Chapter Title: Breaking the Deadlock
Both sides call out for the battle to commence while Haku’ou Koku orders the first wave to attack. After the initial engagement, Ten has their second wave get ready and Haku’ou Koku orders his second wave to move out. Just as Tou said, the Han army has not fought a large scale battle in many years, so their strength is wrapped in mystery. From the Han side, as well, they were unsure how strong the Qin army, which built up its strength on the battlefield, truly was. As the battle begins, the Han army implemented well organized military tactics and the Qin army could not conceal their shock. The rank and file start losing their nerve and think they’ll be slaughtered.
Kanto and his squad leaders step up to take the lead and tell the lower ranks to keep fighting. The other units are engaged in heavy fighting with Suugen personally taking the field to return the momentum to their side. As this fighting continues, the soldiers of Han become overwhelmed by their surprise at how strong the Qin army is. Two Han officers, Sa’u and General Teiko, regain control of their men by reminding them that the experienced soldiers on Qin’s side can’t fully make up for the inexperienced rookies. They order their cavalry to swing behind the veterans and target those rookies to reduce Qin’s numbers. They further expressly order their troops not to engage Qin’s veteran soldiers. Ten’s advisors note that they’ve lost momentum but still hold the upper hand. However, Ten says that’s not enough.
During the flashback, Tou discusses with the officers how the armies are evenly matched in a normal fight. Ryuukoku asks if this means if they can score an overwhelming victory by fighting in an unusual way, but Tou says an overwhelming victory will be difficult and they will have to spill a lot of blood to win on Eitei Plains. Ten and Rokuomi bring up the fact that they can’t afford to lose too many soldiers as they need to prepare for the next attack on Zhao. Ryuukoku adds that they will also need quite a few soldiers to stay behind to control Shintei after they take it. Rokuomi asks how they should fight, and Tou tells them to have all the officers join the fight early on to end the battle before Han can seize any momentum. Ryuukoku is concerned about the risk of losing officers early in the battle, but Tou says if they don’t do this then they won’t be able to fight their way to Shintei.
Back at the fight, all three of Tou’s generals join the fight while Shin also takes to the frontlines. The Hi Shin Unit is worried that Shin has joined the fight too early, but Ten says that Shin and the others will have to personally take out more enemies than usual to break the deadlock between the armies. Raku’a Kan acknowledges that Tou’s choice to fight like this is correct since they must minimize losses here in order to take down Shintei after this. However, he wonders why Tou has chosen to personally remain at the very rear of the Qin army. Raku’a Kan knows that Tou is not afraid of joining the battle, so he’s contemplating what Tou is targeting. At Tou’s HQ, he receives word that all of his officers have moved out and are engaged with enemy. As Tou looks out at the battle, he calls for 10 cavalry to come with him as he will be leaving his HQ for a bit.
Tagline: Next chapter, where is Tou heading…?!
