Night fell, smothering the battlefield in hush silence. Under the cover of pitch darkness, the mobile ballistae were rolled smoothly into position, 300 meters from the massive outer gates of the Wu capital.
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!
The silence was shattered as the heavy ballistae released their payload.
Massive steel anchor bolts tore through the night air, slamming into the heavy gate with terrifying force. Seven out of every ten bolts punched clean through the iron-reinforced oak timber with minimum resistance.
The moment they pierced the inner side of the door, the mechanical heads deployed, expanding iron barbs that anchored deeply into the structural wood.
Inside the city, the sudden thuds caused immediate confusion.
Assuming that the attackers were trying to splinter the gate open with artillery, the defenders panicked and began hastily piling sandbags, timber, and rubble behind the doors to block an entry.
That miscalculation gave him all the time he needed. Within fifteen minutes, over thirty anchor bolts were firmly locked into the Wu main gate's structure.
"Move!"
A daring squad of vanguard cavalry sprinted toward the gate under a sudden rain of defensive arrows and siege fire. Hundreds fell under the barrage, but the remaining men reached the foot of the wall.
Grabbing the trailing heavy steel chains they locked them securely to the anchored bolts. The other ends of the chains were hoisted and hooked directly to the massive steel bridge frame harnessed to Luo He's specially trained warhorses.
Defending archers lit flaming arrows, showering the horse team to induce panic. But Luo He's horses held their ground, standing firm like stone statues amidst the fire and smoke, waiting for the command.
"PULL!"
Hundred trained beasts surged forward in absolute unison. The heavy steel chains snapped taut with a deafening metallic screech.
The immense, coordinated force ripped through the wooden framework of the reinforced gate. With a thunderous roar, the massive doors were yanked violently off their iron hinges, collapsing outward into a cloud of splintered wood and dust.
The defenders were struck mute with utter shock. The gate hadn't just been breached it had been erased.
"CHARGE!"
Before the Wu garrison could comprehend the disaster, Gin Wenyuan personally led the 20,000 elite cavalry pouring through the ruined gateway.
The outer city wall was sparsely guarded. After two weeks of calm, most of the earlier garrison had been resting in their barracks.
Out of the capital's defenders, only 20,000 were true trained soldiers, the rest were makeshift militias and local ruffians. They were completely unprepared for a night assault lead by cavalry non the less.
Luo He entered the fray right behind the vanguard.
He didn't even bother drawing his sword. Holding only a short dagger in one hand and a borrowed heavy bow in the other, he moved like a shadow through the chaos.
He scaled the outer gate tower with truly effortless grace, slicing the throats of the few guards who tried to intercept him. Once atop the high parapet, he stood tall against the night sky, drawing his bow string.
With lethal precision, Luo He began sniping key targets across the battlefield, focusing entirely on Grandmasters, other prominent martial artists, and high-ranking officers of Wu trying to rally the defense.
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed.
Down in an alleyway, he spotted three Gin family soldiers threatening a group of utterly terrified cornered civilians.
Without a second's hesitation, Luo He drew three arrows, and released one at a time in swift precision. The shafts pierced all three soldiers cleanly through the throat before they could even raise their blades.
Luo He had taken the high ground specially to monitor his own armies troops, ensuring no soldier violated his strict order against harming civilians or executed surrendering troops of the opposition.
He cares more about killing his own men with no obedience than actually killing the enemies, as they could spoil his plan worse compared to opposition fighters.
By the time the first rays of dawn broke over the horizon, the outer city of the Wu capital was completely secured. The surviving Wu garrison had abandoned the outer ring.
They were fleeing behind the walls of the inner city. Nearly 12,000 Wu defenders lay dead. Every single one of them armed combatants cut down in active combat.
Thanks to Gin Wenyuan's strictness in trying to enforce his orders, and Luo He's vigilant eyes from the high tower, civilian casualties were virtually nonexistent.
By morning, a heavy, suffocating silence settled over the capital.
The entire outer city had fallen under Gin Wenyuan's control. Dust and smoke still hovered in the early light as Gin's forces solidified their positions.
They have now turned a rented mansion in the capital, once a modest stopover into the invading army's central command.
From this temporary base, Gin Wenyuan looked out at the towering walls of the inner city. The outer victory was absolute, yet the true challenge lay ahead.
The inner city was vastly smaller compared to the outer city, but its very compact layout made it a nightmare to breach.
A mere three to four thousand highly elite troops could effortlessly defend its narrow choke points against an army of hundreds of thousands.
For vast Gin's forces, an open assault was always bound to be a suicide.
Advancing meant exposing their backs to an unpredictable outer city population that still owed allegiance to the Wu Kingdom.
Hidden amidst the civilians, Wu loyalists could slice through supply lines and keep on ambushing them from the shadows.
Gin Wenyuan was in a perilous position. Luo He, however, had already factored this into his calculations.
As the sun began its cold ascent in the east, painting the sky in pale shades of orange, Luo He walked into Wenyuan's quarters to lay out the next phase.
"Taking the inner wall through siege is a fool's strategy." Luo He stated calmly.
"The first step is simple, we threaten the commanding chief of the inner city. Give him a choice. Open the gates or die." The plan relied on a hidden blades.
Embedded within the inner city's ranks was a young Grandmaster in his early thirties, a spy Luo He had placed long before the first invasion, accompanied by a couple dozen or socovert intruders.
The second-in-command's task was to assassinate the chief and open the gates from within, framing his actions as a rather desperate act of mercy to save the city.
The problem was the commanding chief himself. A veteran of the old generation.
A pinnacle Grandmaster, the chief was a combat monster. In a direct duel, the more younger grandmaster stood little chance.
He needed a moment of pure and absolute distraction a shock so be profound it would leave the old monster in command blind to a sudden strike delivered from behind.
To create that distraction, Luo He devised a brutal gambit. He intended to execute some children directly in front of the inner gates until the chief broke.
When Luo He instructed Gin Wenyuan to send troops into the outer city to round up local children, He hesitated.
His noble sensibilities revolted even at the thought. Seeing Wenyuan's reluctance, Luo He didn't waste breath arguing.
"Fine." Luo He said indifferently. "I will rather handle it myself."
He turned to his own group of lieutenants, including Fei. When ordered to drag some children from their homes, even Fei and the inner circle showed intense resistance.
Most were horrified by the command, but Luo He tolerated no disobedience.
Brushing aside their protests, he selected his most ruthlessly loyal men and carefully dispatched them into the streets.
For four agonizing hours, soldiers combed through the outer sectors. By mid-morning, close to sixty or so terrified children were herded like cattle to the clear ground before the massive inner city gates.
His men stood behind them, daggers of cold steel pressed against small throats.
Gin Wenyuan watched from a distance, troubled yet silent.
While he lacked the stomach to hold the blade himself, a part of him couldn't help but admire the stark, terrifying efficiency of Luo He's terrific mind.
To him, Luo He was not just a monster. He was a master of brilliant, uncompromising ruthlessness.
Luo He stepped forward, his voice echoing off the stone walls of the inner fortress as he called up to the commanding chief standing atop the battlements.
"Open the gates." He commanded calmly.
"Every minute you delay, a child dies."
High above, the commanding chief looked down at the line of children and froze, his mind racing against the sheer barbarity of the demand.
He hesitated, waiting to see if it was a bluff.
Luo He did not hesitate. He gave a slight wave of his hand. Soldiers stepped forward, and a throat of a boy who is no older than five was slit in a single motion.
Blood poured out like a fountain, staining the pale cobblestones below. The chief gasped, horror gripping his chest. Still, he wavered, paralyzed by duty and shock.
A minute passed. A second child, an eight year old boy, was dragged forward. His life was ended just as swiftly, crimson pooling across the stone.
Another minute slipped by, and a ten year old girl met the same fate, her blood joining the rising stain on the street. Three children dead in three minutes from the threat.
Above the gate, the commanding chief stood completely stunned, his focus was now entirely consumed by the grim & grisly spectacle below. That fraction of a second was all the second-in-command needed.
Moving without even the slight sound, the young grandmaster plunged his blade into the man from behind. The sword tore right through the old chief's neck.
Elegantly severing his spine, shattering his esophagus, and tearing straight through his windpipe in one fluid, lethal swing.
The pinnacle grandmaster collapsed before he could even register the betrayal.
"Open the gates!"
The second-in-command shouted to the utterly horrified guards on the wall, his voice ringing with staged anguish. "We cannot let them slaughter all those children!"
Before the remaining loyalists could even begin processing the chief's death, Luo He's planted intruders acted. They seized the winches, threw open the heavy iron reinforced doors, and secured the passage.
Fei immediately led a vanguard of three to four hundred men charging through the threshold, securing the entry sector within minutes of entering the city.
Gin Wenyuan and the main army followed closely behind.
At the cost of just three children's lives and a handful of covert actions, an impregnable inner city fell without a prolonged siege. The remaining garrison had to surrender.