Jiang Huaisheng had calculated the time and ship speed. Departing at this hour, they would encounter the Dongyi fleet exactly when night fell deep. They would then use the cover of darkness to board the Dongyi warships and assassinate the commanding general.

Afterward, Liu Shucheng would order men to seize Dongyi warships and lead these ships to the place Liu Shucheng had previously explored with fishermen on Long Island—the most suitable location for an ambush. They would let their warships charge through, with those meant to be trapped by hidden reefs getting trapped. After that… it would be time for the Great Zhou navy to show its prowess.

Liu Shucheng’s colleagues rushed over upon hearing the news, only to see that Liu Shucheng had already departed some distance in the small boat. They stood at the front of the warship, shouting: “General Liu! Return alive!”

Hearing this, Liu Shucheng turned around. Orange-red light enveloped his entire figure as he performed a deep bow toward his comrades-in-arms, standing at the bow of the small boat with eyes full of resolve…

If he didn’t die, he would certainly… bring back these naval elite, these sons of mothers, these fathers of children.

Just as planned, in the darkness, the scattered small boats moved cautiously across the surface. Upon seeing the Dongyi warships breaking through the waves, Liu Shucheng gave a command, and the naval officers and soldiers dove into the water, swimming carefully and cautiously toward the Dongyi warships.

Each naval elite was a dragon or phoenix among the Great Zhou’s naval forces. They moved extremely fast, following Liu Shucheng’s instructions, dividing into fifteen teams of ten men each. Fourteen teams swam toward fourteen warships respectively, while Liu Shucheng led one team… toward the flagship.

One more team remained in place awaiting orders. Once the mission to kill the Dongyi naval commander, burn ships, and seize ships succeeded, they would board the captured warships and lead the Dongyi navy to Long Island. If they failed to seize the warships, the soldiers on the small boats would deliberately expose themselves to the Dongyi navy, leading them toward the ambush direction at Long Island, luring Dongyi into the trap.

Before leaving, Liu Shucheng had already ordered… that the team remaining on the boats need not wait for their return. Once anyone discovered them, they should immediately do everything possible to lead the Dongyi navy toward Long Island, to prevent both from failing to seize warships and being annihilated here.

They wore black fitted clothing that didn’t easily absorb water, using tools to grip the ship’s hull tightly, carefully, and slowly climbing up the ship’s body one by one, securing themselves to the vessel.

At night, the seawater’s icy cold was unimaginable. Liu Shucheng and others emerged from the frigid seawater, clinging to the rapidly advancing ship hull like geckos. His eyes were determined as he seized the opportunity and leaped onto the ship with five men.

Liu Shucheng had made arrangements. Although this was a suicide squad, it wasn’t a death squad. Except for the team going to seize warships, he had assigned people in every other team to steal the lifeboats on the warships. After all, if they couldn’t seize warships but could grab small boats, even if each team seized one small boat, their chances of survival would be somewhat greater.

The other five men pressed tightly against the ship’s hull, awaiting the next command.

These soldiers all knew their mission. To reduce the Great Zhou navy’s losses in the coming battle, they… even if they died, must complete their task before death.

General Jiang Huaisheng had said that every naval soldier was an old mother’s son at home, a young child’s father. They were willing to be the vanguard, charging ahead. As long as they could complete their mission with their abilities, they would be saving many children for Great Zhou mothers… sparing many elderly from the pain of losing their sons, and saving many fathers for young children… preventing the young from experiencing the pain of losing their fathers.

Their sacrifice was to obtain a stronger Great Zhou, to obtain a Great Zhou no longer troubled by enemy nations. After this battle to destroy Dongyi, the people of Great Zhou would enjoy eternal peace.

General Jiang Huaisheng had also said they were sacrificing their lives for righteousness. They came to sacrifice… they came to fight, so that their children would never have to sacrifice again, never have to fight again.

So each of them never thought about returning alive. What they thought about was completing their mission before death.

They were unfilial, leaving their parents behind, but all of this… was worth it.

At this hour, except for the naval soldiers on rotation duty steering the ships, the rest of the naval officers and soldiers had already gone to sleep to conserve their energy—it was the perfect time for a surprise attack.

A whistle sounded from the ship. The five men clinging to the hull immediately climbed up, changed into the clothes of the slain Dongyi soldiers, and threw the corpses into the sea.

But their dripping wet hair couldn’t be hidden and could only temporarily deceive observers.

Liu Shucheng looked at his soldiers and said, “Split up and act according to plan. After completing the mission, don’t get entangled in battle—immediately withdraw! Brothers… you must all live!”

“General, rest assured! If… we cannot meet again in this life, in the next life… this subordinate still wishes to follow you, General!” The naval soldier solemnly bowed to Liu Shucheng.

Liu Shucheng’s eyes filled with tears as he raised his hand and patted his subordinate’s shoulder: “Split up and act!”

Soon, the ten men scattered across the ship, each taking action.

Liu Shucheng put on his helmet and hat, leading three men rapidly inward. Their mission was to assassinate the commanding general. Liu Shucheng, who had some understanding of Dongyi warship construction, relied on his memory of Dongyi warships he had seen before to search for where he guessed the main general was located.

But before Liu Shucheng’s group arrived, one of their elite soldiers on a nearby warship had somehow been discovered, and fierce fighting had already begun…

War drums immediately thundered across the sea surface, and horn calls rang long and clear.

“Report…” Dongyi soldiers ran loudly toward the cabin where the main general was located.

Liu Shucheng’s four men stepped aside to clear the passage, lowering their heads to hide their faces. Seeing that soldier run inside, he looked, and the four men slowly followed.

Meanwhile, soldiers in the ship’s cabin who had been awakened by the drum and horn sounds all grabbed their swords and arrows and ran outside, only to see four small soldiers walking inward with lowered heads…

“You four…” a centurion spotted them and shouted loudly in Dongyi language, “Where are you going? Trying to desert?”

Liu Shucheng could understand a little Dongyi language but couldn’t speak it at all. The naval soldiers following Liu Shucheng needn’t be mentioned—they understood even less. Almost instantly, Liu Shucheng made his decision: “Go…”

They pretended not to hear, their steps quickening as they focused solely on the messenger soldier going to report to the Dongyi naval officers.

“Hey! Which unit are you from? The four were walking into the ship’s cabin!” The centurion gripped the sword at his waist and pursued them. “Stop now or face execution!”

When such words were spoken and the four men ahead still didn’t stop, the centurion immediately sensed something unusual. He drew his sword and shouted: “Seize those four men!”

The Dongyi naval soldiers who were rushing outside received the order and turned to pounce toward Liu Shucheng’s direction.

Liu Shucheng looked up as he ran inward and saw the messenger soldier from before…