The general changed direction and attacked Shu in the west, engaging in a great battle at Fucheng, where he struck down the Marquis of Shu.

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  In 327 BC (the second year of King Huai of Chu), King Huai of Chu assembled his troops, put on his armor, mounted his horse, and was about to set out northwards with the newly forged sword of the king of Chu to attack the Wei army and reclaim justice for Chu when an urgent report came from the western border: The Shu state (the area around Mianyang and Chengdu in northwest Sichuan) had sent 150,000 troops southward, capturing Ba and Yu, and reaching Wu Gorge and Qianzhong.

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  Here is the translation:

  Ah! It turns out that's how it was. When Hou Hui of Shu heard that King Wu of Chu had just died and King Huai of Chu had newly ascended to the throne, he was still young and unfamiliar with state and military affairs. The army and people were not yet stable, so he wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to make a big gain. Therefore, he raised an army of 150,000, including 30,000 cavalry and 120,000 infantry, and marched towards Wu Ba, also intending to annex the Qinzhong region of Chu. When King Huai of Chu heard the news, he put aside his plan to attack Wei in the north for the time being and ordered Zhuang Qiao to lead a large army to defend against the invasion of the Wei and Han armies. He personally led an army of 200,000 (60,000 cavalry and 140,000 infantry) to march westward, accompanied by General Tang Mi. The 200,000-strong Chu army set out from Jingzhou, passed through Yichang, Zigui, Badong, and entered the Wu Gorge to attack the Shu army. This battle was not only King Huai of Chu's first battle since his accession to the throne but also his first battle in establishing his authority throughout the country.

  The Chu army entered Wu Gorge from Ba Dong and met the 100,000-strong army of the Marquis of Shu at Fongjie (County). Both sides formed their battle arrays. King Hui of Chu rode his horse forward and said: "Are you the Marquis of Shu?" The Marquis of Shu replied: "Yes!" King Hui asked: "Why have you raised an army to invade our territory?" The Marquis of Shu replied: "When did Wu Ba become a territory of Chu? I've never heard of it." King Hui said: "Why do you invade my Qianzhong?" The Marquis of Shu replied: "Qianzhong was taken by your ancestors from others, and there is no clear boundary. How can you say that I invaded your Qianzhong?" King Hui became enraged, drew out the Chu king's sword, and felt a cold light radiating from it. This was not an ordinary sword but a heavy sword one meter long made of high-quality steel, extremely sharp. The Marquis of Shu saw that the Chu army was too strong and the battle was unfavorable to his troops, so he said to King Hui: "If you want to kill me, let's have a one-on-one duel. Don't use your numerical superiority to bully me." King Hui listened and then put his precious sword back into its scabbard, saying: "Tang Mei, listen to my order! Lead the 30,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry to retreat and do not come forward to support us again. Those who disobey will be beheaded!" Tang Mei led the 50,000 Chu troops to retreat and form a battle array to watch the fight. King Hui waved his hand, and the 300,000 Chu soldiers formed three routes of infantry arrays: left, center, and right, with ten layers each; the cavalry formed a horizontal line and two vertical lines.

  King Huai of Chu held a long spear, 2.5 meters in length, much thicker and heavier than the usual spears of his generals. It was made of high-quality steel, with a shiny black finish. As both sides formed their battle lines, King Huai shouted, "Beat the drums!" The war drums of the Chu army boomed, and King Huai charged forward on horseback, spear in hand, straight at Duke Huan of Shu.

  Duke Huan saw this and hastily urged his horse to meet King Huai. He wielded two steel spears, like a hunter, and was known as the bravest warrior among the three armies. He was only 38 years old, with a strong build, dark complexion, and a fierce appearance.

  As King Huai approached, Duke Huan raised his twin spears to block the attack. With a loud clang, the spear in King Huai's hand struck down, sending Duke Huan's left-hand spear flying to the ground. The tiger-like grip on his right-hand spear was shattered, and his hands were numbed by the shock.

  Duke Huan never expected King Huai to possess such divine strength and cried out, "This is bad!" He quickly turned his horse around and fled back to his lines. King Huai shouted, "Where are you going?" and chased after him on horseback.

  In an instant, King Huai's black stallion caught up with Duke Huan at the Shu army's front line. With a swift thrust of his spear, King Huai aimed for Duke Huan's back. Just as all hope seemed lost, Duke Huan cried out and flipped forward, landing on his stomach on the horse's back.

  King Huai raised his spear to strike again, but just then, two Shu generals, one wielding a long spear and the other holding a long halberd, rode forth from their lines. The two generals swiftly positioned themselves in front of King Huai, blocking his attack with their spear and halberd.

  With two loud clangs, the steel head of the halberd was shattered, and the tip of the spear was broken off. Duke Huan took advantage of this opportunity to escape back to his lines.

  King Huai swept his spear sideways at the two Shu generals, who hastily raised their spears and halberds to defend themselves. With a loud clang, both of their weapons were knocked out of their hands and fell to the ground. King Huai then thrust his spear upward, striking one of the Shu generals with a fatal blow.

  The other Shu general was so frightened that he turned his horse around and fled in disarray.

  The Chu King held a spear in his left hand and drew the sword of the Chu king with his right hand, swinging it once. The Chu army suddenly killed the sound of heaven, 30,000 cavalry and 120,000 infantry rushed to the Shu army. First, the Chu army's 10,000 cavalry charged horizontally at the Shu army's cavalry, which saw the situation and hastily urged their horses to fight back. But the other 20,000 Chu cavalry formed two columns and charged towards the left and right wings. The Shu army cavalry hastily divided their troops to intercept, but the 10,000 Chu cavalry in front formed a horizontal row, almost running on the same line, while the Shu army cavalry that came to fight back was uneven.

  Only to see the Chu army's horses galloping together, guns raised together, and thousands of Shu riders coming up unevenly, how could they withstand the power of this simultaneous attack? Suddenly, 5,000 Shu army cavalry fell. The Shu riders who intercepted the 20,000 Chu cavalry on both sides were disorderly and slanted, just cutting off the first and second Chu cavalry, and the third cavalry had already charged past, killing the Shu riders with a knife or gun while borrowing the degree of running and impact of the war horse from the side. The two wings killed the Shu army infantry, and the Shu army infantry was in great chaos, with heavy casualties.

  At this time, the 120,000 Chu army infantry had formed three large ten-layer square arrays and rushed to the front. This ten-layer array was an attacking defense that could be used when the Shu army wanted to use cavalry to impact the Chu army infantry array. The first layer of Chu soldiers held shields in their left hands and swung knives in their right hands, while the second layer of Chu soldiers drew bows and shot arrows, killing the Shu riders. Therefore, the Shu army cavalry had no chance to approach the Chu army infantry array, and a few who rushed to the front were already shot down by arrows. The first layer of Chu soldiers then cut off with a knife.

  When the Chu army infantry array engaged with the Shu army infantry, the Chu soldiers in each layer of the array held shields in their left hands and swung knives in their right hands, while the second layer grasped long guns and the third layer held shields in their left hands and knives in their right hands. Each layer of soldiers flowed and attacked, causing the Shu army infantry to retreat repeatedly with countless casualties.

  Although the Shu generals were brave, they had never practiced a large-scale array, and their overall strength was not as strong as that of the Chu army. Moreover, King Hui of Chu was invincible, sweeping across thousands of troops with one long spear, and no one in the Shu army could resist him. The morale of the Shu army had already been low, while the Chu army saw the king's bravery and their morale soared.

  Therefore, the Shu army initially resisted for a long time but later became defeated at the slightest touch. The Chu army took advantage of the situation to pursue and kill, chasing after the Shu general who led his 70,000 remaining soldiers in a desperate retreat from Fengjie to Yunyang and then from Yunyang to Liangping, finally escaping back to the capital of Shu (Chengdu) without even daring to look back. After this battle, the Marquis of Shu was indeed intimidated by King Hui of Chu.