The God of War Who Protects the Nation: Starting with Saving a Mother and Daughter in Distress

The atmosphere inside the general's tent was solemn.

Zhang Xu sat in the main seat, his face flushed, and his eyes filled with barely concealed excitement.

Generals such as Luo Kai and Zhou Lang were already present.

Luo Kaichong winked, and Zhou Lang simply nodded slightly.

Before long, all the generals had arrived.

Zhang Xu cleared his throat, glanced at everyone, and said in a deep voice, "His Majesty has decreed that my border troops be recalled to the capital to quell the rebellion."

As soon as he finished speaking, the tent erupted in uproar.

Luo Kaiteng stood up abruptly, his face filled with barely suppressed excitement: "General, is this really true!"

He had long been fed up with the monotonous days of guarding the border and dreamed of returning to the Central Plains to achieve great things.

Zhou Lang frowned and said worriedly, "General, although the border is temporarily peaceful, the foreign tribes are eyeing us covetously. If we withdraw our troops back to the capital now, and war breaks out on the border again, we will be unable to manage both ends."

The two had completely opposite attitudes.

In Zhou Lang's view, having finally reached this point, he would rather consolidate his position on the border than rashly get involved in the mess between the imperial court and the rebels.

Qin An observed all of this in silence.

Zhang Xu waved his hand, silencing the two men's argument. He had already planned for this.

"His Majesty has decreed that the entire army need not march south; a portion must remain to guard the border." His gaze fell upon Zhou Lang. "General Zhou, you are experienced and prudent; no one is more suitable to leave this task behind."

Zhou Lang's expression relaxed, and he cupped his hands, saying, "This humble general obeys the order."

Luo Kai, unable to contain himself any longer, rubbed his hands together and pressed, "General, when do we set off? Which route should we attack first?"

Zhang Xu turned to Qin An: "Captain Qin, how are your three thousand cavalrymen doing in their training?"

Qin An replied in a deep voice, "We have just acquired some fighting strength and are capable of fighting."

"Good." Zhang Xu slammed his hand on the table. "This time, on our return to the capital, we will divide our forces into three routes. Qin An will lead three thousand cavalry as the vanguard, clearing paths through mountains and building bridges over rivers. Luo Kai will lead five thousand infantry to follow the central army."

His gaze swept over the generals in the tent, finally landing on a round, plump figure in the corner. "Cheng Zhiyuan, you will lead five thousand men to cover the rear and protect the army's supply lines."

The three men stood up in unison, clasped their hands in a fist salute, and said, "Your subordinates obey!"

After the troop roll was completed, Luo Kai suddenly asked, "General, we still don't know who our target is?"

He knew that Daxing was currently engulfed in war, with rebels everywhere.

It was clear that their own forces could not possibly wipe out the entire rebel army; at most, they could only be responsible for a portion of it.

Zhang Xu, of course, made no attempt to conceal anything, stating succinctly: "Target: East of Qishan, Wang Bo's rebel army!"

Qin An felt a chill run down his spine.

He had heard of Wang Bo before. This man started out as a bandit and was known for his brutality. He had gathered many desperate men under his command and was one of the most arrogant rebels at the time.

After the meeting, Luo Kai grabbed Qin An's arm, his face showing a mixture of excitement and seriousness.

"Qin An, don't underestimate the rebels. The battle to quell the rebellion may be even more difficult than the battle against Bai Ji. After all, Daxing is full of hidden talents, and the number of experts is incomparable to that of Bai Ji."

Qin An nodded, a hint of anticipation flashing in his eyes.

He knew that what Luo Kai said was true.

Although the battles at Baiji were fierce, the opponents were ultimately foreign barbarians with shallow foundations.

Now they are facing a rebel force within Daxing, among whom are some truly skilled individuals.

But Qin An was not afraid at all.

During this period, his strength improved slowly, which made Qin An, who had experienced rapid growth on the battlefield, quite dissatisfied.

Deep down, I vaguely yearn to temper myself on a more brutal battlefield and become stronger.

Fighting against the strong within Daxing is undoubtedly a shortcut to quickly improve one's strength!

……

Three days later, everything was ready.

Zhang Xu led 15,000 border troops in a rally outside Liaodong City.

Military flags fluttered, war drums beat, soldiers raised their swords and spears, and shouted in unison, their momentum shaking the heavens.

Qin An, clad in black armor, stood before the cavalry formation, mounted on a black horse.

He drew his sword and pointed it straight south: "Brothers, when our nation is in peril, every man has a duty! Follow me south, quell the rebels, and protect our land!"

"Suppress the rebels! Protect our land!" Three thousand cavalrymen shouted in unison, their voices soaring into the sky.

With Zhang Xu's order, the army set off in a grand procession, heading towards the interior of the pass.

Qin'an's cavalry vanguard, like a sharp dagger, charged ahead, raising clouds of dust that blotted out the sky.

After the army entered the pass, Qin An truly understood what "chaotic times" meant.

The once bustling official road is now overgrown with weeds and littered with bones.

Occasionally, one could see a few ragged refugees, pale and emaciated, with numb eyes. When they saw the army passing by, they would just stare blankly, without even the strength to run away.

"Captain, there's a village ahead. Shall we go in and take a look?" a cavalryman reported.

Qin An rode forward and saw that the village was deathly silent. Most of the houses had collapsed, and wild grass grew among the broken walls. The air was filled with a rotten smell.

He dismounted and entered a fairly intact house, which was empty except for a broken bowl on the stove, containing half a bowl of blackened bran.

"It seems we've suffered from war." Qin An frowned, his heart heavy.

He had witnessed massacres in Baiji, but those were killings between different races. What he saw before him was the killing of his own people.

Continuing on, as we passed through a county town, the city walls were mottled, the city gates were wide open, and there wasn't even a single soldier guarding the city walls.

Qin An sent people in to investigate, and they reported that nine out of ten people in the city had left, and the rest were hiding at home, too afraid to go out. The county government office was already deserted.

"General, Daxing... I'm afraid it's really going to be over." Han Quan rode up to Qin An's side, looking at the scene before him with a complicated tone.

Qin An remained silent.

He could see that the root of this chaos was not the peasants who rose up in rebellion, but the already corrupt court and the disaffected aristocratic families.

The emperor was indulging in pleasure, officials lined their own pockets, powerful families held military power and turned a blind eye to the rebellion, and even secretly fueled it.

If things continue like this, even if Wang Bo is quelled, there will be Li Bo and Zhao Bo, and the world will inevitably change dynasties sooner or later.

"Why think so much?" Qin An shook his head, gripping his spear tightly. "We are soldiers, our duty is to quell rebellions. As for who ultimately rules this world... that's for those in power to worry about. What we need to do is survive in this chaotic world, thrive, and take control of our own destiny."

Han Quan paused for a moment, then nodded: "The captain is right! We have guns and horses, what are we afraid of not having a way to survive?"

The army marched south, leaving behind a trail of suffering and rampant banditry wherever it went.

Qin An's cavalry would occasionally encounter small groups of bandits, and he never hesitated to kill them all.

These bandits were mostly scoundrels who took advantage of the chaos, committing all sorts of atrocities, including burning, killing, and looting. Keeping them around would only bring more harm than good.

On this day, the army marched to a valley and suddenly heard the sounds of fighting ahead.

Qin An waved his hand, and the cavalry slowed down. He personally led several guards forward to investigate.

In the valley, a group of ragged farmers were being chased by a dozen bandits wielding knives and guns, their cries and screams filling the air.

Those bandits were all menacing-looking; they robbed the farmers of their grain and were even harassing a young woman.

"You're asking for death!" Qin An roared and spurred his horse forward.

His spear moved like a dragon emerging from the sea, instantly piercing the chest of a bandit.

Seeing this, the other bandits rushed forward with their swords, but they were no match for Qin An.

He moved swiftly and skillfully on horseback, his spear flashing like lightning. In no time, more than a dozen bandits were killed.

"Thank you, General, for saving our lives!" The surviving farmers knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly.

Looking at their miserable appearance, Qin An felt a mix of emotions.

He left some dry rations behind and rode back to the group.

"Captain, these people..." a guard hesitated, wanting to say something but stopping himself.

"They're all unfortunate souls," Qin An sighed. "Let's go, let's get to Qishan as soon as possible."

He knew very well that once chaos ensued, scenes like this would be countless.

Only by ending the chaos as soon as possible can more people be spared from displacement.

If the root causes of chaos are not eliminated, such tragedies will continue to occur time and time again.

The march went very smoothly.

Soon, the army arrived at the area east of Qishan and set up camp on an open plain.

As soon as they settled in, Zhang Xu summoned all his generals to the main tent for a meeting.

A huge map was hanging inside the tent, with the deployment of Wang Bo's rebel army marked in red.

"Gentlemen!" Zhang Xu pointed to the map and said in a deep voice, "Wang Bo's main rebel force is entrenched in the Qishan area, with about 50,000 troops under his command, claiming to be 100,000. This man started as a bandit and calls himself 'General Tianxing'. He has 108 core leaders under his command, who are known as the Demon Star."

Zhang Xu was a man of action; he didn't waste any words and directly released the intelligence he had received from the front lines during this period.

As he spoke, he took out a file and handed it to everyone to read.

"This is intelligence gathered by the imperial court. Wang Bo is treacherous, cunning, cruel, and bloodthirsty. Most of his 'Demon Stars' are also desperados."

"Among them, five were the most ferocious, known as the 'Five Tiger Generals,' and eight others were known as the 'Eight Valiant Generals,' each possessing exceptional martial arts skills and fierce fighting prowess."