On November 5th, the Persian Empire finally responded to Great Xia's ultimatum.
The king of Persia claimed that if Great Xia was willing to pay a ransom, the Persian Empire would be happy to send the Ogedei tribe back to Great Xia to maintain their friendship.
"The specific ransom can be discussed," said the king of Persia.
The king of Persia was an extremely intelligent man. He was not really greedy for the ransom, but he wanted to use it to shut the mouths of those who opposed him within the empire.
In this way, the Persian Empire would not only send out a hot potato, but also maintain the internal stability of the empire.
It was the best of both worlds!
In order to get Great Xia to agree, the king of Persia claimed that the ransom could be discussed.
In fact, under such circumstances, even if Great Xia did not give a single cent, the king of Persia would be happy.
Ouyang Shuo considered the conditions proposed by the king of Persia and chose to accept. Firstly, the Ogedei tribe had always been a sore point for Wang Jian, the commander-in-chief of the West Asia Theatre. The earlier it was settled, the better for Wang Jian to get into the groove.
Secondly, Ouyang Shuo did not really plan to declare war on the Persian Empire in the coming spring.
The highlight of Great Xia next year should be the Indian District. Only after conquering India would the empire have the energy to continue westward. The strength of the West Asia Theatre and the South Asia Theatre was not enough to support a two-front war.
At this time, agreeing to ransom the prisoners of war could confuse the Persian Empire.
In short, both sides had their own plans, and it all depended on who would win in the end.
…
November 20th, the border of the Xijiang Province, Nancheng Pass.
Great Xia had two passes at the border of the Xijiang Province, one in the south and one in the north. The northern pass was called the Beita Pass, and the southern pass was called the Nancheng Pass. Together, they guarded the border.
These two passes were also the only two passageways from Great Xia to the Persian Empire. Outside the two passes were basically mountains and precipitous ridges that were difficult to cross, let alone march.
This showed the strategic position of the two passes.
Among the two passes, the Nancheng Pass was the most important as it led directly to the hinterland of the Persian Empire.
A year ago, when Ogedei led his troops to retreat, they passed through this pass. Even earlier, when the Mongolian army marched west, they also passed through this pass.
The automatically generated pass had mottled walls that had accumulated the traces of time and witnessed countless historical moments.
The core army of the West Asian Theater of Operations — the First Legion of the Flying Bear Army, the true trump card of the West Asian Theater of Operations, was stationed at the South Gate, while the Second Legion of the Flying Bear Army was stationed at the North Tower Pass.
The remaining three legions were also stationed outside the two passes.
In the early morning, the cold wind was biting cold.
The bone-chilling cold pervaded the air, and the breath exhaled immediately turned into white mist, rising into the air.
At the top of the southern city wall, teams of soldiers stood tall and straight, braving the bitter cold. They were like statues, loyally guarding the borders of the empire. Their thick black iron armor was already covered with a layer of white frost.
Only their resolute eyes showed that they were still alive.
Right at this moment, a wave of heavy footsteps came from the top of the city wall. Walking at the front of the group was a middle-aged general in military attire. His expression was firm and his face was sharp as a knife.
His pair of triangular eyes were especially spirited.
"General!"
Along the way, all the soldiers saluted.
The newcomer was none other than the commander of the southwest warzone, the great general of the empire, Divine General Wang Jian.
As early as yesterday afternoon, Wang Jian had arrived at the Southern City Pass under the protection of his personal guards. This time, he was appointed by the imperial court to receive the Okodai Tribe at the border of the Persian Empire.
Last night, Wang Jian suffered a rare insomnia.
After a year, the grudge between him and Okodai had finally come to an end.
Wang Jian was deeply moved by His Majesty's sympathy.
Standing on the city wall, Wang Jian gazed at the undulating mountain range and the winding mountain path within the mountain range. His eyes were distant, and no one knew what he was thinking.
When the surrounding soldiers saw this, they all held their breaths, not daring to disturb the general's contemplation.
In the next hour, Wang Jian stood in the cold wind, not moving at all. Like the surrounding guards, he seemed to have turned into a statue, guarding the borders for the empire.
Wang Jian had always been thinking about when he could command the army out of the Southern City Pass, pass through the mountain range, and kill his way into the heart of the Persian Empire. On the battlefield, he would once again make great contributions.
In history, Wang Jian had never done an expedition to the foreign lands.
He really wanted to do it, to spread the name of Huaxia and Great Xia's might in the foreign lands.
Around nine in the morning, on the mountain path in front of the pass, the rumbling of horse hooves suddenly echoed in the valley. It was impossible not to hear it even if one didn't want to.
"General, they're here!" The personal guard captain came forward to remind him.
Wang Jian nodded. He saw the Persian Empire's army marching majestically on the official road, kicking up a cloud of dust.
As the troops moved forward, Okodai's tribe, including Okodai himself, were all tied up with a long rope. They walked in the middle of the troops, all of them dejected and pale.
When they fled to the Persian Empire, Okodai's tribe had a total of two hundred thousand people.
In just a year, they had died in battle, starved to death, or some other reason, but Okodai's tribe was left with less than one hundred and fifty thousand people.
It could be seen that they did not have a good time in the Persian Empire.
Many of the soldiers had long regretted it. If they had known this would be the result, they would have surrendered to Great Xia. At least they could have reunited with their families.
Not only were they drifting in the foreign lands, they were also being bullied and humiliated.
To be honest, most of the soldiers were not sad about being sent back. It was too precious to be able to return to their homeland and see their loved ones again in their remaining years.
Of course, Okodai was not among the happy ones.
Okodai was very clear about the fate that awaited him after being sent back to Great Xia. The best outcome would be imprisonment until death.
Speaking of which, Okodai was also resentful.
He really could not understand how the Persian Empire could be so 'useless'. Just based on Great Xia's ultimatum, they would gladly hand them over.
There was no hesitation at all.
If he had known earlier, he would not have surrendered to the Persian Empire.
Okodai did not know that the reason the Persian King was willing to accept Okodai's tribe was not because he liked them, but because he wanted to smoothly reclaim the cities that the Mongolian Empire had captured.
As for Okodai's tribe?
The Persian people did not forget that it was them who had led the Western Expedition and caused a massacre at the Persian border. How could the Persians forget such a deep blood feud?
Precisely because of this, after Okodai's tribe surrendered, there was no need for the Persian King's instructions. Naturally, there were people who dealt with them, and they became more and more unscrupulous.
First, the soldiers' pay was deducted, followed by their rations, and finally, they were separated and "imprisoned".
After that, when Okodai's tribe became a group of sick cats, they would directly rush into the military camp and brazenly take revenge. Their methods were ruthless.
More than seventy percent of the fifty thousand people who died in battle died this way.
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