Kou Island.
Inside Xiantai City.
The war room.
Marshal Sun stared unblinkingly at the battle report in his hands.
Every string of numbers represented living, breathing lives.
The pressure of pitting a single war zone against the entire Federation was imaginable.
"Marshal Sun, the Federation warships are in disarray."
The door was shoved open.
The messenger excitedly raised the telegram in his hand.
"The Teng Faction's old man is severely wounded. His son Teng Li has temporarily taken his place and sworn to live or die with the beachhead."
"Reinforcements from Yue, Zhe, Su, Lu, Min, and Demon City have entered the battle."
"Look..."
He looked where the messenger pointed.
Flames soared over the sea. Even from half an hour's drive away, the earth-shaking explosions could be heard clearly.
"Once war breaks out, our Dragon Kingdom's people stand as one."
"Our generals lead from the front, our soldiers fight the enemy valiantly, and our people give themselves to the nation in its hour of need."
"With so many patriots in our Dragon Kingdom, why should we fear the Alien Races?"
Tears streamed down Marshal Sun's aged face.
He slumped heavily onto the bench, his pressure vanishing.
They had held. The Fourth War Zone had held.
He had not let Old Guan down, nor had he let down the people of the Dragon Kingdom.
Out on the sea.
The two sides' vessels were tangled together.
Though the Federation warships had towering hulls and massive guns, they were all packed outside the harbor.
The vessels from the Dragon Kingdom's prefectures exploited their small size, moving swiftly and nimbly.
Led by Yue Prefecture's dragon boats, they wove between the massive ships like agile snakes.
Overwhelmed, Qiao shouted orders for his vessels to spread out, but there were simply too many Dragon Kingdom