Prince Han Cheng continued dividing his forces to resist the Dongyi naval fleet attempting to break through Great Zhou’s naval defense line, completely disregarding that his main battleship was already tilting slightly to the right and ablaze with fierce fires, completely disregarding that Du Yulang had already dispatched even more men to board Great Zhou’s main battleship to kill him, their commanding general.

At this moment, the main battleship was littered everywhere with the soaking wet corpses of enemy soldiers and the bodies of their troops.

Prince Han Cheng was also covered in blood from head to toe. His left hand had been severed by an enemy general who had boarded Great Zhou’s main battleship, and he could only hastily wrap it with his cloak for now. Blood continuously dripped downward, and the pain made him grip his sword hilt tightly, nearly unable to straighten his back.

“Your Highness, we’ve shot all our crossbow bolts and arrows! We can’t hold them off anymore!” A young naval general hurriedly ran toward Prince Han Cheng, whose face was covered in blood as he raised his sword to kill enemies, and knelt on one knee. “Our main battleship’s fire is too fierce, and after the enemy boarded, they’ve damaged the hull. I’m afraid it won’t be long before it sinks! Please take a small boat and leave quickly! We subordinates will never retreat until we fight to the very last moment!”

Prince Han Cheng endured the excruciating pain and quickly walked to the right side, glancing at the Dongyi forces that were about to break through the naval defense line, then swayed unsteadily toward the left side, seeing that Dongyi warships had already broken through the defensive line.

Prince Han Cheng then looked toward the Dongyi main battleship that was still commanding the naval warships to launch attacks, steeling his heart… he made his decision.

To shoot a man, first shoot his horse; to capture bandits, first capture their king!

As long as Dongyi’s main battleship sank, as long as their commanding general died, Dongyi’s combat effectiveness would be greatly diminished.

This ship was already beyond saving. Rather than let it sink uselessly, better to make the most of it!

Prince Han Cheng commanded loudly: “Pass the order! Full speed… forward, ram into Dongyi’s main battleship!”

“Your Highness!” The young naval general’s eyes widened, but after only a moment’s hesitation, he stood up and said, “Your Highness should leave first! I’ll ram the ship!”

Prince Han Cheng shook his head: “Only if I stand alive at the bow will Dongyi not expect us to be so resolute, and they won’t prepare defenses in advance!”

The young general’s eyes filled with tears as he nodded and immediately shouted the order loudly: “Pass the order! Full speed forward, ram into Dongyi’s main battleship!”

“Pass the order! Full speed forward, ram into Dongyi’s main battleship!”

“Pass the order! Full speed forward, ram into Dongyi’s main battleship!”

The command was shouted down at extreme speed. The naval soldiers gripping the large oars tightly, their entire bodies soaked, knew that this ramming… meant certain death for them!

But… their fishermen were behind them!

They could not retreat!

“Turn the bow! Full speed… charge!” The young general in charge of rowing was drenched in sweat. As he quickly walked backward, he shouted hysterically, “Send people to immediately block all gaps on the right side! Everyone stands on the left side to keep the hull level! Quickly, quickly, quickly!”

On the sea surface, Great Zhou’s massive ship with flames turned its bow…

The naval soldiers rowing the giant oars in the ship’s hold knew this was a journey of no return, but they could not hesitate. They also knew this might be the last thing they could do with all their might in their lifetime. Each one gritted their teeth and roared, every movement seeming to drain them completely, as they charged toward Dongyi’s main battleship.

Du Yulang was not a general who would sacrifice himself for others. Seeing Great Zhou’s main battleship turn its bow and charge toward their Dongyi fleet, and seeing Prince Han Cheng standing right at the bow, he momentarily couldn’t understand what Prince Han Cheng was trying to do, still thinking that Prince Han Cheng was trying to lure other Dongyi warships over for battle.

Du Yulang’s lips curved upward as he immediately ordered: “Have all the bows and ship ballistas shoot at Great Zhou’s main battleship. Whoever can hit Prince Han Cheng gets the highest merit!”

But seeing that this Great Zhou main battleship was advancing at full speed with no sign of slowing down, Du Yulang had to be cautious and ordered again for the escort ships on both sides of the main battleship to advance and engage Great Zhou’s main battleship.

But it was precisely during Du Yulang’s moment of hesitation that those escort ships on both sides – he had never imagined that Great Zhou’s main battleship would charge at such incredible speed, actually passing straight through between two Dongyi escort ships. When the two escort ships realized what was happening and turned their bows to intercept Great Zhou’s main battleship, they could only barely crash into the stern of Great Zhou’s main battleship…

The bow’s hardest copper-reinforced section scraped along Great Zhou’s main battleship hull, snapping the warship’s oars and producing an extremely harsh, grating sound. The naval soldiers standing at Great Zhou’s main battleship’s stern unfastened the locks connecting them to the hull, lifted them, and jumped onto the Dongyi ships, fighting desperately for their lives!

Prince Han Cheng turned to look at his guards, who never left his side, and said, “In the next life, we’ll be brothers!”

“In the next life, this subordinate will still serve Your Highness!” The personal guard, unafraid of death, saluted Prince Han Cheng.

Du Yulang never expected that with Prince Han Cheng still on the ship, he would dare to ram straight toward him. He shouted: “Retreat quickly! Retreat quickly!”

Great Zhou’s main naval battleship, fighting with all its might, came breaking through the waves. Du Yulang’s eyes widened in terror as he turned and ran… wanting to evacuate from the main battleship.

Prince Han Cheng’s expression showed no fear. Only at the moment when the main battleship crashed with full force into Dongyi’s main battleship did he turn to look southward and murmur: “Your subject Xiao Ruxing bids farewell to His Majesty!”

Soon, all of Great Zhou’s naval forces discovered that their main battleship had crashed into Dongyi’s main battleship.

Great Zhou’s naval commanders cried out for Prince Han Cheng, and almost all the generals on the ships made the same decision as Prince Han Cheng in that instant – they… would fight to the death without retreat!

“Damn it! Those bastard Dongyi dogs! Pass the order… full speed ahead! Ram those Dongyi bastards to death! For every one more we destroy, we profit! For every ship we wreck, we gain one!” A general on the ship threw his helmet onto the deck, red-eyed and screaming hysterically, “Ram them! Even if we ram ourselves to death… we can’t leave a single warship for those Dongyi dogs! Ram them!”

Another Great Zhou naval warship was already listing severely to the left and about to sink. They could no longer hold their position, and seeing that Dongyi naval ships had already broken through their defense to pursue their Great Zhou fishermen and envoys, the naval general’s expression was grim as he shouted: “Tell the brothers to hold on a bit longer! Even if we die… we must drag down a few more with us! That Dongyi ship dares to cross the line – we’ll… ram it!”

One ship… two ships… three ships…

When Great Zhou’s naval ships could no longer resist Dongyi’s naval forces, they all chose to perish together with the enemy.

After all, Great Zhou naval warships and naval soldiers were completely exhausted, everywhere the eye could see was filled with severed limbs and broken wood, everywhere… was crimson red.

Even Dongyi’s naval soldiers were greatly shaken.

In this battle, the Great Zhou’s naval forces were annihilated, but Dongyi’s naval forces also suffered heavy losses. With commanding general Du Yulang dead, they no longer had the strength to pursue Great Zhou’s envoys.

On the fourteenth day of the eighth month in the second year of Yuanhe, Dongyi’s naval forces engaged Great Zhou’s naval fleet escorting fishermen to sea in battle on the waters. The naval soldiers sacrificed their lives to protect the people and envoys, with the entire army annihilated. Prince Han Cheng died heroically for his country at the age of twenty-three.