Alright today I put in some war scenes hope it is good and if you want me to skip it please comment.
...
~3 weeks later.
Ying Zheng was drinking with prime minister Zhang Lu.
Zhang Lu laughed and questioned Ying Zheng "Why were you so humble before the King today? I believe he would be willing to beg you to come back or am I wrong"
Ying Zheng gulped down a cup of wine and said "Yes he would be willing since a few years ago he went to general Bai Qi's home to beg him to come back but that incident made the King lose face now look where Bai Qi is. And I do not believe that you do not know that. Hahahaha so when are going to stop to test me."
Zhang Lu also laughed along with Ying Zheng and said "Hahaha Of course I know how do you think I reached this position? that aside what is the next step of the plan?"
Ying Zheng replied "That is actually very simple first make the King paranoid about general Bai Qi to the point he is exiled then make the King believe that Bai Qi is going to support another state to fight against Qin. Second I am going to go continue conquering the Shu state I will try to stretch it to around two years and during that time please do try to convince the King promote me to a great general."
Zhang Lu sneered and said, "I know up until that point but what about the next steps of the plan, or at least the secretive and important ones."
Hearing this Ying Zheng sneered in his heart 'hmph old fool that is for me to know and you to find out. Do you really think I trust you that much? Tell me your plans my ass. You are probably greedy and just want to sabotage me and even if you did not show it till now I do not believe any human is above greed.'
Ying Zheng did not say that out loud and he just laughed "Hahaha father in law you must be kidding after all planning two years ahead is too much and planning further ahead will just cause us trouble making our plans non-flexible and if it goes wrong once our whole plan will be ruined."
Ying Zheng did not believe in the bullshit he just said to Zhang Lu after all he is a man with his whole life planned and those plans have plan b to z and those ones have backups which also have backups. Ying Zheng hates to be caught with his pants down so he never leaves anything to chance.
Prime Minister Zhang Lu frowned then smiled he knew Ying Zheng was not going to tell him everything and he could not tear his face with Ying Zheng or at least not yet so he nodded and said "Hahaha, of course, I understand a little Impatience ruins a great plan. That aside when will you leave for the Shu state?"
Ying Zheng frowned in his heart and thought to himself 'A man who gets angry easily is not dangerous since you can tell his emotions but this old son of a bitch is concocting a plan behind my back. Hmph although I hate smart old men like him that does not mean I have no way to deal with him in fact I am praying you to get out of hand or betray me that would be a perfect reason to get rid of you at least righteously.
Do you take me for those stupid Kings who just took the throne and give their supporters good and high positions infact I will get rid of you or weaken you hmph?'
Ying Zheng smiled and said, "Hahaha I am leaving in a few days can you please take care of my son for me?"
"Alright Alright, I am really getting old my back is paining so I have to go and rest see you tomorrow."
...
18 days later
Ying Zheng had reached the Shu state battlefield and saw that things were going too well so he forced his men to retreat telling them that it was a ploy by the Shu state.
During the retreat Ying, Zheng lost 270 men, and 540 men were injured but Ying Zheng did not give a fuck since he wanted to drive the Shu state into desperation within seven months and make them surrender technically turning them into governors who would support him and he will promise to marry a daughter from their families to make the relationship between them solid but the wedding will have to take place later since he did not want him to think that he was betraying him until the last minute.
But if all plans could go according to plan to how they were planned then Ying Zheng would not need backups.
'In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.'
The Shu army and imperial family had already started to fragment and dissolve before Ying Zheng had even come close to the capital city.
With their leader Lu Di having being executed by his own disillusioned forces over his supposed secret negotiations with the Ba state to resist futilely against the much stronger and larger Qin state armies.
Many of the Shu people dispersed before to either the Ba state Chu state or the Qin state before Ying Zheng's army even arrived.
With that said the Shu state remainder with no experienced generals was led by Bao Zi and put up a staunch resistance to general Ying Zheng or that is how it seemed on the outside at least.
When they met in battle. They drove back Ying Zheng's army's left wing and seriously wounding the commanding general of the left wing.
After pushing back the left wing for a while they were called back by Bao Zi to surround the middle from the side and back.
However, they were held back by the right wing cavalry and the center almost decimating the Shu state right wing.
They were then driven back to their camps.
When the Qin army was close to the Shu state camp Ying Zheng stopped the army and waited for the Shu state army to rearrange themselves in their camps.
With the wind at the Qin's backs, Ying Zheng ordered his men to set the Shu state camp alight.
With the wind and smoke panicking the horses and reducing the Shu state camp defense into chaos.
With Bao Zi slain on the battlefield those of his followers that remained fled to the fortress of Mengguko close to the capital city of Mengguko but with no relief of reinforcement coming.
The walls of the ancient fortress of Mengguko did little more than entrap them lacking supplies surrender came swiftly and little mercy was shown by the mass executions of most of Bao Zi's followers ending the long and ancient history of the Shu state in a grisly and bloody fashion.
A more serious challenge to reunify the middle kingdom would come in the East with the breakdown of the peace treaty with the Ba state under the leadership of Lin Wu.
Under the leadership of Lin Wu, the Ba state had not been entirely uninvolved with the campaign against the Shu state trying to steal food from the lion's mouth. Although this move was risky had they succeeded they would have the right to at least be recognized as subordinates under the Qin state.
They even had the guts to take some unprotected cities from the Qin state. It was not that they did not recognize that it was a trap but it was too good to let go. All in all, they were greedy.
They also tried to use Qin's tactics against Qin themselves by backing and supporting uprisings in the Qin and Shu states.
Although it was easy to conquer the Ba state Ying Zheng did not do it and instead looted right and left for his men and gained their approval by using wealth after all the easiest way to men's hearts is their stomachs.
Ying Zheng did not only loot from the Ba state but also the Shu state and even some barbarians in the south.
During this idle time, Ying Zheng learned from Julius Caesar when he was conquering Gaul by writing books and commentaries which were overly exaggerated. He exaggerated the enemies numbers where he had the advantage of more than 3 to 1 he made it the opposite making it face in favor of the Shu state and praised the soldiers and the people back in the Qin state saying without their support this whole campaign would not come to fruition.
Ying Zheng's army was about eighty-one thousand while the Shu had originally somewhere between forty five thousand to fifty four thousand but most of the soldiers either rebelled or ran away leaving the Shu state with around twenty seven thousand soldiers probably less.
For the time being Ying Zheng's plans were going perfectly in fact it was going too perfectly for Ying Zheng's comfort.
***
End of chapter.
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