Battle of Attrition is the 540th chapter of the Kingdom manga, written and illustrated by Yasuhisa Hara.
Summary
Ryouyou
Shun Sui Ju asks Rozo for an underground passage that he may have installed as an escape route. Rozo feigns ignorance, Shun Sui Ju tells him to stop acting ignorant. Shun Sui Ju says while Ryuuyou is within Zhao, it considered an abnormality, which lay outside its jurisdiction. Since the Quanrong are prudent, Shun Sui Ju says they must have installed an escape route in case of an emergency within Zhao territory. Rozo asks if Shun Sui Ju is really asking him to divulge such secret escape route.
Shun Sui Ju replies he only wants one of them. He tells Rozo he believes Heki's rations depot is located within a forest on the map. Rozo says it's called Rago's Forest. Shun Sui Ju says the sentry has been set up wide and asks if there is such a path that can lead him near the forest or if he's being greedy, within the forest. Rozo asks if Shun Sui Ju is talking down to him, Shun Sui Ju says he's the commander. Rozo says even Ri Boku shows him respect as a king of Quanrong, Shun Sui Ju calls him King.
Since Rago forest is the largest within the area, it is one of the best for an escape route, so there is an underground passage that leads into the middle of the forest. Rozo sees the depot burning and says since he succeeded, it's getting easier to fight. Rozo takes a nap before the sunrise and says he can't wait to see the Qin's face when he wakes up.
Yo Tan Wa asks how much ration Heki lost. Heki says half since he set up 2 rations depot. Mera tribal leader's younger sister Kitari asks Katari what's going on. He says Heki lost half of the rations. Yo Tan Wa tells Heki since it's in the middle of a battle, he should not put his head down as a general. She says it's not Heki's fault since one of Quanrong's escape routes just happened to lead into the forest and he couldn't have known.
Yo Tan Wa tells Heki she'll send some rations over and since there's a mountain nearby, they should be able to find at least a bit of resources. Heki says it's absurd for him to take rations from her since he came to assist her as reinforcements, he says his army will deal with it on their own. Heki says he sent a messenger to the Kan Ki Army since they have surrounded and are laying siege to Gyou already. Kitari asks Katari what they're saying. Kitari says Heki asked Kan Ki for rations, Kitari replies... what? Kan Ki? He's a piece of shit, he won't send rations. Yon Tan Wa tells Heki to put his armor on and come back, third day is about to start. Kitari tells Yo Tan Wa that a good portion of their own rations were stored with Heki, so this is not a laughing matter.
Kitari tells Yo Tan Wa that they have to re-evaluate and reanalyze their battle tactics and logistics or they will be wiped out. Yo Tan Wa says she knows.
On the third day, Heki places himself in the vanguard in an effort to redeem himself in a grand-scale offense. However, his bravery backfires after falling for Quanrong's defensive strategies.
Meanwhile, the messengers sent by Heki to Kan Ki were caught in the web of Zhao soldiers placed between Ryuuyou and Gyou and were all decimated. The path set up between all 3 armies were already taken over by Zhao soldiers and were all isolated by now.
Shukai Plains
Shou Taku and Kyuu Kou wonders why they haven't started fighting yet since the momentum is on their side. Shoutaku says although they started with 25k and Zhao had 30k, after yesterday's battle, they probably have the higher number of soldiers. He also says, regardless of the number of soldiers, the difference in morale is quite large, so the time to fight is now. Kan Jou replies, they're being cautious since Ri Boku already made a move before the sunrise. Kyuu Kou and Shou Taku wonders what Ri Boku did, Kan Jou says its nothing much, the scout will be making a report soon.
The scout says there's a 10,000 reinforcement from the middle field. Shou Taku says good thing they didn't engage in a battle right away. Kan Jou says since Ri Boku sent a 10k reinforcement just on the fourth day, their high morale from being victorious in yesterday's battle has gone back down. Ou Hon says it's okay.
Ou Hon starts yelling his orders to his unit. He says this battlefield's victory depends on who wins the battle in the center. To that end, both Ri Boku and Ou Sen are trying to use the left and right field to force the middle field to send reinforcements to decrease the number of soldiers in the middle. Therefore, the fact that Ri Boku sent 10k to the right field means they were able to decrease the number of soldiers from Ri Boku's army by 10k. Using this method, Ou Sen is biding their time to engage in a battle to win until their numbers are more favorable. Until then, the right field army must keep on winning. Ou Hon says regardless of how many soldiers come as reinforcements, it's what they want, since it's their role. He says they will keep fighting until the Center Army is sets up to win the battle.
A Kou's subordinate says Ou Hon is using his voice to raise the morale. A Kou says since Ou Hon saw through the tactics and conveyed them, he has nothing else to add. He orders his army to move out and says they'll make the right field their hunting ground again.
The Ri Boku Army notices the noise from right field. Ri Boku says it'll quiet down soon. He says Rin Shou Jo was a General who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Ren Pa. Rin Shou Jou was a Great General who possessed both intelligence and courage and was a great tactician. But he did not possess martial might, so the generals under him were responsible for martial might. And the person who held that responsibility was Gyou’un. The Zhao General was the embodiment of the Rin Shou Jo Army's martial might.
Characters
Qin
Battle of Ryouyou
Gyou
- Kan Ki Army
- Kan Ki (Mentioned)
Shukai Plains
Zhao
Battle of Ryouyou
Shukai Plains
Past
- Rin Shou Jo (Flashback)