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

These rebels had long been exhausted by the war.

Having already "defeated" Qin An's attack, they assumed the imperial army would choose to rest and regroup, so they didn't take any extra precautions.

In addition to the previous attacks, the traps in front of the camp have been basically all laid flat.

As a result, Qin An's second night raid encountered virtually no resistance.

Leading his cavalry, he quickly stormed into the rebel camp.

The shouts of battle spread like a plague.

The rebel soldiers were jolted awake from their sleep, opened their eyes in bewilderment, and before they could figure out what was happening, they were struck by the cavalry's weapons, their screams echoing throughout the battlefield.

Upon hearing the shouts of battle, Guan Dadao, Lu He, and Wu Xing rushed out of the tent barefoot, not even having time to put on their shoes.

But as soon as he stepped out of the tent, he saw Qin An's warhorse approaching, its spear tip pointing directly at Guan Da Dao's face.

After entering the camp, Qin An paid no attention to the miscellaneous soldiers and went straight to the central army camp.

"Qin An! How dare you feign defeat!" Guan Dadao exclaimed in shock and anger.

Now that things have come to this, how could he not realize that the previous battle was just a smokescreen by Qin An?

This is the real attack.

Qin An sneered, "All's fair in war; you didn't lose unjustly!"

Without pausing for a moment while speaking, Qin An launched an attack.

Guan Dadao could only deal with the situation hastily.

His strength was inferior to Qin An's, and he was in a hurry to fight the enemy, so he didn't even have time to mount his horse.

Riding on his warhorse, Qin An, aided by the horse's strength, delivered an extraordinary blow.

As soon as the swords and spears clashed, Guan Da Dao felt a numbness in his wrist, and the sword slipped from his hand.

He quickly retreated.

But then Qin An's spear tip suddenly turned, blocking the iron rod that Lu He was throwing.

At the critical moment, he pulled on the reins, and the warhorse reared up, striking Wu Xing squarely in the chest as Wu Xing tried to pull Qin An off the horse.

Caught off guard, Wu Xing was kicked like a kite with a broken string, spitting blood as he flew backward and crashed into the tent behind him, whereupon he fell silent.

Enraged at the sight, Lu He's eyes turned bloodshot, and he swung his iron rod down at Qin An's head with a whooshing sound.

Qin An neither dodged nor evaded, but swept his spear horizontally, forcefully deflecting the double hammers. He then thrust the spear tip forward like lightning, aiming for Lu He's throat.

With a soft "pfft!", the tip of the gun pierced Lu He's neck, and blood gushed out.

Lu He's eyes widened, he clutched his neck with both hands, made a hoarse sound, and slowly collapsed to the ground, completely lifeless.

Although both Lu He and Wu Xing are indeed quite strong, on the battlefield, the bonus that warhorses provide to generals is simply too great.

This is also why the two of them cannot be included in the Five Tiger Generals.

So much so that in such a battlefield, they were utterly powerless against a powerful figure like Qin An.

When Guan Da Dao saw his two lieutenants die instantly, he was so frightened that he lost his mind and dared not continue the fight. He turned around and tried to escape.

Qin An could not tolerate this. He spurred his horse to catch up, and his spear suddenly pierced through Qin An's heart from behind.

Guan Dadao froze, slowly turned around, looked at Qin An in disbelief, and finally collapsed.

In a short time, three generals were killed in battle, and the rebel army completely lost its command, running around like headless flies.

Under such circumstances, although the rebels still had a numerical advantage, they were unable to mount an effective resistance in the face of their crushing defeat.

Qin An led his cavalry to gallop freely within the camp, as if they were in an empty field.

The rebel soldiers were powerless to fight back and could only kneel down and beg for mercy or scatter and flee, but most of them were trampled into mincemeat by the warhorses.

In less than an hour, the night raid ended in a complete victory for the imperial army.

Qin An stood in the center of the camp, his feet resting on a thick layer of corpses. Burning tents surrounded him, the firelight illuminating his cold face, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

For him, this was just the beginning.

Qi Shan's main force is still waiting for him ahead; the real tough battle has only just begun.

"Send the order: clean up the battlefield, replenish supplies, and treat the wounded," Qin An said in a deep voice, his words echoing in the night wind. "Take a good rest; there's still a great battle ahead!"

"Yes!" the cavalrymen responded in unison, their eyes gleaming with excitement.

……

As night faded, the dawn shone through the smoke-filled sky, casting a pale golden glow over the valley strewn with corpses.

The cavalrymen of Qin'an were clearing the battlefield in an orderly manner. By the campfire, the wounded groaned softly, while many others wolfed down their dry rations, the bloodshot eyes a testament to their exhaustion from days of fierce fighting.

"Captain, the count is complete." Han Quan walked in, covered in dust from his journey, clutching several crumpled pieces of parchment in his hand.

"In this battle, we killed over 7,000 enemies, captured 3,000, and seized enough grain and supplies for our army to last three days. However... we lost 213 brothers."

Qin An gazed at the distant outline of Mount Qi, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the bloodstains on the gun barrel, and remained silent for a moment.

"Give the fallen brothers a proper burial, and make proper arrangements for the wounded. The rest of you, take three hours to rest."

Han Quan asked with some surprise, "Captain, aren't we going to continue deeper to intercept the rebel reinforcements?"

"No." Qin An shook his head, turning his gaze towards the main battlefield. "We've been delayed here for five days. General Zhang's offensive must be fierce. Song Yu's vanguard battalion was already short-handed, and with another 15,000 troops assigned to Guan Dadao, they're probably already on the verge of collapse."

He spread the file out on a flat rock, pointing his finger at the location marked "Plains outside Qishan".

"It's better to cut off one finger than to injure all ten of the enemy's fingers. Rather than splitting our forces to intercept reinforcements that may not arrive for a long time, we should turn around and bite off Song Yu's remaining troops."

"Once we eliminate this group, the outer perimeter of Qishan will be completely indefensible."

Han Quan suddenly realized, then looked worried: "But what if Song Yu has already run back to Qishan by the time we get there?"

"No." Qin An's lips curled into a cold smile. "The vanguard battalion is Wang Bo's shield planted on the outskirts of Qishan. If Song Yu loses the position, going back will only lead to her death."

"He will inevitably break through to the northwest along this canyon, attempting to rejoin the main force of Qishan, and this route happens to be our only way back."

Three hours later, the three thousand cavalrymen, having rested, broke camp again.

The black horse trampled over the still-dry bloodstains. Qin An, clad in black armor, gleamed coldly in the morning light. His spear pointed diagonally at the sky, and the sound of hooves gathered into rolling thunder as he galloped northwest along the canyon.

Meanwhile, the main battlefield was already awash in blood.

Zhang Xu personally led an army of 30,000 in repeated fierce attacks, while Cheng Zhiyuan's catapults riddled the rebel camp with holes.

Luo Kai's infantrymen surged up the stockade walls like a tide, climbing ladders to engage in fierce hand-to-hand combat with the rebels.

After five consecutive days of exhaustion, Song Yu's vanguard battalion had run out of ammunition and food. The soldiers were so hungry that they were seeing stars, and their hands were trembling as they gripped their swords.

"General, the southwest corner of the camp has been breached!" The guard scrambled into the command tent, his voice trembling with tears. "That bastard Luo Kai has broken in!"

Song Yu suddenly swept the wine jar on the table to the ground, and shards of celadon mixed with wine splashed everywhere.

He stared at the towering flames and the screams echoing outside the tent, his face drained of color: "Impossible... We still have 20,000 men, how could this be..."