Galaxy Domination Guide

Zhang Yingxi had not expected her father's arranged departure to be so urgent; however, Bai Zhongqi was nowhere to be found. She could only hurriedly leave a note, daring not to place it somewhere too obvious, so she placed it under her pillow, hoping Bai Zhongqi would find it when he returned.

As she left, Zhang Yingxi placed a white, egg-shaped stone in the pouch she carried close to her body. She treated it as a gift from Bai Zhongqi, and even in his absence, she regarded it as a keepsake and carefully preserved it.

It was more of a symbol of her hope for freedom than a keepsake.

As a real power warlord and the Provincial Governor of Qing State, Zhang Shixiong had his private jet. This jet, not particularly large, resembled a Gulfstream executive aircraft, could carry fewer than 20 people, and had a range of nearly 8000 kilometers, making it quite suitable for a warlord like Zhang Shixiong. Essentially, all warlords owned a private jet, which proved useful when they needed to make a quick escape.

Seated in the lavishly decorated executive jet, Zhang Yingxi could not lift her spirits. As the daughter of a Provincial Governor, she despised politics but was not completely ignorant of them. At the very least, she needed to understand why her father would sell her out.

She sat across from Zhang Shixiong, sharply gazing at her father, and asked, "Father, haven't our family maintained good relations with the people of Cato? Why are we colluding with the people of Qikun this time?"

Zhang Shixiong's expression soured—disliking the authoritative tone of his daughter, but he still responded, "Cato is a member of the Wind Alliance. Since the last World War, the Fengzhou Alliance has been established, and Cato has been subjugated under the Wind Alliance, possessing little autonomy. Moreover, with Bayer Country continuously expanding westward, the Wind Alliance is too preoccupied to be concerned with the east. The help we could get from Cato has diminished significantly."

Zhang Yingxi, with a trace of accusatory tone and maintaining the poise of a noble woman, replied, "But the Qikun have occupied our northeast, enslaving thirty million compatriots. They even plan to invade further into our territory. How will you handle this situation, Father?"

With a touch of scorn, Zhang Shixiong said, "It's precisely because the Qikun intend to invade that we need to engage with them. Do you think that Prime Minister Dongfang Xun, with his elegant demeanor but foolish strategies, along with his Capital Army, could truly withstand a million-strong Qikun iron army?"

Zhang Yingxi looked at her father incredulously, the words "You want to be a traitor" almost slipping out but ultimately choking in her throat.

She felt disoriented, as if she were seeing her father for the first time. Her father, who wasn't well-educated, became a warlord and provided the finest tutors and scholars for her and her brother. She was raised with the principles of propriety, righteousness, integrity, and honor, understanding the grand justice of the world — yet, to her amazement, her father was ready to be a traitor at the nation's crisis, even contemplating sacrificing her.

She instinctively touched the egg-shaped stone inside her small leather bag, her resolve to escape everything growing stronger.

——Separator——

Located in the central part of Qing State, Sui County houses a troop of Qikun. Officially, Qing State belongs to the Saint Virtue Dynasty and falls within the sphere of influence of Cato Country, but the Qikun have a deep operation base in Qing State. Especially after the last World War, as Cato receded most of its power back to Fengzhou to curb the increasingly powerful Bayer Congress Country, the Qikun started heavily investing in the geographically convenient Qing State, even going so far as to encourage migration.

After the establishment of factories and an increase in immigrants, the Qikun forcefully demanded the creation of the Qikun Tensho Army Military Base in Sui County. Stationed there was a battalion, comprising over a thousand soldiers, even equipped with a large number of armored vehicles, which Zhang Shixiong considered a thorn in his side.

In the office of the Sui County Qikun military base, Guo Daowu sat, setting his military cap aside and revealing his sparsely-haired head. He looked at the aviation record sheet in his hands and said, "So, Zhang Shixiong is going to fly to White Island? And he'll pass over Sui County around two in the afternoon?"

His intelligence officer stood at attention and reported, "Yes, battalion commander."

A gleam flashed in Guo Daowu's eyes as he said, "If Zhang Shixiong's plane were to crash and he died on his own land, wouldn't that create a power vacuum in Qing State? Wouldn't it be an excellent opportunity for the Imperial State to take over Qing State, and then advance on the Capital from both outside the Great Wall and from Qing State?"

The intelligence officer, startled, quickly said, "Commander, Zhang Shixiong's trip to White Island was at the invitation of the Navy. It seems the Navy is about to win Zhang Shixiong over. By that time, the effect should be consistent, right? If an accident occurs to Zhang Shixiong at this point, it will surely implicate our country."

Guo Daowu waved his hand dismissively and said, "Worrying over nothing! The Imperial State is already set to start a war with the despised ones. My Army's elite troops from outside the Great Wall have prepared everything necessary, yet headquarters still hesitates to act. As soldiers of the Army, how can we let the Navy take the advantage? As long as we use anti-air missiles to bring down Zhang Shixiong's plane, and then immediately send troops from outside the Great Wall to Qing State, the Qing State military would easily crumble. The stupid Navy can only watch helplessly as we, the Army, seize the glory."

The intelligence officer instinctively felt that Guo Daowu's plan was somewhat off, but the Tensho Army had always operated autonomously at the officer level. In fact, the fact that Qikun had managed to take the area outside the Great Wall was also due to the autonomous actions of mid-level Army officers, who defeated the stationed forces of the Eastern Land so easily that no one had expected the war to be so straightforward.

Guo Daowu had already excited himself with his plan. He said, "There have always been numerous anti-government armed forces in Qing State. It wouldn't be surprising if they got their hands on some anti-air missiles. Just pin the blame on those people. We should immediately gather the staff officers. My unit will take the initiative to seize the Wei County traffic hub in the middle of the Historical White Railway. We must quickly report to the command outside the Great Wall that we need a large number of strike fighters to suppress the Qing State military."

The execution ability of the Qikun was exceptionally strong. Although Guo Daowu's idea was impromptu, his deployment was pushed forward immediately and even received support from the command post outside the Great Wall. In Qikun, the rivalry between military branches had reached an infuriating level. The Army was determined not to let the Navy grab the credit for occupying Qing State.

An anti-air missile launcher was rolled out of the barracks; it was the newly commissioned Eight Clouds model battlefield anti-air defence weapon, with a range of 40 kilometers and an altitude reach of over 20,000 meters. Using it against an utterly unprepared civilian aircraft was simply bullying.

The frenzied Qikun pressed the missile launch button, and two anti-air missiles were launched, soaring into the sky.

As passenger planes were not equipped with alarm systems, the missiles exploded in the air, sending shrapnel flying and riddling the aircraft with holes. Both pilots died instantly, and several passengers were seriously injured and killed.

The plane, emitting smoke, plunged towards the ground.