Dakan Plains

Rinko and the few survivors from Gan Castle had been assigned with the transport troops to help move the supplies of the 4th army. Although the enemy had managed to destroy some of it at Gan castle, they still had enough to march to Keiyou, and perhaps a few days after. Once gone they would need to depend on getting supplies from one of the other six armies.

Rinko managed to learn that currently, the 4th army was marching towards Keiyou, the 3rd army was also marching towards Keiyou, the 1st & 2nd armies to Asui and then move on to Keiyou, and the 5th & 6th armies were also heading towards Keiyou.

The 4th army had been marching all day, Rinko tired from marching finally got to take a drink of water after a commotion at the head of the column caused the army to a sudden halt. It wasn't long before rumors traveled amongst the troops that the Wei army had been spotted leaving Keiyou and marching towards Asui! Rinko didn't know if the rumor was true but soon the army had picked up the pace and they were once again on the move.

(A few days Later)

The 4th army having been informed of the enemy movement, had spent the last few days quickly marching. The commanders at the top thought about regrouping with the 3rd army but decided that it wasn't needed, they had enough supplies to get to Keiyou, and instead of wasting time linking up with the 3rd army had instead marched directly towards Keiyou to meet the advancing enemy as they advanced on Asui.

Having picked up their pace, they now found themselves on the Dakan Plains, located between Keiyou and Asui. Rinko could see that the 4th army has arrived first and he could also see that Wei had already captured some of the hills in the area, luckily for them, it seems that the one nearest to them was still unoccupied.

The 4th army couldn't allow the enemy to also gain control of that hill and quickly moved to secure it. Rinko in the rear of the formation with the supplies, watched as the 4th army advanced to the top of the hill. It seems Wei wasn't planning on letting them secure the hill without a fight and as the 4th army crested the hill they met a Wei force who had been climbing up from the other side.

Rinko observing the hill knew that a fierce fight must have been happening up there. As he watched the battle he heard a loud cheer erupt and it wasn't long before rumors of a young boy having defeated an enemy 300-man commander spread down to supply troops. It seems that a Wei commander had led a charge into their ranks and unfortunately ended up meeting with Shin, who held his position bravely halting the enemy attack and even scored the head of the enemy commander.

Rinko was bragging to the other troops about how he knew Shin when a messenger arrived with orders for him, he was to take command of 700 troops who had lost their 1,000-man commander thanks to the fierce fighting atop the hill. Rinko was given a spare horse and he soon rode his way towards the front to meet his troops positioned atop the hill.

Finally, he arrived near the top of the hill, thanks to the efforts of the messenger he was led directly to his troops. 700 men were being held in reserve behind the front line, he noticed that many already had minor wounds and looked tired, he also noticed that the Go's (5-man squad) had members missing or no longer had a squad leader, he had the men organize into new groups and promoted new squad leaders. This process took far too long for him and he missed his old troops, and he knew these men wouldn't likely perform as well as the troops he trained himself.

No sooner had the men been organized that he received orders to advance and support the line. As Rinko and his 700 men crested the hill and started advancing down the other side, he got a good look at the battlefield. The 4th army was holding the hill but the Wei forces had them outnumbered three to one, while one force engaged them, another two were moving in position to flank and surround them!

Rinko seeing the situation couldn't help gulping, the 4th army was easily winning for now and still had high morale, but soon they would be surrounded and then destroyed. As ordered he led his men into the fight, it started off easy enough but soon the enemy came in larger and larger numbers and the front line was in danger of breaking! as the front line troops tired he attempted to have them switch out with fresh troops he had in reserve but due to confusion the troops seemed to take his order as an order to retreat and he had to kill a couple to get his men organized again. The men couldn't handle the swap and he was forced to lead troops to the front line and swap them out slowly, occupying most of his attention.

Rinko swung his sword and cut down an enemy soldier, then another, and another, then suddenly he found himself being attacked by three soldiers at once! All he could do to stay alive was keep swinging his sword over and over but slowly he was pushed back. At this point, he had no more reserves and although there were troops stationed behind his position, they were led under a different commander, and from the looks of it, they were waiting for his troops to get wiped out before they would advance to hold this position. He knew he was about to die when suddenly he heard Wei drums! then the Wei forces retreated!

Looking around the battlefield he had about 200 men left from his 700, all were covered in sweat, blood, and wounds, from the look of it Rinko figured about half might not survive their wounds. He quickly organized them once again and observed the situation. He noticed that Qin forces from the 1st and 2nd armies had arrived on the battlefield without him noticing. The 2nd army was marching up the hill behind them and was dealing with the troops flanking them, while the 1st army took advantage of the fact that the Wei forces were focused on the 4th army had marched halfway up the adjacent hill from them, and was assaulting the now lightly defended hill.

The Wei forces seemed to have made the decision that it would be best to defend the other hills from Qins' assaults than try to push the 4th and 2nd armies off their hill.

Rinko watched as Wei moved to reinforce the other hill across from them, luckily the 1st army was able to push Wei off the summit and then led a charge down onto the advancing Wei troops! after a fierce clash Wei was pushed back once again. Rinko watched as the Wei troops launched wave after wave against the 1st army atop the hill. Thanks to the presence of the 4th and 2nd armies on the hill next to them, Wei was forced to leave a large reserve to guard against them, just in case they attempted to assault them from the side.

The 1st army was now facing the brunt of the enemy's attack but was weathering it better than the 4th army had thanks to Wei having so many troops in reserve who were forced to hang back to deal with the 4th and 2nd armies. The 2nd army having rested and still in good condition led a charge down the hill and a fierce fight broke out below the 4th army. The 4th army started setting up fortifications and soon the hill was being filled with supplies from the various armies turning it into a supply base.

Finally, the day came to an end and it started to get dark, Rinko watched as the Wei forces called an end to the fighting and returned to their camps, he also noticed that fresh Wei troops were arriving on the battlefield and he couldn't help to notice a large number of chariots as well.

Rinko quickly sent a messenger to the headquarters to alert them of the presence of the new enemy reinforcements and of the chariots, they likely already knew but just in case he sent a messenger anyway. He hoped that he and his 150 (some died of their wounds) could rest but sadly they were ordered down the hill with others and marched to a nearby clump of trees, then they spent the night cutting them down and dragging them back to the hill they just defended, where they started constructing more fortifications throughout the night.

(2nd day of battle)

Rinko and his troops, along with many others had spent all night preparing the fortifications, and as soon as the sun rose the Wei forces attacked. Wei having received the bulk of their whole army now greatly outnumbered the Qin forces and assaulted both hills. They wanted to win the battle while they outnumbered the Qin forces.

Throughout the day the Qin forces defended both hills and inflicted heavy casualties upon the Wei troops thanks to strong defensive positions atop the hill. Both hills were cut off and isolated from one another, both being completely surrounded. The battle was going well so far when the Wei troops seemed to have changed their tactics, they started faking retreats and luring down eager Qin troops from atop the hill!

The Qin troops having high morale, could taste victory and quickly chased after the fleeing enemies. Rinko watched as thousands of troops from both hills eagerly chased after the fleeing Wei troops, he and along with the other commanders did their best to halt the charge down the hill, but thousands of eager infantry advanced down the hill. The Qin troops chased the enemy onto the plains. As Rinko watched he noticed many small columns of dust clouds move on the plains below and watched as the Wei chariots arrived and charged through the Qin ranks down below! Rinko could only watch as the thousands of Qin troops down below were butchered!

It looked as if all the Qin troops down there would die when suddenly a small pocket of Qin troops started to halt the enemy chariots' charge! Rinko couldn't make out what exactly was happening down there but soon he saw that the small pocket of resistance started to grow larger as more and more Qin survivors fled towards that spot.

It wasn't long before a few hundred survivors had gathered in that location, Rinko watched as a large group of chariots charged into the survivors! he expected that to be the end of it when suddenly most of the attacking chariots flipped over! Rinko now knew that Shin was likely down there! and that he was using the corpses of the fallen troops as makeshift barricades to protect the survivors. Rinko thought that he should have known that Shin would be stupid enough to blindly break formation and charge down the hill, the fool was now cut off and surrounded by a sea of enemy troops.

Rinko then couldn't believe his eyes as the few hundred survivors, outnumbered and surrounded launched an attack and push their way through the Wei troops! the 1st army was the closest to them and that was where the survivors fought their way towards! Rinko knew that it was likely thanks to the brave efforts of Kyou Kei that the surviving Qin troops managed to break through the sea of enemies and reach the 1st army.

Rinko watching the brave efforts of the surviving Qin troops, suddenly heard a loud cheer! he thought they were cheering for the brave Qin survivors when suddenly someone shouted to look at the Wei headquarters! Rinko from atop the hill could see that Qin flags with the symbol of Ou Ki were proudly waving in the camp of the Wei headquarters! and it looked as if a few hundred Wei troops were fleeing from there, with Qin forces under Ou ki hot on their tails!

Suddenly a General Attack Order was sent out across the whole army! it seemed that their General Duke Hyou thought that the Wei forces despite heavily outnumbering them were now vulnerable thanks to their commanding General having fled the battlefield and being chased by Ou Ki.

After flags started showing the attack signal, a loud roar was roared from the Qin troops who charged down both hills and into the enemy troops! for the next few hours, both forces clashed! Wei now leaderless could only depend on their commanders but thanks to the loss of their headquarters it made it difficult for the various Wei armies to coordinate with one another, this same problem wasn't faced by the Qin troops and throughout the day the better organized Qin force slowly pushed back the Wei troops!

Rinko now fighting down on the plains below was doing his best to keep around 800 troops clustered in his area organized, this makeshift clump of men was from the various Qin armies who either had their commander killed or the infantry had gotten lost and mixed up in all the chaos. Being the highest ranking commander in his area he took charge of these men.

Now that he once again had a host of men under his command, he remembered earlier from atop the hill seeing a Wei supply base located near the front. With Wei in chaos right now, he decided to lead the 800 troops and spearheaded a charge through the enemy ranks! eventually, around 500 troops managed to fight their way through the enemy! and charge towards the Wei supply base, he hoped it would be lightly guarded but there were over 1,000 troops guarding it.

He fought until he was covered in his own blood and was cursing himself for his foolish mistake! he should have stayed with the army! there he would have at least lived. His arms having swung his sword so many times were now heavy, he knew that soon the last of his strength would be gone and he would die. Having accepted death and finding the determination to take at least one more enemy soldier with him! he noticed that the Wei supply base was smoking! soon a Qin cavalry force came charging out of the supply base and smashed into the rear of the Wei force saving Rinko and his 100 survivors.

Rinko soon spotted the flag of Ou Ki, he suddenly realized that while he was distracting the Wei troops, Ou Ki had led a charge upon the supply base and had set it ablaze! Rinko was slightly annoyed that Ou Ki had stolen his glory of destroying the supply base but was also glad that he arrived and saved his life.

Rinko and his surviving men then followed the suggestion of a chuckling Ou ki to follow him, and soon Rinko and his surviving men went on to back up Ou Ki behind the Wei lines to raid a couple more small supply bases. Rinko watched stunned as Ou ki troops slaughtered fleeing troops behind the enemy lines and made quick work of various supply bases spread out across the area.

Wei who was now leaderless was being pushed back, and had lost many of its supplies! finally couldn't take it anymore and their morale plummet! and soon thousands of Wei troops started to flee the battlefield. Ou Ki troops who were already monsters in a normal fight, butchered many fleeing troops as they rode after them.

Duke Kyou seeing this quickly gave the order for the 4th, 1st, and 2nd armies to pursue the enemy. The Qin troops chased the fleeing Wei army all the way to Keiyou! there they set up camp and prepared to lay siege. A day after arriving and having built many siege ladders, the 5th army finally arrived. Soon word spread that the 3rd and 6th armies would also arrive in a day or two.

Early the next day, the 5th army assaulted the city. Rinko expected a long-drawn-out siege and didn't expect the city to fall until the 3rd and 6th armies arrived. So he was surprised when Keiyou was conquered in one day! as the bulk of the Qin forces marched through the city, they soon found out why.

It seems that Wei had lost too many supplies out on the Dakan Plains and only had enough supplies left over in the city to support their army for a couple of weeks, if Qin decided to wait and siege the city, eventually, they would starve out the Wei troops without even having to fight, Wei couldn't afford to risk defending the city and losing a large part of their military strength, it would be better to retreat and fall back where they would have better supplies, so they left a token force behind to slow the Qin force as the bulk of the army fled and regrouped in the night.

(A couple of months later)

Rinko was now riding with a small group of soldiers heading back to the capital for an award ceremony. He was riding and talking with Shin and would occasionally talk with Kyou kai as well throughout their journey. Rinko and the troops laughed as Shin bragged about his achievements on the battlefield, and how he killed an enemy commander and defeated a large number of Wei chariots.

As Rinko listened to Shin brag he couldn't help noticing Kyou Kai frown a bit, clearly a bit upset that Shin didn't include her achievements in any part of his story. (she's still dressed as a boy here)

Rinko seeing a chance to get on her good side, mentioned to the troops how Kyou Kai had also been next to Shin, and how already there was a rumor spreading that Kyou Kai might be the best fighter in the whole 4th army! soon a few soldiers started bragging about Kyou Kai's skill in battle and how they had watched Kyou Kai fight off 15 enemy troops by themselves!

Rinko was honestly impressed, he had struggled to fight a couple of Wei troops off at once and Kyou Kai had fought off 15! Soon it was his turn to share his story and he told the men how he fought at Gan castle, his defense of the hill, how he led an attack against the enemy supply base (left out how he almost died), and how he ran into Ou Ki and razed down a couple more after following him and his troops.

As the troops made their way to the capital and talked, Rinko couldn't help noticing that Kyou Kai was starting to ride more often near him and they were soon often seen talking with each other. As they got to know each other better, Rinko couldn't help teasing Kyou Kai that she wasn't allowed to fall in love with him or his wife might murder him! this joke left Kyou kai a bit stunned and she blushed slightly. Shin who didn't know that Kyou Kai was a girl and still thought she was a boy, gave Rinko a weird look. (clearly thinking Rinko swung that way)

(Capital)

Rinko had just left the palace and climbed his way onto a carriage alone. He had just attended an award ceremony at the palace. He expected to be in a bit of trouble for almost losing Gan castle and losing so many supplies but apparently that blame was placed on the now-dead Koku Gou, the general in charge of Gan castle.

Instead, for his brave efforts, he was promoted to a 2,000-man commander and received a small amount of gold. Then surprisingly Chang Wen-Jun mentioned his achievements of helping to defend the hill and his assault on the enemy supply bases, and recommended that he be promoted directly to a 5,000-man commander!

Rinko watched as the officials debated it and it looked like it would be turned down when suddenly he got a vouch from General Ou Ki ( Also called the Monstrous Bird of Qin) who was once one of Qins' six great generals! Ou Ki informed the officials how Rinko was wise enough to lead an attack upon the enemy supply base before even him and how destroying the supplies affected the whole Wei campaign as a whole! it was one of the deciding factors that forced the Wei troops to retreat from the Dakan plains and why they so easily captured Keiyou in a few days.

Thanks to the fact that both Ou Ki and Chang Wen-Jun vouched for him, and how various officials also brought up his past deeds serving in the Qin army these last few years (Sei faction officials), eventually he was directly promoted to a 5,000-man commander. To test him and see if he was worth the rank, they refused to allow him to command 5,000 already trained infantry, instead, he would have to recruit men and train them into soldiers! if they performed poorly then he would be demoted back down to a 1,000-man commander!

Rinko was more than happy with this and even got permission from Sei to personally select the troops, he was determined to recruit both shin and Kyou kai! Both were promoted to 100-man commanders and Rinko was sure that if he promised to use his authority as a 5,000-man commander to promote them to 1,000-man commanders, they would agree to join him.