People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 944

Chapter 944

"The Grand Vizier's opinion is truly appalling; I need time to think it over."

On the golden throne, Bahram rubbed his temples wearily.

The eunuch behind him offered him a cup of fragrant tea, but he simply waved it away impatiently.

The Franks openly invoked the banner of their rebellious brother in an attempt to divide their ministers, and their thunderous and swift offensive created an almost irresistible aura.

Only heaven knows how much courage the nobles of Ctesiphon and Baghdad will have left to resist once news of Haditha's fall reaches them.

Exile is naturally the worst option.

If he could win, Bahram would never have entertained such a thought. The Frankish's sudden, lightning-fast attack instilled immense fear in Bahram, who had previously held these barbarians in low regard.

He simply couldn't understand how the Franks managed to do it. Even if the enemy had dragons to help them and the spellcasters defending the city couldn't withstand them, how could they not even send back a message?

Seeing that Bahram seemed somewhat interested, Governor Ali became anxious.

Exiled to the north, what status could Ataberg of Jezira possibly have? Wouldn't his Ikta territory, mansion, workshops, and trading posts all become the property of the Franks?

"Your Majesty, you mustn't! If you truly believe Mustafa's nonsense, wouldn't that be tantamount to handing over legitimacy and righteousness to others?"

In his haste, he stopped using honorifics and called Mustafa by his first name.

"At least Saladin died for his country, fighting the infidels to the last moment under the walls of Damascus, so Ayyubid was still able to maintain his territory by virtue of the 'righteous cause of fighting the infidels'."

"The Abbastar region is now reduced to just the small part of Hazarbaijan. It used to be a relatively wealthy place thanks to the trade routes connecting the Caucasus and Persia, but now it is plagued by war, its commerce is in ruins, and all industries are declining. How can it possibly support a future counterattack?"

The Abaster region, the northern region of the Sasanian Empire, at its peak encompassed the Caucasus and Armenia, though these two areas have been lost for many years.

Bahram, after being told that, came to his senses: "General Ali, tell me the truth, if you were to lead Ctesiphon's army against the Franks, what are your chances of winning?"

Ali immediately revealed a confident expression: "Your Majesty, the enemy's vanguard is only a cavalry force of a few thousand men. With the cooperation of the court mages, I am absolutely certain of victory. Once we have swallowed up the enemy vanguard and the main Frankish force arrives, even if we are no match for them, we can still hold our ground and defend the city."

His voice was somewhat agitated: "Your subject does not know how the Franks crossed the vast desert and breached Lachba, but this must have restricted the enemy's troop deployment and logistical support. As long as the battle is dragged into a protracted war, sooner or later they will have to retreat due to running out of food."

Bahram's face lit up with surprise, and he was about to speak when Mustafa sneered, "General Ali, you speak too lightly. The Franks are renowned for their cavalry. Their vanguard of several thousand armored cavalrymen has been conquering cities and fortresses all the way, and no one can stop them. Their fighting power is unimaginable. How could they be so easily swallowed up?"

He glanced at the Grand Vizier with displeasure: "Alright, no need to say more. The Franks are indeed fierce, but if I don't even dare to fight them, wouldn't I be worse than Saladin? In the future, what face would I have to be the leader of the Zoroastrian world?"

"Let General Ali fight the enemy first."

He sat up straight, then hesitated and said, "But what the Grand Vizier said makes sense. General Ali, you must remember not to lose too many of your main forces when fighting the enemy's vanguard."

General Ali readily accepted the order.

Mustafa opened his mouth, but ultimately remained silent.

In fact, it's obvious to everyone that Bahram was already tempted by Mustafa's proposal, but he was too concerned about his reputation and had unrealistic fantasies about how things would develop—what if he won?

To shatter the myth of the Frankish emperor's invincibility! To prove himself stronger than that dead Saladin! For Bahram, this was like a honeyed dream, one that he could easily become immersed in just thinking about it.

Mustafa smiled with relief. He had done his best to plan for Bahram and had fulfilled the promise he made to the late king.

In fact, he never expected Bahram to agree. If Bahram had really had the courage, the country wouldn't have fallen to this state.

However, once the decision to fight is made, there is a need to reserve some strength and avoid being overly cautious.

In this situation, can Ali, who has never shown any military leadership skills before, really win?

Mustafa was filled with sorrow when he suddenly heard Bahram calling him softly from above. When he came to his senses, he realized that there was no one else in the hall.

"Cough cough."

Bahram coughed lightly, looking apologetic: "Grand Vizier, please don't blame me for offending you just now. It would be a disgrace to our ancestors if I fled without a fight. However, although I have decided to fight the Franks to the end, as you said, there is a certain gap in strength between the two sides. If we fail, we will have to consider planning a way out."

Mustafa gave a wry smile and had no choice but to agree.

Now, he had absolutely no confidence in Ali's ability to win this battle.

"Since Your Majesty is determined to fight, the evacuation must be carried out in secret. Otherwise, if it gets out, it will severely damage the morale of the army. Therefore, Your Majesty must carefully select a group of trustworthy confidants to follow me."

Bahram quickly replied, "Of course! We'll declare to the outside world that I swear to live and die with Ctesiphon! I will never allow this city, where the sacred fire burns eternally, to fall into the hands of infidels!"

At this time, Lothar was unaware that even the rare "escape faction" in the Sassanid court had been frightened out by him. He was currently leading the main force of the army to enter Lachbaburg.

The prisoners who were originally held in the castle have now been driven out and put into prison carts.

Lakhba's geographical location is crucial, and its land carrying capacity is limited. Keeping these people in Lakhba would be a waste of food to feed them, so it would be better to bring them all back to the rear.

Khosrul, Bahram's half-brother and a member of the Sassanid royal family who had already pledged allegiance to him, proposed to incorporate them into his royal guard, but Lothar rejected the offer.

The value of the oath of allegiance is beyond doubt. Lothar does not doubt the loyalty of the puppet Kusru to him, but he does doubt whether Kusru really has the ability to subdue these prisoners. In any case, he does not lack these vassal troops.

As Ariadnaberg said, maintaining such a large army on an expedition is a problem even for the current overseas empire. The enormous supply convoy is now slowly advancing along the river valley.

To support this eastern expedition, Lothar conscripted almost half of the pack animals from the Kingdom of Damascus and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, while Egypt, due to transportation difficulties and its dense population, only conscripted a quarter of them.

More than 50,000 laborers were used to maintain the supply lines.

This was all to support the expedition of 30,000 light and heavy infantry and 10,000 cavalry.

For the overseas empires, this eastern expedition, while not a full-scale national effort, was certainly a major undertaking.

Using it to deal with the Sassanids is clearly overkill.

But Lothar's real target was not the Sassanids, who had only half their territory left and whose main army, except for the Undead, had been mostly wiped out, but rather the steppe Khan in the East, who was even more deserving of the title "Conqueror of the World" than Alexander.

He rode on the Eclipse and gazed into the distance at the banners stretching to the horizon, like an endless, turbulent marching column.

A system notification sounded in my ear at just the right time.

You have begun an imperial-level campaign.

The objective of the campaign was to conquer the Mesopotamian plain and claim the entire territory of the Assyrian Empire.

Award: The Code of Hammurabi.

The Code of Hammurabi was a written law promulgated by Hammurabi, the sixth king of the ancient Babylonian kingdom. The ancient Babylonian and ancient Assyrian empires were of the same lineage and had a profound influence on each other, belonging to two regimes within the same civilization sphere.

At its peak, the Assyrian Empire encompassed Egypt, the Kingdom of Damascus, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the Fertile Crescent, a region comprised of the Mesopotamian plain.

It's not surprising that there would be such a reward; Lothar guessed it was an artifact representing "royal power" and "laws".

However, for Lothar now, the artifact is better than nothing.

The purple cloak behind him was billowed by the Mesopotamian evening wind, revealing a golden double-headed eagle on it and tassels embroidered with gold thread at the tail.

It's no wonder that the overseas empire was always called the "Southern Empire," and was regarded by the Tatars as a separatist regime that was integrated with the Eastern Empire.

Although the overseas empires retained many Frankish customs, their etiquette, legal codes, and administrative systems were more similar to those of the Eastern Empire. In particular, the double-headed eagle flag, which represented the African and Asian territories respectively, seemed to be made from the same mold.

Lothar withdrew his gaze from his army, and a golden light appeared before his eyes. Although he remained in the same place, his will suddenly crossed hundreds of kilometers and descended upon the distant city of Haditha.

The special ability of the Echo of the Decree tightly binds Lothar to every squire and class-transformed soldier, making them a cohesive whole.