A team of about 60 people trekked in the sparsely vegetated Harar mountains. Although the route was winding, the goal was straight to Milani castle on the cliff.


    This is Karen''s team, a fully armed team, and perhaps the most capable marine team of Drake chamber of Commerce.


    The whole team consists of 20 Vikings from Scandinavia who are brave and decisive and 30 Miskitos from West India who are good at fighting and obedience. Lev and Kao are their leaders.


    Each person is provided with a long maritime commuter gun and an armed belt with three Dublin short guns. The bullets are loaded and the muzzle is upward.


    Melee weapons are based on personal characteristics. Vikings are mostly swords, axes, hammers and flail chains. Miskito prefers long handled spears, forks and short handled axes.


    A variety of weapons are the characteristics of Drake''s elite stormtroopers, because they are not as disciplined as Marines and are difficult to give full play to the advantages of the line-up, but they are good at forming a small-scale battle array based on narrow and complex decks, complementing attack and defense and fighting strong enemies together.


    Only those with personal strength exceeding the whole team have the privilege of fighting alone, specifically Leff with sword and shield, Kao with spear and axe, and Lorin, Haina, Wang Ye and Xiao Sanmei who did not participate in the conflict.


    Noah and pierce are special cases. One is a naturally lonely hunter and the other is a medium-range shooter who needs space. Although they do not have the privilege of fighting alone, the soldiers assigned to them only perform pure protection and try not to interfere with their rhythm.


    In addition to these soldiers, there are three new translators and walkiri''s deputy artillery Kerry in the team, who have been close to Karen. Five people in robes are surrounded by the soldiers.


    The five men stood in a cross position, equipped with weapons similar to those of the soldiers. Even if they were heavily guarded, they still covered their heads with wide overalls.


    The team has been moving in the mountains for nearly an hour. The mountain road is winding and steep. The straight-line distance from the ridge of the position to Milani castle is only 2.2km. After walking for such a long time, the castle is still hanging in the distance.


    Karen couldn''t help suspecting that hassadi was deliberately making a detour.


    He ordered the procession to stop and walk to the middle of the robe at the edge of a bush.


    "Colonel, how long will it take us to reach the castle cliff?"


    "The door is in front, no more than an hour." hassadi''s voice came from under his robe. "Harar is God''s treasure for sharpening machetes. The red stone is soaked with pagan blood, and every depression is cut by sharp knife peaks. Allah uses it to protect the tomb of the Holy One. We can only spend a lot of time conquering it with our feet."


    "But there''s always a time to be conquered," Karen spat on the red stone under his feet. "There''s always a time to be conquered."


    The team set out again, silently looking for a path through the rugged and climbing up. After a while, they finally came to the door.


    The gate is the gate of Milani castle. Two stone mountains are squeezed here, leaving only a narrow path for two people in parallel.


    There are steep cliffs on both sides of the path. Passing through it, you will enter a wide and steep ramp. The castle is at the tip of the ramp, overlooking the broad Bay of Muscat.


    Karen wiped his sweat: "is this... The door?"


    He thought hard to deal with it.


    The terrain of the gate gate was not considered by them earlier, and it could not be seen from the gun array ridge.


    According to the original backup plan, in case of any accident, the three light guns will respectively attack the castle, city wall and ramp, disrupt the formation of the garrison and create a breakthrough opportunity for the contingents who go deep into the enemy array.


    But with the door, as long as the garrison locks this natural checkpoint, there is little possibility for the contingent to escape. At most... A few people


    Karen''s face became cloudy and uncertain: "LEV, Viking class will go in with us, and Cao will take Miskito class to guard outside the door, in case..."


    Click!


    Karen shrugged and raised his head with a sudden shock when a light, crisp branch was trampled off from above.


    I don''t know when, on the rocks on both sides of the door, there were at least two or three hundred soldiers. They were distributed over a span of more than 100 meters. Everyone raised their guns and looked dignified.


    A soldier in a white turban shouted in the front: "dirty pagans, no matter what secret you come to Milani with, the door will become your grave! Now, kneel down and repent while you have only the poor rest of your life!"


    The sailors raised their guns in a panic.


    With a height difference of 30 to 50 meters, the number of people is only a quarter or even less of the other party. They fall into a trap and are almost impossible to survive.


    Karen''s eyes turned red.


    "Restraint!" he dashed out of the line. Lev quickly took off his shield and stopped in front of him.


    There was some commotion among the soldiers on the mountain. Someone accidentally pulled the trigger, a gun rang, and the bullets broke at Karen''s feet.


    "Restraint!"


    Karen repressed the sailors who wanted to fight back, patrolled the crowd fiercely, and finally didn''t stop on anyone, twisted his head and looked directly at the white scarf.


    "We have no will to fight!" he shouted. "Let me see your commander. I have been ordered to convey peace to him!"


    "Peace?" the white scarf laughed. "Peace brought by the invaders?"


    "You don''t know much about this war, sir! At least every white man knows from the long history of Europa that giving decision-making power to the nobility will always end better than a hot impulse."


    Karen regretted it as soon as he said it.


    In a hurry, he blurted out the white self-esteem. In this way, it can become a bridge of communication in the white world, but once there is a color deviation, it is tantamount to a declaration of war.


    The white scarf was already furious.


    He clenched his teeth and raised his arms: "Allah gives us intuition. You will never know how God''s family feels. Because of the great existence, we will never make mistakes!"


    "Allah''s soldiers, let these dirty maggots become Harald''s new red stone! Get ready..."


    "Qasim, stop." Colonel hassadi lifted his hood and showed his face unreservedly in the sun. "Take me to my brother. The white people don''t want to fight the great hassadi family."


    "Ba... Bashar... Master?"


    ……


    "The fort is 26.5 meters above sea level, with four gun gates and six gun positions at the top; the tower is 24.5 meters above sea level, with four gun positions at the top; the city wall is 15 meters above sea level, with two-layer guns, eight up and eight down... This is... A castle with 30 guns." Kerry counted with his fingers, "These Arab madmen... If the Jalali Castle opposite is the same configuration, the firepower of these two castles alone will far exceed the port fort."


    "And a capital of 9000 people has more than 100 heavy guns on the coastline... They believe that their capital will be invaded?"


    "In fact, they were invaded, just like Miskito." Cao walked by in a muffled voice.


    "Yes."


    Karen''s contingent was taken to the castle, and all the way to the castle, under the surveillance of two hundred soldiers, in the middle of the towering wall.


    The castle was built in the 16th century.


    At that time, Portugal conquered the Omani people. General Mercado Karaka, who was then the commander of Muscat''s garrison fleet, personally built the whole Muscat''s coastal defense system, including the coastal defense fort on Matola port and the Mirani and Jalali City Fort built on the East and West Rocks of the Gulf.


    When it was first built, Mirani castle had only a simple wall and 16 heavy artillery guns on the wall. In 1650, the Omani recaptured Muscat and established Muscat Sultanate. It took more than a hundred years to establish garrison towers, oval turrets and other supporting fortifications, and finally formed the current 30 shore defense scale.


    The current Milani castle is fortified by two towers and connected by a long wall equipped with built-in gaps for firing cannons.


    The castle also has roadblocks, cannons and reservoirs for storing rainwater.


    They also dug deep and huge urban defense ditches on the steep slope of land access. In addition to the suspension bridge near the tower and the down stairs connecting the coastal wharf, the whole castle is isolated from the world and almost independent, making it extremely difficult to break in from the outside.


    But the attackers can''t really get around them.


    For example, Lorraine, even if he fought with valkiri to capture the coastal fort, the main urban area of Muscat was within the range of the two wing castle, and the landing forces could only attack the palace against heavy artillery fire.


    Such a hard battle may be the norm of war in the eyes of Asian armies in the middle of the 20th century, but in Europe in the 18th century, even France and Prussia, which are famous for their army, could not command their soldiers to attack the target under such circumstances.


    The only way to capture Muscat is to capture Milani castle. Before leaving, Lorraine told Karen, so Karen risked his life to bring Drake''s loyal warriors into this dead land, waiting under the muzzle of the gun and waiting silently.


    Half an hour has passed


    Karen, who was highly nervous, finally heard the sound of the tower door opening. Colonel hassadi came out hand in hand with a strong middle-aged man with a figure similar to him. Under the crowd of heavy soldiers, the sailors who separated Drake went straight to Karen.


    "Pagan, are you the messenger of your governor?"


    Karen was right: "I''m not a messenger, sir. I''m a plenipotentiary. Everything I promise here is equal to the commitment of Drake chamber of Commerce."


    "Very good." the general''s accent was strange and astringent, and he was obviously not proficient in French. "Bashar, my brother said you destroyed the powerful bagala fleet."


    "This is not accurate. The divine Sultan of gate 68 is still berthing in the port, berthing alone."


    "The God given Sultan is just a useless big toy!" the general waved carelessly. "Then you''re going to capture Aram palace, aren''t you?"


    "It depends on the general''s decision." Karen knew that this sentence was the most critical question and answer, and the success or failure of the trip was in one fell swoop. "The original words of the governor were that if the general chose to guard the family, we would command the palace; if the general chose to guard the Sudan, we would return home immediately."


    General hassadi narrowed his eyes, and the sharp light came out of his eyes and looked at him with a look, as if he wanted to see through Karen.


    "Pagan, you''re lying!"


    "We have different beliefs, but no matter how different our beliefs are, the Lord will not allow lies."


    The lights became sharper and gathered together, gouging Karen''s eyes.


    "Will I be the Sultan of batineh?"


    "This is contrary to our commitment." Karen replied angrily, "we have no intention of splitting your rule. There will only be one Sudan in Muscat Sultanate. This Sudan will still sit in the luxurious Aram palace after the war."


    "There will be a governor in batineh, a powerful and wealthy noble family. You will have your own armed forces, make your own laws, have your own friends and enemies, and enjoy the taxes and everything else in batineh. But this family will not become Sudan. It is the power of the great monarch to grant the Sudan, and Drake chamber of commerce does not want and does not want to be contaminated."


    "Then I will be governor of batineh?"


    "This is also contrary to our commitment." Karen still did not shy away. "The governor we promised is your brother, Colonel hassadi. He can entrust, share or authorize you, but we will not make any decision on his behalf."


    "Cunning white..." general hassadi came up, raised his head and smiled ferociously at the tall and burly Karen.


    Karen didn''t step back.


    The two men were deadlocked for a full minute. The general suddenly stood up straight and suddenly turned around: "soldiers! Turn back!"


    "Oh!"