The earliest records of the city of Herat date from the time of Cyrus II of the Persian Empire BC, before being breached and rebuilt by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, followed by a period of about 600 years of Hellenism. Around 300 AD, during the Sassanid Empire, Herat was the missionary center of the Nestorian Christian sect, and the architectural style was the product of alternating Eastern and Western influences, and the city was later destroyed by the Sada (1) and the subsequent Arab invasions.

In the first millennium AD, it was built by the Turkmen on the original foundation stones, and the surrounding walls were not straight lines of oriental specifications or the style of western bastions, but a mixture of rammed earth and masonry. This crude technique is actually beyond reproach, and the Turkic people were in a period of transition from steppe tribes to farming, and they were really not good at defending cities.

At night, when the defenders of the city, who did not dare to act because of the military order, watched the riots outside the city in fear, the city was also uneasy, there was always an inexplicable fire, and in the short time between the early morning and almost dawn, there were flames and smoke near several city gates.

Under the light of the fire, in front of the Arab hotel, a group of rescued Han Chinese or European slaves began to work hard to step on their war horses, and children and women were supported by men, and rushed to the east gate in the shouts of Guanhexi.

"Olki, send someone to inform Naga there, and take all these people to withdraw directly to the north of the Hari River!" Lao Luo rode the black cloud and stood guard at the passage in front of the hotel, staring at the retreating crowd.

Olki answered the promise and ordered the soldiers next to him to go to the east gate to send a message.

A moment earlier, Naga led his men to kill all the soldiers defending the city of Herat at the east gate, and the retreat was clear. The time is not early, and it will be dawn if there is any further delay, and Lao Luo can't help but worry about the reaction of the Turkmen after dawn, as well as the movement of the six camps outside the city, because the news transmission is inconvenient, and he does not know the specific situation outside the city.

He is an offensive warrior, but he is not a guy who does nothing to attack him, he can't talk about any last resort, but he will not easily make any mistakes, otherwise he would not become a hawkish elite officer in the army in later generations, and later become the leader of the team among mercenaries.

The purpose of Lao Luo staying in place was because it was the widest passage to the east gate, and as long as the defenders of Herat went to the east gate to help defend it, this place was the only way to go.

From the door of this Arab hotel, there are about more than a thousand meters to the gate of the city lord's mansion, and you can see the fire at the door of the city lord's mansion from a distance, and there are many figures shaking there, and few people look here, although the east gate not far away is also full of fire shadows.

Ashina Duval walked out of his mansion in a bit of a rage, grabbing a junior officer passing by, "Where is your general, Selengar? Where is it? ”

A whole night of fear and fear, Ashina Duval is really a little unbearable, this is not a whole night of fun on weekdays, but he stares at the inexplicable corridor and does not dare to go out, there are dozens of corpses around him that are dead in strange shapes, it is not easy for him to come out and ask about the specific situation.

"Back to ...... Back to the city lord, General Selengar is in the barracks, and he does not dare to go out without your order. "The junior officer is just a low-level hundred-man chief, and it is a great honor to meet the city lord in ordinary times, where is the opportunity to talk to the city lord so face-to-face?

"Why didn't he come over when I had a mess here?" Selengar was of course Duval's henchman, and if it weren't for years of understanding, he would have wondered if it was a henchman rebellion, otherwise why didn't he show up.

"City Lord, when it was almost dark the night before, the six camps outside the city began to be inexplicably chaotic, they attacked and killed each other, and some people tried to open the city gate to break into the city, General Selengar mobilized five thousand people to fortify, and also sent people to find the head of the six camps, but no one came back......" The little officer saw that the city lord was not annoyed, and his thinking of speaking was much smoother.

Ashina Duval was frightened by the words of the petty officer, who did the bastard Mahmoud provoke? The main residence of the lord of Herat, was broken into, and there was not one in ten of the guards in the palace, and his head was almost taken off, and the tens of thousands of tribal soldiers outside the city actually made trouble at this time.

In this way, Selengar is still loyal to his duty, but he is in his own house...... Ashina Duval looked back at his residence, the periphery was basically burned to the ground, but the entrance to the main house inside was a new fire, inexplicably like a flame from hell, sticking to people is even more difficult to extinguish, three or five soldiers who came to rescue themselves were directly burned to death by the flames that deflaged, and there were at least 20 people who followed behind them who were burned by the flames because of the rescue, and even the housekeeper Smuruk was burned off a left arm, and he was anxious to escape as soon as possible. Huthur was burned to death.

Although it looked safe now, with the head of the internal guard, Yashik, standing behind him, and dozens of soldiers beside him, Ashina Duval did not feel any peace of mind. The owner of those black eyes seemed to be constantly watching his every move, and the tall and oppressive figure seemed to be ready to pounce out of the darkness and twist off his head at any moment.

"Go and call Selengar! Tell him to send men...... Send at least a thousand men...... No...... Two thousand people are here! "He can't control other people, Ashina Duval must not easily lose his little life, any wealth, women, and power are all empty, only if his own life is saved, can he say anything about the glory of the Ashina family.

Of course, Lao Luo didn't know that he had scared the courage of the city lord of Herat, he guarded for more than half an hour, and more than 3,000 rescued people had basically withdrawn from the city - the slaves did not have their own belongings, so they were not as procrastinating as the migration of civilians, for personal freedom, they did not lack courage, the only difficulty was the lack of physical strength, but with the war horses and a group of warriors to protect, the overall action was still very fast.

"Antioch, have the soldiers who went to the west, north, and south gates to set fires have returned?" Daystar has begun to appear in the east, and the sky is about to dawn, although he is not afraid of the Turkmen soldiers, but his subordinates have been busy all night, and Lao Luo does not want to let the soldiers be tired to death by the siege because of the grasp of the opportunity.

Although it was not a formal military attack, Antioch was still very comfortable with the night's killing, and he replied respectfully: "General, the soldiers who set fire to the three city gates have already driven back from the path, and there are no pursuers behind them. ”

"All of them?" Lao Luo needs a perfect ending, although it is not a big deal that someone fails to withdraw on time, and hiding in Herat City is also part of the plan, but after all, he left his hands behind, and it was not his way to leave his men behind.

"Yes, all!" Antioch also found it somewhat incredible, completely beyond his imagination, even the mighty Romans had not fought such a battle.

"Good! Alki, call everyone together, we retreat! Lao Luo stared at the gate of the city lord's mansion with more and more people in the distance, and dimly saw a lot of Herat city guards who were gathering.

"Yes, Lord! This hotel ......," Olki promised loudly, but it was a little strange that Lao Luo did not make any arrangements at the Arab Hotel.

"Don't worry about it, the Arabs here haven't messed with us, don't pay attention to them." Of course, Lao Luo understood what Olki meant, but he still had some bottom lines in his heart, the owner of the hotel, the Arab, was just a simple businessman, not a missionary imam, nor a soldier or spy on the war, and a little mercy on his subordinates did not hinder the overall situation.

Needless killings would only create too many enemies, and would not be of any benefit to his future layout, and he even left a thousand gold coins in the table cabinet of the Arab boss of the inn, which was considered compensation for disturbing his business, and these gold coins made up for the loss of the Arab boss.

Five minutes later, more than 100 horsemen rushed to the east gate of Herat.

"Alck, are you done with the rest of the arrangement?" The black cloud stopped, and Lao Luo asked Alke, who was busy on the side of the road.

"Right now, Lord! These little things are guaranteed to make the Turkmen enjoy the hot summer again! "Alker was staring at his scouts planting tripping thunder—tripping firepots. Summer has passed, and the temperature difference between day and night in Central Asia is widening, and the period before dawn is the time when the temperature is at its lowest.

The scouts are also very interested in things like tripping fire pots, most of these guys are hunters, and this kind of thing that can cause problems for the enemy in bulk is too much for their appetite, sneak attack, arm, and block the enemy...... Either of these can make the battle more colorful, just like catching a rabbit in a mountain forest.

Yes, the east gate is the most convenient route to pursue Lao Luo's retreat, but now hundreds of tripping fire pots are buried, although this thing is not as sensitive and lethal as the real tripping thunder, but the flame is sometimes more deterrent than an explosion, at least more sustained.

An hour later, on the slope five or six miles away from Herat, Lao Luo stopped to observe the situation on the back road, and there was no one at the east gate to withdraw, and there was not the slightest movement. By the morning light that began to gradually brighten, the telescope could see a faint fire at the location of the six camps, the banners that had stood the day before were crooked, and the tent area of the garrison was still full of smoke, and it was impossible to hear the movement of the fighting, but also the sound of the whole army could not be seen.

"It seems that the Turkmen have been played by us......" Lao Luo muttered softly.

"General, just now Fromm's subordinates reported to me that they and the soldiers of Dou Zucheng and Yang Jing have withdrawn!" Olki rode his horse a little closer to the side of Lao Luo and whispered.

"Very well, let's go back too, and tell Gonzhas to send someone and mess up all the marks here!" Although he had experienced a whole night of fighting, Lao Luo was not tired, the battle in this era was far less intense than that of later generations, except for the time spent collecting supplies everywhere, the battle was very easy.

The morning star in the east is fading, and the sky in the distance has begun to whiten.

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(1) The Bada people, the nomads of ancient Central Asia, the descendants of the Dayue clan in the Han Dynasty, once called themselves the Huns, but this can no longer be verified, the Western historiography is called the White Huns, at the end of the fourth century AD, moved from the northern foot of the Altai Mountains to the Seven River Valley, and established the Bada Kingdom in today's Samarkand-Bukhara, and later expanded its power to South Asia, which dealt a great blow to the power of the Persians and Turks, and was later exterminated by the Persians and Turks. The Bada people are a matrilineal clan society, with women as the respect and polyandry practice, and the daughter country in "Journey to the West" is talking about this ethnicity.