Hadiseh. Having returned from clearing the battlefield, Jeanne listened to Lothar recount his recent experience with some confusion. "Will that really work?"
"I think it will."
"You just made a few threats, and the dignified King of Kings, leader of the Zoroastrian world, will simply hand Ctesiphon and Baghdad over to you, then obediently stay where he is and wait to surrender?"
Jeanne found it utterly absurd.
"Whether he flees into exile or makes a last stand, the outcome will be no different. The Sassanids have nearly played all their cards. They no longer have any right to remain at the table."
Seizing Baghdad and Ctesiphon, the twin centers of the Sasanian Dynasty, meant that the entire Mesopotamian Plain would soon fall into his hands. He had completed the final piece of the Fertile Crescent, and the Old Assyrian Empire at the height of its territorial glory would soon be restored in his hands.
"Rest for the night. At first light tomorrow, we march on Baghdad!"
Persian Plateau, Hamadan.
If the Zagros Mountains were the natural barrier separating the Persian Plateau from the Mesopotamian Plain, then Hamadan was the gateway controlling that barrier. Its strategic importance surpassed even Rahba, which had been captured by the Overseas Empire.
Alexandria, Cyrus, and many other Persian conquerors had all entered the Persian Plateau through this city.
Hamadan lay at the northwestern foot of the Zagros Mountains. The Diyala River, which originated here, surged downstream and joined the Tigris River and Euphrates River before emptying into the Persian Gulf through Basra.
Passing through Huwayzeh at the southern end of the Diyala River and proceeding upstream along the Tigris River, the road to Baghdad would be completely unobstructed. Nothing would remain capable of slowing the Tatar cavalry.
At that moment, beneath the walls of Hamadan,