Love in the Courtyard: Starting with Engineers

Before the morning light of the East China Sea could pierce through the clouds, the sea surface was already shrouded in the intense smell of gunpowder and the fury of revenge.

The Chinese East China Sea Fleet's warships, like awakened behemoths, cleaved through the waves and launched a full-speed attack.

Inside the joint command base of the Chinese Navy, the lights were on, and the dynamics of the three fleets were marked in real time on a huge electronic sand table.

Lieutenant General Zhou Zhenghong, the fleet commander, was dressed in a crisp military uniform and tapped his finger heavily on the coordinates of the Japanese fleet on the sand table.

"Attention all units! Target: Japanese fleet. Approach at full speed. Drone swarm, launch the first wave of attacks according to plan!"

The command was transmitted to every ship via an encrypted channel. Missile launchers slowly rose, cannons pointed into the distance, and shipborne radar, like vigilant eagle eyes, locked onto every target.

Meanwhile, at the US naval base in Guam, multiple destroyers and frigates urgently departed from the port, and an aircraft carrier group carrying a large number of fighter jets started its engines and sped towards the East China Sea.

A US Navy admiral stood on the bridge of his command ship, casually holding a cup of coffee, and said, "Let China and Japan fight to the death first, then we'll deliver a fatal blow from behind and completely control the Asia-Pacific waters!"

Inside the Longxing Factory command center, Li Yu sat in front of the monitoring screen, like a detached spectator.

The screen wall displayed real-time footage of the Chinese fleet advancing, the US fleet rushing to its aid, and the Japanese fleet holding its ground.

Li Yu's satellite is advertised as being for information transmission and global positioning, but after multiple upgrades, it can now track and photograph, unlike before when it could only photograph fixed areas.

"Mr. Li, the 'goods' in the inland warehouse have been shipped and are expected to arrive at the Longxing factory in three hours," Lou Zhenhua said to Li Yu.

"Understood. Tell the transport team to be careful and make sure they arrive on time."

The object he spoke of was tightly wrapped in a special container, and the transport convoy was heavily escorted throughout the journey. Apart from Li Yu and the core technical personnel, no one knew its exact appearance; all that was known was that it was a deadly weapon capable of changing the course of the war.

Inside the joint command base, Lieutenant General Zhou Zhenghong stared at the real-time images transmitted back by the drone swarm and ordered in a deep voice: "The swarm of 3000 'Falcon' drones shall be divided into ten echelons."

The first echelon will focus on attacking the radar system, the second echelon will destroy the missile launchers, and the remaining echelons will hunt down any remaining targets without leaving any room for retaliation!

As the command was issued, "Falcon" drones took off one after another from the runways of multiple drone bases along the Chinese coast, their armor-piercing rounds and air-to-ground missiles gleaming coldly under their wings.

Like a black swarm of bees, they rushed toward the waters where the Japanese fleet was located. Data was transmitted in real time via satellite link, and the tactical team in the joint command center continuously optimized the attack path to avoid the Japanese fleet's air defense blind spots.

On the flagship of the Japanese fleet, the destroyer "Yukikaze," Commander Taro Matsumoto stood on the bridge, still basking in the afterglow of sinking the Chinese fishing boat.

He stared at the dense cluster of lights on the radar screen, initially scoffing, "They're just civilian-grade drones. Activate the close-in weapon system and shoot them down!"

But the next second, a piercing alarm shattered the tranquility of the bridge.

"Commander! The radar signals are unusually dense; it's China's 'Falcon' attack drones!" The operator's voice trembled.

Before the words were even finished, the first wave of armor-piercing shells roared in, accurately hitting the radar antenna on top of the bridge. Sparks flew everywhere, and the radar screen suddenly went black, leaving only a static display.

"Radar malfunction! Unable to lock onto target!" The operator frantically pounded on the control panel, but to no avail.

"Useless! Activate the backup radar!" Matsumoto Taro roared, veins bulging on his forehead.

Just as the backup radar was turned on, a second wave of drone attacks followed. Air-to-ground missiles hit the missile launchers directly, and the violent explosions shook the bridge violently, sending debris flying everywhere.

A soldier was struck by the collapsing steel frame, his blood instantly staining the deck red, and his piercing screams echoed across the sea.

"Anti-aircraft missiles cannot be fired! Close-in weapon systems have been destroyed!" The series of bad news hit Matsumoto Taro's heart like a heavy hammer.

He rushed to the bridge and witnessed his wingman, the "Hanamaze," being attacked by dozens of drones. The ship was on fire in many places, thick smoke was billowing out, and the soldiers on the deck were fleeing in all directions, only to be swallowed up by the bombs that kept falling.

"Baka! Fight back! Fight back!" Matsumoto Taro drew his sword and waved it wildly at the sea, but the Japanese fleet had already become a trapped beast without claws.

A destroyer attempted to turn and escape, but was targeted by a swarm of drones. After passing through the barrage of bullets, missiles launched by the drones pierced the hull one after another, and seawater rushed into the cabin.

"Flooding! Requesting rescue!" came the crew's desperate cry over the radio, but before the words were finished, the entire ship tilted and sank to the bottom of the sea, leaving only a bubbling surface and floating wreckage.

The other captain, seeing the drones closing in, completely broke down, shot himself, and his body lay in a pool of blood.

Beneath the surface of the sea, undercurrents are also surging.

Taking advantage of the chaos at sea, three Japanese submarines stealthily approached the Chinese aircraft carrier group, attempting to launch a surprise attack.

"Chinese aircraft carrier spotted, prepare to launch torpedoes!" the submarine commander whispered the order, and the torpedo tubes slowly opened.

Inside the joint command base, the underwater monitoring team immediately reported: "General, suspicious underwater target detected, identified as a Japanese submarine. Sonar decoy device activated!"

Lieutenant General Zhou Zhenghong's eyes narrowed: "Order the unmanned underwater vehicles to launch depth charges and destroy them completely!"

Instantly, a sonar signal simulating the propeller of a Chinese aircraft carrier was heard in the sea. The Japanese submarine mistook the decoy signal for a target and immediately launched a torpedo.

At the same time the torpedo was launched, the unmanned underwater vehicle triggered a depth charge. The huge shock wave spread through the seawater, directly hitting three Japanese submarines, causing their hulls to crack and seawater to flood into the cabins.

"Submarine damaged! Unable to surface!" Inside the submarine, the crew members pushed each other in the darkness. As their oxygen gradually ran out, their desperate cries were drowned out by the seawater, and the submarine soon sank to the bottom of the sea.

The remaining two submarines were terrified when they saw this and turned around to flee in panic. Their captains didn't even dare to activate their sonar and could only blindly evade in the deep sea by relying on inertia.

Inside the joint command base, Lieutenant General Zhou Zhenghong watched the Japanese fleet's relentless defeat, a determined smile playing on his lips: "Pass on my order: full speed ahead!"