"Clang!" Garlon's helmet hit the wall heavily, then bounced off, and after rolling several times, the helmet fell to the side of the chair leg.

Garlon stared at the helmet, and the anger in his heart grew, because he felt that the two eye holes on the copper mask of the helmet seemed to be alive, constantly projecting ridicule and contempt at him.

"Damn Assyrians!" Garlon drew out his sword and slashed at the helmet fiercely. After a crisp "clang" sound, the helmet was chopped off. Not only was there a sword mark on the mask, but a large piece was also dented.

"General Garlon." Leiden, who had just stepped in, happened to see this scene.

Garlon turned around and glanced at Leiden, suppressing his anger and asking, "How many casualties are there?"

"Not too big..." Leiden was a little afraid to speak.

"How big is not too big?" Garlon was immediately angered.

Seeing Garlon getting angry at him, Leiden's eyes also flashed with a barely perceptible anger: "According to statistics, in the five enemy bombardments, 371 of our men died, including a lieutenant general, 166 were seriously injured, 529 were slightly injured and temporarily lost their combat effectiveness, and about 1,000 had minor injuries that did not affect their normal combat."

"Isn't this too big?!" Garlon said as he sheathed his sword. "It's only been half a day, and so many people have been killed or injured. One thousand a day, ten days and ten thousand. Leiden, haven't you done the math?"

"General Garon, you are the commander-in-chief of Canyon Pass appointed by His Excellency Adolf, the King of Freedom. My responsibility is to obey your dispatches, cooperate with your management and operations, and it is not my job to settle accounts." Leiden simply puffed out his chest and responded, thinking that you are the commander-in-chief and the brother, but the damage was not caused by me, so why are you taking it out on me? "Huh, it seems that you have really grown up and have learned to talk back." Garon glanced at Leiden, "Then tell me, should I give up the position of commander-in-chief to you?"

"General Garlon is joking. The whole family knows that I, Leiden, am far inferior to the general," Leiden said.

"Don't say such angry words here." Garlon narrowed his eyes. "If you still remember that the commander-in-chief appointed by His Excellency Adolf, the King of Freedom, was me and not you, then immediately go and form a 200-man spear-carrying team, assign 200 cavalry archers to guard the two wings, and 300 sword and shield soldiers to block the front, and then rush over to show the Assyrians some power! Did you hear me?!"

"Yes! I heard it, General Garlon." Leiden quietly clenched his right fist, "But General Garlon, there are many clouds tonight, so it may not be suitable for a night attack."

"Inappropriate? Are you just going to watch the Assyrians put up the artillery there and fire at them whenever they want?" Garlon asked.

Leiden hesitated for a moment and nodded: "I understand, General Garlon, I'll go right away."

As Leiden stepped to the door, Garlon called him again: "Wait a minute."

"Excuse me, General Garlon, what can I do for you?" Leiden stopped and turned around.

Garlon sighed heavily, walked to Leiden's side, raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder: "Leyden, I'm sorry, I'm not calm enough, you know... Today, it's too frustrating..."

After Garlon said this, Leiden's anger disappeared immediately. He smiled and nodded, then punched Garlon lightly on the shoulder: "The Assyrian army is not easy to deal with. Don't forget about Hatra."

…

The vulture had just taken a short nap leaning against the saddle when the golden wolf came back.

After being woken up by the fourth captain, Vulture rubbed his eyes and said, "Golden Wolf is back, how is he?"

"According to the lord, it's enough for them to drink a pot." Golden Wolf replied with a smile.

"That's good." Vulture stretched and shook his head with a wry smile, "I feel like my body isn't as good as it used to be. I get tired really quickly."

"You were snoring just now." Bao Deng said with a smile.

"Really?" The vulture was stunned, and the golden wolf also laughed out loud.

"Commander, when we were tracking back just now, we saw that your place was brightly lit, and it was very conspicuous. I guess those leaders in the Canyon Pass must be very angry, because they can clearly see your flag and tent, but they just can't get over." said Golden Wolf.

"My purpose is to lure the enemy and create conditions for you. The clouds and moonlight are intermittent tonight, which is just right for you to get through. But no one can be sure of being foolproof, so I make it brighter here so that they won't notice you as easily." The vulture stood up with a smile.

Golden Wolf nodded: "I almost touched the closed door just now. There was some movement on the enemy side, but I can't be sure whether they were adjusting the position of the artillery or deploying troops."

"Their gun positions are very limited. The wall is fixed. They can't just extend the guns out of the wall and shoot at us, right?" Vulture said with a smile, "I hope they will be stupid and run out to try to steal the camp. I'll take the opportunity to teach them a lesson."

"I think they will do something stupid because they are probably very angry." After Bao Deng finished speaking, everyone couldn't help laughing...

…

This is a large rocky beach that is one and a half miles long and nearly one mile wide. Many areas have been carefully leveled because this was the dock that Tianjuan built to match the port of Hatra. In Helen's original plan, after the port of Hatra was built, this would become a distribution center for Hatra's army's supplies, sending the food and weapons needed by the Hatra army to the other side continuously, allowing Hatra to gain a firm foothold in Assyria and wait for and respond to Tianjuan's next wave of large-scale attacks on Assyria.

Of course, this wonderful plan was eventually killed by Putong's "gentle" arm. So, this counterpart wharf was naturally abandoned...

At the end of the pier are three stone steps leading directly to the north side of the mountain. The middle one is the widest, about fifteen cubits, and the ones on both sides are barely five cubits. The hillside is very steep, so the stone steps are also very steep. Fortunately, they are not straight up, but winding along the ups and downs of the hillside.

Nearing midnight, Oddo jumped off the boat and stepped onto the rocky beach. At this time, one or two regiments of nearly 5,000 soldiers had gathered on the rocky beach. They had arrived here earlier than Oddo. After a short rest, they had recovered some of the energy they had consumed in the eight-mile swim, and now they had begun to assemble in preparation for climbing the mountain.

"What's wrong with you? Put out the torch quickly." Oddo said with a stern face to the second captain who came towards him.

The second captain quickly threw the torch on the ground and stomped on it.

"I gave an order before we set off, strictly prohibiting fire, have you forgotten?" Oddo frowned.

"Report to the division commander, I haven't forgotten. I understand what you mean. You are afraid of being discovered by the enemy. After climbing up here, I personally led more than 20 soldiers, a battalion commander and two deputy battalion commanders to climb the stone steps for reconnaissance. No enemy's visible or hidden sentries were found. This area is definitely safe." The second regiment commander explained.

"Tell me the situation," said Oddo.

"Okay." The second regiment commander nodded. "From the dock to the top of the stone steps, there are nearly a thousand steps, nearly two miles high. At the top of the stone steps is a dirt platform half a mile long and about thirty steps wide. There are cliffs on both sides of the dirt platform, about seventy or eighty cubits high. But I asked a few skilled soldiers to try, and the cliffs are almost vertical. There is no place to start climbing, and there are no ropes, pits to stand on, etc...."

"…At the end of the dirt road, there are two more roads. To the left is a stone stairway, and to the right is a dirt road about ten to twenty cubits wide, dug along the hillside, going down diagonally to the foot of the mountain three or four miles away. There were sporadic lights at the foot of the mountain. I asked two soldiers to go to the side and take a look. It was a large village. The moonlight was sometimes there and sometimes not, so we didn't dare to go into the village to investigate. Commander, I have finished my report."

"Are you sure it's a big village? Not a barracks?" Oddo asked with a frown.

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"It's definitely not a barracks." The second commander answered confidently, "The scouts said that they are just ordinary houses, without tents or flags."

"Where does the stone steps on the left lead to?" Oddo asked again.

"It leads to the mountains over there." The second commander raised his hand and pointed in a direction. "It should be the direction of Samedaya."

Odo hesitated for a moment, looked up at the clouds, patted his sword, and said to the second captain: "If that's the case, set off immediately! Be careful not to light the torches, line up and go up slowly. You lead the team, and I'll be the rear guard."

"Yes." The second captain agreed, and just as he turned around and took a step, he was grabbed by Oddo again.

"Was there any damage in the swim?" Otto asked.

"Report to the division commander, according to the inventory, 175 people are missing." The second regiment commander replied.

"I got it. Go ahead." Oddo patted the second captain's shoulder. His mood suddenly became heavy. If he was missing, it was basically certain that he had sacrificed himself.

After the second commander left, Oddo turned around and told two staff officers to stay and wait for the next three regiments. Then he adjusted his shoulder armor and led six guards to the assembly area. The wind was getting stronger and the clouds were getting thinner. They had to hurry up and climb the mountain because Wu Lai said that they had to enter Huimeng Valley, which was only fifty miles away from Samidaya, before dawn. It was at least fifty miles away from here, and the journey might not be peaceful. Naturally, the sooner they set out, the better.

Odo knew Woolley's intention. Although Samedaya was a small town with a population of more than 100,000, it was adjacent to the straight road between White Shield Pass and Hulet City. Moreover, the terrain in that area was complex and easy to defend but difficult to attack. Once they had a firm foothold there, they could obstruct White Shield Pass and Hulet City through uninterrupted harassment and ambushes, and drag the large area south of White Shield Pass into the quagmire...

…

At midnight, when another large cloud covered the moonlight, the gate of Canyon Pass slowly opened. In order not to make too much noise, the sixty soldiers operating the capstan pulled the hinges bit by bit, and many of them even held their breath involuntarily during the pulling process...

After the gate was opened, two hundred cavalrymen divided into two or four rows on each side and galloped out in small steps. All the horse hooves were wrapped with cotton and leather, reducing the sound of the hooves to an almost imperceptible level. The task of the two hundred archers was to protect the two wings of the gun-carrying team so that the gun-carrying team could shoot with peace of mind and retreat calmly.

After the two hundred cavalrymen rushed out of the gate, they split to the left and right, blocking a passage thirty to forty steps wide. Then, three hundred sword and shield soldiers formed ten rows and tiptoed out of the gate, blocking the passage left by the mounted archers. Naturally, the two hundred people from the spear-carrying team followed closely behind them. They were also divided into ten rows, with twenty people and ten spears in each row - this was the spear-carrying formation that Laurence had figured out. He felt that this way he could achieve uninterrupted shooting, which was very good for both offense and suppression. The only drawback was that he couldn't do this on rainy days.

On the wall, Garlon and Leiden were staring at the rifle-bearing team. Although they couldn't see anything at the moment, this did not hinder their nervousness, excitement and anticipation.

"Thanks to the blessing of the goddess Lo, the clouds are getting thicker and thicker, and those Assyrian bastards have even lit torches for us. Leiden, do you think they are courting death?" Garlon's mood gradually improved. The clouds became thicker, the moonlight disappeared, and the mounted archers, sword and shield soldiers, and lance-bearing teams could move forward slowly.

"It's a pity that the range of the rifle is a little short. If it were 400 steps, it would be much safer. The soldiers would be much safer." Leiden said.

"Two hundred steps is about right. Don't be dissatisfied. I heard that the musket that Lawrence first made could only shoot one hundred and fifty steps, and it was easy to explode. Now it has improved a lot." Garlon said.

"Explosion? Wouldn't that hurt our own people?" Leiden frowned.

"Of course, it is said that it has killed people." Garlon said, "But Laurence is also smart. He made a copper cylinder thing. It is said that it is more powerful than a gunpowder bag in exploding people."

"Then why don't you give it to us?" Leiden asked curiously, thinking that such a good thing should naturally be released in the Canyon Pass first.

"We haven't put it into mass production yet. We are short of copper. I heard from General Ivel who was transferred from Kimo that the copper mines in Kimo's territory have been exhausted, and the price of copper among the people has almost tripled." Just as Garlon finished speaking, a bright light suddenly flashed in front of his eyes, and two loud "bangs" were heard in his ears...