The neighing of horses, screams, the roar of gunfire, and curses mingled together, forming a tragic death sonata on the mountain path under the setting sun.
After switching two rifles, all three German Shepherds and 38 cavalrymen who charged out were shot off their horses, most of them with headshots.
The two closest German Shepherds died a hundred meters away from him; no one else managed to get within 200 meters.
The crucial point was the narrow road; the dead horses and fallen riders in front blocked the path.
The horses' charge speed was too fast, making it impossible to stop quickly after turning a corner.
Finally, four cavalrymen, after controlling their horses, tried to turn around and flee back to the Manor, but Henry eliminated them first.
Henry fired for about forty seconds, enduring concentrated fire from over twenty riders behind him.
Despite being disrupted by the fallen men and horses in front, and having to urgently control their horses, they still caused four of Henry's white bead shells to dissipate.
If he hadn't used the granite for protection, it might have been twenty-odd shells that dissipated.
In a narrow encounter, the brave prevail. Since Henry had such a powerful cheat, he decided to fight them head-on!
He could have hidden in the woods and played hide-and-seek with the pursuers; with his reactions and marksmanship, his losses would have been much smaller.
However, there would also be more variables, such as the enemy giving up and retreating after losing some men.
This time, since Henry couldn't attack, he lured the enemy out. His goal was to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy's forces to deter them, making them suffer heavy losses and be utterly terrified, so they wouldn't dare to ambush Henry.
This opportunity might be the only one; afterward, the enemy likely wouldn't launch a casual attack.
Dwyer Manor was clearly self-sufficient for a long time, and Henry didn't have that much time to waste on them.
Henry put away the granite and used his rifle to give a finishing shot to any cavalrymen who weren't headshotted.
At this moment, the mountain path was covered in splattered blood and brains, a strong smell of blood permeated the air, and Henry's solitary figure, illuminated by the setting sun, looked like a visitor from hell.
A few horses had broken legs and were neighing; Henry likewise put them out of their misery.
The guards inside the Manor and their commander's hearts sank when they heard the human shouts and horse neighs from the mountain path, followed by the familiar, rhythmically ominous gunshots, like a roll call.
Commander Sam loudly ordered the gatekeepers to close the main gate, and at the same time, added two more sentries to each outpost.
A glimmer of hope remained in his heart—38 cavalrymen! They should be able to overwhelm the opponent just by sheer numbers!
Standing beside him, Sean's face was grim and pale, not uttering a word.
Soon, the answer came—Henry fired three more shots at the outpost from the same corner, killing a sentry who, in a panic, exposed his cover, then quickly retreated.
Sean was devastated; a full 38 cavalrymen, plus the 6 gatekeepers and outposts killed earlier, the three guards who were likely doomed, and now this one—a total of 48!
The Manor, originally guarded by 74 guards, was now left with only 26.
Of the 182 cavalrymen from the company Brendan had transferred to execute the plan, only Sam remained!
Sam's face was also dark, disbelieving and deeply grieved at the same time.
At the same time, he felt fortunate that the opponent was somewhat wary of these two Gatling Machine Guns, otherwise they might have already broken in.
How despicable! They sent one person to provoke us, jumping around like a clown, and then shamelessly ambushed us!
Sam felt deeply ashamed; if Commander Oliver were here, he certainly wouldn't have made such a mistake.
"Machine gunners, pay attention! Stay focused! The enemy might send a large force!" Sam roared.
On the other side, Henry estimated that the enemy wouldn't dare to come out for now, so he turned back to loot the bodies.
He spent almost an hour meticulously searching, and also put the bodies of the three German Shepherds into his spatial storage.
Seeing that it was almost 7 PM, Henry picked an unmarked horse and rode towards the McKinley Family's silver mine refinery.
Most horses here had unique brands, and Henry didn't want to be caught because of this and become a wanted man.
What a pity, two German Shepherds didn't chase him out, otherwise he could have tried to sneak into the Manor tonight.
Another half an hour passed, and it was starting to get dark when Sam finally forced two servants to go down the mountain road to investigate the situation.
Finally, just before it got completely dark, Sam and his men managed to pull their comrades' bodies and horses back to the Manor.
Sean's heart was cold. Although the opponent wore a mask, it was undoubtedly Henry leading the team; no one else had such strong combat power.
Henry was indeed a wolf cub. He had just finished his duel with Billy the Kid at noon, and as soon as he had a moment, he targeted them.
It was the same style: firearms, ammunition, and money pouches were all taken, both greedy and ruthless.
For the Irish, the only peace was in fighting.
Sean did not lack the courage to continue fighting Henry or William, though he did feel a subtle chill in his heart.
In these times, what mining magnate was truly benevolent?
However, it was necessary to take precautions as much as possible, reduce losses, and on that basis, consider how to deal with the opponent. If all else failed, they would have to find a way to negotiate.
Fortunately, the twelve guards escorting the children to Denver City should return tomorrow, bringing the total reliable manpower to 39. As long as they weren't careless, they should be able to hold the Manor.
Thankfully, Narrod's wife and children were also sent away, leaving him with a root no matter what.
Sean also knew that he couldn't rely on Brendan for his guard problem for now; Brendan was overwhelmed, but the situation still needed to be explained to him quickly.
The telegraph office was closed now, so he would send someone to send a telegram first thing tomorrow morning, and also warn the returning guards to be vigilant.
Sean thought.
—
The McKinley Family's silver mine was a surface mine, and the quality of the ore was relatively high.
The extracted ore was sent to the processing plant at the foot of the mountain for crushing and decomposition, and finally, 93%-97% pure silver ingots were refined through the smelting plant.
The processing required a large amount of water, so all facilities were located downstream at the foot of the mountain, near water sources.
This smelting plant was located at the bottom of a canyon by the Colorado River, about 8 miles of mountain road from Dwyer Manor.
Henry didn't encounter anyone along the way. When he arrived near the smelting plant, it was already 7:46 PM, with 20 minutes until dark.
The mountain roads were simply difficult to travel, making it impossible to pick up speed.
From afar, he saw thick smoke billowing from the direction of the metal smelting plant, indicating they were using pyrometallurgy—smelting with crucibles, blast furnaces, and so on.
Seeing this in such a magnificent landscape was truly a blight.
After Henry turned off the main road onto the exclusive road for this smelting plant, he walked a few hundred meters and took a right turn, and the view suddenly opened up.
The final three-hundred-meter, approximately 30-degree downhill road led to a gentle area by the Colorado River, where a vast processing plant's chimney was emitting thick smoke.
The processing plant was surrounded by an approximately 3-meter-high barbed wire fence. Most of these fences were not just simple wire mesh; the wires were covered with dense, sharp blades and had barbed designs.
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