Since Jiang Jin planned to build a navy, she naturally had grappling hooks—a weapon commonly used in naval battles—prepared early.
At her command, the shield bearers swiftly and orderly parted, making way for the Jinyang soldiers holding twelve-foot grappling hooks.
Because the Jinyang side’s dragon-feather crossbows were firing so densely, arrows from the Quzhao ships had already become scarce.
Both sides were moving at a moderate pace, nearly parallel to each other, and as the Freedom One drew closer and closer, the Jinyang soldiers seized the opportunity to thrust out their grappling hooks.
Thwack, thwack, thwack…
In an instant, several Jinyang soldiers hooked onto the massive warship.
Once the warship was caught, the positions of both sides were essentially locked. As water splashed, more than a dozen grappling hooks latched onto the warship.
Seeing the situation stabilizing, Xie Nanxiao shouted: “Shadow Dragon Guards, follow me and kill!—”
At his command, the shield bearers quickly opened a passage.
Xie Nanxiao took a running start, stepped on the crenellation, pushed off, and leaped high into the air. With a heavy thud, he landed on the enemy ship, with the Shadow Dragon Guards rapidly following behind.
Yun Chengxuan was thrilled. He howled with excitement and prepared to jump over as well, but Jiang Jin quickly called him back: “Don’t run off. We have other things to do.”
Yun Chengxuan slammed on the brakes and steadied himself. Though he desperately wanted to join the fight on the warship, he obeyed his aunt’s orders more than anything.
Jiang Jin put away her dragon-feather crossbow and quickly went down to the lower deck.
Seeing that nearly a hundred men had already crossed over, she ordered: “Withdraw the grappling hooks!”
With a series of snapping sounds as the hooks were pulled back, the two ships quickly separated.
The Quzhao forces had stationed very few soldiers on each ship.
First, they never imagined they’d encounter a real threat at sea.
Second, they wanted to maximize grain storage, since ships had limited carrying capacity.
After being shot down by the Jinyang forces, there were even fewer troops left on board.
Xie Nanxiao, along with dozens of Shadow Dragon Guards and Jinyang soldiers, had full control of the situation.
On the deck of the massive warship, no one was left alive except for corpses. Xie Nanxiao roared: “Split up and move out!”
The men responded loudly: “Aye!”
Xie Nanxiao led a dozen men straight toward the command tower.
The deputy commander, gripping his sword, bellowed: “Prepare for battle! Kill them all!”
The soldiers hiding in the various cabins roused their courage and shouted back: “Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Xie Nanxiao swung his blade. Blood sprayed as a Quzhao soldier, still yelling, lost his head.
The deputy commander, eyes wide with fury, charged at Xie Nanxiao: “You villain! How dare you!”
Xie Nanxiao’s eyes gleamed with excitement: “Perfect timing!”
Clang!
Sparks flew as the deputy commander’s blade was struck with a massive notch.
The deputy commander was shocked: the Jinyang soldiers’ swords were indeed fearsome!
He reacted swiftly, swinging his blade horizontally at Xie Nanxiao.
Xie Nanxiao sidestepped, dodging the strike, and chopped down with a counterattack.
With a scream, a severed hand flew through the air.
Strike while the iron was hot. Xie Nanxiao moved quickly, delivering another blow. Blood fell like rain…
The cargo ship sped clear of the massive warship’s cover, and there were the other two warships that had just turned around.
Before the crews on those ships could react, Jiang Jin’s side unleashed a storm of bolts from their dragon-feather crossbows. The Quzhao soldiers didn’t even have a chance to show their heads.
Jiang Jin had brought a considerable number of people this time.
Besides Kang Sheng and over five hundred construction workers preparing for building projects, she had also brought about fifty Shadow Dragon Guards, a hundred Jinyang soldiers, and three hundred trainees who were learning to be Jinyang sailors.
Every last one of them was skilled.
“Head north. Move between them!” Jiang Jin ordered, deciding to seize control of the smaller ships first.
Chen Mi was thrilled. He never imagined the Jinyang forces could be this formidable.
Gripping the helm tightly, he turned the wheel and accelerated as instructed.
Somehow, at that moment, he felt like a fearless general charging into battle.
Naval combat had never been the Quzhao people’s strength. These two warships had just turned around, still reeling from disorientation, and were caught in a relentless barrage of bolts. Before they could pick up speed, the Freedom One slipped right between them.
Standing behind the crenellations, Jiang Jin pointed at the smaller warship: “Use the iron-chain hooks. Drag it down!”
Yun Chengxuan nodded, grabbed a large iron chain with a hook, and hurled it with all his strength toward the smaller warship.
The cargo ship was only a few dozen yards from the small warship. His aim was excellent—bang! The iron hook landed on the small ship.
With a hard pull, click—the hook caught on the ship’s railing.
Jinyang soldiers quickly helped Yun Chengxuan tighten the chain, securing the hook and locking the small ship in place against the cargo ship.
The Quzhao soldiers on the small warship were frantic. Their vessel was now being dragged by the cargo ship. No matter how they turned the helm or pulled the oars, nothing worked.
A young officer shouted: “Quick! Cut the iron hook!”
Several soldiers tried to rush over, but the moment they showed their heads, they were shot down.
The officer roared: “Idiots! Crawl forward! Move!”
The soldiers crawled across the deck toward the railing. When they finally reached the hook, they found it was under so much tension they couldn’t budge it an inch.
With the small ship in tow, the cargo ship’s speed dropped significantly, but it was still enough against the newly turned large warship.
“Move closer,” Jiang Jin ordered.
As the distance between them shrank, the shield bearers, crossbowmen, and Jinyang soldiers with grappling hooks worked in perfect coordination, watching the large warship like hawks.
The Quzhao soldiers on board had lost all nerve under the relentless crossbow fire. They didn’t dare to show their heads, only occasionally loosing an arrow from hiding.
The ever-resourceful Yun Chengxuan saw there were still two iron chains with hooks left. He grabbed them and flung them at the warship.
With a clatter and screech, the hooks caught on the warship’s crenellations. The chains snapped taut instantly.
Yun Chengxuan and several Jinyang soldiers pulled together on the chains. With the cargo ship steadily closing in, they finally reached grappling-hook range. Dozens of hooks shot out almost simultaneously.
Yun Chengxuan dropped his chain, took a running start, stepped onto the crenellation, and leaped high, crossing the gap in an instant.
Dozens of Jinyang soldiers followed right behind, landing on the warship and soon clashing with the Quzhao troops on board.
Only then did Jiang Jin turn her attention back to the small ship.
The Quzhao soldiers on the small vessel were terrified, their hearts nearly stopping. But with their ship firmly tethered to the Jinyang cargo vessel, escape was impossible.
Watching helplessly as two of their own large warships were seized one by one by the Jinyang forces, their fighting spirit completely evaporated.
As the gap between the ships grew ever narrower, many soldiers on the small vessel could no longer bear it. Between being killed and being captured, they chose to jump into the sea—despite not knowing how to swim!
Jiang Jin: “…”
The battle ended half an hour later.
Xie Nanxiao was covered in blood, but his face shone with exhilaration: “My Lord, we killed 196 enemies and captured 295 alive.”
Among the 295 prisoners were a handful of Quzhao soldiers; most were Han rowers.
Jiang Jin frowned, looking at the dozen or so men standing with their heads bowed behind him.
