"Goodbye, Commander Vulture." Odo saluted Vulture with a smile, "Sorry, I have to go to Armenia to join the war first."

Vulture smiled bitterly and shook his head, returning the greeting while saying: "Well, when we get there, you have to kill a few more Tianjuan generals for me."

"Of course. If you don't mind the dirtiness, I will pickle their heads and use them as decorations for your room." Oddo said with a laugh.

"No, you are disgusting me, not decorating." Vulture patted Oddo's shoulder, "Don't worry, I'm here, and behind me, there is Epicurus' division."

"Of course I feel relieved. With you here, I feel very at ease." Odo smiled and punched Vulture lightly on his left shoulder. "Long live Assyria."

"Long live Assyria." Vulture nodded heavily.

…

"Your Majesty, this is an urgent report from the Ministry of War." The female official who hurried in, saluted, and presented a sealed memorial to Helen.

"What urgent news is coming at this time?" Helen shook her head and took it. She opened it and took a quick look at it. Her expression suddenly became serious.

The content of the memorial was simple - the Assyrian army had blocked all landing points, and except for the fleet transporting guns that had to turn back, they had also lost contact with Menia.

"Asshole..." Helen squeezed out the word from between her teeth, and then she couldn't help but worry.

Without this batch of hastily made muskets, Hatra would have lost its chance of winning and would have been in greater danger. The inability to communicate with Menia meant that Hatra had become a completely isolated army. An isolated army surrounded by enemies, no matter how tough it was, would eventually be worn out.

I hope you can win... or... Helen suddenly had a bold idea. After a slight hesitation, she gritted her teeth and said to the female official standing beside her: "Go to the Duke of Childe's Mansion immediately and ask him to come to the palace to see me immediately."

The full name of this Duke of Childe is Childe Avram. He is the backbone of the Avram family and the first person in charge of the Ministry of War.

After the female official agreed and left, Helen's heartbeat suddenly quickened. After suppressing it, she stood up and walked to the left wall, looking up at the map of the continent hanging on the wall...

…

"When is the high priest ready to set off?" Mikoyan asked, bowing.

"I've already notified the Parliament and the Government Office in the next few days." Wu Lai said as he fiddled with a pot of green plants. "You have to take good care of these small pots for me. Look at me. Apart from fiddling with them and fighting, I have no other fun at all."

"Don't worry, High Priest." Mikoyan nodded quickly. What Wu Lai said just now was not an exaggeration. He was the lord, the high priest, and the speaker. Although he repeatedly stated that the lord was just a figurehead, the high priest had no power, and the speaker was an empty title, no one dared to take these words seriously. Reports and requests for instructions on the development of various military, political, and civilian work in the territory piled up on Wu Lai's desk every day, so that Wu Lai had to spend a lot of time every day to read them all, and he had to go to the Administrative College and West Point Military Academy for classes every few days...

As a result, even sitting down and having a drink was a rare enjoyment for Wu Lai, not to mention anything else.

"In terms of ethnic affairs, the government has done a good job. I have also seen in the past few days that in addition to the Assyrians, there are also Hurrians and Kimos who come to the temple to worship the two gods. You must give orders that all clergy must treat them equally." Wu Lai said, "Tell them that we are all God's people, there is no difference."

"Yes." Mikoyan agreed hurriedly. On the evening of the day before yesterday, it was true that the temple staff had despised the Hulit worshippers. However, that person was not a clergyman, but a painter hired by the temple to paint murals.

"And you, you are old now, you should work less and take more rest." Wu Lai stood up with a smile, "You still have so many people under you, let them do the work, and you just need to be responsible for the direction and supervision."

Mikoyan felt warm in his heart: "Thank you for your concern, High Priest. I will do my best according to your instructions."

"That's good." Wu Lai nodded with a smile, and glanced around, "By the way, did you see where Meng Bao is?"

"Probably went to the Lion Park again." Mikoyan answered uncertainly.

Wu Lai was stunned. The Lion Park should actually be called a zoo. After Wu Lai banned the cruel sport of gladiatorial combat, all the lions, black bears, and hyenas used for gladiatorial combat in Assyria were confiscated. Considering the hidden dangers of killing them and releasing them, Wu Lai simply had the original second arena turned into a zoo, and raised the hundreds of animals that originally fought in the killing field for people to visit. Because the lions were the largest in number, everyone habitually called it the Lion Park.

"Go again? Does it go often?" Wu Lai asked curiously. He didn't spend much time with the cute baby now.

"Yes, I go there often. All the male lions in the lion park have been killed by it, but it did not touch the other animals." Mikoyan said after hesitating for a moment.

"Why?" Wu Lai was stunned again.

"Because it wants to monopolize those lionesses, there are more than sixty of them." Mikoyan couldn't help but cover his mouth and laughed.

Wu Lai imagined the scene of Meng Bao hanging out with more than 60 female lions, smiled bitterly and shook his head...

…

"Your Majesty, I am Childe. I pay my respects to Your Majesty." Childe was about to kneel down when Helen stopped him.

"No need to be polite." Helen smiled, a rare smile on her face. She raised her arm and gently pointed to the chair on the right side of the table. "Child, this is my study, not the meeting hall. No need to be too polite."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Child bowed again, walked quickly to the seat Helen indicated and sat down.

"I have read the memorial from the Ministry of War. The guns cannot be transported and Menia cannot be contacted. This means that the enemy has completely blocked the city of Menia. Hatra is fighting alone and it is extremely dangerous." Helen said.

"Your Majesty is right. Before, the Ministry of War thought that the transportation routes would not be blocked so quickly. We didn't expect that we still underestimated the enemy's strength. To surround Menia, it would take 300,000 troops." Childe sighed.

"We don't need that many. The terrain around Menia is complicated. If used properly, 200,000 soldiers and horses will be enough. But we can only siege, not attack." Helen said.

Childe nodded. He was born in the military and had a place in the list of famous generals favored by heaven. How could he not know this? For a city like Menia, if 300,000 soldiers surrounded it, if they wanted to make it watertight and not give the soldiers in the city any chance to take advantage, they could at most squeeze out 40,000 to 50,000 men to launch an attack. It was not impossible to rush in all at once, but they would not be able to surround the city in that way, because if the entire encirclement was moving, it would not be difficult for the defenders to find a weak point to break through. As long as one of the points was broken, the situation would turn in favor of the Hatra army. That was why Hatra dared to close the city and defend it.

"But this is just common sense. The enemy chief is cunning. He surrounded us before without attacking, leaving a gap. Now he has completely blocked the gap. I'm afraid he is sure of conquering us. Otherwise, he will not mind leaving a passage for the Hatra army to have a retreat." Helen did not finish her words because she knew Childe understood what it meant to reserve a retreat route.

Childe nodded and suddenly sighed: "Your Majesty, the Hatra army is now fighting alone, I'm afraid..."

"That's why I called you here." Helen's eyes fell on Childe's face. "Childe, are you willing to watch the Hatra army being annihilated?"

"Of course not." Child said quickly.

"I don't want to either." Helen nodded and said, "But some people do."

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

Child's heart trembled, and when he raised his eyes, they met Helen's eyes.

"What does Your Majesty mean?" Childe asked tentatively.

"We can't wait any longer to accumulate troops." Helen said with a sigh.

Childe was silent. Helen's intention was very clear. If she did not wait to accumulate troops, it would mean tearing up the agreement and going to war with Assyria.

"Are you hesitating?" Helen frowned.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Childe nodded. "I think that although Your Majesty has invented weapons such as cannons and rifles, the empire is short of soldiers and has difficulty in obtaining food and grass. The Kimo territory has just suffered a flood. Moreover, our army has just stopped fighting for less than a year. If we fight again at this moment, I am afraid that the morale of the army will be difficult to appease..."

"It's hard to appease them, but we have to. The enemy has surrounded Menia tightly and is determined to swallow up the Hatra army. You also said that the empire is short of soldiers. If we lose these hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers, the army will be even more unsustainable. From now on, the empire should be on guard against the Assyrian attack, instead of having a chance to fight like now." Helen's face darkened. "Child, my throne is the result of the joint efforts of the Avram family and the Petra family. If the Hatra army is completely wiped out, what will be the consequences? Have you thought about it?"

Childe sighed deeply in his heart and nodded: "Everything is up to your majesty."

"I can make this decision, but I can't convince those who don't understand the overall situation one by one." Helen raised a smile, "I'll leave those people in the Ministry of War to you."

"What if someone insists on opposing it?" Childe asked. The people working in the Ministry of War are all representatives of the major families. Which one of them doesn't have soldiers, horses, money and food in hand? Last time, Helen insisted on leading the army in person against all odds, and ended up suffering a great defeat in Kayikede, which almost turned the entire Ministry of War upside down. Now they want them to provide soldiers, horses, money and food, which is definitely a big deal.

You know, no matter how powerful the Avram family and the Petra family are, they are not yet to the extent that they can completely ignore these noble families.

"Kill." A hint of coldness flashed across Helen's eyes...

…

When he heard the cheers coming from the front, Ye Renwu let out a long breath and barely suppressed the tension in his heart.

She couldn't help but be nervous, because if what she was about to do succeeded, it would surely cause a sensation in the continent. If she failed, she would lose her life.

After a quick glance around, Ye Renwu leaned half of his body out of the window, looking just like the other drinkers who were happily watching the fun.

The location she chose was very good - the second floor of a three-story tavern on the left side of the intersection of Yizhang Street. It had an excellent view and also provided her with a great opportunity for assassination.

The weapon she prepared was a sleeve crossbow. The first thing she did after sneaking into Assyria three days ago was to find three coppersmith workshops and pay five times the price to have them complete all the parts for her in the shortest time. After the assembly was completed, she found a secluded place to complete the test firing and adjustment. Last night, she carefully poisoned the arrowheads of the three crossbows - the news that Wu Lai left the city to go to war had spread throughout the streets and alleys, and she had to make all preparations before dawn.

In order to get the current position, she spent five gold coins, because the tavern owner said that all the seats facing the street had been booked and paid in advance.

Ye Jianwu didn't care about money, because she felt that she didn't need it anymore, even though there were many precious gems in the small leather bag Helen threw to her, enough for her to live a rich life. But Ye Jianwu prayed that her life would have a perfect end today.

What is perfection? For Night Blade Dancer now, killing Wu Lai in one fell swoop is perfection.

She had never thought of escaping after succeeding, because she felt a little guilty towards Wu Lai. Wu Lai had been very good to her, both in the past and during their last meeting. He was considerate and caring towards her like a brother, and he had never even shown that he regarded her as an enemy.

As the cheers and praises came closer, Ye Jianwu glanced around again, raised his right arm, and placed it on the windowsill. Not far away, a convoy was slowly approaching...