Day 15
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15th Day[]
The whole coalition army goes for an all-out attack. Both Kan Mei and Karin army starts moving. Mou Bu army charges the Chu army of Kan Mei using the Assault Echelon Formation.
The Ka Rin Army surrounding the Tou Army.
The Tou Army gets distracted by the Ka Rin Army using War Elephants as a decoy to cover her main army's movements which she uses the opportunity to surround the Tou Army. General Tou immediately deploys his army into a defensive formation, protecting all sides to not become flanked of the encircling Ka Rin Army.
The Ka Rin Army attacking the Tou Army in an Encirclement.
Seeing these developments but the weakness of the defensives, Tou uses his authority to promote both Gyoku Hou's Ou Hon and Gaku Ka's Mou Ten to the rank 5000-Man Commanders and placed them on the left and right sides of his army. Both the newly promoted young commanders use their respective cavalries launch hit and run tactics to help the defending infantry lines.
Meanwhile over at the walls, the deadly poison has taken a great effect on Chou Tou. The Wei Army hits Kankoku Pass with Siege Crossbows and use them as a means to climb in the wall, while at the same time they send more siege towers. Kan Ki, seeing these developments, decides to use the towers to descend into the battlefield.
Kan Ki's sneak in tactic.
While on top of Kankoku pass he had spotted Sei Kai, the Han Commander-in-Chief's HQ being closer than Wei commander's HQ and decided to take matters into his own hands. He and his men decided that during the mist of chaos and confusion they could head for the Han's HQ dressed as Wei soldiers. His strategy was to ride through the Wei and Han armies with a Wei flag until they come close enough to lead a charge with 6 different units a total of 400 soldiers on the Han HQ. General Chou Tou who is slowly dying because of being poisoned by Sei Kai's poison decides that there is no need for him to stay and leaves Mou Gou in charge of the whole wall and joins Kan Ki's unit with his own cavalry unit.
Chou Tou slays Han Great General Sei Kai.
Chou Tou's death.
Kan Ki's plan was successful, and Chou Tou managed to close into the Han commander and take his head. However, overtaken by the poison's effect, Chou Tou left his last breath at the battlefield. Kan Ki taking advantage of the confusion and escapes the battlefield, while also destroying some of the siege weapons as well.
The tower on Kankoku pass burns.
All these came with a great cost, as the Kankoku Pass was close to being overrun by the Coalition army. However, the wall still far from fallen. In order to completely take the Kankoku Pass, the enemy army has to descend to the inside and remove the rocks blocking the entrance. Behind the Kankoku pass, a reserve army was awaiting the intruders to prevent that from happening. General Ou Sen, responsible for defending the left mountain path to the Kankoku pass, take a surprise attack by general Ordo and his mountain tribes army. Ordo's army was well trained at mountain warfare and managed to climb the hills with little effort and overwhelm Ousen's main defense. At that point Ousen withdrew his army to the northeast part of the mountain, seemingly retreating or even fleeing from the battlefield. Ordo took this chance and invaded the mountain paths aiming for the last high cliff, which would lead him behind the Kankoku pass. Little did he know that Ou Sen predicted his move and pretended to flee and had now appeared right behind Ordo's army.
Ka Rin and her army enters the battlefield.
On the evening of the 15th day, the battle focuses on the right side of the walls. General Tou's square formation keeps taking waves of attacks by the Chu army. General Tou himself goes out of the formation to relieve Mou Ten and his soldiers to give them a chance to get a breather and fresh horses. Seeing that, General Ka Rin of the Chu 2nd army sends in commander Kou Yoku with 5000 soldiers and tells him to bring her Tou's head. Ka Rin enters the battle herself, leading her army head on to the front of the square formation, right where commander Ryuu Koku's forces are stationed. Ka Rin's army advances slowly but steadily through the Qin soldiers but at some point, its rare is attacked by the combined attacks by Roku O Mi's and Kan Ou's armies and Ou Hon's Gyoku Hou.
Mou Bu's Assault Echelon Formation
General Mou Bu, after sending a second wave of Assault Echelon Formation against Kan Mei Army, reveals his ultimate battle plan, designed by Shou Hei Kun himself; the formation's purpose was to trick the enemy commander into thinking that Mou Bu was aiming to strike at his army's sides, thus sending his reinforcements to their aid. that way, the middle part of the Chu army would be left without backup and Mou Bu would be able to make a push with his army and reach the enemy commander. Shou Hei Kun believed that slaying Kan Mei would be no simple task but doing so would affect the entire battle.
Shou Hei Kun's strategy.
Mou Bu followed the plan in detail and managed to launch a head on attack and reach Kan Mei. The Chu general, proud of his immense strength headed out to meet Mou Bu in battle. The two men clashed, with Kan Mei having an evident advantage in brute strength, to everyone's surprise.
Mou Bu defeats and kills Kan Mei, the might of the Coalition's strength.
As the duel continues, Kan Mei and Mou Bu gave each other serious wounds, while their stamina was running really low. In the meantime, Ka Rin who had reached closer to the scene, sent her brother Ka En to stab Mou Bu from behind and ensure Kan Mei's victory. Mou Ten, who had followed Ka Rin's army, rode fast and intercepted Ka En before he managed to interfere with the duel. Ka En frustrated, pushed Mou Ten on Mou Bu's horse and Kan Mei, irritated by the interruption, slashed Mou Ten with his sword. When Mou Bu saw his son bleeding to death, he snapped and with two swings of his mace he crushed Kan Mei's head, killing him on spot.
The news of Kan Mei's death spread quickly across the different battlefields. The Qin armies and the war council cheered with joy hearing the great news, while the coalition headquarters on the other hand got frustrated, especially Shun Shin Kun by the thought of the Chu commander-in-chief Kan Mei "the coalition army's might" getting himself killed. Ri Boku remained calm and suggested the Chu army to withdraw and regroup and, though the chances of breaking through Kankoku pass were now slim, saw an opportunity for the Zhao to make a move as he sent word for General Kei Sha.
The Mou Bu Army destroying the Kan Mei Army.
By the end of the day the Chu Army had been mostly destroyed and routed, which gave the combined Mou Bu Army a chance to flank the Han and Wei army. The Wei was able to keep attacking by using the Han as a shield. Shun Shin Kun was then ready to take command of the Chu himself but was advised by Ri Boku not to, because the battlefield had already been lost. They then received a message from Karin, saying that victory is right before their eyes, and they should be ready to move through Kankoku pass at a moment's notice. It is revealed that the Karin army had already disengaged and retreated back out of caution for the Mou Bu Army's flank attack. Ka Rin saw things differently. She claimed that stopping an army from protecting Kankoku pass wasn't the method of winning the battle, but rather the main objective is to penetrate it and by doing so they would be the victors. She is also happy by the thought of having no rival stronger than her in Chu Military anymore with Kan Mei dead, later on, she sends word to Shun Shin Kun and Ri Boku at coalition HQ that Victory was before their very eyes.
The Ka Rin Army's elites.
Before the battle commenced, she had sneaked 5000 soldiers of her elite soldiers right through a passage leading into the mountains during her War Elephants unit's charge, her personally leading her army, visiting Kan Mei's battlefield and her wanting to kill Mou Bu all served as a distraction. The Mou Bu and Tou armies were unaware of this action, and this led to Mou Gou and Kan Ki getting flanked inside the very gates.
Ka Rin's 5000 elite soldiers.
Ka Rin's elite soldiers are some of strongest soldiers among the whole Chu military, Shun Shin Kun said, and commented that 5000 of them were enough to defeat the enemies inside the gates. Ka Rin's soldiers charged into the Qin army guarding the gates and it all quickly became a chaotic battle as the men suddenly became mixed up with Qin, Chu and the Wei soldiers coming from every direction. The elite soldiers took control of the gate and pulled out most of the boulders blocking the entrance, while Go Hou Mei had the Wei army ready to charge through the gate. Mou Gou, realizing this, trembled in fear and feels ashamed as he thought to himself that this would be the end of Kankoku pass, all because of him.
The Ou Sen Army coming the rescue.
Fortunately for Qin, Ou Sen had seen through this scheme and descended the hills at the left side of the pass to help out and Qin regained control of the gates thanks to this.
The Ou Sen Army destroying Ka Rin's elites.
Ordo had been completely outplayed by Ou Sen on the psychological level. Since Ordo had lost his elite unit of 8000 mountain tribesmen, he chose to remain cautious by staying in the mountain forts which Ou Sen had abandoned over, meanwhile 10,000 soldiers had been sent by Ou Sen to help the inside of Kankoku Pass, knowing that Ordo would not move his army so quickly after suffering a vital blow after the ambush.
The Coalition Army retreats.
The whole coalition realized now that breaking through Kankoku pass would now be more difficult than ever and at the same time the news of Kan Mei's death and the Chu army's defeat which increase morale of the Qin armies on the different battlefields. Heki showed up to assist Duke Hyou and Shin against the Zhao army, but Ri Boku had already signaled General Kei Sha and all of the coalition generals to retreat, the whole coalition army had fallen back to their positions before the battle started to rethink a strategy. The war council of Qin and the Qin army had been the victors of the day as they cheered with joy and celebrated the night. At the 15th day of the battle of Kankoku pass, the coalition army falls back.