Over the next two days, almost all the escort guards gathered at the naval camp.
The Black Armour Team and the two hundred female soldiers mainly drilled close-quarters combat, while the remaining escort guards dispersed across the various warships to install and calibrate heavy crossbows and catapults, and at the same time carried out the most basic tactical coordination with the naval soldiers.
“General Jin, I remember you had three hundred black-armoured escort guards. Why are there only a little over two hundred now?”
Zheng Chiyuan asked curiously.
“They have other missions,” Jin Feng replied.
Zheng Chiyuan very much wanted to ask what those missions were, but such a question would be somewhat taboo, so he could only keep his curiosity bottled up.
Just as he was about to speak, he saw an escort guard hurry over and hand Jin Feng a slip of paper.
The note was very simple, only five words: Old Eagle is in position.
Jin Feng’s eyes narrowed slightly. He put away the note and looked at Zheng Chiyuan. “General Zheng, how about we move tonight?”
“Would that not be a bit too rushed?” Zheng Chiyuan frowned. “The escort brothers have only been here two days. They probably have not even mastered the navy’s specialised flag signals. Launching an attack rashly would not be very prudent, would it?”
“It is indeed somewhat rushed, but I truly have no more time.”
Jin Feng said, “General Zheng, rest assured. This time our people will take the main attack. The navy only needs to help us seal off the sea and prevent the water bandits from escaping.”
“General Jin, you know that is not what I meant…”
Zheng Chiyuan wanted to explain, but Jin Feng cut him off.
“I know General Zheng’s concerns, but I really cannot wait any longer.”
Jin Feng said, “Today another messenger came from Xichuan. Lord Qing has already been stripped of his post. I must return as quickly as possible.”
“Very well then. I will go and notify the warships to prepare.”
Seeing Jin Feng’s insistence, Zheng Chiyuan could only nod helplessly.
In truth, they were just over a thousand water bandits, sailing only captured fishing boats and cargo ships. Zheng Chiyuan did not take them seriously at all.
The navy had five thousand men and professional warships. Flattening Crab Pincer Island would be effortless.
His earlier worry was simply that the addition of the escort guards, equipped with new weapons, might disrupt the navy’s established rhythm.
But thinking of Jin Feng’s previous battle record and the performance of the escort guards in training over the past two days, Zheng Chiyuan felt reassured.
They were not pampered troops. At worst, they would not coordinate perfectly with the navy.
That very night, one warship after another, carrying naval soldiers and escort guards, quietly sailed out of the dock.
Heaven was cooperative too. A northwest wind sprang up, the warships raised their sails, and their speed gradually increased.
But the night was too dark, so Zheng Chiyuan did not let the fleet go too fast. It was not until the second half of the night that they reached the outskirts of Crab Pincer Island.
Then the fleet extinguished all torches and, under cover of darkness, stealthily approached Crab Pincer Island.
At the same time, unnoticed by everyone, several hot air balloons had already silently drifted into the sky above Crab Pincer Island.
In the basket of the first hot air balloon, Old Eagle lifted a small slit in the curtain and looked down through binoculars.
“According to intelligence, Old Liang and the others are held in area six. We can descend now. Do not overshoot.”
Old Eagle closed the curtain again and signalled the escort guard controlling the stove to lower the balloon’s altitude.
The escort guards behind noticed Old Eagle descending and followed suit.
It was already the early hours, the time when people are most prone to drowsiness.
Most of the water bandits were sleeping like pigs.
Even those on night watch were yawning constantly. No one noticed anything flying overhead.
Ten minutes later, the hot air balloons smoothly drifted to area six where the captives were held.
Their altitude had dropped to only about ten metres from the ground.
Old Eagle once again lifted a small slit in the curtain and looked below.
Because captives were held here, there were far more water bandits on watch than elsewhere, and none were asleep. They were gathered around a bonfire, chatting idly.
“One, two… seventeen, eighteen!”
Old Eagle counted them one by one, then turned to Da Zhuang in the basket. “Eighteen in total!”
“Understood!”
Da Zhuang nodded, also lifted a slit in the curtain, and looked down.
Moments later, he closed it, took a bamboo whistle from his pocket, and put it in his mouth.
Tweet tweet! Tweet!…
The sound from the bamboo whistle resembled the call of certain birds, exceptionally clear in the quiet night sky.
Soon after, several identical whistle calls came from behind.
On the ground, the night-watch water bandits had no idea danger had arrived. They continued laughing and talking.
“In the middle of the night, where is that bird call coming from?”
One water bandit wondered.
“It is at least five o’clock now. In a little while it will be dawn. Still the middle of the night?”
Another water bandit waved his hand. “Black Dog, do not talk. Let Brother Quan continue. You ordered a girl at the brothel, and then what?”
“Then that girl took out a slippery lump and told me, this is scented soap.”
The one called Brother Quan said animatedly, “You fellows do not know how fragrant that soap is. Rub it once and it is all bubbles. Using it feels incredibly comfortable…”
Just as he was getting excited, an arrow whistled through the air and embedded itself in Brother Quan’s forehead.
Blood splattered. Brother Quan’s voice stopped abruptly. He struggled instinctively for a moment, then fell stiffly to the ground.
Until he died, he had no idea where the arrow had come from.
The other water bandits were terrified. They grabbed their weapons from the ground and instinctively looked up into the sky.
An arrow embedded in the forehead could only have come from above!
The escort guards had lifted their curtains to shoot.
The water bandits finally saw the hot air balloons.
“My God, what is that thing?”
All the water bandits were stunned speechless.
From their perspective, the hot air balloons were truly enormous.
Like small mountains.
But how could a mountain fly in the sky?
The water bandits felt their brains were not enough.
Immediately after, they instinctively wanted to shout and raise the alarm.
Unfortunately, the escort guards gave them no such chance.
For escort guards who trained shooting regularly, at a distance of ten metres, they could hit without aiming.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!…
Escort guards in several baskets fired simultaneously. The air around filled with the dense sound of arrows in flight.
The next second, more than a dozen water bandits all fell stiffly to the ground. Not one escaped. All were shot dead.
Old Eagle grabbed a rope from the side and threw it down, shouting, “Quick quick quick! The balloon will float away soon!”
Monkey was the first to grab the rope and slid nimbly to the ground.
Upon landing, he immediately raised his crossbow, aiming at the path to prevent any possible enemies.
The same happened with the other baskets. The escort guards grabbed the ropes and rappelled down one after another.
In just a few minutes, two platoons of black-armoured escort guards had all completed their descent.
Old Eagle used ropes to lower several boxes, then closed the curtain, controlled the hot air balloon to rise, and drifted towards the next target.
On the ground, Da Zhuang quickly made arrangements.
“Monkey, take one platoon and hold the path. Second platoon, follow me to rescue the men!”
“Brothers, let us go. Let the navy see what a special forces team is. Let them see how our Black Armour Team fights!”
Monkey acknowledged with a shout, then led one platoon carrying the boxes and ran towards the path.
