The Safavid Empire of Persia is located in the central and western regions of Asia, is the intersection of the ancient Silk Road, known as the "Eurasian land bridge", and is an important hub of transportation and trade between the East and the West. Therefore, its strategic position is very important.

Bordered by Central Asia to the north, India to the east, the Arabian Peninsula and the Strait of Hormuz to the south, and the Persian Gulf to the west, this vast empire was the most critical part of Qi's management and maintenance of hegemony in the Indian Ocean.

In the twentieth year of Taiping (1724), in order to further control this ancient empire and ensure that this key link would not be overlooked, when the Afghans invaded Isfahan, captured the imperial Shah Surtan Hussein, and almost destroyed the Safavid Dynasty, at the request of the successor Abbas III, he gathered more than 20,000 naval and army troops and landed in Persia thousands of miles away, and was very "enthusiastic" to help him quell the rebellion of the Afghans.

After nearly a year of war, the tyrannical Afghan rebels were eventually expelled from the empire and soon dispersed into the mountainous Afghan mountains, regaining Safavid rule.

In the 21st year of Taiping (1725), the Russian Empire, a powerful neighbor in the north, took advantage of the civil strife in Persia and brazenly invaded the Caucasus, trying to achieve the great conquest that Peter I failed to complete.

The Qi army, which has a lofty "internationalist spirit", did not care about the fatigue after quelling the Afghan rebels, and resolutely led the Persian army to meet the invading Russian army.

After two years of tug-of-war, the Qibo coalition army defeated the invading Russian army and counterattacked into Russian territory, forcing the other side to sign the "Russian-Polish Hilfan Peace Treaty" at the cost of giving up all occupied Caucasus territory, which completely stabilized the security of the northeastern border area of the Persian Safavid Empire.

Due to the complex ethnic and religious issues in the region, and the urgent need for the empire to pacify the large and small separatist forces in the territory and achieve the true political unity of the empire, the Qi-Persian alliance did not stay too long in the Caucasus, and after the peace treaty was signed, they quickly withdrew their troops and returned to the interior.

Before leaving, the coalition forces successively established and restored several subordinate kingdoms in the Caucasus, such as the Kingdom of Baku, the Kingdom of Kakhety, the Kingdom of Ilisusudan, and the Kingdom of Kartli, which continued to serve as a buffer zone between the empire and Russia.

At the same time, in order to contain the Russian Empire and prevent it from invading southward again, the coalition forces used military coercion and economic temptation to force the Turkuts entrenched in the Volga Valley to change their position and turn to Qi and Persia.

In order to make this nomadic force capable of confronting Russia, the coalition forces not only handed over to them a large number of Russian weapons captured on the battlefield, but also spared no effort to provide them with financial and material support, so as to fully enhance the strength of the Turghut tribe and act as a strategic outpost of the Safavid dynasty of Persia.

After all this was done, the time had come to mid-April 1731, in the middle of spring, and everything was flourishing, and the many separatist forces in Persia seemed to be like those weeds that continued to grow upward, showing their hideous faces again, starting a new round of secret war, in order to annex more local powers, develop and expand their own territory, and try to have more say in the future political structure of the empire.

"At present, the largest separatist force in the empire is the Nadir (i.e., Nadir Shah), the sword of Persia, entrenched in the northeastern Khorasan region, and for the long-term stability of the empire, it must be subdued or eliminated as quickly as possible."

Isfahan, the capital of the empire, towers from the sky, and the towers that cover the sky and the sun on the city walls are scattered, and the imperial city covered with greenery is majestic and magnificent.

After more than five years of restoration, the city, which had been badly damaged by the Afghan rebels, once again regained its new glory and re-emerged as the supreme center of power in the empire.

On April 13, in a spacious hall on the second floor of the Aligapu Palace, located on the west side of Imam Square, more than 20 senior generals of the Imperial Praetorian Guard and the Imperial New Army sat with serious expressions, listening to an officer of the Qi State explain the next military arrangements of the Empire.

After the interpreter finished translating the words, Wen Shouyan, senior staff officer of the Military Staff Corps of the Qi Army in Persia and Captain Zhaoxin (Colonel), immediately drew a large circle with the baton in his hand in the northeastern region of Persia.

"After our Qibo coalition army broke the Afghan rebels and regained Isfahan, they pursued the rebels all the way to the vicinity of Kandahar, and together with the army of our Qi State and the army of the Kharat Khanate, which attacked from the direction of India, once again inflicted heavy losses on the Afghan rebels, so that they no longer had the military strength to threaten the empire. At the beginning, our coalition forces should have taken advantage of the situation to move into the Khorasan region, restore the local ruling order, rebuild the local political structure, and bring the region under the central authority. ”

However, the Russians took advantage of the civil strife in the empire to raise troops to invade the Caucasus, forcing our coalition forces to abandon their original battle plan and rush thousands of miles to the Caucasus to attack the attacking Russian army. At a time when our coalition forces and the Russian army were entangled in the Caucasus and had no time to take care of anything else, this Nadir took the opportunity to sit big. Over the course of several years, he defeated Malik Mahmud, the governor of Khorasan, the Turkmen tribal leader Alakhverdi, the Gerald tribal leader Tahmasp Khan Geral, and many other powerful local factions, and finally captured Mashhad, almost all of which were in Khorasan. ”

"What is even more troublesome is that the prince Tahmasp of the empire, who plotted against the self-established pseudo-empire Shah, ran to the Khorasan region under the instigation of his men after Mazandaran could not gain a foothold, and soon joined Nadir. In the name of the Imperial Shah, both of them went around attacking and expanding their territory. Just when our coalition forces launched the Battle of the Kura River and defeated the Russian army, Nadir led troops into Herat (present-day Herat Province, Afghanistan), defeated the local Abdaris, and surrendered countless people, thus further strengthening Nadir's strength. ”

"Do not doubt that the Abdaris will serve Nadir, for according to information from both Baluz and Kandahar, although Nadir's campaign did not completely defeat or subdue the Abdaris, it is clear that these local tribal forces are a shrewd group of people who are well versed in current affairs. They chose to surrender and were willing to form an alliance with Nadir, in addition to wanting to rely on a strong man to fight their old enemies, the Gilzai, and they could not rule out taking advantage of the current chaos in the entire region to seek a fortune for their own people. ”

"The leader of Abdari gave many valuable gifts to Nadir and the pseudo-Shah Tahmasp II, and also received many honorary titles and bestows from each other. Many Abdaris went directly to work under Tahmasp, and a large number of Persian-speaking tribes moved directly to the vicinity of Mashhad as a sign of loyalty. Led by the Abdari, a large number of brave and skilled Afghan tribal cavalry joined Nadir's cavalry force, rapidly expanding the size of his army. ”

"Oh, by the way, the reason why we attach so much importance to Nadir is that in addition to his occupation of the vast Khorasan region, the border between Afghanistan and the Bukhara Khanate, and the growing tendency, there is also a more important reason that Nadir has a standing army that has been heavily spent. According to rough estimates, the size of his core army is between 15,000 and 20,000, and it is well-trained, powerful, and its strength should not be underestimated. ”

As soon as Wen Shouyan's words fell, the Persian generals present couldn't help but show shocked expressions.

Mistaken? A local warlord leader even raised a standing army of tens of thousands!

What the hell is this amazing feat that a separatist force can do.

Over the years, under the training of the Qi State, the empire has only formed more than 20,000 new army units, and the remaining tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry are all temporarily recruited from various provinces and local tribes according to the needs of the war.

Pushing back tens of hundreds of years, most of the Safavid army, except for the Imperial Praetorian Guard and a small number of elite garrison troops were standing armies, and most of the troops were also temporarily conscripted into the army by ordinary people and young tribesmen, who were allowed to loot the spoils of war, and when the war was over, they were disbanded and returned to the villages, towns and tribal territories of the provinces.

After all, to maintain a large standing army, it is necessary to pay attractive salaries to ensure that the army remains as strong as it should be, to provide food, clothing, ordnance, ammunition, and various spare parts to replace damaged or lost equipment, and to equip pack horses and livestock to transport people and equipment over long distances in the mountains of the Persian plateau. If you are a cavalry, you also need to provide high-quality and strong horses, enough to support soldiers and weapons in battle.

After all kinds of spending, it will definitely cost the old nose money to raise a large army.

Not to mention, in the era of the gradual popularization of firearms, the cost of forming and equipping an all-firearms army is even greater!

Although the Khorasan region has a large population and abundant products, it is still quite difficult to raise a standing army of tens of thousands.

How did Nadir do it?

In order to attract the great attention of the empire, the people of Qi should increase the purchase of their ordnance and materials, and deliberately exaggerate the strength of Nadir?

Tens of thousands of Russian armies have been defeated by us, many small states and tribal forces in the Caucasus have also prostrate under the power of the empire, the Ottoman Empire next door is also under the deterrence of the imperial army - of course, there is also the diplomatic mediation of the Qi people, one after another has withdrawn from the western border areas, the once unruly Arabs have taken the initiative to show their loyalty to Isfahan, and many separatist governors and warlords have offered their surrender to the imperial Shah, recognizing the authority of the central government.

In just a few years, after expelling the Afghan rebels, the empire quickly quelled the secession rebellion launched by the armed forces of the vast provinces and tribes in the south and west of the empire, and re-established a crumbling empire and avoided the fate of national extinction.

What is even more rare is that in the process of conquering local rebellions in the east and west and resisting the invasion of foreign enemies, the imperial army has been tempered, whether it is the general who leads the army or the soldiers who fight, they have gradually regained the glory and confidence of the former empire.

Not to mention, behind the empire, there is also a powerful Qi state, leading the imperial army from one victory to another, building incomparable self-confidence.

Nadir is just a warlord separatist force entrenched in Khorasan and Afghanistan, even if it is very strong, but it is certainly only strong.

Could it be that he can be better than the Russians?

For the pacification of the separatist forces within the empire, the Qi people generally rarely participated, and at most sent some staff officers and technical officers to assist the imperial army in combat.

After some training by the military instructors of the Qi State, coupled with the equipment equipped with a large number of weapons and equipment from the Qi State, the Imperial Praetorian Guard and the Imperial New Army were more than one head stronger than those local armed forces that were divided and self-reliant.

After a battle, often after a heavy artillery bombardment, the opposing warlord's armed forces are already in disarray, and after several rounds of fire from the line of muskets, the enemy will be crushed, and his own cavalry will chase him to the north, slashing and killing at will.

Yes, although the provincial governors and local tribes took advantage of the civil strife in the empire to divide themselves and stand on their own, the armed forces they raised were still primitive and backward old-style armies, and the weapons they were equipped with spears and bows and arrows, emphasizing personal bravery and individual combat ability.

Some arrogant warlord leaders and tribal leaders, despite their knowledge of the power of firearms, will always remember what to eat, and will still laugh at the soldiers armed with firearms as weak automata, who can only shoot, reload, and move in groups, and everyone will only follow the group.

For centuries, the traditional mode of warfare in Central and Western Asia, including Persia, was also cavalry and archers, who were very reluctant and slow to accept firearms, and even regarded firearms as a dirty invention, a weapon for the cowardly—an important reason why the Persians had been repeatedly defeated by the Ottomans in the past hundred years.

However, since the Qi army landed in Persia, it defeated the Afghan rebels in a devastating battle mode, and soon helped the Safavid Dynasty recover Isfahan, and also chased the fleeing Afghan rebels all the way to Kandahar, showing super combat effectiveness, which amazed the Persian army that followed behind.

Subsequently, under the hand-in-hand guidance of the Qi people, the imperial army selected its elite, organized and trained a new army, implemented all-firearms equipment, and under the escort of the Qi army, while training, participated in actual combat, and finally gradually grew up and became an important pillar of the empire's rejuvenation.

Nadir is just a slightly more powerful local warlord, and with his slightly sophisticated equipment and advanced tactics, he can take advantage of the ignorant and backward Afghan tribal forces. But if it is against the "battle-hardened" new army of the Empire, it is estimated that it will not be enough.

Well, since this man did not know the times, refused to surrender, and was unwilling to send the pseudo-Shah Tahmasp II to Isfahan, there was nothing to say, and the army drove over, and then killed all the rebels, and reduced all their families to slavery, and restored the empire's rule in the Khorasan region.

"When is the Persian army ready to move?"

After the strategic and intelligence briefing, Wen Shouyan quickly rushed to the headquarters of the Qi garrison to report on the combat readiness of the Persian army.

After listening to the report, Shen Deyan, commander-in-chief of the Qi Army stationed in Persia and general (lieutenant general) of Zhenguo, nodded slightly, and then asked when the Persian army would march towards the Khorasan region.

"General Gayedi plans to lead his troops in half a month." Wen Shouyan immediately replied: "The Persians are ready to dispatch five regiments of the new army, one battalion of artillery, plus the recruited infantry units and tribal cavalry, the number of troops is about 20,000. General Gayedi prepared to recruit another 10,000 men in the southern and Khorasan regions during the march. By then, when the Imperial army reached Mashhad, the Imperial army would be about 35,000. ”

"Are they sure that they will defeat that Nadir and then regain the Khorasan region?"

"General Gayedi himself is very confident. But......" Wen Shouyan hesitated, "However, in my opinion, they seem to be a little underestimated, and everyone is very optimistic. According to what we have received from various sources, Nadir is not a man of self-reliance, and although the rate of firearms and equipment in the army is not as high as that of the new Persian army, the number of them is very large. Moreover, in terms of military organization and tactics, they are not the traditional and backward tribal armed model. In just a few years, he was able to rise to occupy the vast Khorasan region and the northwestern region of Afghanistan, which is a testament to the fact that this man is not an easy man. ”

"You fear that the Persians' military conquest will suffer a great loss?"

"If you don't respond to the battle formation, you may lose the battle."

"What's your suggestion?"

"It is recommended that our army garrisons in Najfabad and Kerman make emergency preparations in case they are needed."

"Why are you worried about the Persians losing on the battlefield!" Shen Deyan smiled, "You're probably sure that the Persians will suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of that Nadir." Well, in that case, then an order was drawn up to prepare the garrisons of Najfabad and Kerman in case of emergency. ”

(End of chapter)