Enemy Command Squad's Location is the 208th chapter of the Kingdom manga, written and illustrated by Yasuhisa Hara.
Summary
Gen Pou continues observing the battlefield while the Wei soldiers are clashing with the Qin. The battlefield provides a sort of pleasure that is difficult to find anywhere else. Especially as a strategist, controlling tens of thousands of soldiers. In this chaotic scene of combat, the Wei army had actually positioned themselves in such a way that they split the field into number of sections. While on the surface, it looked like Archers were only trying to kill Qin soldiers, in truth, their real goal was to herd the Qin closer together. Naturally, the Qin soldiers weren't aware of this. They could only weather the attacks of chariots after chariots. Though it wasn't visible from the outside the smoke, the Qin army had already sustained massive casualties. In the midst of the battle, surrounded by smoke and war chariots, Shin tries to come up with a plan and asks Kyo Kai to help him. However, before she can respond a war chariot is headed for Shin and he has to defeat them with the same tactic he learned in his first campaign.
Kyou Kai says that they need to create noise so that they confuse the enemies, who are using sounds to transmit the position of the Qin army to the archers. While trying to find something that can produce the sound of the gongs used by the Wei, Kyou Kai explains that behind the cover of smoke and the place where the sounds are transmitted from, is in fact the enemy's HQ.
En hears a low ringing sound and asks her if this is also a signal. She responds that these are probably instructions of their HQ. Realizing this, Shin says that he intends to strike the enemy's commander which shocks everyone. He calls upon the mountain people, a division of people of the Blue Stone Tribe and asks of one of them to pinpoint the location of the enemy's HQ. The Squad leader Heki tells that this isn't a problem as their hearing is far superior to most other people.
Meanwhile, Mou Ten is staying at the back and watching the battle along with his unit. His lieutenant wonders why there haven't been any reinforcements sent to the army, but Mou Ten says that due to the smoke screen and limited visibility of the battlefield, it would be pointless to send reinforcements. He states that his grandfather probably isn't debating whether or not to send reinforcements but whether or not to have the first and second army pull out.
In the Wei army, soldiers have come to the conclusion that the Qin army has started to send fake sound signals to confuse them. By the time they get to change the sound signal, the Hi Shin Unit strikes through the Wei force and starts charging forward. Because of the Hi Shin Unit surprise attack, they were caught off guard and couldn't react fast enough to stop their advance. Shin takes the Cavalry and leaves the Infantry to En. Hai Rou and the others have already been tasked to build Rampart's from the bodies.
Before Shin moves forward, So Sui asks to speak with him. So Sui states that they have only 150 cavalry men. Also, they have no idea how many defenders the enemy command center has. If they don't mange to break through the enemy forces, they won't be able to return. However, Shin states that he will go through anyway. he states that now is the time to lead their forces to victory in this opening engagement with their own two hands.
While rushing forward, the Hi Shin Unit arrives close to the enemy HQ and is greeted by a rain of arrows while Gen Bou claims the Hi Shin Unit to be fools.
Characters
Qin
- Mou Gou Army
- Mou Gou
- Ei Bi Army (2nd Wave)
- Ei Bi (mentioned)
- Unnamed officers
- Hi Shin Unit
- Shin (flashback and main story)
- Kyou Kai (flashback and main story)
- So Sui (flashback and main story)
- En (flashback and main story)
- Seki (flashback and main story)
- Hashuken (flashback and main story)
- Unnamed members of Seki Squad
- Hai Rou (mentioned)
- Bi Hei (flashback)
- Unnamed members of cavalry (flashback and main story)
- Unnamed members of armored infantry (flashback and main story)
- Unnamed members of militia (flashback and main story)
- Unnamed others
- 3rd Wave
Wei
- Haku Ki Sai Army
- Rin Ko Army (Center Army)
- Gen Pou
- Unnamed officers
- Unnamed members of War Chariots Units
- Archery Unit commanders
- Unnamed Wei's soldiers
- Unnamed members of sound team
- Unnamed others
- Rin Ko Army (Center Army)
Chapter Notes
- The Qin Army suffered massive casualties due to Gen Pou's machinations.
- Kyou Kai realizes Wei Plan and comes up with a counter measure.
- Shin wants to use the signals to find the enemy HQ and attack it.
- The Mountain tribesmen in the Hi Shin Unit make a reappearance.
- The Hi Shin Unit uses fake signals to confuse the Wei soldiers.
- Shin takes the cavalry while leaving the infantry behind.
- The Hi Shin unit manages to find the enemy HQ.
- Gen Pou was already expecting Qin soldiers to arrive at his HQ and is now firing a barrage of arrows at the Hi Shin unit.