Two and a half hours earlier, Carlos and Pizarro, with their seventy men, arrived at Hangman's Hill.
This place is filled with numerous cliffs and precipices, one of which has a platform protruding about ten meters from a hundred-meter-high cliff, hence its name, Hangman's Hill.
Although not as treacherous as Death Valley, it still offers many hidden spots suitable for ambushes.
After discussions last night between Pizarro, Carlos, and the familiar Diego and Anthony, Pizarro made the final decision to ambush Henry and his group here.
His reasoning was that if there were other groups departing from Denver to ambush Henry, they would most likely be in Death Valley.
Letting others fight Henry first, they would then wait here for the opportune moment, benefiting from the struggle.
Pizarro believed Henry would not die so easily, given his formidable track record.
Moreover, even if Henry fell, those who succeeded would still have to pass through Hangman's Hill to Denver to claim the bounty.
Furthermore, the terrain here was already good enough for an ambush.
Pizarro divided the seventy men into four small teams, ambushing in the dense forests or caves on the cliffs on both sides of the mountain path.
Not long after they had set up their ambush, a cavalry troop of over a hundred men recklessly charged through the mountain path.
"They are from the Dodge Gang in Kansas City, led by 'Cross-Eyed' Frank," Diego whispered, introducing them to the two leaders, Carlos and Pizarro.
"Hmm," Pizarro grunted from his nose, responding with an air of superiority.
Everyone else greatly admired Pizarro's brilliant foresight at this moment; he was truly the strategist of the organization.
After more than half an hour, a group of forty-two people passed by.
Pizarro recognized the hard-top luxury four-wheeled carriage as being exclusive to the upper class and asked in confusion, "Who are they?"
Antonio said, "Looking at the emblem on their flag, they are from the McKinley Family. They own several mines near Fresco Town and have two or three hundred private cavalry guards, frequently appearing on this mountain path."
Carlos asked, "Should we attack them?"
Antonio replied, "Forget it, Henry's matter is more important. They will soon send out guards to investigate, so we must be careful not to expose ourselves. If we are exposed, we must silence them."
After communicating with the others via flag signals, the group retreated deeper into the mountains.
Ten minutes later, five reconnaissance personnel from the McKinley Family signaled with flags, indicating that the main force could pass through Hangman's Hill, and the group quickly traversed this mile-long mountain road.
At this time, 'Cross-Eyed' Frank and his group had already found ambush locations on the mountainsides of Death Valley.
Frank instructed, "Henry's group has women and children, so they're estimated to arrive here in two or three hours. If they are ambushed by others, it might be even later, but everyone must not be careless. I told you last night how strong he is."
Everyone expressed their agreement and dispersed into nine groups. One group was responsible for watching the horses, leading them to a basin behind the valley entrance on this side.
The other eight groups set up ambushes, also using simple flag signals for communication.
More than half an hour later, Richard's convoy appeared at the Denver end of the valley.
Frank took out his binoculars, looked, and asked, "Who are they?"
A bald man named Saki next to him said, "Looking at the emblem on the flag, they are from the McKinley. They have several mines here, all near Fresco Town, with over 200 cavalry guards. However, today they are coming from the direction of Denver, so they should be escorting someone to the mines."
"Boss, should we rob them? There seems to be a noblewoman too, maybe an important figure!" Jim, a scrawny man who had lost all his money gambling last night, asked from beside him.
Frank chuckled and said, "Rob them, we must! Henry's head is valuable, but the lives of these mine owners are even more valuable! Henry won't arrive so soon, let's rob them first. Keep the women for now, and send all the men, except for the one in the suit and overcoat, to hell."
Jim quickly signaled with flags.
The bandits received the signal and moved to deeper concealment.
This time, Aiden, the head of the McKinley guards, dispatched ten reconnaissance personnel.
Edith poked her head out of the carriage window, seeing the path ahead and the mountains on both sides, and felt that this place was indeed very dangerous, no wonder it was called Death Valley.
She pulled her head back, smiling, and said, "Madeline, one really needs to get out more. Otherwise, how could one witness such uniquely treacherous scenery? Hangman's Hill up ahead was already very special, and now this Death Valley is even more perilous."
Madeline's Constitution was not as good, and she was a bit listless at the moment, barely managing a smile.
Richard outside was also very worried about the mountain road ahead; just looking at it made him a little nervous.
"Aiden, if this place is over a mile long, don't you usually get scared when you pass through?"
"No, Mr. Mellon, please rest assured, we pass through often. The McKinley Family has a lot of influence here, so there will be no problems."
After about twenty minutes, the ten scouts on the mountains on both sides signaled—it was clear to pass.
Aiden breathed a sigh of relief and said to Richard with a smile, "No problem, we will pass through here now."
With his command, everyone lined up in a long snake-like formation and began to pass through the valley path.
Edith looked at the scenery outside the carriage window, always feeling that something might slide down from the peaks on both sides and crush them into dust. She immediately dared not look further, closing her eyes and muttering a prayer.
They had only gone less than 600 feet into the valley when suddenly dense gunfire erupted in the valley. Edith and Madeline were thrown forward by the emergency braking of the carriage, hitting the soft cushions in front of them hard.
At this moment, each of the ten scouts on the mountains on both sides had several new holes in their bodies—on average, each person was focused on by five or six people. How could anyone endure that?
Caught off guard, Richard saw Aiden, a few meters ahead, whose head was hit by a bullet from an unknown direction, exploding into a red and white paste.
In less than a minute, all the guards were shot dead, unable even to make a show of protecting Richard.
Richard fumbled to take down the Winchester Rifle from the saddle, but sadly realized he had no idea whom to aim at.
Madeline was no longer listless; her face was pale, and she looked as if she was about to faint.
Edith was no better, her small face pale, her hands tightly clasped, her teeth clenched, and a pair of gloves squeezed tightly.
'I just like to appreciate dangerous environments, I never thought of falling into one!
God! Who will save us!'
Edith prayed silently in her heart.
Soon, Richard no longer had to struggle, because dozens of bandits emerged from the mountains on both sides, pointing guns at him. He had no choice but to obediently drop his gun as instructed by the bandits and raise his hands high.
--+--
T/N: Although I'm an inexperienced Editor, I do have a Patreon account! Although it seems like I don't have many supporters right now, my webnovel will be released in full every day, and the advanced chapters will be uploaded to Patreon.
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