The first round of barbed wire blocking, the second layer of artillery attack, made the Timurid attack turn into a man on his back.

But at this time, their cavalry still had a numerical advantage, and the momentum of the ten-mile-wide attack would not collapse because of a momentary setback.

Looking at the army that came up like a tide, Zhu Di laughed.

He was not afraid of the Timurid attack, he was only afraid of the other side fleeing. The battle line of the Ming Dynasty has been stretched to 1,300 miles, and the logistical supply has brought tremendous pressure.

If the other side keeps practicing guerrilla warfare, it will bring great trouble to the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Zhu Di unswervingly marched to Herat, because only by capturing this place can he obtain abundant supplies.

Confrontation is Daming's favorite tactic, because Daming has no shortcomings in long-range, medium-range, and short-range attacks.

On the contrary, the Timurid people, who are still attacking with cold weapons, will taste the impact of hot weapons and weapons.

A tidal army rushed up, and after entering the range of two hundred meters, muskets rang out.

This distance is a distance that ordinary bows and arrows cannot reach, but it is the distance at which muskets can fire.

Although it is difficult to kill people directly at this distance, the damage caused by the shotgun can directly reduce the combat effectiveness of soldiers.

Moreover, this kind of shotgun covers a wider area because of the long distance. When tens of thousands of guns are fired at the same time, there are almost no fish that slip through the net in the entire battlefield.

In this respect, this shotgun was more powerful than the muskets of later generations.

The wounded can endure the pain and continue to attack, but the horses cannot, and after the injury, they begin to become manic and undirected.

Then the momentum of the Timurid attack began to be chaotic.

When the army could not attack in one go, at a distance of two hundred to one hundred meters, a death zone was formed.

More and more soldiers fell, forming a natural obstacle. The out-of-control horses did not dare to move forward, and they charged back into their own formation.

This distance became a nightmare space for the Timurid people.

Even if there were scattered warriors rushing over, they were just targets for the Ming people.

The scene of them holding scimitars and roaring angrily has also become the last picture of their lives.

At this time, the cavalry of the Ming began to move, and instead of using the shock of the cavalry, they slowly outflanked the enemy's flanks.

Today's muskets cover too large an area, so the cavalry of the Ming Dynasty must maintain a formation so as not to hurt their own people.

Although this slowed down the speed of the cavalry, it was more deterrent.

On the hill in the distance, Shaharu saw that the Timurid warriors could not get close to the Ming soldiers at all, so they were killed one by one, and the original attack formation turned into a crazy escape in the end.

This is not that the Timurid warriors were not brave enough, but that the enemy weapons were Thai sharp.

They are the devil!

Shaharu saw the Ming infantry rush out of the trench, they only had two rows, and any cavalry formation could easily overwhelm them.

But they turned on the cavalry, and their muskets were like the sickles of death, and the Timurid warriors who were hit and fell from their horses became their trophies.

The most hateful are the Indian servants, who don't care about killing the enemy, they just clean up the battlefield.

One by one, the horses were led away by them, and one by one the warriors were cut off by them, and then their left ears were cut off.

Seeing this scene in front of him, Shaharu was overwhelmed with grief and indignation, and ordered: "Withdraw the army, and you must not attack the Ming people in the field in the future!" ”

With the sound of the horn, the Timurs began to retreat, but they realized at this time that even if they wanted to run, it was not so easy.

The cavalry of the Ming Dynasty were also armed with muskets, and they followed closely behind them, attacking at a distance of about a hundred meters, and the warriors who fell behind were shot and fell off their horses one by one.

The retreat turned into a flight, and the Timurid warriors who fled frantically were now afraid of being left behind and becoming the target of the Ming people.

This rush to flee has been completely chaotic.

Except for the large formation of the Chinese army, which retreated at the beginning, the other cavalry completely lost its command.

The fertile fields, which are less than twenty miles from Rizhen to Telrabat, are full of warriors who have lost their horses, and now they can only ask Allah for their blessings.

It's not a fight, it's a massacre.

Objectively evaluated, Shahru was a ruler not inferior to Timur.

Timur fought all his life, and his martial arts were indeed commendable. But he was a saboteur, and the state of Timur was not strong except by force.

Because they are semi-nomadic people, this weakness of national power is covered by strong force.

Shaharu was a builder, and under his leadership, the state of Timur became known as the state of Harah (Herat, originally translated as Harai) and became the most powerful state in the world.

In the original history, Shaharu ruled for more than 40 years (1405~1447).

In addition to unifying the territory and quelling local rebellions, he devoted his main energies to domestic construction to restore the damage caused by his father's wars.

He took steps to develop agriculture, handicrafts, and commerce, built irrigation projects, opened new trade routes, built post stations, and rebuilt and built major cities, which made the economies of Persia and Afghanistan prosperous.

In the field of culture, he created the so-called Timurid Renaissance, the golden age of Persian literature and art, and Herat and Samarkand became the most splendid centers of the Timurid Renaissance.

It is also because of his efforts that the development of the Green Religion in Central Asia is thriving, and in the next few hundred years, no force can pose a threat to them.

It wasn't until the European invasion a few hundred years later that this trend changed.

But in this life, he met a prophet, Zhu Zhanji.

Zhu Zhanji, who has the ability to be a prophet, will certainly not sit idly by and watch a strong country rise next to his own country.

So he deliberately attracted Zhu Di's attention to the past, and attracted Zhu Di to carry out a fatal subversion of this country that has not yet been completely stabilized.

The advent of new muskets, new types of artillery, changed the mode of warfare. It also allowed Shaharu, the virtuous king of later generations, to see the changes in the world.

He is already outdated, and the powerful cavalry that he was originally proud of is now unable to even rush into the camp of the Ming infantry.

So, what else do they have?

In the face of the Ming Dynasty, they no longer have any reliance.

Therefore, his fate is destined to have only one rule, and that is failure.

Terrabat could not be further entered, because it was an agricultural city, a transportation hub, but there were no strong walls.

Without the support of the city walls and the deterrence of trebuchets, even if the city was fortified, it could not hold out for long under the attack of the Ming people.

Seeing the firepower of the Ming people, they were completely frightened.

So, while most of the soldiers fled into Terrabat, Shaharu fled directly to Herat with his elite cavalry.

While fleeing, he also ordered to go down and withdraw all the troops walking around Herat into Herat.

In the field, they no longer had any confidence that they could stand up to the Ming unless they could also have muskets.

The battle lasted only two hours, but the pursuit lasted five days.

Because Terrabat was established and there were too many warriors who fled in, the Ming did not attack Herat directly without impunity.

Before attacking Herat, they must first take Terrabat and seize the grain and grass here.

Moreover, the tribes of the Timurid people migrated, and there were numerous tribes around Herat. There are countless horses, cattle and sheep here.

Horses can be used as war horses, cattle can be used as food, and as coolies pulling carts. There are also countless flocks of sheep that can solve the food crisis for Daming.

On the tenth day of December, most of the territory of Daming is already snowy, but in Herat, the temperature here is still around ten degrees.

This climate is the most suitable for the battlefield, it is not too hot, and it does not cause the plague because of too many corpses to decay. It will not be too cold to cause soldiers to get wind chill.

Under the deliberate concession of the Timurid people, the Ming soldiers had completely occupied the advantage outside the city.

Outside the city of Terrabat, the grain and grass hoarded here became the capture of the Ming people, and thanks to these seizures, hundreds of thousands of sheep could have enough food.

The soldiers who were stuck in the city looked at the Ming soldiers outside the city, they were already full of despair, they didn't expect that their side would lose so badly, and they had no power to resist at all.

Now their only recourse was the fire bombs in the city and the trebuchets on the city walls.

It is also because of the existence of trebuchets that Da Ming has not yet launched an attack, of course, the main reason is also to sweep the tribes here and obtain food.

Now, the tribes around Herat have all been swept away, and of course the Ming will not show mercy to these tribes who follow Shahru.

Except for the young women and girls who were able to save their lives, everyone was killed, and the cattle and sheep were used as military rations by the Ming people.

Now, finally, it's the turn of the remnants of the city of Terrabat.

Daming is actually not out of the way, because in addition to trebuchets, Daming also has artillery.

With stainless steel, the barrel of the cannon is tougher and more powerful than the small cannon at the beginning.

On December 11, the Ming Dynasty officially launched an all-out attack on Terrabat. Two hundred guns mounted on carts were fastened to two square logs, unloaded, and aimed at a section of the eastern city wall of Telrabat.

This wall is the weakest section of the city wall in Telrabat, with 50 of the 200 guns loaded with solid shells, and the target is the city wall.

One hundred and fifty chain-loading bullets, that is, flowering bullets, were aimed at soldiers and trebuchets on the city walls.

Because of their condescending position, the Timurid trebuchet could drop bombs farther than the Ming trebuchet, so their own trebuchet could not go to the battlefield until the enemy's trebuchet was completely destroyed.

It's not that Daming can't build a larger trebuchet, but the transportation distance of more than 1,000 miles is a big problem, so he can only build some medium-sized trebuchets and then assemble them at the destination.

When the artillery attack began, the Timurids resisted. What made them desperate was that the artillery attack distance was more than two thousand meters, which was still amazing, but their trebuchets could not send the fire oil bombs two kilometers away.

The eastern wall of the city was devastating under the rain of cannonballs, and the chain bullets that were strung together caused even more damage to the personnel, and the city was in chaos for a while.

This kind of desperation that can only be beaten passively, but cannot beat the opponent, quickly spreads.

When all the trebuchets at the head of the city here were damaged, the trebuchets of the Ming Dynasty came in handy.

Trebuchets were quickly assembled and placed at a distance of only a thousand acres from the city walls, and then the fire oil bombs were ignited, and one by one the flaming fireballs were sent into the city.

What chilled the enemy even more than the oil bomb was the Ming Dynasty's unique flowering bomb, which was just a stone ball, but exploded after being thrown into the city.

Once it exploded, no one could survive within a few tens of meters around, and the house was directly blown up.

In less than a day, the entire eastern part of the city had been completely destroyed, and the nearly 50,000 people and 100,000 soldiers hiding in the city no longer dared to stay.

Many people have already decided to start running away at night.

However, at night, they became even more desperate, because large fires were lit outside the city, and the whole city was surrounded.

Anyone who tries to run out will be discovered.

At each exit, there were 3,000 soldiers of the Shenji Battalion in ambush, and 10,000 as reserves.

A large number of Ming soldiers retreated to a camp five miles away from Telrabat and rested quietly.

Zhu Di has been very excited and energetic in the past few days, and he was fortunate to have two captured Persian beauties in the evening.

When he learned that there were a large number of cavalry, and some people even wanted to escape on foot, he just gave a faint order. "According to the original plan, there will be no mercy."

In the Hanzhong region, the Ming Dynasty used Zheng Heng as the commander in order to win over all ethnic groups.

But on the Persian plateau, it was not favored by the Ming Dynasty, and a scorched earth policy was practiced.

Unless the tribe that intends to take refuge in the Ming Dynasty from the beginning, the other tribes will never leave any trouble.

In this era when manpower is the strength of the country, the decline of the population means the weakening of the national strength.

Without a sufficient population, Persia in the future will not even be able to submit to the surrounding tribes, and will never again become a major problem for the Ming Dynasty.

In the night, the massacre was still going on, and everyone who left the city, whether on horseback or running with their legs, was exposed to the guns of the Ming soldiers.

When groups of people fell beside the roaring bonfire, the people of the city finally got scared.

Even if there was no movement outside, they didn't dare to go out of the city again. They seemed to be unwilling to resist any longer, and they had accepted their fate, and the open gates of the city were always wide open.

However, the Ming soldiers did not go to occupy it. In order to avoid unnecessary loss of personnel, they were waiting for dawn.

When the winter sun casts a golden light on the earth, the city of Terrabat becomes an undefended city, like a powerless maiden, at the mercy of the Ming soldiers.

It's a small city, and it can't accommodate nearly 150,000 people crammed into it. Without adequate defenses, the city would only end up delaying for a few more days, even if it resisted.

The main thing is that the people in the city have lost confidence, and in the face of the firearms of the Ming people, they have no hope of being able to defeat.

In just one day and night, this small city built specifically for agriculture became the trophy of the Ming Dynasty.

The soldiers and civilians were separated, and then the men were driven to Herat, three hundred miles away.

These people are a burden to the Ming Dynasty, a supply line of 1,300 miles, the Ming can only supply military supplies, and all the food must be collected on the spot.

Nearly 100,000 more captives means 100,000 more mouths.

The Chinese New Year is approaching, and Zhu Di and the others didn't originally want to attack Herat before the New Year. But these people don't have to be used in vain, even if it's just to consume them, consume a little more of Herat's defense weapons, and they should directly engage in a siege battle.

And in Herat, after ten days of research, the Timurid craftsmen reported to Shahru in horror that they could not imitate the muskets of the Ming Dynasty.

In a large-scale battle of more than 100,000 people, even if it was a one-sided massacre, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty lost nearly a thousand people.

And the Ming musket also lost more than two hundred.

These muskets were regarded as treasures by the Timurid people, who wanted to imitate the same muskets, and only with muskets could they fight the Ming people to the death.

But Shaharu was disappointed, and until now, the temperature of steelmaking had not reached 1,200 degrees.

If the molten steel cannot be melted directly, it cannot be cast directly, not to mention, they do not have a lathe and cannot make a seamless barrel at all.

Whoever burned the steel red, and then beat it, could not make the same strong barrel as the Ming people.

Even if they could make muskets, they would only be similar to the Europeans, and the muskets before the Ming Dynasty.

The only thing that made sense to them now was the design of the bolt, which allowed them to build muskets that could shoot without ignition.

However, at least for a short period of time, this technology will not be of much significance to them.

"Your Majesty, the firearms of the Ming people are powerful, and the power of the artillery is far greater than that of trebuchets, and when they come to attack the city, even if the walls of Herat are solid, they will not be able to resist for too long.

Nowadays, only craftsmen can be brought with them, and women go north first. For the sake of our loved ones, even if it is death, the warriors will go forward one after another. ”

Shaharu looked at the generals in front of him, in the past years, they had fought east and west, and they had never been so desperate as they are now.

But who would have thought that the originally powerful Timurid people, because of the gap in firearms, they had no backhand in front of the Ming people.

"In ten days it will be the Spring Festival of the Ming people, this is our opportunity. Now that the Ming people have occupied the Khyber Pass, and Samarkand in the north is also facing the threat of the Ming people, our craftsmen cannot withdraw to Samarkand......"

Shaharu's eyes were fixed on the map for a long time, and he made up his mind: "Go northwest, go to Mashhad, go to the Caspian Sea, go to Rai (Tehran)." The Ming people will not stay here forever, they will always withdraw their troops, we must study muskets that are not inferior to them, and at that time, it is time for us to take revenge. ”

"Your Majesty, the spies have come to report, the Ming people are driving our soldiers and people towards Herat."

In just a few days, Terrabat actually fell......

A shadow cast over everyone's hearts, a despair they had never experienced.

Shaharu said excitedly: "Although there is no way to retreat, but it is not yet the time of despair, our warriors are still far more than the Ming people. Even with blood, pave a path to victory. ”

On December 20, after a nine-day journey, the Ming soldiers finally arrived outside the city of Herat with more than 70,000 Timurid soldiers.

In this era, Herat was one of the largest cities in Central Asia, and even if it had become 150,000, it still seemed insignificant.

Beyond the trebuchet distance from Herat, the army no longer moved forward, but instead drove the captives forward.

For the hope of survival, those Persians ran desperately towards hope.

The soldiers in the city were ready for the Ming attack, but they were disappointed.

It seemed that the Ming people were only trying to send the captives back, and they did not continue to move forward, and watched as these people crowded under the city walls.

The people of the city did not dare to open the door, and could only watch their warriors and civilians crying outside the city.

Xu Jingyan looked at this stalemate situation, shook his head and said: "The main force of the Timurid people is still there, and the strong attack outweighs the losses, so it seems that we can only wait for the next year to fight again." ”

As the illegitimate son of the Dingguo Mansion, Xu Jingyan was not valued by the family at first. However, in the twelfth year of Yongle, Xu Jingyan was appreciated by Zhu Zhanji during the Northern Expedition, and he has risen all the way to the top over the years, and has become the commander of the first guard.

Because he has been fighting against the Mengyuan people on the grassland, Xu Jingyan was also recruited by Zhu Di this time because of his experience and became a cavalry commander.

Another conductor, Yao Chongsan, said: "I can rest here and have a good year, but Commander Xu has made this year bad." ”

Yao Chongsan's mission was to be stationed outside the city of Herat and keep an eye on the movements in the city.

And Xu Jingyan's task is to be responsible for sweeping away the surrounding forces, so Yao Chongsan said so.

Xu Jingyan said with a smile: "Meritorious service is right in front of you, what is it to suffer." ”

At this time, the big flag on the side of the Chinese army camp was waved, the cavalry dispersed, and the artillery was transported to the direction of the city gate.

Seeing this scene, the Persians outside the city panicked one by one, and the people in the city also became nervous.

The herald hurriedly reported the news, and Shaharu saw this scene and finally couldn't help but give the order. "Open the gates."

"Your Majesty......"

"This is our warrior ......"

Before the words fell, a loud bang sounded, and then the cannonball fell directly on the city wall, outside the city wall.

Dozens of pounds of large stone bullets, several pounds of chain bullets, everywhere they fell, blood was splashed everywhere, and stumps and bones were broken.

The crowd had nowhere to run, and they cried and begged to open the gates.

The gates were finally opened, but the crowd was completely undirected, they desperately crowded inward, and countless people were squeezed down and then trampled underfoot.

At this time, the trebuchets on the walls of Herat also threw large fireballs.

These fireballs are not meant to hurt the enemy, but only to deter the Ming soldiers from rushing forward.

The Ming soldiers had no intention of attacking at all, a big city that now houses hundreds of thousands of people is not something that can be eaten in one bite.

A large number of corpses were left outside the city, and finally quieted down. In addition to firing hundreds of cannons, the army did not move at all.

Seeing this scene, Shaharu couldn't help but worry. The Ming soldiers advanced and retreated so well, could they really let those craftsmen leave safely?