Ali Quli Khan and 4500 soldiers arrived in Kartli after one month.Ali Quli took 5 cannons to Kartli according to Mohammad Khodabanda's written order.Shah's advisor-Reza handed this written command over to Ali Quli.Simon,as the commander-in-chief of the army started to train all the soldiers in archery,swordsmanship and horseriding.Back then,the assassination of 4500 soldiers really scared 500 Iranians and they even were afraid of Simon's gaze.This military preparation continued untill the end of winter of 1579.In March of 1579,Simon aimed to get Tbilisi(Capital of kingdom of Kartli) back.He had been divising the perfect plan with his 100 Georgians inside his tent.He had been doing this for several days.One day,at dawn,after he and his compatriots were done devising,Simon came out from his tent and summoned the entire army aloud:
-Gather right here,right away!Quickly!I have something significant to tell you.
The entire army of 5100 soldiers gathered in front of Simon.The commander-in-chief initiated talking to them:
-My soldiers!Right now,I will share you the perfect plan to defeat the Ottomans and get Tbilisi back.We will march to Tbilisi stronghold tomorrow at dawn and siege it.While sieging,we will close every exit from that fortress.No Ottoman janissary won't ever be able to come out.We have to catch every janissary that strives to get away,do you understand?
-Yes,commander-in-chief!-All the soldiers responded to Simon together.
-Now,let's eat breakfast and immediately start our daily military training.
There was not much food for the soldiers due to Ottoman raids in several Georgian villages.Ottomans used to snatch Georgians' harvest away from them and take it to Tbilisi fortress in order to feed themselves and other Ottoman janissaries.So,Georgian commoners were almost left with nothing,let alone Simon's family members.At that time,Simon got 3 Georgian villages back from Ottomans through battles.After freeing those villages from the Ottomans,Simon humbly asked villagers to provide his army with whatever they had.The villagers were aware of Simon's tactics and they knew,that despite that Simon's army consisted of 5000 Iranians and only 100 Georgians,he made Iranians obey his orders and interests by force.The villagers gave Simon's 100 Georgians(These were given the task of meeting the villagers the day before and get enough provisions for the army) boiled and fried chicken,Shoti(Traditional Georgian bread),Churchkhelas(Traditional Georgian candys made of boiled water,grape juice,wheat flour and nuts).
Simon and his army had been training untill midnight.At midnight,Simon ordered soldiers to sleep inside the tents and get up at dawn.All of them bowed him their heads in front of him and went to their tents.