According to Amun's previous instructions and the cooperation plan negotiated by Aesop and others, Salem City became a logistics base for the Anu Legion to attack southward, but the defense of the city-state and the Black Fire Swamp Pass Fortress were still in the hands of Salem City, and the fighters of the Anu Army were not allowed to enter the territory of the Salem City-State, and Salem City was the transfer station and hoarding place for the military baggage of this expeditionary force.

The expedition of 6,000 warriors, with 20,000 or 30,000 non-combatants in charge of logistics and supplies, and more than 10,000 people who were always living in the city of Salem, also brought the opportunity for prosperity and development to the new city-state.

On the other hand, Aesop's new policy also made the city of Salem very appealing, attracting people from all over the mainland to the city-state. They came here to create their own home, creating their dreams with their hands from nothing. What is thus obtained is the most cherished, so that when the city-state and homeland are threatened, it can also muster the strongest fighting spirit. During this period, the city-state of Salem experienced minor friction with the city-state of Enriel in the north, but it developed at its most rapid pace since its establishment.

The Anu legions marched 600 miles south in the Duk Plain and attacked the city of Malduk, founded by Yusir, east on the northern shore of the inland lake, but the battle did not go well, as the Kingdom of Barron also mobilized elite forces to cross the Eudi River to meet the battle. The Kingdom's elite Barron Legion, the Kish Legion on the western border, and the Uruk Legion all went to the front.

The commander of the Uruk Legion is no longer Gilgamesh, and his combat effectiveness is not as strong as when Enqidu was alive, but it is still a force to be reckoned with, and King Hammurabi II of Barron is going to fight Hati to the death!

In addition to the Anu legions, which were heading south from the Duk Plain, another elite army of Enril also set out from the city-state of Syria and attacked the city-state of Kish in Baren eastward along the southern shore of inland lakes. If the land west of the Eudyes could be captured by the city-state of Kish, the city of Maldok in the Duc Plain would be cut off from its back, and it would be surrounded by two large armies.

Yusir, the lord of Malduk City, knew that the situation was not good, and after receiving the battle report, he immediately sent a messenger to send a letter to Medanzo, who had cooperated with him privately, expressing his willingness to form an alliance with Salem City and provide strategic materials to jointly fight against Enril City in the north, as long as Salem City closed the trade route of the Black Fire Swamp and did not cooperate with the Hati Kingdom. Medanzo smiled bitterly at the letter for a long time, and only replied with one sentence - "Why did you go earlier?"

Although the alliance was not negotiated, Yusir was relieved that the Barron Legion of the Kingdom of Baron had arrived in the city of Marduk. At the same time, two other legions crossed the Eudyes and rallied on the border of the city-state of Kish to meet the invading army of Enriel. The war was fought on and off for more than a year, and although the Hati army had the upper hand, it never achieved a decisive victory.

The kingdom of Barun is a nationwide battle, and the commander-in-chief of the battlefield is Prince Feng Niu, who is famous in the country. If you lose the war, you will lose the city of Marduk and the land west of the Eudyan city-state, and if you win, you will not be able to take advantage of the Hati Kingdom, at most you will destroy the opponent's army.

But Prince Feng Niu has to come if he doesn't come, the last war took place in this area, so that he gained the reputation of all respect, and at the same time put him in this position, and the ministers of the Barun Manchu Dynasty did not hesitate to elect him as the commander-in-chief of the battlefield.

Prince Feng Niu was also very talented, and he promoted a small mayor from the town of Akkad, Diqi Zhou, to be the chief quartermaster, and although the battle to defend the territory was hard, he did not retreat. This situation may have been expected by King Asher, and although the Anu legions did not capture the city of Malduk, and Enriel's legions did not drive the Barron army to the east bank of the Eudean River, they cooperated on another mission.

The two legions built docks on the north and south banks of the inland lake, built ships, and opened water lanes to echo each other. The Anu Legion developed a fertile ground in the wilderness on the northern shore of the inland lake, first as a camp for the rear army, and then as a stockpile for the advance base, and the scale developed from a village to a town, and then from a town to a city-state.

The front fought with the city of Malduk, and the rear continuously sent people to reclaim the wasteland to build a city-state, which has begun to take shape in the past two years. The name of this city-state is Meso, and there are places in the Duk Plain that can be developed, and this thousand miles of fertile land can accommodate far more than the current city-states.

King Asher's expedition was originally prepared for two things, on the one hand, to contain the expansion of the kingdom of Baron, and better if it could be repulsed, and on the other hand, to take the opportunity to occupy the plain of Duc and open up new territories. Amun had expected this, but the situation in the city of Isaulm at that time could not prevent the Hatian kingdom from doing so, so they could only cooperate and benefit each other.

After more than a year of this war, both sides were somewhat unhappy, and the resistance of the army led by Prince Feng Niu was very stubborn, and the death was more than worth the loss for both countries, and the Hatti Kingdom had achieved its strategic goal and established a city-state in the Duk Plain.

Most of the territory controlled by the city-state of Masu was in the Duc Plain, and a small part was in the grasslands on the southern shore of the inland lake, and the two territories could be exchanged by ferries. With the exception of a portion of the army that remained at the crossing, most of the rest of the Enriel corps had crossed the inland lake to join the Anu corps. Although they were still at war with the Kingdom of Baron, large-scale attacks were becoming less and less frequent, and the situation gradually stabilized, forming a new equilibrium.

Due to the establishment of the city-state and the opening of inland lake waterways, the logistical pressure on the Hanti expeditionary force became less and less. If the situation continues to develop, it may only be necessary for an armistice agreement between the two kingdoms to be signed. Prince Feng Niu had already consulted King Barron and was ready to send an envoy to the capital of Hati to negotiate.

At this time, the tide of the war changed dramatically, and no one expected that the Assyrian king Sinah would launch a surprise attack on the Kingdom of Barun from the northeast, bypassing the Assyrian plateau.

The Assyrian kingdom was the smallest and relatively small country in the surrounding area, and was always considered the weakest state. The city of Enriel in the northern part of the Durk Plain also attracted everyone's attention, and all the countries knew that the Kingdom of Assyria had sent an army of giants to cross the Assyrian Plateau and establish this city-state in the northern part of the Durk Plain.

Even if the Assyrian kingdom wanted to start a war, it would continue to increase its forces in the city of Enriel, both to consolidate the strategic base it had already established and to expand its sphere of influence, which is a habitual way of thinking. The Assyrian kingdom broke this habit and played a trick to attack the west.

After the great battle with the city of Salem, the Assyrian kingdom did not send other legions to the city of Enriel, but ordered the army of giants to continue to assemble, and did not fight with the city of Salem, but only had small-scale military conflicts one after another, maintaining a state of low intensity of war. It is naturally difficult for the Giant Legion to attack Salem, but it is no problem to defend Enriel.

The Legion of Giants has always been the most elite vanguard of the Assyrian kingdom in the image of the people, and where it appears, it means that the main direction of the Assyrian king's [***] strategy, but this time it is a false shot. The Assyrian kingdom had been unnoticeable for too long, and no one expected that King Sinach would spend ten years quietly training four integrated legions, each of which was comparable to the main forces of other kingdoms.

How could the Assyrian kingdom be able to support such a large elite army? It can be said that Sinahh had great ambitions, and it can also be said that he was a reckless soldier, who had been planning for many years, and who was following a militaristic path. Most of Assyria's land was steep and mountainous with little arable land and little and barren land. But the Assyrian Plateau is full of mines that can build weapons, and Sinach has been quietly training his troops with the power of the whole country over the years.

He sent the striking legions of giants to the Duc Plains, and when the war between the Hatti and Barron kingdoms reached a stalemate, the opportunity finally came. Sinach served as commander-in-chief and led three armies around the Assyrian plateau to storm the heart of the Barun kingdom from the northeast, taking the Barun kingdom by surprise.

The main force of the Barron kingdom's army was fighting against the Hati army west of the Eudee River, and all important strategic materials were also transported to the western city-states of Kish to be hoarded, and they could not be transferred back in a hurry. Several city-states in the northeast were the weakest defenses, and the garrisons stationed there were no match for the wolf-like Assyrian army, and six city-states were captured in a row in half a month.

The Kingdom of Barron was taken advantage of the situation and suffered such heavy losses, partly because the main forces were on the Western Front, and partly because the two successive wars also severely depleted its national strength. Seeing that the entire kingdom was in danger of falling, the aged Hammurabi II urgently ordered Prince Vonniu to lead an army back to help.

With such a heavenly opportunity, how could Asher, the king of Haties, not order his army to take the opportunity to launch a strong attack? As a result, a year and a half of hard work by Prince Vonniu came to naught, and he had to beg for peace with the kingdom of Hati, ceding the land west of the Eudean River, and at the same time the city of Malduk also fell. The Hatian army established a city-state, attacked a city-state, and obtained a small half of the city-state of the Kingdom of Baron on the west bank of the Eudyan River, which became a newly opened territory and completely achieved its strategic goals!

The young king Asher looked up to the sky in his palace and smiled, he had finally achieved something that neither the previous king nor Gorek had achieved!

It took time for the Hatian kingdom to annex a large area of land, and the strategy of the king of Asher was mainly to pacify, he changed the name of the city of Marduk to the city of Budamia, demolished the statue of Mardok and established the temple of Enril, and still allowed the aborigines to live and cultivate, but swore allegiance to the Hatian kingdom and the god Enriel, and became a subject of the Hatian kingdom.

The second phase of this war of nations, mainly between Assyria and Barun, lasted for more than half a year.

Although Prince Feng Nu defended the royal capital after returning to his army, the kingdom was already in great distress at this time, and in the face of the fierce Assyrian army, he had to beg for peace again, and formally signed a document to cede the six city-states that had fallen. The lands of those six city-states had already been taken over by the Assyrian kingdom, and the kingdom of Baron's current strength could not be regained.

But the official document was signed as a recognition of the six city-states as part of the Assyrian kingdom. It was still the document that Prince Vonniu had signed on behalf of the Kingdom of Barron, and he had almost gritted his teeth at that time, so he could only hold back his tears. The six city-states that had fallen had been turned beyond recognition, many places had been reduced to a scorched earth, and the Assyrian king Sinnah was too brutal!

Before Sinach started this war, although there were many brutalities at home, he was generally a fairly wise and capable monarch. He pursued a militaristic line, and although the life of the people was simple, the Assyrian kingdom, which had been fierce since ancient times, maintained a stable social order and accumulated a strong military force. Sinach may have been a genius in military affairs, knowing how to be patient and how to find the most suitable fighter.

Ten years earlier, shortly after his accession to the throne, he had carried out military reforms, not only requiring every adult man in the kingdom to be trained as a samurai, but also introducing a conscription system, recruiting distant highland giants, bandit gangs, and wandering explorers into the army, with the promise that they would be paid handsomely in war.

The legions of the Assyrian kingdom not only had traditional charioteers and cavalry, but also infantry was divided into heavy infantry and light infantry, and at the same time specially trained siege soldiers and baggage soldiers, as well as engineering troops that other kings' [***] regiments did not have. The army was supplied by the state, equipped with iron armor, weapons, and horses, as well as storming rammers and trebuchets.

As the Assyrian army marched into Barun, Sinakh's brutal surname was finally revealed, like an even more twisted outbreak after years of repression. As a weak monarch in a corner of the country, he has endured it for too long, and he can't stand it anymore, and he can only get the pleasure of venting in the almost crazy killing.

Wherever the armies passed, they destroyed cities, burned and plundered, and the people of the Assyrian kingdom were always fierce, and these soldiers were almost beasts in the endless slaughter. They hung the corpses of their enemies on sharpened wooden pillars, and they were densely packed like a jungle, and in the event of resistance, even the women and children of the entire town were not spared, and a great deal of gold and silver treasures became spoils of war.

Such a killing scene was unbearable even for Faust, the "sage national teacher" who formulated a military strategy for the kingdom, and the great magician walked in the corpse-strewn town, and he felt a little weak in his legs.

Faust was a beloved sage in the Assyrian kingdom and his strategic plan for Sinakh. First, he watched the melee between Eju, Hati, and Barun with a cold eye, and chose the right time to add fuel to the fire and provoke disputes. Secretly send legions of giants to cross the Assyrian plateau to establish a strategic stronghold, and plant a nail between the kingdoms of Hati and Barun to attract attention and muddy the waters. When the melee is in the most favorable situation, attack the kingdom of Barron in unexpected ways.

Faust's strategic plan was completely successful, but he didn't expect King Sinach to kill so brutally, he couldn't help but stubbornly admonish Sinach - "Invincible great monarch, you waged war to establish merit and permanent interests of Assyria, there is no need to kill senselessly, you connived at the soldiers to rob so much gold and silver treasures, but that could not fully serve the purpose of feeding the war with war, after the war, you still need peace and stability for a long time, in order to build a strong and prosperous empire." ”

At the same time, Queen Semir, who had accompanied Sinnah on his own expedition, also came to the king, saying that she did not want to see the Assyrian soldiers destroy the silver and plunder again, otherwise she would not go to war to serve the kingdom again. Sinach was at first furious, scolding the sage and queen, whom he had never scolded before, but when the news of the battle came from the front, the resistance in the occupied areas was becoming more and more fierce, and the consumption of the war was increasing, he finally accepted Faust's advice and issued a new order.

The Assyrian army ceased burning in the occupied areas and incorporated the inhabitants of the conquered areas into the Assyrian household register, forcibly relocated them to other places and dispersed them, and all persons were not allowed to continue to live in their places of origin or to live together in their original villages or towns. These scattered people were relocated to the original Barun and were given new small plots of land to cultivate for the Assyrian slave owners and pay taxes to the kingdom.

The Assyrian kingdom occupied the land of six city-states as new territories and had a large number of slaves, and the people of the Assyrian kingdom who participated in military warfare formed a new privileged aristocratic group, which acquired land and slaves to rule the region, restored part of production, and compensated for the attrition of the war, and the killing finally stopped, and the situation gradually stabilized.

These policies of Sinach were made at the suggestion of Faust, and they did favor the rule of the occupied territories, while Faust's main purpose was not to see corpses strewn in the field. At the same time, at the insistence of Queen Sémur, Sinach finally agreed.

The implementation of the New Deal took time to digest the occupied areas, and at the same time, the Assyrian army's front was almost stretched to its limit, and the front army was still fighting. It was at this time that King Barron sent Prince Vonneu to lead a large army to resist the latest attack of Sinach, and demanded a truce.

Sinach enjoyed the thrill of dominating the world, and was happy to see the former powerful Barron kingdom submit to him, and he was unable to expand on a larger scale for the time being, so he agreed to the Barun kingdom's begging peace. After the armistice, the last group of thousands of prisoners of war were brought back from the front, including legionnaires from the Kingdom of Baron, but most of them townspeople who had resisted the Assyrian army.

In the last battle, the Assyrian army was not victorious, and Sinach was furious and ordered that all the people, young and old, be beheaded and skinned to deter those who tried to rebel against his authority. Faust and Sémir could not stand it, and insisted that the king stop killing those who had already surrendered, many of whom were just ordinary inhabitants who had not fought against the Assyrian army at all.

Sinach was originally displeased, but suddenly changed his mind and said, "You have to intercede for these people, and ask my mercy to leave their surnames alive." Well, I will divide these slaves into two parts and give them to the sage and the queen. But I have a mission for you to complete, or these people will still have to die!"

**

(To be continued)