Chapter 88

Dong Ku heard the shouts and quickly ran out to the deck. There, he saw the distant lights, which were heading straight towards them.

"It seems we've been discovered."

He didn't look back, but turned and returned to the control room, where he called over the few standing people and said, "We're being targeted. The speed difference means they'll be close in a few minutes. Now, they're already within the range of their guns."

No one spoke, though they were all in a panic, they looked at Dong Ku, waiting for his plan.

"Maintain the current course and speed, continue sailing."

Dong Ku turned to the captain and said this, then spread a piece of paper on the table, picked up a pen, and quickly drew a warship. In a few seconds, a warship appeared on the paper.

"Their ship could be of the Fubuki class, Shikinami class, Mutsuki class, Hatsuyuki class, or the Shiratsuyu class. It's unlikely to be a heavy cruiser or a battleship on a solo mission, more likely a fast destroyer. I'll assign the tasks..." Dong Ku calmly marked positions on the map, telling Liu Zhong, Shanzi, the ten hunters, and Du Fei, Li Kaishan, and Tielohan their respective targets, preparing for the worst.

The lights behind them grew closer as Dong Ku made his arrangements. Everyone who knew the lights were approaching was on edge, not expecting to encounter a warship so soon.

In the darkness, the ship behind them was brightly lit, its massive hull clearly visible, heading straight for the left side of the convoy at high speed.

Dong Ku saw that evading was impossible, so he ordered the convoy to slow down. His ship detached from the convoy and moved to the left.

Within two minutes, a searchlight shone on Dong Ku's ship, and the other two ships were also illuminated. The deck was brightly lit.

Dong Ku found it strange that the other side didn't send a radio message demanding identification and an order to stop, but instead approached directly. Didn't they fear provoking a country? After all, there was a Portuguese ship, a French ship, and a Dutch ship in the convoy, all of which had some reputation, at least during World War I.

In the light, Dong Ku clearly saw the large "31" on the side of the ship 200 meters away, and the Japanese characters "Kikuzuki" on the side.

Kikuzuki, Dong Ku was very familiar with it. It was launched on May 15, 1926, and sunk by American aircraft in Tulagi Harbor on May 4, 1942. Now was its golden period. After the Shiratsuyu class was commissioned and improved, it would only play a minor role.

Dong Ku had everyone prepare, ordered the ship to stop, and went out to the deck with Du Fei.

In the sea, a small boat capable of carrying twenty people was already approaching.

Dong Ku and Du Fei lowered a rope ladder and waved a flashlight, signaling for them to board, being very cooperative.

Lieutenant Akiyama on the Kikuzuki looked through his binoculars. The figure on the deck, dressed in Japanese clothing and waving the flashlight, made him lose interest in the three ships. If they were from his own country, chasing them was meaningless.

"Keep an eye on them, don't cause any international disputes."

Saying this, he left the control room and the bridge. He didn't know that this order would end his short career as a captain a year early.

"Hai!"

The first mate stood at attention, turned, and raised his binoculars, using the searchlight to observe the movements of the other ship. However, since it was a cargo ship, he didn't really care. There were no signs of hidden guns on the deck, and a cargo ship, even if it was several dozen meters long, could be easily torn apart by a 7.7 mm machine gun.

After a while, he saw the soldiers start to board the ship. He put down his binoculars, sipped his coffee, and thought about how to enjoy himself after two months at sea.

On the small boat, one soldier remained, while the others climbed up the cargo ship. He saw that a dozen soldiers, invited "enthusiastically" by the person with the flashlight, entered the cargo hold. After about a minute, a few soldiers came out of the open cargo hold, carrying boxes and walking to the deck. Then, a few more soldiers used a hoist to load the boxes onto the ship.

"Yoshi!"

He saw through his binoculars that the boxes contained alcohol, meat, and vegetables, and couldn't help but lick his lips. The cargo ship was very cooperative, bringing supplies.

"You go, take two soldiers to receive them."

The first mate put down his binoculars and gave the order.

"Hai!"

The nearby soldier left the bridge, called two soldiers guarding the machine gun, came to the deck, lowered the rope ladder and hoist, and prepared to unload the supplies.

The small boat, carrying two Japanese soldiers and the rest of the crew, approached the Kikuzuki. The other cargo ship, under the command of a soldier, also lowered a small boat loaded with supplies.

The first mate glanced at the dimly lit scene of the men unloading supplies and the soldiers joking around, saw no abnormalities, and sipped his coffee, enjoying it.

At that moment, the cabin door suddenly opened. Before he could turn around, a soft sound was heard, and he felt something enter his brain, shattering his consciousness.

The remaining few reacted similarly to the first mate. Only one turned to look at the door, but also saw a flash of something that quickly grew in his vision.

He opened his mouth in shock, but the sound was stuck in his throat as the object pierced his eye.

Dong Ku quickly approached, finishing off the bodies, cutting their throats, and patted the hunter who was still tense and panting, signaling him to guard the area. He and Shanzi, along with another hunter, quietly moved through the internal passage to the cabin.

At the same time, the three soldiers at the machine gun had already fallen on the deck, and the searchlight at the bow was unattended, shining straight at the nearby cargo ship.

Du Fei and Li Kaishan, each with a dagger, moved like leopards in the darkness, quickly clearing the targets on the deck. They didn't have time to think about Dong Ku's crazy plan. With over 150 soldiers on the ship, plus submachine guns, machine guns, and cannons, Dong Ku had casually said he would take over the warship.

Liu Zhong led three hunters into the engine room passage, heading straight for the engine room.

Tielohan led four hunters to the second deck, clearing every room they saw.

On the sea, the Kikuzuki, dealing with a few small cargo ships, was not tense at all, and no alarm was sounded. Most of the soldiers were still dreaming in their cabins.

Dong Ku, relying on his memory, headed straight for the captain's cabin, clearing two Japanese soldiers in the corridor along the way, and pulled open the cabin door.

"Damn!"

Akiyama was sitting there reading documents when the door was suddenly pulled open, making him furious. This was too impolite and undisciplined! But as he angrily looked up, he heard a slight vibration in his ears, and everything went black. He fell back in his chair, his lifeless eyes unable to believe that someone would dare attack a warship.

In two minutes, as the other small boat approached the warship and the men began to climb aboard, Dong Ku successfully controlled the command tower, the radio room, and killed the captain.

Shanzi stayed in the radio room, while Dong Ku and another hunter began to clear the cabins one by one.

At this moment, Tielohan, who was already dizzy, turned towards the kitchen instead of the next deck. This mistake led to a flaw in their hunt. A soldier saw the blood trail on the cabin door and sounded the alarm.

Gunfire broke the night sky as the alarm sounded. The dense bullets made the hunters experience what it was like to be in a rain of bullets. Just a couple of Japanese soldiers pinned them down at one end of the corridor, unable to advance. This was the most advanced MP-34 submachine gun, a German weapon that the Kikuzuki had been equipped with for less than three months.

"Damn! So fierce!"

Tielohan, though he had killed several people, had never been in a real battle and didn't know how to break through the bullet net.

As soon as the gunfire started, Dong Ku quickly put away his crossbow, pulled out two pistols, and led the hunter to the ammunition room.

After a brief panic, the hunters put away their crossbows and pulled out their pistols, starting a forced breakthrough. In an instant, the cabin was filled with gunfire, and the off-duty Japanese soldiers, grabbing their submachine guns without even putting on their clothes, rushed out of their rooms.

Liu Zhong had just reached the engine room when the gunfire above reached the bottom of the ship. Remembering Dong Ku's instructions, he didn't shoot in the engine room, where the Japanese usually didn't carry weapons. He ignored the figures waving wrenches and covered in oil, steadily advancing and pulling the trigger. The hunters behind him provided cover, and in less than a minute, the large engine room was occupied by Liu Zhong. By then, the bridge, turrets, machine guns, radar room, radio room, and engine room were all under control. Dong Ku also blocked the ammunition room, leaving a hunter with two submachine guns to guard it, and he, still with two pistols, rushed to the second deck where the gunfire was most intense.

Li Kaishan and Du Fei, remembering Dong Ku's arrangements, locked all the hatches leading to the deck and secured them with iron bars or guns.

The two, each with a submachine gun, controlled the deck after killing the last Japanese soldier at the searchlight.

The reinforcements included hunters and a few members of the secret society, all armed with pistols. As soon as the gunfire started, they rushed to the positions they had seen on the map, reinforcing the key points.

Dong Ku, as soon as he came up from the bottom of the ship, saw forty or so Japanese soldiers preparing to break through and rush out of the cabin. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger, and two bursts of bullets were not wasted, all hitting the Japanese soldiers in the front of the corridor.

Suddenly attacked, some Japanese soldiers turned to resist, while others launched a strong attack.

But how could flesh withstand bullets in an open corridor? The hasty resistance, under Dong Ku's front and rear attacks, left the corridor filled with bodies and blood in just a few minutes.

"Those who can move, follow me. Two by two, search all the cabins!"

Dong Ku, without checking the injuries, gave a brief order and, with two pistols whose barrels were slightly red, rushed into the next level of the corridor.

Ten minutes later, the battle ended. A total of 141 Japanese bodies were counted on the ship, plus the 15 Japanese who boarded for inspection, all 156 Japanese, including the captain, were killed.

In this attack, three members of the secret society died, and the rest were injured. The hunters, due to their training, had only six injured, one hit in the stomach, losing combat ability but not in danger of death. If the Japanese had used the Type 38 rifles, even with the advantage of a surprise attack, there wouldn't have been zero casualties, but the losses wouldn't have been so severe.

However, compared to the massive Kikuzuki, these injuries were just a drop in the bucket...