As the sun rose for yet another day over the ancient sands of the Persian Empire, like a giants pendant in the sky, Sultan Hoseyn reflected on the situation. The Persian Empire, after hundreds of years of conflict and prosperity was still a powerful prosperous place. As he looked up into the azure heavens, as if searching for answers he wondered why other civilisations ever wanted to change. He believed in tradition. His father and his father’s father and those before him had fought with flesh and blood, steel and wood. Why do men feel the need to be seen as cowards? Why do they use their smoke and fire? Their lead and iron why do they so quickly abandon the weapons of their forefathers and cheapen the business of war just so worthless lives can be spared and fat old men’s wills be done? The Persians believed that war should be heroic! That men should die bravely and honourably and not resort to using blasphemous new weapons and coward’s tactics. The Persians would show those weaklings and dogs what war was really about and they would do so traditionally.
After centuries the proud Persians still controlled vast tracts of land of harsh desert. These shifting sands had absorbed much blood spilt in their history and soon their thirst would be slaked once again.
Sultan Hoseyn I was still young and there was time to realize his will.
He had always been religious and he was sure that the gods willed his victory and he worshiped Bēvar-Asp every day The wise sultan was always cautious of spies and was watchful. He had resisted any attempts by followers or acquaintances to befriend him and he travelled alone. They could not be trusted. Nothing could except a sharp blade.
The Mughals had been a thorn in the side of the Persian empire. They coveted the Persian land even as they pretended to be freinds. Georiga and Dagstan to the north were weak and ripe for the picking. Hoseyn wished for the Persian Empire to grow, to acquire new lands. The Mughals were weak and feeble as the noble Marahas scarched away at their empire, bleeding it dry. Still they considered the Persians freinds and would pose no current threat. The mighty Persian leader barked a command. Aides came running as talk of war and troops echoed in the sumptuous halls of the palace and up in the heavens clouds blotted out the sun ominously.
Five years later.
While the sultan has stayed the same, the Persian Empire had not. The sultan had ordered that roads be constructed for the sole use of his armies. A great levy and taken place and Persia’s great fletchers and spear makers had eagerly set about the tasks given to them. Persia’s mighty army was beginning to wake.
The Mughal Empire during this time had asked for a ridiculous trade. The sultan was outraged at the suggestion of giving up Persia’s homelands and roared at the diplomat to get out if he wished to keep his head.
The diplomat wisely left.
In 1705 a large army of archers, pikemen, swordsmen, horse archers and peasant rabble arrived at the outskirts of Dagestan. The nation had been given no formal declaration of war. Hoseyn wanted to grab them and cut their throat like a lamb ready for slaughter.
A young general had been selected for the task. He was born for battle and has no qualms about cruelly invading a nation just because his sultan willed it.
Hormezyar was still so young, but had seen battles a plenty and was considered a brave uncompromising figure. Indeed he seemed uncaring of the piles of corpses, both enemy and Persian he left in his wake and considered victory the only possible outcome of any battle, no matter what the cost.
Battle of the Chechenya Fields 1706
A mild day greeted the Persian army as they lined up for battle.
The poor tool wielding levy, the desperate men knowing all they could pray for was a quick death made up the front rank. Behind them were foot archers. On the flanks were the Zamindari horse archers and the Fellahin swords sat in the centre ready to charge.
As the battle commenced Orgeneral Hormezyar ordered the foot archers forward to a little wall just in front of the Persian line. The bowmen gripped their ancient weapons as they ran bravely forward towards the enemy’s guns and sabres. They halted in front of the enemy and unleased a hail of shafts,
the barbed arrows arcing into the azure sky only to fall onto the enemy eliciting screams and groans as their points met flesh. The brave horse arches coated in lamellar and clutching their bows made of the fines wood charged up the flanks hoping to rain death and hell upon the backs of the enemy firelock infantry. The crack of muskets broke the air as the first few enemy militia fired at the archers sending the sharp smell of gunpowder to Hormezyar’s nose he ignored the screams of the levy as some fell and ordered them to charge. The levy, knowing it could not refuse screamed and charged holding their pitchforks high as they charged towards their doom. As they met the enemy gunners and the screams and din of battle began Hormezyar ordered the Fellahin to charge the enemy.
The enemy general one Zakaria Zadeh, charged into the fray. The levy stood their ground as they were annihilated, but one Fellahin unit was suddenly routing. Hormezyar did not see what caused their destruction, only that they were gone and their corpses strewn over the field like toys left out of a toybox. Hormezyar commanded the Pikemen to charge
and as one and they charged directly into the melee, where the levy still struggled against the far superior enemy
Just then Hormezyar heard a hoarse war cry and turned to see a small unit of cavalry charge him and his bodyguard. He smirked at their idiocy and casually ordered his grinning men to attack them. They complied with a will and in seconds the enemy cavalry were cut to ribbons and he and his men jeered at them in utter contempt as the fleeing survivors ran away in shame. Hormezyar told his men to stay where they were as the writhing groaning cavalrymen lay on the ground in front of them. Most of them were dead, their life blood quickly ebbing away into the sand. One man was however still alive and as he rolled onto his back Hormezyar caught his eye and stared into the dying mans eyes fiercely, drawing the man to look at him. The cavalryman’s breathing became ragged and as his eyes glazed over and he breathed his last Hormezyar was satisfied to know that the last thing he saw was him, watching him die. He smiled to himself and turned his attention to the battle.
The Persian general had been killed, as his bodyguard had stood firm and been crushed by the brave Persian pikemen and horse archers, as they charged into the rear of the Dagestenian army with their sabres.
Many Persian cavalrymen had been killed but the enemy general was dead and a large part of the Dagestern army had been destroyed or were running.
Another attack on a horse archer unit was thwarted when Hormezyar and his bodyguard rode up to aid the beleaguered horse archers. The enemy cavalry routed with heavy losses.
Hormezyar saw that some of the last enemy militia had garrisoned themselves in the Town Hall.
He ordered what was left of a unit of the levy to enter the building. The levy complied and was summary crushed and routed. Another unit of levy and some of the remnants of the Fellahin were sent in and started a long battle that raged in the walls of the hall. As this happened one of Hormezyar’s scouts told him of an enemy militia unit, which had for whatever reason hidden behind a wall facing away from the fight and had stayed there. Hormezyar ordered his horse archer unit with the most men left - just over half - to attack them.
The men readily charged into the unready militia‘s rear, killing many and instantly turning their hearts to ice and their guts to water.
As the few survivors fled, the battle in the building came to an abrupt end as the last enemy militia disintegrated, the Persian swords rending them to pieces, as the panicked men franticly searched for a way out of the morgue like building.
The battle was over and Hormezyar ordered his exhausted army to assemble to take stock of the day’s proceedings.
The losses on both sides were immense. Persia had won but it had paid dearly. The levy was almost completely annihilated. Only very few men remained standing and corpses and broken tools were everywhere the archers and cavalry had lost more than 50% of their numbers and snapped bows and swords lay everywhere Horses and men coated the field. The air was filled with screams and moans, the blood ran in rivers as Hormezyar took stock. As much as he relished bloodshed this had truly been a grim day. But a victory, however pyrrhic was still a victory.
Hormezyar allowed his men to rest and they spent the night camped away from the many moaning and dead men lying in the battlefield. The next morning Hormezyar ordered the execution of any enemy still alive and any Persian too badly injured to accompany the army. The orders were carried out in due course and Hormezyar decided to leave the battlefield as it was and ordered his men to march on to Tarki. Tarki had no defenders and the citizens did not even try to defend themselves. They opened the gates to the conquerors and Hormezyar allowed his men to loot and rape as they saw fit. The killing and destruction went on for three full days. The governors and leaders of the city were executed and Hormezyar sent a runner to Esfahan for further orders.
The weeping would be loud in Esfahan when they returned.