Shahin then regrouped with Shahrbaraz, shadowing Heraclius through Armenia in an inconclusive campaign for the remainder of that year. In 626 Khosrau ordered an exceptional levy of troops from across his empire to revive the faltering war effort. Shahin was put in charge of these new recruits, called the New Army, together with a large number of veterans, and sent against Heraclius, but was heavily defeated by the emperor's brother Theodore. The dejected Shahin fell ill and Khosrau, enraged at Shahin's failure, mistreated the general's corpse, which had been sent to him preserved in salt.
