When Kan'u and Chou'un heard the second horn, they moved forward without a word, and the men of Kan'u's unit followed behind them equally quietly. They could see Ragna's unit already moving in, headed toward the same point that they were going to.
"So we'll meet right in the middle, and the path's already clear for us to hem the Turbans in between us and Chouhi's group," Chou'un said, sounding almost absent-minded as she kept pace with Kan'u. "Those little girls are truly amazing, Kan'u. Their timing has been spot-on so far, and these idiot Turbans haven't managed to adjust in the slightest."
"I agree," Kan'u replied. "Shoukatsuryou and Houtou are very good at what they do. I'd come to expect it considering how their strategy helped us before, but this is another level. As for the Turbans, with their numbers, they probably never thought they had to adapt to our movements." She gripped the Green Dragon Blade with a tight smile. "They'll regret that mistake in hell."
Chou'un nodded, then narrowed her eyes again. They had almost met up with Ragna's unit; they had only about a minute or so left before that happened. "We're almost there, Kan'u! Get ready!"
Kan'u allowed herself a smirk and a look in Chou'un's direction. "I've long been prepared. What about you?"
Chou'un returned both the glance and the smirk. "I've warmed up enough. I think I'll be fine."
Shoukatsuryou and Houtou had been moved to the rear of Chouhi's unit, protected by a small squad. Shoukatsuryou herself laughed as she saw Ragna, Kan'u, and Chou'un meet up behind the Turban lines with their respective units through her telescope; now the Turbans were completely corralled, and ready to be funneled toward Kousonsan's camp. "Hinari! Have we gotten word from General Kousonsan yet?"
Houtou nodded. "One of the scouts just reported seeing a cavalry on white horses bearing flags named Kouson. They'll be here in about a minute."
Another blast of war horns came from the front part of Chouhi's unit, and Shoukatsuryou blinked in surprise. "Hawawa? I didn't give the order to..."
Houtou smiled shyly and fiddled with her hat. "I sent the message ahead of time. I figured that even if the timing was a little early, it'd just give the vanguard more time to let the Turbans through."
Shoukatsuryou blinked a few times, then hugged Houtou tightly for a few moments, causing the pigtailed strategist to squeak in shock and blush brighter. "Hinari, you're the best."
"Awawa? Th-thank you, Shuri."
After releasing Houtou, Shoukatsuryou turned to one of their guards. "Let's start moving the troops," she said, smiling confidently as she adjusted her beret. "It's time for the final strike!"
By the time the third horn sounded, the Turbans, put simply, were confused down to the last man. They'd started the engagement knowing full well that they had more men than Ragna, Kan'u, and Chou'un, and yet those three alone had cut down waves upon waves of them. Then, to add insult to injury, they'd bring in reinforcements to further harass them, and pare down their numbers even more.
By the time the third horn sounded, the fighting had been going on for well over two hours, and the Turbans were exhausted in addition to being completely outmaneuvered. They still had the numbers advantage, but it seemed to be shrinking bit by bit; they seemed to lose twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty men for every Zhuo soldier that they cut down. Their numbers advantage was slowly waning, even if they refused to acknowledge it.
By the time the third horn sounded, the Turbans had realized that they had to cut their losses, and run away as quickly as they could. However, they'd been cut off from the west, and were boxed in on the north and the south. Their only escape was east, where the reinforcements had come from; luckily for them, the front there had been broken through not long after the third horn, and so they rushed like madmen to escape through there; Kousonsan had not fielded any soldiers that they knew of, and so they thought that they might be able to escape into Qiao or Hebei if they moved quickly enough to escape the Zhuo army.
However, by the time the third horn sounded, Kousonsan's cavalry was already surging forward to meet the Turbans when they came out of that three-way entrapment, ready and willing to push them back into it.
The first Turban to realize this was at the forefront of the retreat, moving as quickly as he could, when he saw a red-haired woman in pink clothes and white armor. She carried a sword and was racing at him on a horse.
Behind that woman were a dozen more horses, each with a lancer in glittering white uniform.
Behind those dozen horses was an army dressed in the same white uniforms, wielding swords, spears, and axes.
That first Turban quickly turned to the others behind him, who too were seeing what he saw, and yelled, "It's a trap! It's a trap! Run!"
Shortly after that, the woman on the white horse rode past him and chopped his head off with a single stroke of the sword, then trampled his fellows under the feet of her horse.
Those that followed in her wake did the same, as Kousonsan's White Horse Brigade charged in and forced the Turbans back into the enclosure of the Zhuo army.
In the next thirty minutes, the 25,000-man Turban force was completely exterminated with no further casualties for Zhuo or Kousonsan.
After an accounting of the wounded and the dead, Kousonsan walked with Chou'un, Ragna, his horse, and his group back to the eastern entrance of the camp. The Zhuo forces overall lost another 150 men—half fatally injured, half simply wounded—but compared to the near total extinction of the Turban forces, that was still within the range of what might be called an acceptable loss. The atmosphere was somewhat mixed; there was a clear gloom over the lives lost on the Zhuo and Ryousei sides of the conflict, but a victory was a victory, and the Turbans had been dealt a severe blow.
Though she still looked tired and a bit haggard, Kousonsan's smile was genuinely warm as she clasped Ragna's hand and shook it. "You're a good fighter. I understand where all the fuss about you came from now."
"I just do like I was taught," Ragna said as Kousonsan let his hand go. "No big deal. And besides, it's not like I did all the work either." He jerked a thumb at Chou'un, then to his vassals. "They all pulled their weight and more. If it wasn't for them we'd have been fucked." A wry grin crossed his face. "You cut it a little close near the end though, Kousonsan. Couldn't see you from back where I was, so I was thinking that the Turbans actually broke the line instead of being sucked into the trap."
Kousonsan allowed herself a wry chuckle. "We've spilled blood together on the same battlefield, Ragna. Please, call me Hakukei—my given name. And if you seriously thought I'd let that rabble beat me again, you're mistaken." She turned to Chou'un next, and shockingly enough, retained her cheerful expression. "I didn't tell you this before, Shiryuu, but I'm grateful for all the help you gave me up until now. Thank you for sticking it out with me."
"As I said, it was an honor to fight with you, Hakukei," Chou'un replied, returning the smile. She then turned to Ragna and the others. "And it was an honor to fight with you all, as well. I've spent quite some time traveling, looking for the people with the right ambition for me to fight alongside. You all are very close to that ideal, much closer than Sousou or Sonken, but...I want to see more. I feel like a great change is coming to China soon, and there's so much more I could learn to prepare for it."
Ragna scoffed and scratched his head. "Well, you're welcome in Xizang whenever. But I'm not into that ambition shit like Sousou and Sonken. I'm just watching over the people I'm in charge of, and that's it. They wanna conquer the continent or whatever, the most I'm gonna do is keep them out of my yard, so to speak." The flippancy in his tone of voice faded. "And I know they'll try. I'm expecting them to if they're serious about conquering China. But if they do get us, it won't be without a bloody fight."
Chou'un's eyes widened in that particular curious way, and then she smiled, a full, honest one that took Ragna by surprise. "And that's why I think you are probably the only other person on this continent that could match either of them. You've got the same kind of willpower they do. Your focus is just different." She shook her head. "And that's fine. I don't think I'd mind seeing where that takes you in the end. But I don't think I'm ready to find out yet."
"It's all up to you, Chou'un," Ragna said. "You're fine by me if you want to come and work with us later. Just stop on by. Try not to get beat up out there."
Kan'u nodded. "Yes. Please, be well, Chou'un. I would enjoy the chance to fight alongside you again."
Chou'un's smile grew a little more. "As would I, Kan'u. Until then...I'll be going."
She bowed to everyone present, then turned and walked off, waving with her left hand while carrying her spear in her right. Everyone watched her go, and once she was far enough away, Kousonsan turned to Ragna once again. "I'll send a messenger to Zhuo once I've settled in at home. I think it's in our best interests if we stay in touch. If something like this happens again, we should be in regular communication."
"Sure. Looking forward to it, Hakukei," Ragna said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I wanna get back to Xizang before it gets dark as shit out here and we all wind up tripping and breaking our necks on rocks."
Kousonsan laughed again. "True. And my trip's longer than yours, plus I still have to take down this camp." She sighed and shrugged, but kept smiling, too. "God speed, Ragna. Take care."
Ragna nodded, then mounted his horse. "Zhuo! We're moving out. Let's go!"
Kan'u, Chouhi, Shoukatsuryou, Houtou, and Ryuubi all bowed to Kousonsan, then followed behind Ragna's horse as he trotted away.
"By the way," Kousonsan shouted after him, "the quartermaster told me you didn't name that horse! It's bad luck to keep riding a horse if you don't name it!"
Ragna shouted his reply without turning around. "Shit if I know what to name it! I'll think of something later!"
Bonds are forged strongest in the furnace of war. Even two bitter enemies can gain respect for each other when they are forced to fight back-to-back, and two strangers can be united around the common cause of fighting to survive.