After that rather awkward moment, two hours came and went without incident. Ragna, Kan'u, and Chouhi went to their units and explained the plan; if any of the men doubted if it would work, they didn't let it show. The break allowed another fifty of the injured men to recover to the point where they felt comfortable fighting, but the others went to the camp and joined with men in Kousonsan's army that were equally injured.
It went unsaid that if the battle came to them, then it was already lost, and they would be butchered by the Turbans.
Ragna left the horse he'd taken from Zhao in the care of the camp quartermaster. Apparently it was a stallion of fine breed (Ragna hadn't bothered to check the private bits, so to speak, so he'd had no idea it was male). When asked for the horse's name, Ragna shrugged and said something to the effect of "Shit if I know, I'll think of one later".
Needless to say, the tension amongst the Zhuo officers, Kousonsan, and Chou'un only grew as the time passed. Ryuubi busied herself by helping out in camp, working with the doctor to dress some of the soldiers' wounds, while Ragna went with Shoukatsuryou and Houtou while they introduced themselves to the Zhuo soldiers; since they would need to be present on the battlefield, they would stay with Chouhi's unit to observe the battle, and sound the signal for Ragna, Kan'u, and Chou'un to retreat. Chouhi laid back down for another nap, and Kan'u borrowed a whetstone to sharpen the edge of her halberd. Chou'un simply went to the western exit of the camp and stared forward with a frown on her face, with her spear at her side; Kousonsan was looking over the horses with the quartermaster.
Then, a scout came back, riding one of Kousonsan's famed white horses. His message resounded loud and clear, and spread to all corners of the camp: the Turbans will arrive in fifteen minutes.
The flurry of activity that consumed them for the next ten of those minutes was nothing short of raucous and dizzying, but in the end, they were ready.
On the western outskirts of Kousonsan's camp-blockade, Ragna, Kan'u, and Chou'un were at the head of Ragna and Kan'u's personal squads. Directly behind those squads were Chouhi and her units, flanked on the left and the right by the rest of Ragna and Kan'u's units; Shoukatsuryou and Houtou stood directly with her, as planned.
After a tense few minutes of waiting, the sounds of stampeding feet began to cut through the thick air. Ragna, Kan'u, and Chou'un didn't flinch as the thundering noise grew louder and louder. As the Turbans slowly began to appear on the horizon, gradually spreading across it like a blot of golden yellow, Ragna unsheathed Blood-Scythe with a quiet clinking sound. He spread his legs out, bringing the sword to its usual place in its usual grip. At his sides, Kan'u pointed the tip of her halberd downward and raised the rear; Chou'un held her spear just at waist height and tilted the head upward slightly, then took a moment to look to her left and see how Ragna was holding his weapon before focusing her eyes front again.
Ragna cracked his neck as he began to clearly see the individual faces of each bandit advancing on them. "Aisha, Chou'un. Are you ready?"
"As always, Lord Ragna," Kan'u replied sharply.
Chou'un chuckled, and tapped her foot against the ground. "I feel ready, but if I die, I suppose that will answer that question, won't it?"
Then, there was no more time for words.
The Turbans that arrived first immediately attempted to swarm and surround them. Ragna rushed forward, spun Blood-Scythe into a two-handed grip, and lashed out with two vicious horizontal slashes the moment that he knew Kan'u and Chou'un weren't in his striking range. There was a sickening sound of metal breaking and flesh tearing as the wave in front of Ragna suddenly had a wide hole punched in it; he dashed through immediately and performed another low-flying Inferno Divider to break through even further.
On the left side of the front, Kan'u dodged and weaved between sword slashes and spear thrusts aimed at her head, neck, and chest. With every step, she spun her halberd and cut another Turban down, and never once did she slow down, nor did she trip or stumble. "I commend you men for stepping forward instead of running," she shouted. A Turban attempted to ambush her, and she jabbed him in the stomach with the butt of the Green Dragon Blade before turning on the spot and beheading him. Without missing a beat, she continued to speak, now surrounded by a group of Turbans that were trying to wait for her to lower her guard. "I am Unchou Kan'u of Youzhou! I am the first vassal of Lord Ragna of Zhuo, the Messenger of Heaven! If you wish to test my Green Dragon Crescent Blade, then come and see if you can take its blows without being cut in two!"
Several of the more foolish Turbans did just that, raising their weapons high overhead with loud shouts and roars. They were cut down before they could even realize that they had been killed, and five headless corpses hit the ground with muffled thumps as Kan'u spun her halberd overhead and took her stance once more, then charged at the next Turban with a hellish war cry.
Chou'un, in contrast to both Kan'u and Ragna, was barely moving from her chosen position on the right flank. Her attacks were forceful, precise thrusts of the spear, or the occasional lashing out to drive the Turbans back a step or two; the edges of the spearhead were sharp enough to cut throats and flesh with ease. Whenever the Turbans hesitated, she thrust her spear into them and pulled it back out again in the space of a blink.
Eventually, one of the Turbans shouted, "She's only a woman! How the hell are you bastards losing to some jumped up little bitch!? Rush her! She's been standing in that same goddamn spot!"
The horde roared, and did as they were told, leaving a circle of open space behind them in the wake of their advance. Without pausing, Chou'un tensed her legs, then performed a perfect backwards somersault that took her over all of them. When she landed, it was as if she were a butterfly alighting on a flower; her sleeves swept outward as she bent her legs with the impact, then slowly and carefully rose back up to her full height.
"I stood there because I had no need to move," she said. She smiled indulgently at the Turbans that slowly turned to face her, and before any of them could react, she thrust her spear through one of their throats and pulled it back out again. "But since you felt the need to insult me so personally, let me tell you who exactly this 'jumped up bitch' is." Her spear flashed out again, many times in an instant, and another ten Turbans died. The arrogant smirk on her face was gone now, replaced with pure battle rage. "I am Shiryuu Chou'un of Changshan. My spear and my soul are one. Your weak, cowardly hearts cannot stand against its power! So come all you like! You will die like the dogs that you are!"
Shouting vile curses, the Turban that yelled at the others charged forward, slashing his large longsword down in a smooth arc. Chou'un simply stepped back, then forward once more and pierced his stomach. She twisted her body to the side, then pulled away, allowing him to fall face first into the dirt and choke on the blood welling up from his throat.