored by the Great Conqueror received ten or twenty years ago," Hiltberg said, appealing to both his emotions and reason. "Even if we don't have enough soldiers, I can still introduce you to an alliance with the Wind Shaman in the south."

"He is a powerful ally right next to you. With his help, no one will dare to disrespect you anymore." Hiltberg, who was alone outside, clearly divided his responsibilities. He was first a close confidant of Khalil Sultan, and only then a messenger of Li Rufeng.

Hiltberg had made a big bet on Sultan Khalil and also had property and status in Samarkand. These were his sunk costs, and his investment in Li Rufeng was just a casual move.

After all, Sultan Khalil is not in a good situation now, or it should be said that he is in imminent danger. We may receive news of Sultan Khalil's defeat at any time.

"Shaman Rufeng, who is that?" Adorad now trusts Hiltberg very much. The profound memory honed by years of political struggles in the Ottoman court and Samarkand allows Hiltberg to deal with the difficulties encountered by Adorad easily.

Chapter 500: The Ming Empire initiated a trade application

For Sultan Khalil, this request immediately reminded him of the big show that Ambassador Fu An used to perform in front of his grandfather every year.

This dead memory suddenly began to attack Sultan Khalil, making him almost laugh out loud. I remember that one year the ambassador of Castile arrived in Samarkand, and the Carlestilian named Clavijo invited my grandfather to join him in destroying the Ottomans.

Perhaps it was to demonstrate his martial arts skills, or perhaps it was to show off his strength to the Ming people. In any case, his grandfather invited the diplomatic delegations led by Ambassador Clavijo and Ambassador Fu An to attend his banquet.

Then, in front of envoys from big and small countries, his grandfather had the Ming delegation's table moved to the position behind the Castilians in order to humiliate those Ming people.

That’s right, even though Ambassador Fu An had to point at Timur’s nose and curse him every year in the past few years, the Ming Dynasty delegation still ranked higher than ambassadors from all other countries.

As expected, Sultan Khalil remembered it very clearly. Ambassador Fu An's curses that year were particularly harsh. He was worried that the new curly-haired barbarian would not understand his dirty words, so he deliberately repeated them in six languages.

Judging from the expression on Clavijo's face at the time, Khalil Sultan believed that he must have understood Ambassador Fu's dirty words...

Regardless of whether these memories are warm or not, they are one of the few happy times that Khalil Sultan can recall without worrying about accidentally recalling someone's death.

But now, along with this memory comes responsibility. With his current prestige, can he still bear the title of submitting to the Ming Dynasty?

Khalil Sultan remembered clearly that twenty-two years ago, his grandfather paid tribute of fifteen war horses and two camels to the late Ming ruler "Tanggus Khan" (Tanghuskhan, Zhu Yuanzhang's official name in "Wugongji"), and the Tanggus Khan at that time generously gave back gold and silver.

Of course, this somewhat meager number is the number of people who safely arrived at the capital of the Ming Dynasty. At the beginning of the journey, it was a very large team of pack horses.

Obviously, what the current Ming rulers need is not those fifteen war horses and two camels. Even if the numbers owed in the past thirteen years are added up, it is only one hundred and ninety-five war horses and twenty-six camels.

What the rulers of the Ming Dynasty wanted was a title, a title that would let the whole world know who was the king of kings.

Thinking of this, Khalil Sultan showed a bitter smile on his face. He knew that he had no bargaining power at all now, and Ambassador Fu Anfu, who was sitting opposite her, also knew this very well.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty, but your current situation is very dangerous. The ambition of that Hudaida is written on his face. Even if the owner of this palace changes tomorrow, I will not be surprised at all." Just as Khalil Sultan is very familiar with Fu An, Fu An is also very familiar with Khalil.

He watched this person grow from a teenager into an adult, and eventually became a fairly qualified "Your Majesty".

In terms of personal feeling, Fu An is more inclined to reach an agreement with Sultan Khalil. In comparison, Shah Rukh seems too slick and does not have the "sincerity" of Khalil.

"Only we can help you." Fu An said finally.

Chapter 501: Black Sheep's New Defense Node

It took Li Rufeng three full days to completely sort out the city of Mardin, and he temporarily handed the city over to Mirzan who came from the rear for management.

To be fair, Mirzan had no ability to manage a city at all. He was just a businessman in a large tribe. But Li Rufeng could not find another person with such talent except Muzaffar.

Unless Li Rufeng is willing to hand over the city to the petty officials brought by Muzaffar, Mirzan is the most suitable candidate. He at least has some understanding of business behavior and has run the caravan he is responsible for very successfully in the past six months.

More importantly, Mirzan is loyal enough. His roots are in Li Rufeng's tribe, so he can accept Li Rufeng's enfeoffment model. He is only in charge of the city of Mardin, and the city still belongs to Li Rufeng, just like the city of Hama.

Li Rufeng is accustomed to the unified centralized model. He simply looks down upon the current political environment in this land where military leaders are rampant. The Black Sheep King, who is now caught in a dilemma, is the best negative example.

At the same time, Li Rufeng also selected a relatively mature one from his personal guards and left him in Mardin City to act as his spy. He would help Mirzan control the military forces stationed in Mardin City.