Anyone who's been on a battlefield or stormed a city knows: defending a city is hard, but attacking one is even harder. Unless the difference in strength is overwhelming, it's impossible for attackers to take a city quickly. No matter what, a siege always comes at a huge cost.
The rebels have just over twenty thousand troops, and the gap between the two sides isn't wide. Breaking through the city is nearly impossible. Their only advantage is the elite fighters from Skyvault Fortress—so when the assault begins, it's Skyvault's people leading the charge.
During the siege, their strengths become clear. Shielded by ordinary soldiers, these experts rush straight to the base of the city wall. A few with outstanding lightness skill even run right up the wall itself...
Of course, these fighters alone can't guarantee the city will fall. Even martial arts masters can't stay arrogant for long in front of a full army—but the casualties would be severe, and that's exactly what Prince Colin wants to avoid.
"It's your turn." Prince Colin said to the row of black-clad figures behind him.
He'd paid a hefty price, so he was determined to squeeze every ounce of value. When there was no fighting, these people acted as his bodyguards; in battle, they were the first to charge. As Serena Feng once said, Prince Colin was basically using the Assassin Alliance as mercenaries.
Killing for money is the rule. The assassins didn’t hesitate for a second when they heard Prince Colin’s order. The Tiger Claw Grappling Hooks provided by Zuo An shot out instantly—six black shadows flew down from the battlements, landing on the wall and forcing the attackers to stop in their tracks.
"You few, go deal with them." The Skyvault Fortress experts saw what happened and immediately targeted the six assassins, determined to take them out first.
The assassins said nothing. Their long knives flashed out instantly, one blade slicing down on an opponent’s outstretched hand.
A severed hand and blood flew through the air at the same time...
The first rule of killing: don't waste words on your target. Instead of talking, they'd rather just act. They're assassins, not some chivalrous heroes—there's no need to leave a name behind.
"Who are these people? Every strike is lethal—aren't they afraid to die?" There may not be many assassins, but their ruthlessness makes up for their numbers. While the Skyvault fighters are still chattering, the assassins have already locked down the best spots and blocked their way.
"They look like assassins." The Skyvault Fortress fighters, seasoned in the martial world, could tell right away.
"Why would assassins risk their lives for the imperial court? Aren't they known for refusing official contracts?" The Skyvault fighters were baffled. The usually silent assassins finally spoke for the first time: "Scum of the martial world, running dogs of the court—fit for everyone to kill."
Few words, but the meaning was crystal clear. The Skyvault fighters nearly exploded. Damn it, they're the ones hired by the court to kill us, so how can they call us court lackeys? But...
They had no time to argue—the gleaming blades were already swinging toward them again.
With the Assassin Alliance holding off the Skyvault fighters, the rebels couldn’t break through for now. The moment a scaling ladder hooked onto the wall, it was chopped down; the giant tree used as a battering ram hadn’t even reached the gate when its carriers were shot down by a hail of arrows...
The defenders held the advantage of the terrain, and Prince Colin had gotten advance warning, deploying his forces ahead of time. For the rebels, taking the city in a single day was absolutely impossible.
There were no firearms, no air-dropped planes—if you wanted to take a city, you had to pile up bodies, climb the wall with flesh and blood...
Wave after wave charged forward, trampling their comrades’ corpses. A few skilled fighters finally managed to climb the ladder; just as they were about to reach the top, the defenders jerked the ladder away—sending both men and ladder crashing straight down, their heads splitting open on impact.
A few managed to climb up using rope ladders and hooks, only to be knocked down by heavy sandbags. They survived the fall, but were pinned by the bags, unable to move. And that’s not even counting the deadly fire arrows and burning oil...
Siege battles have always been bloody, but this time the losses were especially obvious. Jiangnan City was absurdly well prepared—arrows, fire oil, and sandbags were all in plentiful supply, almost as if they’d known everything in advance.
In fact, both the Prince of Jiangnan and Prince Colin really did know in advance—otherwise, how could they have been so calm?
Seeing how things were going, the rebel leader wanted to retreat and rethink his strategy. But if they pulled back now, they had no supplies—how could he get his soldiers to fight again?
At that moment, the rebel leader regretted everything—not betraying Prince Colin, because he was just as talented and accomplished as Colin. If not for Colin’s birth, he’d be the prince instead of that yellow-haired kid. If he hadn’t rebelled, he’d spend his whole life as Colin’s dog; even his achievements would be credited to Colin.
What he regretted was stubbornly using up all their supplies, cutting off any hope of retreat. Now he couldn’t order a withdrawal—his men and himself had no way out.
"I hope Prince Colin doesn't come out and offer surrender terms." But of course, the thing you fear always comes true. As soon as the rebel leader spoke, Prince Colin stepped onto the battlements and shouted: "Surrender early and you'll live! The first to surrender gets promoted one rank; numbers two to one thousand will be fully pardoned; 1001 to 2000 get one major demerit; 2001 to 3000 become hereditary soldiers; 3001 to 4000, slaves for three generations; 4001 to 5000, slaves forever. After five thousand, no more surrenders—everyone will be killed!"
Surrender comes in tiers?
As soon as Prince Colin said this, everyone was stunned. The rebels paused in confusion, staring up at the walls as if they’d misheard. But Prince Colin ordered the surrender terms to be shouted over and over. Each time, he made sure to add: "If you want to surrender, do it early—the later you surrender, the worse your fate. Anyone who wants to surrender, drop your weapons, put your hands behind your head, and line up one by one at the left city gate. First to surrender gets promoted. Two to one thousand, fully pardoned. Line up properly—anyone who cuts in line or causes trouble will be thrown into the doomed group after five thousand and killed!"
"Surrender early, huh? There are so many rules for surrendering?" The soldiers on the battlefield were baffled, and even Victor Yun and Caleb Wang in the rear perked up at the sound of the loud surrender calls.
They’d never seen anything like this—a surrender offer like that.
"Prince Colin’s surrender scheme is truly one of a kind." Victor Yun nodded in praise, glancing at Serena Feng. He suspected that this strange idea couldn’t have come from the straightforward Prince Colin—it was more likely Serena’s doing.
Sure enough, Serena Feng didn’t hide it and readily admitted: "There aren’t that many rebels, but it’s impossible to make them all surrender. After most are dead or wounded, if we can get five thousand to defect, the rebellion will lose its momentum."
"To make them surrender willingly, we have to offer real incentives. If you want to be famous, do it early; if you want to surrender, do it early too—the sooner you surrender, the better the benefits. That’s the only way to push them to scramble for surrender, afraid someone else will snatch the best deal first."
People love to compare. If one person surrenders and gets a huge reward, the rest will rush to follow, terrified of missing out if they’re a step too late and someone else grabs the best spot...