OBS Chapter 956 Surrender of the City, Takeover
Chapter 956 Surrender of the City, Takeover
Chapter 956 Surrender of the City, Takeover
As one of the few major cities in the world today that can rival Constantinople, Cairo, and even the ancient cities of Suzhou and Hangzhou in the far East.
Baghdad's population may not be as exaggerated as the "million" that Maqiha mentioned, but if you include Ctesiphon, which is almost a unified city, it is not far from that number.
With the current military strength at Lothar's disposal, it would be no easy task to bring such a huge city, or rather a cluster of cities, under his rule in the short term.
The advance of the vanguard of 6,000 troops was like a stream flowing into the sea.
If Lothar were to rely on garrison troops to stabilize the situation, he would not be able to spare any mobile forces to fight the Tatars in the field. Just guarding Baghdad and Ctesiphon would be enough to exhaust his forces.
Unless he is willing to emulate the historical Tatars, raise his sword, and burn this city, a treasure of civilization, to the ground, slaughtering hundreds of thousands of people, all covert resistance will naturally vanish.
But that's obviously impossible.
Therefore, cooperating with the locals became the only option.
Machiha said solemnly, “Your Majesty, the fact that I am able to come before you is due to the compromise made by the heretical nobles in the city. Otherwise, I would already be hanging on the city wall for all to see.”
"Didn't King Bahram of the Sassanids give you any instructions?"
If not, he felt he should really start to look at this King of Kings, whom he had always looked down upon, with new respect.
"Since the Sassanid king withdrew all his immortals back to Ctesiphon, he has had no control over the city. However, I have heard that the Sassanid king does not seem to want Baghdad to continue resisting."
Lothar couldn't help but frown. By that logic, the Sassanid king wasn't that important after all.
He couldn't help but recall the message sent back by the Shadow of Darkness. In comparison, the so-called treacherous minister, Mustafa, the powerful minister of the Sassanid dynasty, was perhaps more important.
"How many people want to surrender, and how many want to resist to the bitter end?"
“No prominent figure in the city wants to put up a fight. Your Majesty, the reason the Baghdad people haven’t opened the gates is simply because they are busy dividing up their responsibilities.”
"The few die-hards are also weak and dare not confront your army head-on."
Lothar nodded slightly. He understood what Machiha meant; a change of power would inevitably lead to the loss of interests.
The people of Baghdad had to cut flesh from their own bodies to feed Lothar and his soldiers; too much would be painful, too little would risk angering the Frankish emperor.
So here's the question—is it okay to take someone else's flesh?
Or, if others take more, you can take less?
"Tell the Baghdad people for me that I don't have much time to wait here for them to reach a conclusion. I'm only giving them one morning. Once that time is up, my dragons and army will launch their attack on time."
Compared to the indifference of the Sassanid rulers and their ministers, Losar paid much more attention to the news that the Tatars had captured Hamadan without suffering any losses and were about to enter Mesopotamia along the Diyala River.
He had no time to waste any longer; before the Tatars arrived, he needed to seize control of Ctesiphon and Baghdad, making them his logistical bases.
Machiha went back.
Baghdad's gates were soon reopened, and trembling laborers carried large quantities of bread, wine, and meat to the army as a gesture of goodwill and to appease the brutal Frankish barbarians.
This metropolis, renowned for its wealth, was home to countless wealthy merchants and nobles.
Like the nobles of Jerusalem, they did not stay in their own territories but chose to live in large cities like Baghdad, which thus amassed endless wealth.
At noon, the city gates remained tightly closed.
Inside the tent, Lothar finished a whole pot of hand-pulled mutton in front of him and drank a whole jug of wine before saying, "It seems the discussion in the city is getting a bit too heated. We need to urge them on."
The three-headed dragon, lying on the sand dunes, was lazily basking in the sun.
The Baghdads sent to entertain the troops also made sure to fill its belly; hundreds of slaughtered cattle and sheep were eaten, and its two "wives" lying beside it also got a good meal.
They don't usually get this kind of treatment; they're always driven by Lothar to hunt for themselves in the sea.
But at that moment, the arrogant dragon suddenly seemed to have sparks flying from its rear end, and abruptly got up from the ground.
"Hey, what's the rush?"
Still somewhat bewildered, the Fire Dragon Head looked at his excited "brothers" beside him.
Lothar's order had arrived, but Ladon's lazy nature always led him to delay.
"The boss made a promise: if I do well on this mission, he'll give me a chance to go to the Frozen Crown."
The Venomous Dragon Head and the Obsidian Dragon of the Frozen Crown fell in love at first sight. Normally, it wouldn't even give a second glance to its two mates. But seeing that both of its brothers had found their own partners, how could it not feel anxious?
The Fire Dragon Chief sighed helplessly at his brother: "We even have dragon eggs, and you're still thinking about that stone girl."
The cursed dragon head sneered and mocked, "That obsidian dragon is obviously also arrogant. If she were to choose, she would choose a majestic dragon king like the leader. You should save your breath."
The venomous dragon head was quite dissatisfied: "Are we brothers, true dragons, inferior to the Dragon King's bloodline? You just wait, once I win the heart of my beauty, you'll all be envious."
Despite its usual laziness, it suddenly took control of its body as it spoke, flapping its wings and flying into the air.
Its enormous dragon body, which was over a hundred meters long, was much thinner than Lothar's true dragon body, but when it spread its wings, it still had a terrifying sense of oppression that covered the sky and the sun.
The three heads simultaneously opened their terrifying maws, filled with gleaming white fangs, and unleashed a deafening roar.
hold head high--
The melodious roar seemed to tear at people's eardrums, and the Cloud-Shielding Wings cast a vast expanse of dark shadows in the sky.
The Baghdad nobles, still arguing, suddenly realized what had happened, as if they had been slapped in the face.
Or rather, they had long realized that the time had come, but they all selectively ignored it. These high-ranking figures represented the major powers in Baghdad.
They unanimously agreed that the Franks preferred a complete Mesopotamian treasure to a pile of rubble and ruins.
"Damn it, the deadline set by the Franks has arrived!"
"I refuse to believe it would actually dare to let the dragon burn Baghdad to the ground! Cairo, Damascus, Aleppo—which of these major cities has it destroyed?"
"That's right, if the Franks want complete Baghdad, they have to learn to respect our opinions!"
"You bunch of idiots with short noses and dung-like brains, do you want to just stand by and watch the great Baghdad be destroyed by the flames of the dragon? When will you realize that we have no right to gamble! Even His Majesty the Emperor has resigned himself to his fate, so what are you struggling for?"
“Bishop Macchiato, could you please step in and plead with the Frankish emperor to give us a little more time?”
Looking at these usually arrogant and haughty bigwigs now bowing and scraping, Machiha couldn't help but sneer: "To refuse His Majesty the Emperor a visit is already a great offense to the people of Baghdad. I hope you will not make another mistake!"
"Machiha! Whose side are you on? Have you forgotten how you Nestorian Christians were persecuted by the Empire? It was the Sassanids who accepted you; you should learn to be grateful!"
Machiha crossed his arms and sneered, "Instead of bringing up old grievances, we should think about how to extinguish His Majesty the Emperor's anger."
He walked straight into the courtyard and immediately saw the three-headed dragon randomly select a huge stone mansion. Then, three terrifying dragon flames enveloped the mansion. In just a moment, the giant mansion disappeared without a trace, and even the stone had melted into lava.
One of the business representatives at the meeting let out a scream of alarm and anger: "Damn it, that's my house!"
After he finished speaking, he felt everything go black and collapsed to the ground.
The remaining nobles, their faces ashen, hurriedly said, "Quickly, send men to open the city gates! Regardless of our internal arrangements, please invite His Majesty the Emperor into his loyal Baghdad!"
"Yes, that's right, please invite His Majesty the Emperor in first!"
With just three dragon flames, Lothar was transformed in the mouths of these Baghdad nobles from a "heretical demon king who eats people without spitting out bones" to "His Majesty the Emperor".