A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

Wei Zhao's decree arrived at the central military tent in Yuezhou late at night.

Three swift horses broke through the night, their hooves shattering the silence in front of the camp. When the messenger dismounted, his legs went weak, and he almost knelt down.

Liu Jingshuang had just finished a sand table simulation, and her body still carried the smell of gunpowder and dust.

She took the urgent edict bearing the emperor's private seal, glanced at it, and then handed the letter to the adjutant beside her.

"Have you seen everything clearly?"

Her voice rang out in the quiet command tent; it was cold and devoid of any discernible emotion.

After the deputy general and several adjutant generals finished reading it, they all looked solemn.

"This humble general obeys the order!"

"Pass on my orders."

Without uttering a single wasted word, Liu Jingshuang turned around and focused her gaze on the huge southeastern map in the center of the tent, pointing her finger heavily at the location of Mingzhou Port.

"The eight thousand cavalry under the command of the central army shall immediately prepare themselves and depart with me in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, heading north to Mingzhou overnight."

The lieutenant hesitated for a moment, then couldn't help but remind him, "General, it's getting late. The army is marching at night, and at such a rapid pace, I'm afraid..."

"There's nothing to be afraid of."

Liu Jingshuang interrupted him, her voice carrying an undeniable determination.

"Ke Zhenchuan's ship is at sea; he won't wait for us until dawn. His Majesty has given us five days, and I must arrive within four."

She paused, then looked away from the map and scanned the faces of each general in the tent.

"The remaining 12,000 men, as originally planned, will be divided into two routes and converge on Mingzhou along the official roads along the coast of Yuezhou and Quanzhou. Tell them not to rush, but to spread out scouts and keep a close watch on all the mudflats and inlets along the way where they can land."

She knew very well that Wei Zhao's order was for her to gather troops, but gathering troops was not the goal.

That old fox Ke Zhenchuan, with dozens of boats, isn't here for sightseeing.

He wanted to rob, to burn, to use a great victory to tell everyone that he was not dead.

Xinwu needs to let him know that he can't set foot on the shore.

"remember,"

Liu Jingshuang walked to the tent entrance, the night wind ruffling the hem of her plain dress, her voice as if chilled to the bone:

"Shang Wanqing is being towed at sea, and we're waiting on the shore. Once they're ashore, we'll close the gate."

The lieutenant was startled and looked up abruptly.

close the door.

These two words are more direct and more bloody than any military order.

He understood that the general's mission this time was not to defend, but to kill.

"This subordinate...understood!"

That night, eight thousand cavalrymen, like a black iron torrent, silently surged out of the Yuezhou camp, merged into the deep night, and headed straight for Mingzhou.

Shang Wanqing's fleet arrived at the sea off Mingzhou half a day earlier than Liu Jingshuang's cavalry.

Fifteen new-style fast boats, painted entirely in black, without flying any flags, silently dispersed into three parallel lines at the boundary between the near and far seas, like a group of silent predators.

They neither launched an attack nor retreated to the port; they were like three fences that appeared out of nowhere on the sea, blocking the most crucial area of ​​water.

The sailors on board were all seasoned veterans handpicked from the Quanzhou shipyard, accustomed to the winds and waves, yet even they couldn't help but sweat. They had never seen anything like it before, nor had they ever steered a ship that was moving so fast.

These boats were so quiet that, with the wind at their backs, you could hear almost nothing except the whooshing sound of the sails being blown by the wind.

They are narrow and long, with a shallow draft, so when they glide on the sea, they seem to be flying close to the surface of the water.

As dusk approached and the last rays of light on the horizon were about to be swallowed by darkness, a dense patch of black dots finally appeared on the northern sea.

"They're here!" The lookout's voice carried a hint of barely suppressed tension.

Shang Wanqing stood at the bow of the flagship, holding a monocular telescope in her hand.

She personally polished the lens tube, and the lens was made of crystal bought at a high price from merchants in the Western Regions, making it clearer than any sight glasses issued to the army.

Through the telescope, the pirate fleet was slowly approaching.

One, two, ten, thirty... Finally, she counted them all: forty-two.

There were nearly ten more ships than the military report she sent to the capital had predicted.

Ke Zhenchuan, that old dog, has only become stronger.

Shang Wanqing cursed inwardly, but her face remained calm.

She put down her binoculars, the sea breeze ruffling the stray hairs on her forehead, but she didn't care.

She could see the figures standing at the bow of the other ship, and also the old yet still sturdy outlines of those vessels.

That was a real naval army, not a rabble.

"Madam Shang, they're coming! Should we fire a volley of crossbow bolts as a warning?" the helmsman asked nervously.

"Stop here, don't move."

Shang Wanqing's voice wasn't loud, but it reassured everyone on the ship: "Let's see what they do first."

She bet that Ke Zhenchuan wouldn't dare to rashly storm an unfamiliar coastline in the dark of night when the situation was unclear.

The pirate fleet did not approach again until it was completely dark.

They stopped on the sea about six miles away from Shang Wanqing's fleet.

More than forty warships lined up in a row, their bows all facing the coast, like a pack of hungry wolves eyeing their prey.

They are watching.

We checked whether the beacon towers on the shore had been lit, how many of these new ships we had never seen before were there on the sea, and whether there were any gaps in this blocked coastline that we could squeeze through.

Shang Wanqing stood at the bow of the boat, facing them without moving.

Time passed slowly, and the night breeze at sea grew increasingly cool.

A full hour.

The pirate fleet remained stationary.

Shang Wanqing finally withdrew her gaze, turned around, and said to the captain and sailors behind her, "We won't fight tonight."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"If they don't move, we won't move either."

Shang Wanqing's gaze swept over the scattered lights in the distance: "Send the order down, all ships, anchor where they are. We'll see how the wind goes tomorrow during the day."

She knew in her heart that Ke Zhenchuan was testing her bottom line and wearing down her patience.

Night battles are a major taboo for the attacking side, who are unfamiliar with the terrain and their opponents.

A veteran like Ke Zhenchuan wouldn't make such a basic mistake.

He wanted to wait.

Waiting for the best wind direction, waiting for the moment when the defense is most relaxed.

Okay, then I'll wait with you.

That night, the sea was pitch black.

Shang Wanqing ordered that all the lights on the fifteen speedboats be turned off.

There were no lanterns, no torches, and even the stove for cooking was completely covered with a damp burlap sack.

Fifteen fast ships, representing the pinnacle of Shinbu's shipbuilding technology, blended into the deep night, floating silently on the sea as if they didn't exist at all.

In the distance, the lights of the pirate fleet shone sparsely.

Looking across the six miles of sea, the lights looked like a small cluster of fireflies flickering in the wind, appearing particularly lonely and glaring on this vast and dark ocean.

The two fleets stood silently facing each other in the pitch-black night.

It looks especially lonely at night.