Damghan, a major city in northeastern Persia.
Agha Mohammad watched as the executioners put the kneeling rebel soldiers to death one by one. The scent of blood drifted over on the breeze, and he narrowed his eyes in pleasure.
More than two thousand corpses had already been laid out in neat rows on the wasteland outside the city, while nearly a thousand more people would soon die beside them.
They were all remnants of Shahrokh's faction.
Once they were dead, there would no longer be any trace of the Afsharid Dynasty anywhere in the Persian Empire, and no one would dare question whether he, Agha Mohammad, was the true "Shahanshah"!
At the same time, this campaign to suppress the Rebellion had intimidated every tribe in Khorasan. It allowed him to recruit three to four thousand Turkmen Cavalry from among them.
Bearing the momentum of this great victory and leading an even stronger army, he would return to Tabriz and fight Russia in a decisive battle.
This time, he would not let his guard down and give the Russian Army an opportunity to ambush him. The Caucasian region would surely return to Persia's grasp.
As the executions neared their end, an officer, drenched in cold sweat, edged over to Agha Mohammad's side. After saluting, he lowered his head and said, "Great Shah, General Halil requests reinforcements! The Russians have attacked Tabriz! The situation there is hanging by a thread..."
One week later.
More than ten thousand Persian soldiers passed through Tehran, hurrying west toward the Tabriz fortress.
Agha Mohammad turned to look at the spires within the city, his eyes filled with icy coldness.
He had originally intended to return to Tehran first and preside over the ceremony to relocate the capital, then head to the West Line to fight. He