Qian Xiangyang transferred a major general-level staff officer Song Yi from the theater headquarters as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy to coordinate the relationship between the mercenaries, the heavy artillery regiment and the Praetorian Guard, and the airship. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

After discussing with Song Yi, the brigade commanders of the four mercenaries decided to divide their troops into three routes, the first one brigade and take Shiraz City alone, so that there would be no big Iranian cities and tribes south of the Zagros Mountains, and it would be a heavy blow to the Iranians; A brigade of the 2nd Road, in cooperation with the Janissaries of the 40th Army, took Hamadan and opened a passage into Iran from the west, threatening the security of Tehran; Two brigades of the 3rd Road, in conjunction with the Janissaries of the 35th Army, occupied Kerman, opening access to Iranian interior from the south, threatening the security of its inland areas.

The Iranian plateau is very special, surrounded by mountains, and there are very few roads that can easily enter the interior, generally only 4 gaps, and the south enters the interior from the gap in the Zagros Mountains north of Bandar Abbas; The western part enters the interior from the Hamadan Pass between the Zagros Mountains and the Alborz Mountains; If the north wants to enter Iran, it must pass through the Mashhad Pass, which is also a necessary place to connect South Asia, West Asia and Central Asia, and the Xia Empire also wants to occupy the Mashhad Pass, which is the only convenient way to enter Central Asia from South Asia to attack the Russian Empire, but now is not the time; In the east, it enters the Iranian plateau from the Kebord Pass, which is now under the control of the South Asian theater of operations.

The Iranian plateau is divided into two parts by the Central Mountain Range, and Iran occupies the western half, so there are only three entrances and exits: the west, the south, and the north.

The occupation of Kerman was not only due to its location on a major transportation route, which could block Russia's southward attempts, but also to build a road from Kerman to Dozhap (now called Zahdan) to connect Afghanistan, and from Dozhap it could threaten the security of the Mashhad Pass, which was an important passage into Central Asia in the future.

Shiraz was the largest city outside of Tehran at the time, and was the capital of Iran's Zand dynasty until 1894, the largest city at the time, and it has only declined since the establishment of the capital of the Zakar dynasty in Tehran in 1894, but it is still the largest trading center in southern Iran.

Shiraz is located in the southern part of the Zagros Mountains, at an altitude of 1,490 meters above sea level, in the basin agricultural area, due to its mild climate, rich in grapes, cotton flowers and white rice. After the Xia Empire occupied there, it was able to take advantage of the developed agricultural conditions and urban facilities there, and also use the rich local limestone resources to produce cement, which was urgently needed in the West Asian theater.

As early as when it was marching into West Asia, the 35th Army sent a national defense division to occupy the port of Bushehr, an important port on the northern shore of the Persian Gulf, which was only more than 200 kilometers away from the port of Bushehr to Shiraz.

The port of Bushehr provides logistical supplies, which saves the mercenaries a lot of trouble and reduces the logistical pressure.

The feudal tribes in Shiraz were very powerful, and because of the development of agriculture, handicrafts and commerce, the tribes had ample wealth to build strong cavalry troops. Receiving orders from the kingdom to build a fortress in a dangerous place to block the invasion of the Xia Empire, the tribes were very motivated, because this was also to protect the safety of their own tribe, so they quickly mobilized their tribesmen to build a fortress in the valley north of Kazelen, the southern transportation artery, and controlled the only way from Bushehr Port to Shiraz.

The war plan was reported to the West Asia Theater Command, and Zhang Liang was worried that his forces would be somewhat scattered, but Qian Xiangyang, chief of the General Staff, approved the plan and asked Zhang Liang with interest: "There is no problem for a brigade to take Shiraz City, right?" ”

"Shiraz City is located in the south of the Zagros Mountains, isolated, 1 brigade is enough, I agree to this plan, so that the entire south of the mountains is the territory of the empire, and there are no Persians in this land, and there is no possibility of Iran taking it back in the future." Zhang Liang said.

Qian Xiangyang continued to ask: "Is it difficult to occupy Kerman?" ”

Zhang Liang said: "Kerman is located on the main transportation route, is the only place to connect the Afghan region, now it belongs to the buffer zone, besides, it is still a ruin, there is no value at present, the local tribe strength is also very weak, it is easy to occupy, that is, the Russian Empire intervened, with 2 brigades of mercenaries and 1 regiment of Janissaries, it is not difficult to occupy there." ”

"Then you're worried about Hamadan?"

Zhang Liang said: "Yes, the Metropolitan Governor, the geographical location of Hamadan is very important, now within the sphere of influence of the Russian Empire, 1 brigade of mercenaries can also be taken, but the Russian Empire will definitely not give up Hamadan, their troops stationed in Georgia and Azerbaijan will immediately go south, if we don't continue to increase troops, we can't hold it at all." ”

Qian Xiangyang said: "Haha, you are right, if you occupy Hamadan, the Russian Empire will inevitably fight hard, in fact, I mean that there is no need to take it, as long as it occupies those plains south of the Zagros Mountains west of Hamadan, as well as the valleys in the mountains, it can block Russia from moving south, besides, only by making a coercive posture can we strive for more benefits from the Russian Empire at the negotiating table in the future." ”

Zhang Liang understood the purpose of the Metropolitan Governor, and said with a smile: "The Metropolitan Governor is very calculating, it works so far, Habadan's position is too important to him, to the east can threaten Tehran, to the north can threaten Georgia and Azerbaijan, and beyond the Iron Gate Pass will threaten the rich areas of the Russian core, and they have to pay a big price in exchange for the empire to give up that territory." ”

Regarding the war against Iran in the West Asian theater, Zhang Wei sent a telegram in particular, claiming that the Iranian plateau and the Pamir plateau belong to the dragon veins of the Chinese and must be occupied in the future. Moreover, the strategic value of this region is very important, it is the center of the entire continent, and if it controls the Iranian Plateau and the Pamir Plateau, it will also grasp the strategic advantages of this continent.

Zhang Liang looked at the telegram and said, "It seems that Your Majesty did not let us occupy Iran at one time. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty's telegram only emphasizes the importance of the Iranian plateau, we can't occupy it all at once, otherwise the locals will have no way to deal with it, it's better to do it step by step, occupy an area and expel the locals once, and when it is completely occupied, the locals will be driven away." Qian Xiangyang said.

Zhang Liang said: "It should indeed be so, the ethnic composition here is too complex, Persians, Arabs, Balochs, Kurds, and Armenians, etc., it is difficult to rule, and there is a strong religious belief, each ethnic group has the ambition to seek independence, if not all of them are driven away, it will be a big trouble in the future." However, the Russian Empire was very annoyed by the exiles from India last time, and they will be even more annoyed by the exorcism of a group of exiles this time. ”

Qian Xiangyang said: "This is also the reason why Your Majesty does not like to ask for foreign races, the cost of expulsion is the lowest, and it can also drag down the opponent, no matter how annoyed Russia is, there is no good way for the empire; Okay, without further ado, let's send a telegram to Song Yi first to approve their war plan. “

"Yes, Grand Duke!"