The coexistence of waves and broken ice is a prominent feature in marginal ice zones. Ships navigating in these areas are subjected to combined loads from both ice and wave actions. While current research has obtained substantial findings on ship ice resistance characteristics under either single wave or ice conditions, studies on coupled wave-broken ice interactions remain relatively scarce, resulting in insufficient understanding of the ship-ice-wave interaction mechanisms and their impacts on vessel navigation performance. To investigate ice resistance characteristics in broken ice fields under wave effects, this study developed a numerical model by adopting a coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics-Discrete Element Method (CFD-DEM) for ship navigation in wave-affected broken ice environments. The numerical wave tank was first established using the Finite Volume Method (FVM), while the broken ice model was developed through the Discrete Element Method (DEM). The validity of the ship resistance model under either single wave or ice conditions was verified through comparisons between theoretical solutions and experimental data. Subsequently, the ice resistance characteristics of ships navigating in wave-affected broken ice fields were systematically analyzed, with particular focus on the influences of wave parameters and ice concentrations. The results demonstrated that wave action significantly alters the ship-ice interaction process, inducing distinct periodic fluctuations in ice resistance. Notably, the ice resistance under combined wave-ice conditions consistently exceeds that observed in still water conditions with equivalent ice concentrations. Furthermore, the influence of key parameters including wavelength, wave height, and ice concentration on ice resistance behavior was also elucidated.