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

Knowing that the moment had come, Qin An had no intention of holding back any longer.

He also knew that Xu Mao wouldn't let him succeed easily, and that if he came, he would suffer heavy losses.

But he had no other choice, so he immediately summoned his army.

"Brothers, the time has come to serve our country! Follow me and fight!" Qin An raised his halberd high, ready to charge.

The soldiers under his command gripped their weapons tightly.

"kill!"

In an instant, the sounds of battle echoed through the sky.

With that sound, Qin An took the lead and charged towards the defensive line set up by Xu Mao.

The warhorses galloped, and the whole earth seemed to tremble.

Facing Qin An charging towards him, Xu Mao showed no panic whatsoever, only waving the command flag in his hand continuously.

Soon, a large number of chariots were driven to the front lines.

Moreover, these chariots were connected to each other with iron chains.

Qin An frowned slightly, instantly understanding Xu Mao's purpose.

These chariots were intended to be used to halt the cavalry charge.

Once the cavalry slows down, their effectiveness is greatly reduced.

Knowing this, Qin An did not back down in the slightest. There was no point in thinking further now; the only option was to fight to the death.

Soon, the two collided head-on.

These chained chariots did indeed cause Qin An a lot of trouble.

Some of the cavalrymen at the forefront were tripped by the chariots and iron chains, and fell to the ground.

But Qin An no longer had the mind to care about so much.

With his superb horsemanship, he pulled on the reins, and his warhorse leaped high, jumping over the iron chain and facing the enemy army behind him.

He continuously brandished his halberd.

Every time the halberd falls, it takes several lives.

Through the constant killing, Qin An could clearly feel that his strength was also constantly increasing.

Inspired by Qin An, the cavalrymen following behind also became fearless and undaunted.

They advanced relentlessly, stepping over the corpses of their enemies and comrades.

The chariots that Xu Mao had prepared did indeed cause some trouble for Qin An's troops.

However, it was clearly impossible to completely stop such a large cavalry force.

More and more imperial troops broke through the barriers and charged towards the rebels.

Soon, the entire battlefield was engulfed in chaos, with the sounds of fighting constantly ringing out.

This was indeed a brutal battle; under normal circumstances, these rebels would have been no match for the cavalry.

They could easily use their speed advantage to keep moving around, without having to engage in a direct confrontation with these rebels.

But the rebels are now attacking a place they absolutely must defend.

Having their weakness exposed, they had no choice but to fight back.

With their speed reduced, the cavalry's advantage against infantry became less pronounced. Cavalrymen were constantly being pulled from their horses.

Seeing this scene, Qin An felt his heart bleed.

These cavalrymen were all trained by him personally.

Losing so much all at once is unacceptable to anyone.

Overwhelmed with heartache, Qin An went into a berserk state.

Only by killing more enemies can we reduce the casualties among our brothers.

While Qin An was indiscriminately slaughtering his men, Xu Mao, seeing him cutting them down like vegetables, could no longer bear to watch.

"General Shan!"

Dan Tong instantly understood, spurred his warhorse, and rode straight towards Qin An.

"Qin An, don't be so arrogant! Get past me first!"

The two instantly engaged in a fierce battle.

He thought Qin An was not as strong as himself, so stopping him would not be difficult.

But the moment they started fighting, Shan Tong's expression changed instantly.

He discovered that the power Qin An unleashed was significantly stronger than during their first encounter.

"Could he have become so much stronger in such a short time?" This thought flashed through Shan Tong's mind.

Then, he subconsciously shook his head: "Impossible! It's only been a short time. Even if he has extraordinary talent, he couldn't possibly improve so quickly. He must be desperately unleashing his power, and he can't sustain it for long."

Dan Tong kept reassuring himself.

Clearly, he couldn't accept that the gap between himself and Qin An had been narrowed so much in such a short time.

"Qin An, it's no use, you can't save them! The Daxing court is utterly corrupt, that tyrant is cruel and inhumane, treating human life like dirt, the people are displaced, why should you serve such a tyrant?"

Although Qin An was from the opposing camp, that did not prevent Shan Tong from appreciating him.

In his view, it would be a real pity if such a fierce general died on the battlefield.

It turned out to be a recruitment drive for Qin An.

Qin An merely snorted coldly and did not respond.

He was well aware that Daxing was indeed on the verge of collapse.

But in any case, he is now a general in the imperial court.

One who receives the emperor's bounty must serve the emperor faithfully.

The imperial court has not wronged its enemies, so he will not be swayed by the words of these rebels.

Knowing that Shan Tong was difficult to deal with, Qin An had no intention of continuing to pester him.

After another round of fighting, he turned his horse and fled.

Dan Tong was hot on his heels.

He was determined not to let Qin An escape easily. As long as he could keep him occupied, the cavalry's threat would be greatly reduced without their leader.

Shan Tong's idea was good, but since Qin An knew that there was a powerful figure like Shan Tong in the rebel army who was capable of holding him back, how could he not be prepared?

"Disperse!"

Qin An simply made a gesture, and the cavalrymen who had charged forward scattered in all directions under the leadership of their respective generals.

Some cavalrymen quickly moved away, temporarily leaving the battlefield, and continued to wander along the edge of the battlefield.

While moving around, he kept shooting arrows.

Although there were still quite a few cavalrymen on the battlefield, the situation was somewhat chaotic with no clear distinction between friend and foe.

However, the government troops' armor was far superior to that of the rebels, and their chances of surviving the hail of arrows were much greater.

In this crisis, Qin An couldn't afford to accidentally harm his own people.

Upon seeing this scene, Xu Mao, who was directing the battle, frowned: "I never expected him to be so ruthless."

He also felt the pressure from Qin An's army, which was fighting so hard.

Looking across the entire battlefield, he could clearly see that despite the fierce fighting, his side had indeed achieved considerable results.

But the price paid was also heavy.

After only a rough estimate, Xu Mao discovered that the casualty ratio was as high as four to one.

In other words, to completely eliminate Qin An's five thousand cavalry, their side would probably have to pay the price of at least twenty thousand men.

The thought of that number made Xu Mao's heart ache.

Although the rebel army claimed to have more than 100,000 troops, they knew their own situation well.

If you include the rabble, the number of troops exceeding 100,000 is not an exaggeration.

The crucial point is that if they were truly just a rabble, they probably wouldn't even have the courage to face cavalry head-on. The soldiers he brought with him were the elite of the rebel army.

If we lose more than 20,000 elite troops at once, it will be much more difficult to fight the battles that follow.

Despite the pain of losing money, Xu Mao never considered giving up.

The grain stored in Yangkou Granary was of utmost importance.

If we couldn't capture the grain from Yangkou Granary, we simply couldn't sustain such a large army.

Only by securing this batch of grain can the stalemate be maintained.

Their own resources were no match for the imperial court's. If they couldn't find a breakthrough, they would eventually be completely worn down by the imperial court's repeated suppressions.

"I don't believe you're really willing to fight me to the death. Let's see who gives up first." Xu Mao was also determined.

At this stage of the war, it has become entirely a contest of attrition.

Then let's see who gives up first.

……

Time flies by in this way.

Before we knew it, half a day had passed.

Although Xu Mao led a large army to hold back Qin An's cavalry, the rebel army attacking the city still had reservations due to the ongoing battles in the rear.

They were afraid that Xu Mao would not be able to hold out, and that they would be attacked from both sides.

Under such circumstances, they dared not go all out.

This slight constraint allowed the defenders of Yangkou Warehouse to finally catch their breath and barely hold on.

The battle had been going on for half a day, and all the soldiers were exhausted. Both sides were on the verge of collapse.

Even though they had already fought to this point, Qin An still hadn't given up.

Li Mi surveyed the battlefield.

Seeing that his 50,000-strong army had suffered continuous losses and was now struggling to muster even 30,000 men, he couldn't help but feel anxious.

If it really comes down to a bloody battle, who knows how many people will die or be injured.

This is all the wealth I've painstakingly accumulated.

This is the source of his confidence that he will be able to overthrow the imperial court in the future.

"Since the soldiers are already at their limit, we can wait until they rest before fighting again, which will reduce casualties."

With this in mind, Li Mi finally gave the order: "Sound the retreat!"

When the retreat signal sounded, both sides breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Only Xu Mao, seeing that Li Mi had chosen to retreat at this moment, frowned deeply and looked extremely grim.

When both sides regrouped their troops, Xu Mao went straight to Li Mi and questioned him.

"Why did Your Majesty choose to sound the retreat? This was a golden opportunity to wipe out Qin An's entire cavalry force. Isn't this like releasing a tiger back into the mountains?"

As Xu Mao said this, his heart was filled with grief and indignation.

He was mentally prepared to replace Qin An's highly threatening cavalry force at any cost.

They had already fought to the very end, but Li Mi chickened out at the crucial moment.

All the sacrifices made before were in vain.

Faced with Xu Mao's questioning, Li Mi was also a little unhappy.

"Insolence! Xu Mao, know your place! I am the true master of Ligang Village!"

Li Mi indeed valued Xu Mao highly, as he was well aware of the latter's military talent.

He is absolutely a rare talent among generals of our time.

But no matter how much he values ​​it, that's no excuse for him to act recklessly in public.

Why come here to interrogate me like this? Where is your dignity?

Seeing that Li Mi chose to use his status to intimidate others under such circumstances, Xu Mao's expression immediately became even more unpleasant.

In a foul mood, he had no intention of giving Li Mi, the leader of Ligang Village, a kind look, and turned to leave, saying, "Hmph, you'll regret this."