After Aduri said this, he pointed to the middle of the two armies' lines, where the shells fell from time to time, kicking up patches of dirt, but the place where the shells landed was empty. Aduri pointed at the Persian army again, and the shells of the huge cannon were still falling in the Persian army, and in order to prevent attack, the prince of the Luzhi branch had already moved back to his command position twice.

Aduri squinted his eyes and continued: "I have been thinking about why the enemy's artillery keeps firing into the empty place, and after careful observation, I found that there are only fifteen cannons in the middle of the battlefield, and only five cannons can penetrate our positions Just now, I figured out that those shells are by no means meaningless. The shells that hit the middle of the battlefield blocked the route of our attack, and now we can only watch the soldiers on the front line get into a hard battle, but we can't reinforce them.

And the shells that have fallen into our positions are gradually destroying our will, my prince, please turn back and see, the soldiers who have experienced the artillery bombardment, although they are still standing, their faces have shown fear, and their immobility is because all the soldiers have not moved, so they dare not move. And as soon as we ask them to come forward, to pass through that empty area of artillery bombardment, to the front line to receive a more intensive attack from the enemy, I am afraid, when the order is given, it will be when they collapse. ”

What Aduri just said is actually the "square effect", when a group of people stand together, everyone in the team is afraid that they will live like themselves, and they try to keep the same as others, so as not to appear special, this "square effect" is also known as "herd mentality". The reason why the Persian army was able to stand firmly under the bombardment of artillery was because of the square effect, and everyone stood like this, so every soldier tried his best to bury his fear in his heart and pretend to stand. lest he be regarded as a heretic.

However. As long as they move under their feet. Things are different, there may be a thousand choices for the direction of movement under the feet, some people are no longer able to move their legs because of fear, so they stand in place, and some people are timid. It was not the prescribed step, the strange way of acting immediately broke the square effect, and then, the individual realized that there must be the most natural action in their choice.

And as soon as running away became a majority mentality, the square effect came into play again, and even the most determined people did not want to stay where they were and be dismissed as heretics. They will try to follow their companions and maintain the rout......

The fierce battle on the hillside continued, and the Song army near the camp did not seem to hold out. When the Persian advance had reached the second line of stronghold, they found an officer halfway up the hill dropping his torch with a sinister smile, and he looked at the Persian soldiers with a look of pity as if he were looking at a group of dead men.

The dropped torch immediately caused a large fire on the ground, the light of which was somewhat similar to the fire of an explosion, and a small cloud of white smoke rose, followed by. Several wheels of fire were separated from this firelight. The black line on the ground gradually meandered into the distance, and the attacking Persian soldiers were stunned for a moment. They noticed that the flames were burning along some black powder on the ground, which drew a trail on the ground, and the black powder was all about small wooden barrels placed on the ground.

With a bang, a huge explosion sounded, a small wooden barrel was ignited, and the fire it caused was like a domino pushed down, triggering a chain reaction, the explosion sounded in one piece, and a cloud of smoke rose up, and between the first and second camps halfway down the hill, the heat wave of the explosion suddenly covered the entire area like a scurrying Tibetan rat, turning this area into a hell of fire.

Amid the explosion, Zhao Xing, who was standing on the hillside, muttered with satisfaction: "It's a bit like carpet bombing." ”

At this time, the huge sound of the explosion had already deafened everyone's ears, and the officers on the hillside only saw Zhao Xing's lips open and closed, and could not hear any sound, they shouted anxiously: "What, what? ”

Zhao Xing gestured, and when the officers' ears regained hearing slightly, he shouted, "I mean, the dragoons can attack." ”

The victory or defeat of the war can already be seen, and the officers have recommended themselves to play the role of the final blow, Zhao Xing waved his hand generously: "All go, all go, the people of the Lulu branch are rich, try to plunder." ”

Generally speaking, if an army is killed by more than 30 percent, this army has lost its combat effectiveness, and the square effect will make them only want to escape, and they will not want to resist. Although the Persian army on the opposite side only invested 30,000 troops and launched two attacks, they had lost their sense of resistance under the blows of thunder and fire. When the dragoons wearing the uniforms of the fire army came out from both sides of the foot of the mountain, the remnants of the Persian soldiers on the front line had already begun to break and flee, and the dragoons on both sides ignored these retreating soldiers, they drew a circle from a distance and rushed directly to the Persian main formation.

"Archery, archery!" The prince of the Luzhi branch ordered hoarsely.

The dragoons did not run to the range of the bow and arrow, they raised their hands outside the range of the bow and arrow, and suddenly a torrential rain of gunfire rang out, and the Persian archers were like banana leaves in the rainstorm, and they were crackled to the ground, but those Song soldiers were not finished, they put the empty handcuffs back into the horse bag, and with a flip of the hand, a new handcuff appeared in the hand, and suddenly, the rainstorm of gunfire rang out again.

The archers collapsed, and the long-range strike troops lacked the courage to fight hand-to-hand, seeing the Song soldiers riding high-headed horses, rushing over, while putting down their pistols endlessly, half of the Persian soldiers threw down the bows and arrows in their hands, turned around and ran towards their own army......

Their escape set off a chain reaction, a front-line Persian infantry could not bear the fear, threw down the spear and shield in his hand, turned to follow the archers, his companions were not stupid, only in a daze for less than half a second, they also turned around and ran backwards, and when the Song dragoons rushed to the position where they were standing just now, they could not find a standing Persian ten meters in front of them.

The prince of the Luzhi branch in the rear army still wanted to insist, because the advantage of the cavalry was speed, the dragoons let go of the handcuffs in their hands, and when they rushed to the front of the Persian formation, there was only a distance of more than ten meters for them to increase the speed of their horses, this speed was not the speed of the charge, and the prince of the Luzhi branch decided to make a desperate gamble and sent his black-armored cavalry to meet the battle. At this time, however, there was chaos in the Persian array, and everyone was shouting. Everybody's running around. The prince of the Luchi branch could not find his herald.

"My prince. Lead your army out of the battlefield, please leave this place to me", Aduri said, holding the head of the prince's horse, and persuaded him, pointing his hand into the distance. Reminder: "Prince, the Song army on the mountain beam has moved, and they have launched an attack on all fronts, and we may not hold out until sunset." ”

At sunset, Aduri led the remnants of his army out of battle, with less than 3,000 men left under his command, and all of them were lost; At this time. The prince had fled to the capital of the Khunlu branch, with only five thousand loyal cavalry at his side, and the Allied armies had collapsed.

At this time. Shanliang Mountain, the soldiers of the Song army proudly put a military flag at the foot of Zhao Xing, those military flags were painted with various symbols, Sinbad was in high spirits to explain the meaning of these flags to Zhao Xing one by one: "This is the landing military flag of the Gandawa Department, this is Telek, this is Tingbak...... There is even a Mayland military flag...... Congratulations, Your Excellency Marshal, you have conquered the entire Taroch and the entire southern Iranian plateau. ”

"Unfortunately, we have neither captured the Baloch prince nor the Baloch minister. These Iranians are so tenacious." Zhao Xing smacked his lips regretfully.

After the sun went down, Aduri fled the battlefield under the desperate cover of some of the Lulu branch troops. The Song army, which was in a strange place, did not dare to go deep into the hostile wasteland, and vigorously searched for deserters to expand the results of the battle, so although the Song soldiers captured a lot of war horses in this battle, they had to collect their troops in a hurry......

The victorious Karachi Castle was brightly lit, and after returning to the castle, Zhao Xing personally arranged the follow-up matters regardless of fatigue, and the screened prisoners were escorted into the conference hall in a row, prostrate at the feet of Zhao Xingdi, the Song merchants stood in the left compartment, and the Song army officers stood in the right compartment, listening to Sinbad's introduction with satisfaction.

Sinbad's voice echoed through the halls: "Prince Gandawa submits to you, asking you to accept his allegiance; Prince Kirak is willing to make you his suzerain, and asks you to accept him and his subjects...... The Prince of Mayclan surrenders to you, and he asks to be given a chance to redeem his freedom. ”

Zhao Xing touched his chin and asked, "Sinbad, you were surprised by the existence of the Maclain army just now, could it be that he is also rich?" ”

Sinbad bowed and replied: "Your Excellency, from this port to the north along the coastline, the next port is Meckland, which is one of the few open ports in the Seljuk today, and they are very rich. And this prince is the third prince and is most likely to inherit the Mayclan, since two of his elder brothers have died. ”

Zhao Xing laughed: "So, we have gained a lot this time...... Do you think the price is appropriate to allow him to redeem his freedom with thirty camels' golden sands? ”

This was the value of his ransom that Sinbad had mentioned, and Sinbad bowed and replied respectfully: "Conqueror of the Lulu Branch, how can you compare me to the Prince of Maykland, who I think he will have to pay at least fifty camels, plus ten warships, and five hundred beautiful slave girls...... Well, if you add two hundred male servants, it would be more appropriate. ”

"Talk to him at this price!" Zhao Xing waved his hand and ordered.

Sinbad stepped forward to communicate with Prince Mayclan, and an officer quietly approached and carefully reminded: "Captain, these people should be sent to the official family, and the official family will decide." ”

"But the official family will not pay me for this", Zhao Xing looked at the officer, and said with a smile: "Our military expenses are very large, these people are sent back to the imperial court, the official family will only reward them generously, and then let them return to the country, in this way, we have spent money, shed blood, and the military budget will be deducted by those corrupt officials, which is too much to afford." ”

The officer still wanted to persuade again, but Zhao Xingyi waved his hand: "Don't worry, I always have to save some face for the official family, and leave a few poor ghosts who can't afford to send them back to China, so that the official family can be happy, and the rest is better to be discounted." ”

After that, Zhao Xing stood up and announced loudly: "Although this war is not over yet, and the prince of the Luzhi branch has not surrendered yet, the reward for the three armies is still going on. When the prince surrenders, I expect you to get another pound of gold. ”

Zhao Xing said this, the Song merchants were unwilling, and a gang leader stepped forward under the recommendation of the Song merchants, holding a list with a smile, and said embarrassedly: "Lord Taiwei, you have borrowed a total of 3 million pieces of gunpowder on credit for this expedition, and in addition, the Guangnan Firearms Bureau still has 10 million pieces of musket money unpaid......

I just heard. The Maykhalan prince had only fifty camels for his ransom...... Alas. Recently, Arab slave girls have dropped their prices sharply. Five hundred female slaves could not be sold for any price, and the lord promised to give each soldier a pound of gold, so you see, did he pay these payments by the way? There is also the cost of labor and stone to build this castle. The cost of lime clay, plus grain and grass, fresh water, and baggage ...... A total of 50 million. ”

Zhao Xing closed his eyes painfully: "War, it's too much money." ”

His eyes rolled, and Zhao Xing asked again: "How much is this Karachi castle worth?" ”

Gangshou shook his head: "My lord, you can't negotiate money with us about this castle, but we have to pay taxes on time, so this castle can only be the property of the government." It's just that we merchants run it, and we don't pay for this castle, not even a copper plate. ”

"Profiteers!" Zhao Xing scolded bitterly: "Don't worry. Fifty million run me out of the ground...... A camel can weigh 400 pounds of gold, and the musketeers and artillerymen who participated in the battle will be rewarded according to the amount I have said, and the grenadiers will be halved, and the servants will be halved I have seen here a room of prisoners, and this is a woman, and I don't believe that they can't even make up for my military expenses. ”

Under this standard, the princes of those small states who were captured even had the heart of the earth to find their deaths. They are called princes, and the population they lead is equivalent to a clan in the Song Dynasty, and in the Song Dynasty, they are at most a patriarch. Although Arabia is rich. But letting them come up with so much money also emptied the century-old savings of these clans.

As a matter of fact. The price offered by Song Shang to Zhao Xing was purely a lion's mouth, and this price contained a lot of water, but Zhao Xing wanted to incite Song Shang's war, and he always believed that it was better to attack foreigners than to squeeze his compatriots and squeeze their profit margins. So he acquiesced to Song Shang's offer.

As a result, after this war, the countless "little kings" of the Lulu branch became destitute, and they couldn't even get a decent pot at home...... Of course, because this battle established the castle of Karachi as a well-deserved supremacy of the sea, and then, with the prosperity of the maritime trading grounds, these small kings who depended on the Song merchants also made a fortune again, and even became richer than before, which made them talk about the looted past more of a show off than hatred.

After the battle of Karachi, which was praised by the Arabs, the Song army rested for another three days, and suddenly sent troops to Lufuha in the afternoon three days later, and then the Song army arrived at Hadurshu like a whirlwind, and after the defeat, the panicked army of the Tarlu branch was even more panicked.

Three days was not enough time to search for the remnants of the army and regroup the resistance forces, the army of the Lulu branch thought that the Song army would hesitate to stop in the port area because it was not familiar with the geography, but it did not expect that the Song army seemed to have learned the method of shrinking the land, and did not take a step out of the port for a full fifty days before, but after the battle, it spanned two hundred and fifty miles in one and a half days.

The Song army that attacked this time was no longer an infantry army, they used the booty captured by the war to achieve complete cavalry equipment, 3,000 combat soldiers dragged 30,000 servants and slaves, all the way non-stop, they were followed by a larger caravan.

Nowadays, the Song merchants also have a completely different appearance, in the past, they needed to bow their eyebrows and look at the faces of Arab agents in this land, but now, as merchants accompanying the army, Zhao Xing opened up firearms restrictions to them, these Song commercial materials and the Song army exchanged muskets, grenades and other offensive weapons, as a result, each caravan was transformed into a plundering team, they wielded muskets in one hand, and gold coins in the other, and used gold coins for what gold coins could do, and muskets for things that gold coins could not do.

In an instant, this huge procession swept through the Iranian plateau like a hurricane, and the local residents became impoverished everywhere they went.

The merchants of the Song Kingdom were armed, and they couldn't distinguish the difference between the regular personnel and the merchants in the real and the virtual army of the Yanlu Branch, and they immediately exclaimed: "Why, how can the people of the Song Kingdom get bigger and bigger, they are only 10,000 people in the battle of the Yanlu Branch, and in the blink of an eye, they have become 100,000...... Well, 10,000 troops defeated all the elites of the neighboring states of the Khlu Branch, 100,000 troops, what is their purpose? ”

There was not much time left for the people of the Chenlu branch to be amazed, and the prince of the Chenlu branch was still trying his best to gather the defeated army, and Zhao Xing had already led the army to advance under his royal city.

The scale of the royal city of the Lulu branch is not large, and in Zhao Xing's opinion, it is not even as good as a state city in the Great Song Dynasty. Now, due to the butterfly effect brought by Zhao Xing, many state cities in the Great Song Dynasty have begun to build city walls with concrete and stones, and the city wall is more than ten meters high.

Zhao Xing rode a horse around the city, sighing as he walked, and the accompanying officers also shook their heads, and kept asking Zhao Xing: "Teacher, you said that the city is full of gold and gems, but the people in the city are full of gold and gems, how can they build their walls so dilapidated, where is this rich city, I think, even a county town in the Great Song Dynasty is not as good." ”

Among the top ten cities in the world, the Lulu branch is not ranked at all, and there is only one city in this land, and that is Baghdad. According to statistics, the population of Baghdad at that time was about 433,000 people, which was equivalent to a state city in the Great Song Dynasty.

If Baghdad, the capital of the Seljuks, was still like this, how big could the city of the Lukistan be? Seeing that the officers of the Song army, who were accustomed to the prosperity of the Great Song Dynasty, were very despised, Zhao Xing shook his head and explained: "This city is really not very good, I remember, their royal capital is a stone city, the huge stone is three meters thick, and it is an ancient city, it has become a majestic stone city, the history of the stone city, has been five thousand years, even six thousand years.

Don't underestimate the riches of the Luchistans, although the city is an earthen fort, their architectural style is like this, they are used to building houses out of adobe, but their earthen houses are indeed full of countless gold and silver treasures. ”

The soldiers of the Song army rubbed their hands: "Living in an earthen house, guarding a pile of treasures, isn't this a child walking at night with gold in his hand, look at me, this kind of earthen wall, eight catties of cannons, absolutely blast open." ”

"Then boom", Zhao Xing disapplievously observed the royal city of the Lulu branch with a telescope.