Mount and Blade Central Asia

April 3, 1408, Mardin.

Standing on the high tower, Dost could already see the Mughals slowly advancing at the foot of the mountain. To this day, both sides were not satisfied with the current situation.

Both Duosite and Qinggelinayan were regretting in their hearts that if they had taken action earlier, the situation might have been completely different.

Dosite's original plan was to take advantage of the Mongol people's unpreparedness, gather his superior forces, defeat their large tribes one by one, and reduce the Mongol people's manpower. However, he encountered Li Rufeng in his first attack.

The astonished Doste wondered for a long time whether he had underestimated the cohesion and combat effectiveness of the Mongols. They were clearly the ones who launched the sneak attack, and how could they be beaten so badly when they had a slight advantage in the number of soldiers?

This also directly led to the fact that after that battle, Dost's strategic choice changed from taking the initiative to attack and defeat them one by one to defending the city of Martin and using the tactic of exchanging space for time.

Qinggelinayan was regretting that if he had made up his mind to march against Dosite earlier, he would have had a chance to eliminate at least half of the enemy's troops before they gathered their strength instead of attacking the city of Mardin which occupied a favorable terrain and had thousands of defenders as he did now.

As mentioned earlier, Mardin is a mountain city. Its walls have been strengthened by rulers of different eras throughout its long history, especially the Artuqid Dynasty after the Seljuk Dynasty. This was their last city, and successive rulers have spared no effort to strengthen the city's defenses.

But Mardin ultimately did not become an immortal city. Like countless cities that had been conquered by the old Sultan, it was conquered by Timur's army in just two weeks.

For Qinggelinayan and even the veterans under his command, this was their second time to attack this city, but looking from the foot of the mountain, they still had the illusion that the city could not fall.

, don’t let me down.”

"You too." Li Rufeng nodded heavily.

As they began to climb from the foot of the mountain and approached the city of Mardin, the war between the two sides had already begun.

At this time, Dangertai had already led his thousand-man team to escort the five hundred Armenians to the halfway point of the mountain to move wood. The wood would be processed by engineers into shield carts to support the top beams of the tunnel and used as shields to block arrows.

Doshite, who had a clear view of the battlefield situation from a high place, seized the gap between the Mongol vanguard and the main force, and sent out the cavalry in the city. Relying on the speed advantage of downhill, he suddenly opened the city gates and released the cavalry to attack Dangertai's team.

A deep and long horn sounded from the city of Mardin. It was the sound of a bull horn. Chagatai's descendants liked to use this highly penetrating horn to convey military signals, such as simple orders such as charge and retreat.

And now, the people who blew this horn were none other than the people of Transoxiana, who were also descendants of Chagatai.

A full five hundred well-prepared and fully-armed cavalrymen filed out of the city gate, accelerating from a walk to a quick pace as they went downhill.

By the time Dangertai realized the enemy was approaching, the nearest enemy in the river was less than 300 meters away. This was not enough time for Dangertai to reorganize his troops, so he made the most correct choice without hesitation: "Retreat! Get on your horses and retreat!"

The Mughals, who grew up on horseback, were more skilled in riding. They avoided the enemy's charge in the river in time during the chaos. However, it was different for the Armenians who were deliberately dragged along as cannon fodder. They could not outrun the four-legged cavalry on their two legs.

The people of Transoxiana had no mercy. Even though they knew that the Armenians were forcibly conscripted to fight, they still plowed these Armenian farmers mercilessly.

In an instant, several scimitars had seen blood on the battlefield, and the screams of the Armenians reached the city of Mardin. When the Armenian heavy infantry responsible for defending the city saw this scene, they all fell silent, with a trace of hatred flashing in their eyes.

Fortunately, the people in the river did not dare to leave the city wall too far. After they were sure that they could not catch up with the enemy who were also running down the slope, they decisively returned to the city of Mardin along the same route, leaving behind only a mess of logs doused in kerosene and set on fire.

Most of the Armenian loggers took advantage of the attack to flee, and a few hid among the dead and were almost burned to death.

Dangertai fled to a position halfway up the mountain. He turned around and found with regret that the people from the river had begun to turn back. He couldn't help but punch his hand. A group of fully armed cavalry appeared from the dark and laughed at the people from the river who were returning.

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The author says:

Author's words: Figure 1 is a map of the city of Mardin in the 17th century. The terrain is somewhat exaggerated, and the large city on the lower slope on the left was built after the rise of the Ottoman Empire. In the 15th century, the city of Mardin only had a small part of the mountain in the upper right corner, and there were not so many towers. The architectural style of a single tower was more popular in the 15th century.

Figure 2 is the modern city of Mardin

Chapter 133 Impossible, absolutely impossible!

A sudden snowfall, like a warning from nature, paused the war that both sides had been preparing for for several months.

Li Rufeng was wearing his fur coat and standing in front of the campfire, watching the snowflakes flying around him. This was probably the most serious snow he had seen since he came here. He reached out to catch a snowflake and watched it melt into water in his hand.

"What do you, the followers of the Azure Wind, need to do to achieve snowfall on this scale?" Li Rufeng asked Azadirim behind him.

How to do it? Well... first raise your needs and pray that this need will be noticed by the higher-ups soon. If it has been read for a long time without a reply, you can offer some sacrifices. The Azure Wind is very picky. It likes literate people, wise people, and all those who are curious.

Of course, if the above requirements are not met, Azure Wind will reluctantly accept simply killing a few people, but the effect cannot be guaranteed.

When the prayer receives a response from the Azure Wind, the transaction list attached to the wish will also be sent together. At this time, the believers only need to provide sacrifices as needed. According to Azadirim's past experience, weather modification of this scale will probably require a single-digit number of wise men and a double-digit number of illiterate people.

In most faiths of the Four Winds, the Azure Wind is often considered generous, but this requires precise manipulation of words. Azadirim is a counterexample, using blood sacrifices to gain an advantage on the battlefield, only to...

Strictly speaking, the Blue Wind did not violate the agreement. He did respond to Azadirim's prayers, but he took advantage of Azadirim's loophole and allowed Dost and the others to gain a meaningless advantage.

When Azadirim stammered to explain the nature of the transaction between believers and their gods, Li Rufeng looked at Azadirim as if he were a fool.

, they can't take anything away.

As far as Dost knew, at this time, Maharaja Milansha had already led his troops to clear all obstacles in front of him and surrounded Tabriz. The full-scale war between the Black Sheep Dynasty and the Timurid Khanate had begun. The outcome of this war would determine the revival of an ancient dynasty or the Khanate would once again dominate the Mesopotamian plain.

The longer they drag out the time here, the more convenient it will be for Doste to adjust the direction in time to cater to the winner.

In the city, Dost valued the black wizards of the Black Sheep Dynasty, tolerated their extraordinary actions time and time again, and gave enough face to the believers of the Blue Wind. In the castle, Dost secretly enshrined the statue of the Scarlet Wind, waiting for Lord Milansha to show his power and crush the Black Sheep people. He would then take advantage of the situation to eliminate the black wizards in the city, and sacrifice all of them to the Blood God in the name of the Blood God's believers to welcome the royal teacher.

"Thirty-six minutes, my lord." Cabezas' voice became even hoarser, as if the person under the black robe was a dried corpse rather than a living person, but his tone was quite polite, as if he was from a noble family.

"It's too short. What do I need to pay to prolong this heavy snow?" Duosite knew that all miracles in this world have a price, but the asking price is different.

"The first nine minutes require nine people, the second nine minutes eighteen people, and the third nine minutes twenty-seven people, and so on. My lord, the duration of this heavy snowfall is entirely up to you." Cabezas chuckled. "The miracle belongs to you and the great blue wind. We are merely the intermediaries."

"A multiple of nine, this is a very large number." Dost was certainly not just a warrior. He was very good at arithmetic, even among the Persians.

Doste stared at the heavy snow outside, trying to figure out the most balanced point she could bear.

...

"Clearly, this is witchcraft, Wind Shaman. We need your help," Qinggelinayan said simply and directly during this very private meeting. "Or at least, to help our soldiers overcome the depressed effects caused by this."

Qinggelinayan had fought in winter, and they had experienced many cold winters before coming to this warm land. He knew how much impact this would have on the upcoming siege plan.

Mardin is a mountain city, and all roads leading to the city are uphill roads. The unmelted snow will make the mountain roads slippery, making it more difficult for horses to climb, and carts loaded with heavy objects will also slip. Engineers have to spend more energy working on hard soil.

"Eternal Heaven tells me this snow will soon end." Li Rufeng shook his head. What could he do about this natural phenomenon? The old shaman had indeed spoken of shamans who could influence the climate, summoning thunder and lightning to crush Timur's army, but...

Li Rufeng can’t do that!

Linayan asked about the internal support and the secret passage. After all, this should be one of the main reasons why Qingge Linayan dared to attack the city of Mardin. Otherwise, even if Timur were alive, he would not be able to guarantee that he could capture such a mountain city without having an advantage in military strength.

"The traitor is the chief of a tribe in Central Riverland. He represents all the people of Central Riverland to a certain extent. Although we are sworn enemies, they don't want to shed blood for a Persian." Qinggelinayan stood in the snow, tightening his cloak. "Besides, they're also worried that the bastard Duosite will defect to the Black Sheep People and sell them out completely."

Li Rufeng could fully understand this. After all, the grievances between the Mongols and the people of Transoxiana were strictly speaking an internal matter among the Chagatai Mongols. The hatred between the Mongols and the Black Sheep was a history of blood and tears, and both blood and tears were the product of the Turkmen people...

"How many people are there? Are they completely trustworthy?" Li Rufeng began to look at Qinggelina Yan with admiration. Who would have thought that such a rough man could play such delicate cards.

"Two hundred cavalrymen, the rest are outside, waiting to ambush us. Dosite is also on guard against them." Qinggelinayan used his finger to roughly draw the position of the enemy's ambush outside the city. "Those bastards in the river are not united, but they promised to solve this problem before we start the siege."

The best generals of this era were essentially masters of simple drawing, able to sketch battle lines and even city plans with just a few strokes. Qinggelinayan was one such example. He went on to sketch a plan of Mardin: "The enemy camp in the river inside the city is garrisoned here. This is the horse stable. This is the only road in the city suitable for a short charge. Only the most skilled riders can ensure they don't fall."

"The secret passage is here. It was secretly built by the city's powerful people in the past." Qinggelinayan pointed to the cliff side of the city. "The interior of the secret passage is very steep, not suitable for a large-scale attack. It is also easy to defend but difficult to attack. If Duosite already knows of its existence, it will be difficult to attack."

"But fortunately, those who built this secret passage were killed cleanly when we came here last time." Qinggelinayan showed a bloody smile. Obviously, the Mongolian-style sealing was simple but effective.

The snow was still falling, and Li Rufeng admitted that he was indeed considering the proposal.

But the reason was not for justice or the victory of the Mongols. The reason why Mr. Li was tempted was the golden treasure.

Azadim said they had brought a large fortune out of Tabriz. Although the black wizard didn't say it explicitly, the reason they took the risk of transferring the money was obviously not because the Black Sheep had too much money and had nowhere to put it...

That's two tons of gold! If converted into commission for the Golden Arrow Mercenary Group, Li Rufeng could hire them for life. If this gold were converted into physical goods, Master Li could arm his tribe's cavalry with the same exaggerated weapons as the French Knights of the Pardon.

The first problem was how to break into the city, and the second problem was how to secretly transport the two tons of gold out of the city without being known by others.

All those "raisins" in the modern world have become unappealing.

"Sir, I still think you are too impulsive to risk your life." Habashibuhua advised, "You are different from us. You are the one who wants to change the world. Why bother with such a war..."

"If I hadn't gone, who knows how much blood the Mongol people would have shed in this war. If a warrior spares blood today, he might establish a new tribe next year." Li Rufeng looked at the soldiers under his command with deep affection. "I am a shaman. This is my duty, and it is also the will of Changshengtian."

"All glory and mercy belong to you, Shaman Rufeng." Habashibuhua bowed deeply and personally put a cotton pad on Li Rufeng's horse to keep it warm.

Li Rufeng, while there was still time, summoned the black wizard Azadirim who was hiding among the Kurds. He had to extract some more information from him, whether it was about his colleagues or the specific hiding place of the treasure. In short, he had to explain something today.

Chapter 135: Brother Mengjiang is riding a horse

Haishaer galloped in the night. His exceptionally majestic hybrid warhorse was injured on the way to escape and was temporarily left in Li Rufeng's tribe for care. This time he rode a colleague's warhorse. Before confirming whether there were other traitors within the Eagle of Order, the remnant headed by Haishaer would temporarily hide in Li Rufeng's tribe to recuperate.

The scholar of law who suffered from the bumpy ride has not woken up yet. Although he has been taken good care of by Li Rufeng's tribe because of Haishar's face, it is still unknown whether he can wake up in the end. His apprentice may become the last scribe in the headquarters of the Eagle of Order.

In contrast, these strong knights fully recovered their spirits after only a day and a night of rest.

One of the two Knights of the Eagle of Order decided to stay in Li Rufeng's tribe to protect the scholar of law who was still in a coma, and to continue teaching several apprentices who had not yet completed their apprenticeship. The other knight decided to go alone to Alamut Castle in the Alborz Mountains to report the news. It was a fortress of the Eagle of Order.

The fortress was inherited from the legendary founder of the Assassins, Hassan ibn Sabbah. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack. For many years, it has been used to store and seal the most dangerous items.

"Good luck to you, my brother. Your journey is destined to be full of dangers. Be careful of the black sheep people. They are very close to the God of the Four Winds." Haishar paid tribute to his colleague's choice, but he did not agree with it.

The Eagle of Order has always been a loose, non-secular organization. Before confirming whether the Four Wind Gods were behind the Mamluks' destruction of the Eagle of Order's stronghold, the Eagle Lords of other strongholds could only wait and see.

It lasted until Timur's death.

Now Milansha finally couldn't hold back any longer, he wanted to take back his city and his sword.

Parisa was certain that Milansha's bloodline would be able to pick up the magic sword unaffected, but Li Rufeng was a surprise. After all, he didn't look like Milansha's illegitimate son...

She also knew that the sword was more like a contract than a weapon, and the time agreed in the contract had not yet arrived. Once the time came, the magic sword would have an unimaginable impact on Milansha's bloodline, especially Milansha himself.

The Christian scholars who presided over the expulsion ceremony are now either dead or have returned to their homeland in Europe. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a holy place for Christianity and has the power to suppress most of the four wind gods' strange objects, but it cannot completely solve the problem of the Milansha family.

Now it seems that the only person who has hope of solving his bloodline problem is the strange Eastern Shaman, but they were destroyed before the Eagle of Order could make further investigations.

Now, Parisa just hoped that the damn Oriental man would not die stupidly in the war.

Thinking of Li Rufeng, Parisa recalled the night when she was tied up. A flush flashed across her face under the hood. She clenched the reins with both hands. The horse under her felt the muscles of its master tense up, and subconsciously sped up. Carrying Parisa's shame and anger, it rushed towards the direction of Martin City.

However, a cool breeze mixed with snowflakes blew across Parisa's face. Nagi Mori stretched out his hand to feel the coolness of the snowflakes, and looked at Haishar in surprise: "It's snowing, Master?"

"Be careful, there's a smell of witchcraft in this abnormal weather." Haishar looked at the Mughal camp shrouded in wind and snow in the distance, shook his head, and urged his warhorse to move forward.

At this time, Li Rufeng, escorted by twenty fully armed bodyguards, had already circled behind the city of Mardin, and was searching for a secret passage that had been abandoned for many years with a guide in the wind and snow.

The cliff branch on the back side of Mardin City is more than 30 meters high. Li Rufeng doesn't know how this secret passage leads to the interior of the city, but the guide seems quite confident.

Chapter 136 Entering the City

The dark secret passage was hidden in a valley, blocked by a broken wooden door. It was difficult to be discovered even in the daytime, and the veteran leading the way was obviously very familiar with the road.

Rufeng himself was wearing a fur cloak over his armor, which made him much more resistant to cold than ordinary soldiers, but at this time his ten fingers had begun to swell, and his face felt as painful as if it were being cut by a knife.

An equally embarrassed Jiatalhun squeezed through a group of soldiers and struggled for a long time before finding Li Rufeng. He pointed at the ceiling and said, "There's a warehouse up there. A businessman who worked closely with us used to rent this warehouse for many years, but he died in an accident, and my brother's people haven't been here since."

Li Rufeng nodded and watched the guide fiddle with a wooden ladder near the ceiling like a monkey for a while, then carefully climbed up. A few seconds later, the other party whistled downwards, and several elite soldiers and Li Rufeng's personal guards also climbed up. After making sure the surroundings were safe, Jatalehun and Li Rufeng were helped up.

The warehouse had obviously been abandoned for some time. The smell of damp and moldy straw was unforgettable, but this smell also represented safety, and Li Rufeng's heart, which had been hanging in the air, finally settled down.

Before setting off, that bastard Azadirim said that there were also masters among the dark wizards in the city who could occasionally obtain some prophecies about their own destiny from the power of the blue wind, but those prophecies were mostly obscure and difficult to understand, and had almost no timeliness.

Take Azadim himself as an example. He divined his own fate the night before he was killed, and the Azure Wind's response to him was: You will encounter surprises beyond your predetermined destiny...

God knows what surprises beyond fate are. Azadirim doesn't even know if his death is part of fate.

So Li Rufeng felt that he didn't need to worry too much about whether the dark wizards in the city could detect him and his group. He was more worried about the guards in the city.

If there were only two hundred people from Transoxiana with Mongolian faces in the city of Mardin now, the sudden appearance of a quarter of Mongolians would obviously be very noticeable.

And if he were Dost, there should be a very strict curfew policy in the city now, and anyone who wanders on the streets without reason will definitely be questioned by the patrol.

But what surprised Li Rufeng was that the veteran who was responsible for communicating with the insider slipped out alone and came back with the contact person in less than half an hour.

"How many of you are here?" The contact person's accent was slightly different from the Mongolian accent that Li Rufeng was used to. His tone was higher, but he could still understand it if he listened carefully.

"Sixty people are enough." Jatalehun walked up to the other party and hugged him. He was chosen as the leader because he had lived in Samarkand throughout his youth. Compared with the Mughals, his living habits were even closer to those of the people in Transoxiana.

Sure enough, after hearing what Jiatalhun said, the contact person became much more enthusiastic: "You have too few people. We only have 200 people, and we are not united. I guess we have to clean out some of them."

"That's enough," Jatalehun emphasized again. "Can we move freely in the city?"

"This is a token. With it, you can move freely. If anyone asks, just say you're a soldier under Black Centurion Zari, looking for a drink." The contact laughed. "If they keep complaining, just slap them in the face."

Maybe it was the chill brought by the air, or maybe it was because he was not used to participating in the night attack. In any case, when Li Rufeng and the others began to move along the wall, Jiatalehun's tone couldn't help but lower and his pace slowed down.

"Shaman Rufeng, what if those people really know witchcraft?" Jialalhun glanced at the position of the city wall. According to what they and the insiders had agreed on before, as long as they created a big enough scene in the city, the people in the river would jump out and try to attack the castle gate, trying to end the battle in one go.

Just as the contact person said, no one stopped them along the way. Dost's army was tight on the outside but loose on the inside, and they didn't care about what happened on the streets.

On the way, they met a group of patrol soldiers who were hiding in a house to avoid the cold. When the soldiers saw them, their first reaction was to rush out of the house, pretending nothing had happened and continuing their patrol.

Things went more smoothly than Li Rufeng had expected, but they soon entered the area where the Druzafaran Monastery was located.

As soon as Li Rufeng turned the corner and entered the street, he felt uncomfortable. The wind and snow seemed to be stronger and colder here. In addition, there was a whole team of Persian soldiers hiding in the houses on both sides of the street, standing guard and keeping watch.

"This isn't the place for you. Go somewhere else!" The leading Persian officer rudely reprimanded the veteran guide. "Be careful, or you'll lose your life here!"

The guide was a little confused by the officer's retort, and because he felt guilty, he subconsciously wanted to slip away.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, Li Rufeng instructed a personal guard to step forward, push the officer to the ground, and curse, "Do I have to report to you before I go out to drink?"

The Persian soldiers surrounded them instantly. Although there were only twenty of them, they were well-equipped and in high morale. They were obviously not ordinary soldiers. This group of people was the team that was responsible for escorting slaves to the monastery before, and they had some guesses about what happened inside the monastery.