I was the Queen of Persia

Page 54

With its high and sturdy walls, and the Samanid army's probing attack, progress was naturally slow.

Shahzani observed the battlefield and believed that the time to use a tactic had come. He ordered the vanguard of the attacking force to retreat to their camp and the entire army to pretend to be attacked from behind and create the illusion of a hasty retreat.

"The Samanid army is indeed a bunch of sheep that are easy to defeat."

The governor of Qushistan province of the Ghaznavid dynasty stood on the city wall, watching the "retreating" Saman army, feeling quite pleased with himself.

"Send the order! Assemble the army and pursue the Samanids!"

"Wait a minute," a voice interrupted.

The governor of Kushistan Province was surprised and looked in the direction of the sound, only to see a fully armed female officer from Ghaznavidy walking towards him.

She was clad in heavy chainmail, her helmet adorned with peacock feathers, and her armor bore the insignia of the elite Ghazniklam. Her attire strongly suggested she was an officer in Mahmoud's Ghulam Central Guard.

"Sergeant Rajana, why are you stopping my decision?" The governor of Kushistan Province asked, somewhat displeased.

“Please look, Your Excellency Hakim (Governor).

Rajana pointed to the Saman army's camp outside the city: "Although the Samans tried their best to pretend to be attacked and retreat, the wheel tracks and footprints they left behind were very neat, and their formation during the retreat was also very orderly. It is obvious that they were feigning defeat and trying to lure us into a trap."

"Oh?" Upon hearing these words, the governor of Kushistan Province became even more cautious and carefully observed the situation on the battlefield.

Sure enough, the traces left behind by the retreat were quite neat. Although at first glance it looked very much like a hasty retreat after an attack, if you looked at it more carefully, it was not difficult to find the "flaws".

“Yes, you’re absolutely right.” The governor of Qushistan Province finally agreed. “By God’s grace, it was thanks to your timely reminder that we would have fallen into Shahzani’s despicable trap.”

Therefore, an order was issued that all officers and soldiers should hold the city and were forbidden from leaving the city to pursue the enemy without authorization; those who disobeyed the order would be executed without mercy.

Now let's talk about the Samanid army.

Shahzani deployed his ambush forces, but after waiting for a long time, there was no sign of the Ghazni pursuers.

She sensed something was amiss, so she sent scouts to investigate in secret. They discovered that the Ghaznavid army was still holding firm on the city walls and showed no intention of pursuing them.

"Damn it, the Ghazni army actually saw through our plan." Shahzani frowned slightly.

"Your Majesty, should we continue with this feigned retreat?" the advisor beside her asked.

Time is of the essence, and the situation on the battlefield can change in an instant. Any hesitation could lead to the loss of a precious opportunity.

A choice must be made as soon as possible.

"No need."

After a quick thought, Shahzani rejected the idea, saying, "The enemy has already seen through our intentions. Pretending to retreat will be useless. Order the entire army to advance and attack Hain."

Under the Queen's orders, the Samanid army returned to base.

She also considered bypassing the city and attacking the next target directly, but after careful consideration, she decided that this was not feasible. This was because Hain City was strategically located on a major transportation route, offering both offensive and defensive advantages; abandoning it would be a potential threat.

Even if the city walls are strong, they must be breached by force; only in this way can the subsequent attack proceed smoothly.

……

Under Shahzani's command, the Samanid army once again arrayed itself to besiege the city. This time, the Queen abandoned the tactic of luring the enemy out of the city, and instead focused on building siege equipment, digging trenches, and launching a full-scale assault.

The Qin artisan battalion accompanying the army was highly efficient, and quickly produced siege weapons such as siege ladders, catapults, and battering rams, as well as a large number of thick wooden shields for protection against arrows. The siege trenches were also quickly extended to the vicinity of the city walls.

The fierce battle to break through the enemy lines has begun again.

Arrows rained down like locusts, blotting out the sky; rolling logs and boulders roared down, and blood and flesh flew everywhere, the sounds of battle shook the heavens, and cries of agony filled the air.

Although the Samanid soldiers were brave and fearless, the Ghaznavid soldiers fought tenaciously, using the city's defensive advantages to continuously repel and kill the attacking Samanid soldiers.

Rajana's personally led Ghulam Legion offered particularly resolute resistance. This Ghulam force, mainly composed of Ghurs, Haraj Turks, and Indians, was originally a trusted slave force of King Mahmud. The Ghaznavid court stationed them in the capitals of local provinces to counterbalance the powerful regional officials and vassal lords.

Now, they serve as the most resolute force defending the city.

"Ghazneh warriors! Hold on!"

"Quickly throw rolling logs and stones to crush those Saman soldiers!"

"Send a regiment to reinforce the western city wall! Quickly!"

Rajana brandished her sword, running back and forth between the various defensive positions, loudly directing the battle. Inspired by her, the Ghaznaean soldiers defending the city fought with even greater courage, repeatedly repelling the Samanid forces' attacks.

The blood-red sunset gradually disappeared behind the distant mountains.

After a day of fierce fighting, the Samanid army had suffered considerable losses but was still unable to break through the defenses.

This won't do. If we keep stubbornly attacking like this, not only will we suffer more casualties, but if Ghaznavid reinforcements arrive and attack from the inside, we'll likely find ourselves in a very passive situation. We'll have to come up with a different strategy.

Shahzani thought to herself.

"Order the Qin artisans to cut off the city's water supply. Order the soldiers to reduce the intensity of the siege, sending only a small number of troops to probe the city at a time. Archers and catapults should continue to bombard the city to distract the defending enemy," Shahzani said to her staff and advisors.

Although we do not want to adopt a long-term siege tactic, it seems that this city cannot be captured in the short term, and we must be prepared for a tough battle ahead.

Shahzani now felt some regret: the overwhelming victories of the early stages had led her to underestimate the city's defenders' resolve to resist. Although she was a calm and cautious person, the initial brilliant victories had inevitably instilled in her a degree of pride and complacency.

Now the troops are advancing rapidly, and the Ghaznavid dynasty controls all around. Her troops are like a "protrusion" in Ghaznavid territory. Once the Ghaznavid army reacts and gathers to encircle them, the situation will become very passive.

However, this move is already made, and any regrets will be futile. The most important thing now is to stay calm, find a solution, and strive to turn the tide.

She planned to first cut off the city's underground water supply system—Hain's water source was mainly supplied by several wells outside the city, and controlling these wells would pose a threat to the defenders.

Chapter 120 Stalemate Between Attack and Defense

Shahzani ordered the Qin artisans to build interception works, and also mobilized more than 50,000 able-bodied men and women from nearby towns and villages to assist the engineering troops in building various war preparations and large gravity catapults for sieges.

Thanks to her highly efficient mobilization system, surrounding cities and towns could supply the army with considerable manpower and supplies every day, ensuring that her army could continue fighting.

Of course, she was a monarch who took only what she could, so she kept the mobilization of manpower and resources from the surrounding areas within certain limits and did not make unrestrained demands in order to continue to gain the support of the people.

In terms of combat, she divided her ranged forces, which were suppressing the enemy troops on the city walls, into three echelons. The first echelon suppressed the enemy troops in the morning; the second echelon suppressed the enemy troops in the afternoon; and the third echelon suppressed the enemy troops in the evening. However, she only suppressed the enemy without attacking, using a strategy of attrition to exhaust and deplete the defensive forces of the Ghazni army.

For the next few days, the Samanid army followed this procedure, gradually wearing down the Ghaznavid defenders.

only.

Rajana, the Ghaznaean female officer defending the city, was not one to simply surrender.

After discerning Shahzani's intentions, she frequently led small groups of elite cavalry out of the city at night to harass the Samanid army by attacking their engineers and laborers, thus delaying or even disrupting Shahzani's plans.

Despite the presence of the elite Shaher Women's Guard, even the best-laid plans can have flaws. Furthermore, by the time the Shaher Women's Guard received the warning signal and arrived at the battlefield, the Ghazni attackers had already fled.

This tactic greatly slowed down the Samanid army's advance.

……

The blood-red sunset sinks into the distance—behind the Garn Mountains—marking the end of the day.

The battle report for the day was then compiled and sent to Shahzani.

Shahzani sat alone in the sixteen-pillared military tent, reading documents. Female slaves from Ghur and Armenia stood by her side, while a company of the fully armored Shahzani female guards stood guard around the tent.

The advance was still very limited, and as the battle entered a stalemate, the daily consumption of resources such as food, arrows, stones, and naphtha was increasing day by day, and the casualties of the army were also increasing.

As Shahzani looked at the battle report, her beautiful eyebrows furrowed slightly. She kept drinking the rose syrup poured by the female slave, pondering a strategy—she loved this Persian beverage, especially when she was deep in thought.

The glistening red beverage was poured into the glass cups and then drunk down the throats of the red lips.

After each cup, I feel all my fatigue swept away by an invisible magic, and then I can handle the complicated and trivial military and political affairs with renewed energy.

at this time.

Another Nassak came with a messenger and presented the Queen with a war report from Herat.

Upon hearing that the letter was sent by Herat, Shahzani guessed it was a report of the battle between Khorshid and Mahmud's armies, and quickly opened it to read. However, the contents of the letter, like the cold water melting from the snow on Mount Alborz, unexpectedly poured over her heart:

"...Mahmoud's army launched a fierce offensive. Khorshid fought bitterly for several days but could not hold out and was forced to abandon Herat and retreat towards Tus, the capital of Khorasan (northwest direction). He is currently planning to join forces with Nasita's reinforcements and fight Mahmoud again..."

The fall of Herat means that the Khorasan province is under even greater threat, and Mahmoud will seize the opportunity to reclaim his lost gains, and may even advance to the Amu Darya River, threatening the Transoxiana region.

"No! This absolutely cannot be allowed to happen!" Shahzani thought to herself.

At this moment, she deeply regretted that if she had adopted a more prudent tactic, such as gathering superior forces with Nasita and Halshid to first seek a decisive battle with Mahmoud, destroy his manpower, and then slowly conquer cities and territories, she probably wouldn't have been in such a passive position.

But the game has already progressed this far, and there's no use in regretting it now. The only way forward is to concentrate our wisdom and strength to defeat the Ghaznavid army stationed in Hain as soon as possible, before we can proceed with our next plan.

It is late at night.

After handling the necessary matters, Shahzani, with some anxiety and worry, prepared to go to bed. As the supreme commander of the army, she needed to get enough rest to better direct the battle.

This year was unusual; even though it was already Mehr month, the air remained hot and dry, making her toss and turn. So she took off all her clothes, leaving only her briefs, in an attempt to combat the oppressive heat.

At the same time, a strong urge to urinate came again, forcing her to get up and relieve herself. However, she soon lay back down, only to feel the urge again... and so on.

"Damn it, I should have known better than to drink so many beverages before bed," Shahzani muttered to herself.

The stalemate in the battle, the dry and sweltering weather, and the constant urge to urinate... all these negative effects made it extremely difficult for Shahzani to fall asleep.

She took out Faruh Nakshbandi's erotic paintings, and slowly caressed her clitoris with her hand, rubbing and shaking it rapidly. A tingling pleasure immediately spread from her lower abdomen, and the seeping nectar soaked her panties, leaving alluring marks... Only when the fire of desire within her was completely released did she comfortably tilt her head back and moan a few times before slowly drifting off to sleep.

suddenly.

"Enemy attack! Alert!" came urgent shouts from outside the tent.

Shahzani jumped up from the couch, grabbed the warhammer from the weapon rack, and rushed out wearing only a pair of wet briefs, without even putting on clothes or armor.

Just then, a female officer from the Shahr Guard came running towards them.

"what's going on?"

"Your Majesty, the Ghaznavids have launched a surprise attack on the Qin artisan camp!"

"Quickly! Organize troops and go to provide support!"

After speaking, Shahzani instantly mounted her warhorse and commanded the Shahr Guard, who were also on high alert. Because she rode into battle without armor, the scene on the battlefield became extremely incongruous: "the horse is armored, but the rider is naked."

But no matter how incongruous the scene was, it couldn't affect the Queen's powerful fighting ability.

The naked Queen commanded her armored cavalry and guided a large contingent of reinforcements to the site where the Qin artisans were constructing their project.

Using the distant campfire as a reference, Shahzani could clearly see that the Ghazni cavalry were forming a circular formation, continuously scattering arrows around the Qin camp.

Although the Qin artisans were surrounded, they did not surrender and await their fate. Instead, they connected and encircled their chariots and equipment to form a simple defensive line, and from behind, they tenaciously resisted the Ghaznavid cavalry.

To Shahzani's slight surprise, her Qin troops seemed to have developed a special weapon. This weapon, similar to a large crossbow, was more flexible, could be adjusted in direction at will, and could fire arrows continuously.

Chapter 121 Breakthrough

Through timely self-defense measures, the Qin craftsmen temporarily repelled the Ghaznavid cavalry's attack and kept them outside the fortifications. However, they were not professional warriors after all, and under the enemy's relentless harassment with mounted archers, they would eventually expose fatal weaknesses.

The situation waits for no one.

Shahzani immediately led his elite Shahr heavy cavalry in a charge into the Ghazni cavalry's circular formation, successfully severing communication between the Ghazni troops and disrupting their battle plan.

The Qin craftsmen, who had built fortifications to protect themselves, were greatly encouraged by the arrival of reinforcements. They doubled their efforts to use repeating crossbows to fire in short bursts, coordinating with the frontal offensive of the Shaher Women's Guard.

The Ghaznean cavalry commander, who had thought victory was within his grasp and was even planning to take more heads to claim a reward from General Rajana, was instead met with a series of tough resistance, leaving him in a passive situation where he was attacked from both sides and suffered heavy casualties among his soldiers.

"Damn it! Retreat!"

After his attempt to steal a chicken backfired, the Ghazni commander hastily gathered his forces and, before the Samanid army could close the encirclement, slunk away.

Only dozens of human and horse corpses remained, along with dozens of wounded soldiers lying on the ground groaning in pain, and dozens of prisoners of war who failed to escape in time and were captured on the spot by the powerful lassoes of the female guards of Shaher.

"Clean up the battlefield. Let the Nassak interrogate the prisoners of war. As for these wounded Ghazni soldiers, let the army doctors treat their wounds before interrogating them," Shahzani ordered.

The Samanian officers respectfully accepted the order and left.

Back in the command tent, Shahzani summoned the two commanders of the Qin army camp—acting commander Liu Wenyuan and his deputy Mo Yuxuan.

Shahzani hastily put on a light blouse. Although she didn't mind showing off her strong and beautiful body, she still needed to cover herself up a bit when meeting her subordinates.

Of course, the thin clothing could not completely conceal her beautiful curves, especially her full breasts, the alluring triangular red mound below her waist, and her bare jade feet, which seemed to be about to burst out, making the two boys opposite her both happy and afraid, and dare not look up.

What's delightful is that a stunningly beautiful woman is right before your eyes; what's terrifying is that this beautiful woman is a monarch who could take someone's head at any moment.

Mixed with these complex feelings, Liu Wenyuan and Mo Yuxuan lowered their heads, their cheeks flushed, trying their best to control their heavy breathing, while occasionally stealing glances at each other out of the corner of their eyes.

"Ahem." Shahzani cleared her throat. "There's no one else here. If you want to look, then look all you want."

Upon hearing this, the two men immediately broke out in a cold sweat and knelt down, pleading, "We deserve to die! How dare we peek at Her Majesty the Queen's body?!"

"Alright, alright." Shahzani waved for them to stand up. "You've all done a good job, what crime have you committed? There are only the three of us here, no need to be so formal. Get up quickly."

The two Qin youths were slightly relieved and stood up from the carpet, their handsome faces still flushed with a mixture of trepidation, embarrassment, and shyness.

Seeing this, Shahzani chuckled inwardly, thinking that these Qin youths were really inexperienced and needed the guidance of experienced Persian women to "mature" while outwardly presenting the rewards in a serious manner.

“Liu Wenyuan, you did a great job defending yourself against the Ghaznavid army’s sneak attack. Moreover, you previously helped our country establish the imperial examination system, which was a great contribution. For this, you deserve a generous reward.” Shahzani said, and then rewarded him with money, fine clothes, and a gold belt symbolizing status.