Tabriz is the old capital of the Persian Safavid Empire, where Ismail I founded the Persian Safavid Empire, and it was also the economic and political center of the Persian Safavid Empire.

However, because Tabriz was so close to the Ottoman Empire that it was almost constantly threatened with war, Ismail I's successor, Tahmasp I, had to move the imperial capital to Qazvin, where it became a military center and a frontier against the Ottoman invasion.

This time, Tabriz was attacked by the Ottoman Empire again, and unlike in the past, this time the Ottoman Empire was like a madman, gathering 200,000 troops, surrounding Tabriz, and having a posture of taking Tabriz and annihilating the defenders.

The prime minister of the Persian Safavid Empire was so alarmed that he not only sent 50,000 troops from the defenders in various places for emergency reinforcements, but also sent people to ask for help from the Minister of War Sultan, who was stationed on the eastern border, hoping that he could send part of his troops to relieve the siege of Tabriz.

However, Sultan told him that the Ming army had reached more than 300,000 troops, and the Eastern Front needed support, and it was impossible to send troops to support Tabriz!

How can such a crisis be solved?

There was no way for him, he knew that the Ming Empire and the Ottoman Empire were both for the Eurasian Railway, and if His Majesty Safi agreed to the railway transit of the Ming Empire, there would be nothing.

However, he also understood the distress of His Majesty Safavid, the allies of the Safavid Empire of Persia, whether they were Britain or the Netherlands, were enemies of the Ming Empire, and if they agreed to the railway transit of the Ming Empire, they would have offended all their allies.

You must know that the Persian Safavid Empire not only relied on the support of Britain militarily, but also on Britain and the Netherlands economically.

Therefore, during the reign of His Majesty Safavid, he has been using delaying tactics and using the excuse of consultation to politely refuse the request of the Ming Empire.

After he took power, he also did not dare to easily agree to the request of the Ming Empire, because he was also afraid that Britain and Dutch would turn their faces.

What he never expected was that the British and Dutch did not turn their faces, but the Ming Empire turned their faces, not only pressing the border on the eastern front, but also uniting the Ottoman Empire to launch an attack on the western front.

The combined forces of the two sides were half a million troops, which was beyond the limits of what the Safavid Empire of Persia could bear.

He could only send someone to ask Ying and Dutch for help, while praying:

Don't be too crazy about the Ottoman Empire, if you can't capture Tabriz for a while, forget it, after all, the casualties of the siege are not ordinarily small;

The Ming Empire should not attack easily, after all, there are 200,000 troops of the empire stationed there, and if you really want to fight, even if you win, you will have to pay a heavy price.

His prayers did not work, Suleiman led the army to attack for a few days, and found that Tabriz was indeed a little difficult to overcome, he simply surrounded it and did not fight, even if the 50,000 reinforcements of the Persian Safavid Empire had arrived in Abad, which was not far away, he still relied on it, anyway, His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Empire said that it was okay if he didn't want to fight.

If you want him to withdraw, there is simply no door, others don't know the combat power of the regular army of the Ming Empire, doesn't he know, the Persian Safavid Empire will definitely not be able to withstand it, he just needs to stay here and wait for victory.

It was impossible for Hou Shilu to stay there without moving, but the emperor issued an order for him to solve the South Asian problem as soon as possible and occupy the narrow area between Kandahar and the Ottoman Empire, so as to facilitate the construction of the Eurasian Railway.

Therefore, after the First Legion of the Expeditionary Force and the Loyal Warriors arrived in Kandahar, he summoned Qin Yiming and Yang Zhong to discuss specific tactics.

In the spacious conference room of the former Governor's Palace in Kandahar, Hou Shilu sat on the main seat, Qin Yiming and Yang Zhong sat on the left and right, and the three of them discussed together around the map of the Persian Safavid Empire on the table.

Hou Shilu first introduced the general situation, and then pointed out the area that the emperor asked to occupy on the map, and after Qin Yiming and Yang Zhong carefully experienced it for a while, he continued: "The most troublesome thing now is the 200,000 Persian Safavid Empire army in the west of the city, although we can use the advantage of weapons and numbers to defeat it or even annihilate it, but this will definitely cause great casualties, which is extremely unfavorable to the battle situation behind, after all, there are still four or five thousand miles away from here to the Ottoman Empire, and we have to fight all the way. There are also people stationed in the middle, and the personnel are a little insufficient, and if the casualties are too large, they will not be able to fight. “

Hou Shilu is the kind of old-school general, who likes to fight steadily and steadily, and is not good at surprise soldiers, Qin Yiming and Yang Zhong are different, they are very young, and their brains are relatively flexible.

Four or five thousand miles, hit it!

It's terrifying to think about, that's four or five thousand miles, it takes more than ten days to beat a horse and run over, and it takes two or three months to walk over, not to mention beating over, they subconsciously reject this tactic.

Qin Yiming first asked: "General Hou, how can you transport grain and grass over such a long distance?" “

Hou Shilu said confidently: "You can follow the tactics adopted by the emperor and the Taifu Sun Chengzong in the north, and advance while building the railway, anyway, the Eurasian railway will be repaired sooner or later, I believe the emperor will definitely agree." “

Wouldn't this take longer, Yang Zhong couldn't help but propose: "General Hou, why don't we change our tactics, put on a posture of attacking their imperial capital Isfahan, and force them to sign a contract to cede the middle piece of land to our Da Ming?" “

Hou Shilu really hadn't considered this tactic, and he couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Can this work, will they agree to cut the land?" “

Yang Zhong said confidently: "On the way here, the last general studied the general history of the Safavid Empire of Persia, and found that they had several precedents of ceding land and seeking peace, such as their most famous Abbas the Great once ceded a large area of land to the Ottoman Empire in exchange for respite. Moreover, most of the area from here to the middle of the Ottoman Empire was snatched from the Yueibebe Khanate, and it should not be difficult for them to give up. “

When Hou Shilu heard this, he hesitated a little and said: "There is such a thing, then maybe you can think about it, General Qin, what do you think?" “

Of course, Qin Yiming is in favor of the forced landing tactics, if the railway is really built and advanced slowly, then he doesn't know when he will fight, he couldn't help but nod and said: "I think Wei Han's tactics are very good, this saves time and troops, didn't the emperor say let us solve the problem of South Asia as soon as possible, I think this is the fastest." “

This kind of fight is indeed much faster, because Isfahan is more than 2,000 miles away from Kandahar, and the distance is at least half of the distance, besides, if the Persian Safavid Empire really has a tradition of ceding land and seeking peace, then they don't need to fight Isfahan at all, they will come to sue for peace, after all, if they really fight to Isfahan, it will be a war to destroy the country, and it is strange that they are not afraid!

The emperor did not clearly stipulate that Qin Yiming and Yang Zhong must listen to him, probably because he wanted him to listen to the advice of the two more, one of these two people is the emperor's second uncle and the other is the emperor's most important young general, and he really can't afford to offend.

Besides, the tactics they proposed were indeed much faster than the tactics they proposed, which was in line with the emperor's holy will to solve the South Asian problem as soon as possible.

Thinking of this, Hou Shilu nodded heavily and said: "Okay, according to what General Yang said, we will force Isfahan and force the Persian Safavid Empire to cede land and sue for peace!" “