Akanezaka Pass

The Akanezaka Pass was a mountain pass located in the Touriku region in Yamatsu. A major battle between the clans of Kiryuu and Tourikueisen took place there in 1531.

History
In the fall of 1531, the army of Kiryuu led by General Souma Yoshihisa defeated the army of Tourikueisen. As the army retreated, Nanao Hibiya, a samurai of Tourikueisen, took command of a rearguard numbering 200 soldiers and blocked the Akanezaka Pass for most of an afternoon to prevent Kiryuu's pursuit. When General Souma ordered his archers to finish her force off, Hibiya led her remaining hundred horsemen in a suicidal cavalry charge down the hillside, trampling the unprepared archers and breaking through the front lines. Hibiya penetrated all the way to General Souma's camp before being intercepted by his son-in-law Souma Yasutsuna, who barely slowed her long enough for the ashigaru to surround her.

Enraged at the death of his son, General Souma refused to ask Hibiya's name so that she would die forgotten. However, at the last second, he was prevented from executing her by the sudden arrival of the Yelglish mage Theodore McFarlane, who froze his army in place and offered to take Hibiya back to Yelgland with him to attend Kimberly Magic Academy.

Trivia

 * The location where Nanao's last stand took place was not named in the original light novels. The title of this article comes from manga chapter 7: "Shiawase".