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

After successfully leading his army to the gates of Yangkou Cang City, Xu Mao wasted no time and ordered his troops to set up camp in preparation for the attack the next day.

Standing in the camp, he looked at the Qin An cavalrymen in the distance, a smug smile on his lips.

"Qin An, Qin An, no matter how skilled you are, you can't stop the tide of battle," he muttered to himself. "Yang Koucang, I'm determined to take it."

As night fell, all was quiet outside Yangkou Warehouse.

Qin An's cavalry set up camp ten miles away from the rebel camp. The campfire flickered in the darkness, illuminating the knights' tired faces.

"General, are we just going to let them besiege the city like this?" Wang Hu asked unwillingly.

Qin An shook his head: "Xu Mao is cautious in his military tactics, and the camp is heavily guarded. Forcing our way in will only result in losses."

He looked in the direction of Yangkou Warehouse, "Although we were unable to stop them, as long as Yangkou Warehouse remains in the hands of the imperial court, they will not dare to let their guard down."

"So what do we do now?" Luo Sheng asked.

"Harassment." A sly glint flashed in Qin An's eyes. "During the day, they outnumber us, so we avoid them. At night, when their guard is down, we'll give them some fun."

Late at night, Qin An selected five hundred elite cavalrymen, each carrying a flammable canister filled with strong liquor, and quietly approached the vicinity of the rebel camp.

He never considered raiding the camp, knowing full well that a renowned commander like Xu Mao would never give him the opportunity to successfully raid it.

All I can do is keep them from having any peace.

"Throw!" After leading his men to the vicinity of the camp, he ordered them to throw the incendiary canisters toward the camp.

The strong liquor was poured out and instantly ignited into a raging fire.

The camp was thrown into chaos as rebel soldiers were awakened from their sleep and ran around in panic.

"Enemy night attack!" someone shouted, causing the rebels to panic even more.

Qin An, however, completely disregarded the outcome of the battle and led his cavalry to flee far away immediately.

Standing at a distance, watching the rebel camp engulfed in flames, Qin An smirked coldly.

"This is just the beginning," he said to those around him. "As long as we're still here, we won't let them attack the city peacefully."

Although Qin An's harassment did have some effect, such a small tactic was clearly insufficient to stop the rebels' advance.

This crucial battle for the rebels finally arrived as scheduled.

……

The walls of Yangkoucang gleamed bluish-gray in the sunlight, and the guards on the walls gripped their swords and spears, their eyes warily fixed on the dark mass of rebels outside the city.

Li Mi stood at the front of the formation, riding a black horse.

Behind them were 30,000 rebel troops besieging the city, their ladders, battering rams, and other siege equipment gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

"Attack the city!" Li Mi gave the order, and the rebel army surged towards the city walls like a tidal wave.

"Release the arrows!" Zhou Yi, the garrison commander of Yangkou Warehouse, roared. The archers on the wall released their bows, and arrows rained down, striking the rebel soldiers one after another.

But the rebels behind them stepped over the corpses of their comrades and continued their charge, quickly setting up ladders on the city walls.

"Get down!" A garrison soldier picked up a huge rock and slammed it down on the rebel soldier who was climbing the ladder. The rebel soldier screamed and fell down the ladder.

But more rebels climbed up the ladders, some of them almost reaching the top of the city wall.

Just then, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from outside the city.

Qin An led two thousand cavalrymen, like divine soldiers descending from the sky, and attacked from the flank and rear of the rebel army.

The cavalrymen brandished their sabers, catching the rebels off guard and cutting them down in droves.

"Qin An!" Li Mi was both shocked and furious, not expecting Qin An to dare to launch a sneak attack at this time.

He quickly ordered, "Shan Tong, go and stop him!"

Dan Tong, wielding his long spear, roared as he charged towards Qin An: "You escaped last time, but this time I'll take your dog's life!"

Qin An didn't bother with him at all. He pointed his halberd and his cavalry cut into the flank of the rebel army's attacking force like sharp blades.

The rebel army, which was besieging the city, was thrown into disarray by this sudden attack. Many of them threw down their ladders and turned to fight back.

Upon seeing this, the defenders on the city wall perked up: "Brothers, reinforcements have arrived! Charge!"

The morale of the defending troops soared, and they unleashed a barrage of arrows and rolling stones, driving the rebels who had just climbed the city walls back down.

Qin An led his cavalry in a charge, but seeing that the rebels' attention had been drawn to him, he quickly turned his horse around and withdrew from the battlefield.

Dan Tong was so angry that he screamed, but he couldn't catch up with him.

The speed of cavalry far surpasses that of infantry.

Li Mi watched Qin An's departing figure, his face ashen, yet he was utterly helpless.

This is the drawback of fighting on two fronts.

With a cavalry force like Qin An outside the city, we can forget about attacking the city with peace of mind; we have to be on guard against enemy surprise attacks at all times.

But things had developed to this point, and he had no other choice.

We must take over Yangkou Warehouse no matter what.

……

In the following days, the battle at Yangkoucang City reached a stalemate.

Every day, Li Mi would organize a large army to attack the city. The rebels would swarm towards the city walls like ants, but they would always be repelled by the combined forces of the defenders and Qin An's cavalry.

Although the garrison at Yangkou Warehouse was small in number, they held out by relying on the city walls and with Qin An keeping them occupied from the outside.

Qin'an's cavalry appeared like ghosts from time to time, drawing the rebels' attention and greatly reducing the effectiveness of their attack.

That afternoon, the rebels finally broke through the southeast corner of the city, and dozens of rebels rushed in. Li Mi was overjoyed: "We've broken through! Keep it up!"

Just then, the sound of horses' hooves came from afar. Qin An led his cavalry, galloping along the moat. Archers on horseback kept shooting arrows at the breach, and the rebel soldiers who rushed into the city were hit by arrows one after another. The breach was quickly blocked by the defenders again.

"Qin An!" Li Mi trembled with anger. He knew that if things continued like this, not only would they not be able to take Yangkou Warehouse, but they might even be waiting for Zhang Xu's army.

The rebels were having a hard time, and Qin An was also getting a little anxious.

He sat on a rock, looking in the direction of Yangkoucang, his brows furrowed.

Although the harassment over the past few days has been effective, he can sense that the number of defenders is decreasing and the defenses on the city walls are becoming weaker.

This can be seen from the fact that a gap was previously created.

Qin An was not the only one who noticed these things.

"General, this can't go on," Luo Sheng said, walking over and handing him a piece of dry rations. "The rebels' attack is getting fiercer, and the defenders can't hold out much longer."

Qin An nodded: "I know that Li Mi and Xu Mao are both smart people. They don't have much time left, so they will probably have to go all out. In the days to come, everyone should be on high alert and ready for a fierce battle at any time."

The other generals also clearly felt the pressure and all gathered around.

Seeing this, Qin An simply said, "You've all seen the current situation, so why don't you all share your thoughts?"

"In my opinion, we should turn around and retake Xinyang City," Wang Hu suggested. "Xinyang City is the rebels' stronghold. If we take it back, Li Mi will definitely come to its aid, and the pressure on Yangkou Warehouse will be relieved."

Luo Sheng shook his head: "That's not a good idea. Xinyang City has high walls and thick fortifications. Our cavalry isn't good at siege warfare, and we might not be able to take it. Even if we do, what if Li Mi doesn't come back to reinforce us? Wouldn't we have wasted our efforts?"

Han Quan said thoughtfully, "Then let's cut off the rebels' supply lines! Without supplies, they certainly won't last long."

Xue Ju shook his head as well: "Cutting off the supply lines will only embolden them to fight to the death and launch an even more frantic attack on the city. What Yangkou Granary needs most right now is time; we can't force them to fight to the death."

Clearly, the more wars they experienced, the more they matured and developed their own ideas.

After some debate, everyone looked at Qin An, waiting for him to make a decision.

Under everyone's gaze, Qin An stood up, looked in the direction of Yangkou Warehouse, and said in a deep voice, "The only way is to fight to the death. We will stay near Yangkou Warehouse and engage them in skirmishes, trying to hold out until General Zhang's army arrives. Once the main force arrives, the rebels will surely be defeated."

Everyone fell silent.

They all knew that this meant that every day from now on could be a life-or-death battle.

But they also had no other choice.

Now they all know the importance of Yangkou Granary and can't just stand by and watch this huge granary fall into the hands of the rebels.

Otherwise, future battles will only become more difficult to fight.

For a moment, everyone felt a heavy weight in their hearts.

After everyone had left, Li Jing walked up to Qin An and whispered, "Brother-in-law, are you really going to risk everything for Daxing? I heard... you also said that the world is probably going to be in chaos, so why don't we..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear: preserve his strength and plan for his future.

Qin An glanced at him and said calmly, "In chaotic times, reputation is more important than anything else. No one likes a disloyal person. We're still living off the emperor's salary, so let's do our best!"

He patted Li Jing on the shoulder and didn't say anything more.

Li Jing nodded as if he understood, and looking at Qin An's back, he suddenly felt that there were many things about his brother-in-law that he couldn't understand.

The rebels began their siege of the city again the following morning.

Just as Qin An had predicted, the rebels were indeed going all out, rushing towards the city wall regardless of the cost.

With so many lives lost, Yangkou Warehouse, which already had few soldiers left, suddenly became extremely vulnerable.

Qin An also wanted to go and support the garrison at Yangkou Warehouse, just like he had done before.

However, he soon noticed that although the rebels were desperately attacking the city, Xu Mao was also leading a large number of troops, ready for battle.

He could easily imagine that as soon as he made a move, Xu Mao would react immediately.

If I want to lift the siege of Yangkoucang, I'm afraid I'll really have to fight tooth and nail this time.