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

Seeing so many defeated soldiers on the front lines, Qin An felt a little uneasy.

He hurriedly asked, "Where is General Yuwen? Are we just going to let you deserters go unpunished?"

In his view, no matter how incompetent Yuwen Zhi was, he shouldn't have gone so far as to allow his troops to plunder.

He strongly suspected that all of these defeated soldiers had already deserted.

Upon hearing the word "deserter," everyone's expression changed drastically, and the fleeing soldiers looked at each other in bewilderment.

Finally, a tall, thin man stepped forward and stammered, "General, it's a misunderstanding. We are not deserters."

The crime of desertion in the face of battle is no small matter. Even if Qin An were to execute them outright, it would be perfectly justifiable.

Fearing that he might be beheaded by Qin An if he spoke too slowly, he hurriedly explained.

"No...it's not that we're deserting, it's that General Yuwen...was captured by the people of Ligang Village..."

Upon hearing these words, Qin An was greatly alarmed.

Previously, I only knew that Yuwen Zhi had suffered a defeat, which was why the court had sent them to provide reinforcements. I had never heard that even Yuwen Zhi had been captured.

He hurriedly dismounted and kicked aside a trembling, routed soldier: "Explain yourself! What happened?"

"The day before yesterday, General Yuwen, unwilling to accept defeat, declared he would launch a surprise attack on the Li Gangzhai army, but he was ambushed halfway there..."

The tall, thin man, his face contorted with grief, said, "The rebels are very adept at using the terrain to their advantage; we were no match for them. Commander Yuwen tried to break out, but he was shot off his horse by an arrow and... he was captured..."

Seeing that the other party had explained the whole story, Qin An instantly realized that the other party was probably not lying.

Yuwen Zhi was indeed captured alive by Li Gangzhai.

"Damn it! How could this happen?" Qin An cursed angrily.

If he could, he would rather Yuwen Zhi die on the battlefield than be captured alive.

As mentioned before, the Yuwen family wielded considerable influence in the court.

If Yuwen Zhi were to die at the hands of the rebels, the Yuwen family would surely hold the generals who quelled the rebellion responsible.

If the rebels use him to blackmail the court, the court will be hesitant to act, making the war even more difficult.

"Useless!" Qin An cursed under his breath, then turned to Han Quan and said, "Gather the defeated soldiers, organize them into ranks, and execute anyone who dares to harm the people again on the spot!"

His gaze swept around, and he saw that the fields were covered with trampled crops and that several farmhouses were burned down to their blackened frames, which fueled his anger even more.

"General, what exactly is the background of Li Gang Village?" Han Quan asked in a low voice. "I heard their leader is called Li Mi, and he was quite famous in the imperial court before."

Qin An didn't speak. He walked to a farmhouse that hadn't been completely burned down, and heard a woman crying inside.

He lifted the curtain and saw an old woman holding a child huddled in a corner. He quickly stepped back and said to Han Quan, "Settle the people first and find some dry food to distribute to them."

After settling the people in, Qin An sat on a rock and looked at the map in front of him.

The rebels of Ligangzhai, judging from their name alone, seem to be just ordinary bandits from a mountain stronghold.

but it is not the truth.

The Li Gangzhai rebels did indeed start from a mountain stronghold, and after Li Mi took control, that stronghold was renamed Li Gangzhai.

Li Mi was originally an official appointed by the imperial court and was quite capable. After he took over Ligang Village, the village quickly became more organized and standardized.

He used Ligangzhai as his base and continued to expand outwards.

Now, it has swept across the land, occupying several prefectures.

Moreover, this rebel army is also plotting to establish a stronghold in Xinyang City, hoping to use it as a base to establish themselves in the Central Plains and achieve hegemony.

The imperial court had sensed the threat and ambition of the Li Gangzhai rebels and sent people to quell the rebellion.

However, the commander of the army turned out to be Yuwen Zhi, a good-for-nothing who relied on family connections. Not only did he suffer a complete defeat, but he is now in the hands of the enemy.

"I wonder how things are in Xinyang City. Has it fallen into the hands of the rebels? If they take over Xinyang City, that would be a real problem."

Staring at the cities on the map, Qin An was filled with worry.

Xinyang City, a fortified city, was inherently easy to defend and difficult to attack. If it fell into the hands of the rebels, it would not be easy to take it back.

More importantly, near Xinyang City lies Yangkou Granary, a major granary of the Daxing Dynasty.

If Xinyang City is not defended, the granary will surely fall. At that time, the rebel army of Ligangzhai will definitely take the opportunity to grow rapidly, making it difficult to completely wipe out this rebel army.

……

The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the withered grass at the edge of the battlefield golden red. Qin An stood in the makeshift tent, his fingertips tracing the locations of "Xinyang City" and "Yangkou Warehouse" on the map.

The snorting of warhorses could be heard outside the tent; five thousand vanguard cavalry had already set up camp nearby, their hooves shattering the silence of dusk.

"All centurions, come in here!" Qin An shouted.

The curtain was lifted, and five figures entered one after another.

As Qin An's status rose and his forces grew, his old subordinates also rose in rank, a case of "when one man attains enlightenment, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven."

Besides Luo Sheng, Wang Hu and Han Quan have also become centurions.

The other two are named Zheng Ping, a veteran who has followed Qin An for many years and fought his way up through his military exploits.

The other person was named Xue Ju, who was burly and had considerable strength.

He wasn't promoted by Qin An; rather, he was brought in from another unit when the cavalry was expanded.

"General, did you summon us here with new plans?" Luo Sheng spoke first, knowing that Qin An never spoke without reason.

Qin An nodded, pointing to the map: "You are all aware of the current situation. Yuwen Zhi has been captured, the front lines are in complete disarray, and the movements of Xinyang City and Yangkou Warehouse are unknown. What do you all think about the next step?"

Wang Hu, the most impatient of them all, said in a gruff voice, "General, in my opinion, we should march straight for Xinyang City! Those rebels from Ligang Village are nothing but bandits. If we send five thousand cavalry over, we'll raze them to the ground!"

Luo Sheng frowned: "That's not a good idea. We're the vanguard, and the main force is still behind. If we act rashly and something goes wrong, it will be a loss. It's better to wait for General Zhang's army to arrive before taking the next step of the military operation."

Han Quan added, "Brother Wang Hu spoke too hastily, and Brother Luo Sheng is too slow. In my opinion, we should first send scouts to find out the true situation of Xinyang City."

Zheng Ping and Xue Ju also expressed their opinions.

They were all very clear that Qin An must already have some ideas in mind.

The reason they still asked us to speak was probably because they wanted to test us.

Under such circumstances, regardless of whether one's ideas are feasible, one must say something.

The five people each held their own version of events, arguing fiercely.

During this process, Qin An simply watched without saying anything.

Just then, Li Jing, who was Qin An's personal guard and had been specially left behind, opened his mouth, eager to try.

But he was ultimately just a personal guard, and knew he had no say here, so he could only worry helplessly.

Seeing that Qin An remained silent for a long time, and that the five centurions were arguing endlessly, the young and impetuous man could not hold back any longer.

"Brother-in-law... General, I feel like they haven't gotten to the point."

As soon as he opened his mouth, everyone's attention was immediately drawn to him.

Everyone naturally knew that Li Jing was Qin An's brother-in-law.

If it were elsewhere, people would still give them some face, even if they didn't care about the monk.

But in situations like this, they don't care about such things.

After all, matters of national importance are no joke.

Xue Ju scoffed, "What does a mere brat know?"

Qin An ignored everyone's reactions and simply said something after Li Jing spoke.

"Oh, you have ideas too? You'd better think it over carefully. Either don't speak, or if you do speak, and if what you say is meaningful, then it's fine. Otherwise, go down and receive ten strokes of the military rod."

Qin An appeared to be handling matters officially, but there was clearly still a slight bias involved.

In fact, he deliberately kept Li Jing behind so that he could learn more.

Unexpectedly, Li Jing was truly fearless, daring to ask the question on his own initiative.

This made him a little curious, and he wanted to see what Li Jing could say.

Li Jing was not intimidated by the ten strokes of the rod; instead, he eagerly expressed his opinion.

"In my opinion, Xinyang City is important, but Yangkou Granary is the foundation. It is the imperial granary in the Central Plains. If it is captured by the rebels, they can procure food locally and gain a foothold."

"Even if we manage to capture Xinyang City, without supplies, the subsequent battles will be extremely difficult."

The moment these words were spoken, the tent fell silent.

Several centurions subconsciously turned their gazes to Xinyang City on the map, all looking thoughtful.

Having already spoken, Li Jing naturally held nothing back, declaring firmly, "General, our top priority is to take control of Yangkou Granary. As long as the granary remains in our hands, even if Xinyang City falls, we can still contend with it!"

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but Luo Sheng stopped her.

Everyone else instinctively looked at Qin An, wanting to know if he thought the same thing.

A hint of approval flashed in Qin An's eyes, and he patted Li Jing on the shoulder: "Well said."

He turned to the crowd and said, "Li Jing is right. Yangkou Granary is the lifeline. If we lose Xinyang City, we can take it back; but if we lose Yangkou Granary, this battle will be much more difficult."

He looked at Li Jing, his brother-in-law, who was only sixteen years old and had only been with him for a few months, yet he could see right through him.

Although he has no battlefield experience, such a keen sense of the battlefield is truly rare.

This made Qin An sigh inwardly: "General Han is indeed a sharp-eyed man. He was right to say that this child is promising. Given time, he may very well become a capable general."

With Qin An's words, the verdict was finalized.

Everyone looked at Li Jing with surprise, not expecting that his idea would actually coincide with that of Commander Qin An.

"Did he deduce the general's intentions by staying close to him, or did he figure it out himself?"

For a moment, everyone was left with this question.