This Kind of Fighting Was Very Un-Navy · Linking the Navy

The projection switched to a combat timeline.

[Midnight (00:00)]: The fleet secretly departed from Red Maple Island. All ships observed blackout conditions, and the sails were painted black. Speed: six knots. Estimated arrival five nautical miles off the unnamed island at 04:45.

[05:00]: Transfer to ten rowboats, twenty-eight men per boat, with the oar blades wrapped in flannel. Land on the island's leeward eastern side. The location is here—The projection enlarged, showing a gravel beach far from the camp.

[05:30-06:00]: Split into three groups.

- First Company, First and Second Platoons (80 men): Led by Luo Ma, they would circle along the western ridge. Their mission was to seize the pirate ships. Key point: there were usually four to six men keeping watch aboard, but in the latter half of the night, they gathered in the cabins to gamble. They were to be eliminated silently, with blades. No gunfire.

- First Company, Third Platoon, and Second Company, First Platoon (80 men): Led by Drake, they would approach the camp through the southern woods. Their mission was to seal off the perimeter. Set tripwires, establish sentry posts, and cut off any pirate attempting to flee into the forest.

- The remaining 120 men: Personally commanded by Hina, they would strike directly at the camp's shack district.

[06:00 · Time of Attack]:

1. First phase (silent elimination): Infiltrate the shacks in pairs. One man covered the target's mouth while the other slit the target's throat. Prioritize sentries near doors and windows.

2. If they were alerted, enter the second phase (fire suppression): Form three-man firing teams by squad. The first rank knelt, the second crouched, and the third stood. Reload in rotation and maintain continuous fire. Objective: drive the pirates into groups, not pursue kills.

3. If Henry and Good appeared: Concentrate all firepower to suppress them, but no one was to attempt to engage them at close range. Their lives were to be left to Major Hina.

[Before 07:00]: The battle had to be over. Clear the battlefield, seize weapons, and count the gunpowder. The wounded were to be bandaged immediately, and the dead buried on the spot, if any.

[07:30]: The fleet would close in on the bay and transport prisoners, if any, and spoils. Burn the camp.

[Before 09:00]: Return voyage.

The projection dimmed.

Only heavy breathing remained in the meeting room, along with the faint sound of waves beyond the windows.

The junior squad and platoon leaders did not think there was anything unusual about it. They were all newly enlisted soldiers who had never fought pirates before, and they had assumed this was simply how the navy eradicated pirates.

But the three company commanders saw things differently.

The three commanders—Drake, former 36th Base veteran sergeant "Anvil" Barton, and the elite "Grey Falcon" Cass transferred from Marine Headquarters—exchanged glances. In each other's eyes, they saw a shock that overturned everything they knew.

They had been to war.

Normally, that meant boarding actions after cannon fire, chaotic melees of clashing blades and spraying blood. Courage, martial skill, and a little luck determined who survived.

But this plan was nothing like the battles of the past...

"This isn't war at all." Drake finally spoke hoarsely. "This... this is too..."

"Too unlike the navy?" Yang Yunzhi picked up the thought. There was no mockery in his tone, only calm scrutiny. "Captain Drake, how many years have you served in the navy?"

"Eleven years."

"How many anti-pirate operations have you fought?"

"Seventeen."

"What was the average casualty ratio?"

Drake fell silent.

He clenched his fist, his knuckles cracking. "...Two to one. For every two pirates killed, we lost one brother."

"And the best ratio?"

"Three to one." The old sergeant's voice dropped. "At Gem Strait, when we surrounded 'Skullsplitter' Jack... we lost twenty-three men just to take down fifteen of his."

The meeting room became even quieter.

The excitement faded from several young squad leaders' faces, replaced by something heavy.

"I don't like that number." Yang Yunzhi's voice rang especially clear in the silence. "Every one of our soldiers is someone's child, someone's husband and father. They train and bleed not so they can trade their lives for pirates' lives."

He walked to the projection and ran a finger over the precise route markings.

"Tonight's objective isn't merely to win—that is the baseline. The objective is zero deaths and minimal casualties. We will crush them with intelligence, toy with them through tactics, and overwhelm them with numbers. By the time they realize what is happening, the blade will already be at their throats."

Hina sat at the far end of the long table, lightly rolling the brass button on her uniform cuff between her fingers.

She watched Yang Yunzhi—this lieutenant who was far too young, yet at this moment seemed like an old commander who had spent half his life running simulations over a sand table. There was no passion in his voice, no stirring fervor, only an almost ruthless precision.

What made her heart tremble most was that this ruthlessness was precisely the greatest mercy toward his own soldiers.

"There is one more thing," Yang Yunzhi suddenly said.

He raised his hand again.

This time, a gentle female voice rang simultaneously in the minds of more than thirty people.

"Combat Command System access request detected. Please relax. The link will be established in three seconds. Three, two, one."

A faint sensation of dizziness swept over them.

The next second, a translucent miniature interface appeared in the upper-right corner of everyone's "vision." At its center was a simplified island map marked with the real-time positions of each unit, all currently gray and on standby. On the left was a scrolling text communication area; on the right were several buttons: [Voice Channel Switch] [Battlefield Marker] [Emergency Alert].

"This is..." Luo Niu stupidly reached out to grab the air in front of him. The interface shifted with his gaze.

"The Combat Command System," Yang Yunzhi explained. "Through it, I can send orders in real time to any individual or group. You can also report situations and request support through it. In battle, I can't shout instructions to everyone—but this thing can."

He paused. "Now, everyone, try silently saying, 'First Company, First Platoon, acknowledged.'"

A few seconds later, rows of text prompts popped up on the Pod before Yang Yunzhi.

He glanced at them and nodded. "Very good. Remember, this is top secret. After leaving this room, you are not to mention any details of this system to anyone—including colleagues from Marine Headquarters."

He said it lightly, but no one wanted to find out what would happen if they reported it.

The expressions of the three company commanders changed.

They vaguely realized that this young adjutant was turning 36th Base into something... an airtight kingdom independent of the navy's system.

And without realizing it, they had already stepped through that kingdom's gates.

Yet no one objected.

Because the battle plan was too clear—so clear that it was terrifying. What frightened them was not the pirates, but the possibility that if they rejected this plan and this system, they might lead their young men into a foolish, bloody "traditional naval battle."

If no one had to die, who would be willing to watch their comrades fall?

"Then," Yang Yunzhi said at last, "go back and rest. Assemble at midnight. Dismissed."

People rose one after another, their boots making dull thuds against the wooden floor.

When Luo Ma reached the door, he looked back once—Yang Yunzhi was still standing before the projection, head lowered over a new document in his hand. In the lingering light and shadow, his profile looked especially focused.

The door closed.

Only Yang Yunzhi and Hina remained in the meeting room.

The sea breeze slipped in through the transom window, making the scattered papers on the table rustle.

"You scared them," Hina said softly.

"Better scared than dead." Yang Yunzhi put away the document, walked over to her, and suddenly reached out to brush a loose strand of hair from her forehead. "Tonight, you stay behind and command. Unless that Blood Blade can't be killed even with guns, you are not allowed to join the battle."

"Why?"

"Because you're the base commander." Yang Yunzhi cut her off, his fingers lingering by her cheek. "You're not the soldiers' nanny. You should give your men a chance to gain experience, shouldn't you?"

Hina nodded. That did seem reasonable.

"Besides, the soldiers have trained for so long. It's time to take them out and see whether they really have any fighting strength!"