With the trusted aides joining the battle, it turned into a one-sided slaughter.
The demoralized Yan Army, like lambs to the slaughter, were relentlessly cut down by the trusted aides.
"The city gate has been breached! Follow the general! Kill!" Tu Sui roared, urging his horse to follow closely. The 20,000 Sharp Warriors behind him also charged wildly.
"Impossible! This can't be possible! How did he breach the city?" Yan Dan panicked on the tower. This defensive battle was completely different from what he had imagined. That Zhao Feng had breached the city the instant he approached the gate? How did he do it? Facing the charge led by Zhao Feng, the moment the city was breached, the disorganized defense of the Yan Army was instantly torn apart.
"The Qin Army is monstrous! Retreat, retreat quickly! The city gate was cut down by the Qin General! Monsters... monsters...!" The soldiers of the Yan Army inside the city lost their nerve, fleeing in terror.
"The Yan Army. Leave no one alive," Zhao Feng ordered coldly, continuing his frenzied slaughter of the enemy soldiers.
"Kill one Yan soldier, collect 1 point of Strength."
"Kill one Yan soldier, collect 1 day of Lifespan..."
The Attribute pickups continued incessantly. The trusted aides behind him, along with the Sharp Warriors, also killed their foes with abandon, sweeping through the small city.
"Crown Prince! The Qin Army has breached the city!"
"We can't hold on!"
"Report, Your Highness! The city gate has fallen!"
"Report! The Qin Army has taken the area below the walls! We can't escape!"
One after another, Yan soldiers and generals hurriedly reported to Yan Dan. But for him and the Yan Army, it was all too late. The battle had been lost in less than an hour from when it began; how could they have anticipated such an outcome?
"How can the Qin Army be so formidable? How could our great Yan soldiers be so vulnerable before them?" At that moment, even Yan Dan panicked, a look of fear spreading across his face. His hour of self-important confidence had become a joke.
"Kill! Kill! Leave no Yan soldier alive! Kill!" Shouts of battle echoed from the stairways of the tower. Countless black-armored Sharp Warriors had already stormed the top, treating the Yan soldiers like prey as they charged and killed, their eyes bloodshot with frenzy. To all the Sharp Warriors, these Yan soldiers represented military merit—the path to promotion and noble titles. This was the fundamental reason the Sharp Warriors of Qin did not fear death. They fought for Qin, for themselves, and even more so, for their families.
Soon, the several thousand Yan soldiers on the tower had been slaughtered until only a few hundred remained. They huddled around Yan Dan, staring in terror at the Qin Army closing in from all sides.
"Stop!" Yan Dan could no longer hold back and stepped out from among his soldiers, shouting, "This is the Crown Prince of Yan, Yan Dan! Summon Zhao Feng to see me!"
Hearing Yan Dan reveal his identity, the surrounding Sharp Warriors halted their attack. But every one of them stared at Yan Dan with greedy, predatory eyes, though it seemed no one dared to strike first, as if afraid of tearing him to pieces.
"Except for Yan Dan, kill the rest," Zhao Feng's voice rang out across the tower. "Capture Yan Dan and be promoted one rank and advanced one noble rank."
Zhao Feng naturally did not plan to kill him. Ying Zheng had explicitly instructed that Yan Dan must not be killed. His death would not benefit Qin; his life was far more useful. After all, in Ying Zheng's view, having such a foolish Crown Prince was a boon for Qin. Moreover, this might also be Ying Zheng's last nod to the friendship of their youth.
"Zhao Feng, you dare!" Yan Dan's expression changed drastically as he shouted, "Yan and Qin have an alliance!"
But no one paid him any attention.
"Kill! Kill!"
The surrounding Sharp Warriors surged forward, butchering the remaining Yan soldiers on the tower. It took almost no time at all. The Yan soldiers were annihilated, and the tower was littered with corpses. Even Yan Dan was forcefully captured by two Sharp Warriors.
"Zhao Feng! How dare you? How could you?" Yan Dan stared at Zhao Feng, his face twisted in a snarl.
"I already gave you a chance," Zhao Feng said, walking slowly up to Yan Dan. "Yan Dan, Crown Prince of Yan. Cast aside your so-called naivete. This is war—a relentless, merciless war."
"If you have the guts, then kill me!" Yan Dan screamed. For him, this defeat was a vicious slap in the face. He had yearned to expand his territory and prove himself through this battle, but in a single engagement, everything he had imagined was destroyed. Thinking of having to face his father the king, and even Ying Zheng, Yan Dan felt he would rather be dead.
"You are the Crown Prince of a state, after all. If I killed you, how would I answer to my Great King?" Zhao Feng replied with a faint smile.
"General," Tu Sui said, approaching quickly. "Many Yan soldiers in the city have surrendered. Should we accept them?"
"What did the challenge I delivered say?" Zhao Feng asked, turning to him with a frown.
"No quarter for prisoners. Leave no one alive," Tu Sui replied instantly.
"Then why are you asking?" Zhao Feng said coldly.
"This subordinate understands," Tu Sui said, immediately withdrawing.
"Zhao Feng! How can you be so cruel?" Yan Dan demanded furiously. "They have already surrendered! Why must you slaughter them all?"
"Your Highness," Zhao Feng began. "You chose this yourself. I said that as long as you remained, my Qin would consider you an enemy. And how we treat our enemies is not for the prince of an enemy state to question. Take him away! Guard him strictly! Pursue the Yan Army! Take no prisoners, and drive them beyond the borders of Zhao Jing! As for Yan Dan, send an urgent report to Xianyang. We'll see how the Great King wishes to deal with him."
"Yes, General!" his trusted aide Zhang Ming immediately acknowledged the command.
「Yan, Ji City!」
"What did you say?" the King of Yan's face changed drastically as he heard the news from the Yan Army in Zhao Jing in his Morning Discussion Hall. "Yan Dan was captured by the Qin General Zhao Feng? Of my 100,000 troops, fewer than 60,000 returned? Didn't I tell him not to engage the Qin Army? Why did this happen?"
"Your Majesty," a Military Official stepped forward and reported with a helpless expression. "Senior General Yue Cheng reports that the Qin Army sent two challenges, offering to let the Crown Prince's army leave peacefully if they withdrew. But the Crown Prince refused to listen and insisted on occupying those cities of the Zhao state. This ultimately provoked the Qin General Zhao Feng to attack, breach the city the Crown Prince was in, and capture him. This entire matter is due to the Crown Prince's obstinance."
Hearing this, King Xi of Yan's face grew even colder, his old features trembling with rage. "That damn fool! That rebellious son! I told him if the Qin Army came, he was not to engage them under any circumstances! But that rebel dared to disobey me and fight them! Damn fool!" King Xi of Yan roared, his anger at its peak.
Qin! A state even mightier than Zhao. To his Yan, Qin had shown favor, so sending troops to seize cities was already an act of ingratitude. King Xi of Yan had originally taken a gamble, wondering if Qin would be provoked, but he had clearly lost that gamble. That was why he had given the order to retreat immediately and avoid any conflict with the Qin Army. He just never imagined his own son would be so reckless.
"Your Majesty," a Yan minister spoke up. "What's done is done. The Crown Prince has been captured by the Qin Army. What should our Yan do next?"
"What else can be done? What else can I do?" King Xi of Yan raged. "Am I supposed to wage war on Qin to force them to release him? That damned rebel, it would be better if he just died! If he had died sooner, he wouldn't have dug such a massive hole for me!"
Faced with the king's fury, the full court of civil and military officials dared not speak.
"Apologize! Apologize to Qin!" the king declared. "As for that rebellious son, if Qin wants his life, they can have it. Prime Minister, you will personally lead a delegation to Qin..."
As time passed, the cities of Zhao Territory were steadily conquered by Qin. It would not be long before the region was completely under their control.
「Xianyang City!」
"Reporting to the Great King, the Yan envoy requests an audience outside the hall," Wang Wan stepped forward and announced loudly.
"They've finally arrived," Ying Zheng said from his high throne, a smile playing on his lips. "I have been waiting for them for a long time."
Clearly, the news of Yan Dan's capture and the heavy losses inflicted upon the Yan Army by Zhao Feng had already reached Xianyang. Now, Ying Zheng was waiting for word from Yan. If they wanted to ransom Yan Dan and quell Qin's anger, simply sending an envoy would not be enough. They would have to bleed.
"Let him enter!" Ying Zheng commanded majestically.
"By the Great King's decree, summon the envoy of Yan to the hall for an audience!" Zhao Gao bellowed, his voice echoing outwards.
An elderly official in the formal robes of Yan walked slowly into the Morning Discussion Hall of Qin. Upon entering, he immediately dropped to his knees. "The Yan envoy, Jing Fu, pays his respects to the King of Qin."
Ying Zheng looked down at the Yan minister, his expression cold. "The state of Yan," he began icily, "broke our alliance, daring to snatch meat from the mouth of Qin. My War General gave Yan a chance, yet you were ungrateful and took up arms against my great Qin. I am very displeased!"