On the pitch-black sea, wild winds whipped salty, fishy spray hard against the flanks of the massive steel warship.

In the bottom hold of a heavy troop transport belonging to the East Sea Fleet, the air was murky, thick with the smell of engine oil, sweat, and the persistent sour stench of vomit.

"Blegh—!"

In a corner, young soldier Chen Xiaohu clutched his vomit bag tightly. His stomach was long empty, but he was still uncontrollably dry-heaving bile.

His face, originally tanned and weathered by the wind and sand of the Northwest, was now as pale as paper.

This was his first time on a boat.

And his first time going to battle.

A rough, heavy hand slapped his back hard—so hard it nearly made him cough up a lung.

"How is it? Chickening out?"

Chen Xiaohu struggled to look up, meeting a pair of cloudy yet sharp, glowing old eyes.

It was his squad leader, Old Ma.

An unlit pipe dangled from Old Ma's mouth—a long-standing habit formed in the Northwest Gobi Desert that he couldn't break even on the damp ocean.

"S-Squad Leader, I'm not chickening out."

Chen Xiaohu wiped the sour liquid from the corner of his mouth, his voice trembling on the verge of tears.

"I'm just... the ship's rocking so much my guts feel like they're snapping."

"We're men of the Northwest! We've ridden wild horses and slept through sandstorms. How can a few tiny waves bring us down?"

Old Ma chuckled, the wrinkles on his face bunching up until he looked just like a dried, cracked riverbed in the Northwest.

He reached into his coat, pulled out a crumpled canteen, and handed it over.

"Take a swig. Mixed it with strong booze to settle your nerves."

Chen Xiaohu took the canteen and gulped down a big mouthful.

The spicy liquid burned down his throat and into his stomach, finally quelling some of the churning nausea.

Around them, most of the hundreds of soldiers clad in standard Northwest Army armor were also pale-faced.

They were fierce tigers on land, lone wolves of the Gobi Desert.

But this vast, endless sea was far more unsettling to them than the enemy's blades and swords.

"Squad Leader..."

Chen Xiaohu gripped the combat knife in his hand tightly, his knuckles turning white from the pressure.

"I heard everyone over in Sakura Country is a cold-blooded killer..."

"Can... can we really win?"

"Besides, this is a naval battle. We don't even know how to swim..."

Smack!

Old Ma delivered a backhanded slap hard onto Chen Xiaohu's helmet.

The crisp bang startled several nearby seasick recruits, causing them to turn and stare in unison.

"Bullshit!"

Old Ma widened his eyes, his rough soldier persona instantly turning into a sharp, piercing Killing Intent.

"So what if you can't swim?!"

"If you can't swim, your only choice is to charge forward!"

"Retreating means drowning; charging ahead is the only way to live!"

He looked around, his voice echoing in the enclosed bottom hold, making everyone's eardrums buzz.

"Listen up, all of you!"

"We are the Northwest Army!"

"We are troops trained by General Wang Zhenbei!"

"In the Northwest, we scared those strange beasts till they pissed their pants!"

"Out here on the sea, we are just as invincible!"

"As long as our feet are on solid ground—whether it's sand, deck, or even the island reefs of Sakura Country—that's OUR territory!"

As soon as Old Ma finished speaking,

the somewhat somber atmosphere in the bottom hold immediately ignited.

The fear in the soldiers' eyes gradually receded, replaced by a fierce ferocity born from being backed into a corner.

Just then,

"Wooo—Wooo—Wooo—!"

Urgent, piercing battle alarms suddenly erupted inside the bottom hold.

The dim overhead lights instantly shut off, replaced by blood-pumping red alarm lights flashing wildly.

Over the loudspeaker came the commander's cold and urgent roar.

"All units, attention!"

"All units, attention!"

"Three kilometers to Cloud Port!"

"Estimated contact in two minutes!"

"Prepare for battle!"

"Repeat! Prepare for battle!"

Clang—!

The massive hydraulic hatch doors let out a dull boom and slowly slid open to both sides.

Salty, damp sea wind mixed with icy rain whipped inside in an instant.

Chen Xiaohu shivered involuntarily.

He looked up, and through the hatch, he saw the brightly lit coastline in the distance.

There was Cloud Port.

One of Sakura Country's most important military ports.

At this moment, that port was no longer tranquil.

Piercing anti-aircraft sirens echoed across the sky, while countless dazzling searchlight beams swept madly across the sea.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Along the coastline, dense coastal defense Magical Cannons began to roar.

Shells trailing flames and beams of magic poured toward the fleet like a torrential storm.

"Here it comes!"

Old Ma slammed his pipe back into his belt and drew the alloy sabre from his back.

"Northwest Army!"

"Here!"

Hundreds of soldiers roared in unison, their voices drowning out the roaring waves.

"Check your gear!"

"Tuck your lives into your belts!"

"When the hatch opens, if anyone turns coward and gets soft legs, I'll be the first to cut him down!"

Chen Xiaohu took a deep breath as the spicy kick of the liquor rushed to his head.

He was no longer shaking.

He stared unblinkingly at the rapidly approaching coastline, his eyes burning red.

...

Cloud Port Command Headquarters.

"Baka! What is going on?!"

"How could Great Xia Nation's fleet break through the outer defense line so quickly?!"

The defense commander of Cloud Port, Colonel Yamada, stood disheveled before the command console, roaring hysterically into the phone.

"What about Demon Claw Island? What about Sado Island?"

"Are they all dead?!"

A signalman's desperate cries came through the receiver.

"Commander! Gone! They're all gone!"

"We lost contact with all the outposts within ten minutes!"

Boom—!

A massive explosion cut off the call.

The entire headquarters shook violently, dust rattling down from the ceiling.

Colonel Yamada rushed over to the window.

Out in the harbor, Great Xia Nation's fleet was braving heavy artillery fire, forcing their way into the inner harbor.

No probing, no flanking.

Just the most savage, direct frontal assault!

Troop transport ships rushed like enraged bulls, ignoring the bombardment from coastal defense cannons to slam violently into the pier's breakwater.

"Madmen... They're absolute madmen..."

Colonel Yamada's face turned deathly pale.

This method of fighting completely defied all logic of naval warfare!

Even if it meant taking heavy casualties, they were determined to get troops onto dry land!

"Quickly! Order all garrison troops to construct a defense line at the dock immediately!"

"We cannot let them break through the port under any circumstances!"

"And request reinforcements from the theater command!"