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

As Qin An said, the rebels' offensive seemed fierce, but in reality, it lacked staying power.

More than 10,000 troops were spread out on the three-mile-long city wall, making the density half that of before.

Although the defending troops were few in number, they relied on the crenellations and arrow towers to always manage to hold off the rebels' attacks at the most critical moments.

Just past noon, Li Mi paced anxiously beneath the city walls. He looked at the imperial banners still fluttering atop the walls, then glanced back at the distant figures of Qin'an cavalry, veins bulging on his forehead.

"Go ask Xu Mao! Can he send five thousand men over? Give it another push, the city gates are about to fall!"

Seeing that the defenses on the city wall were already crumbling, but they still couldn't be breached, Li Mi became anxious and gave orders to his personal guards.

Xu Mao was standing in front of the flank of the defensive line, directing his soldiers to reinforce the fence.

Upon hearing the message from Li Mi's personal guard, he turned around and coldly said, "Five thousand men? If Qin An's cavalry charges over, who will stop them?"

That being said, Xu Mao was also quite concerned about the battlefield.

He also realized that it would be a bit of a stretch to capture Yangkou Warehouse with only a little over 10,000 men.

Furthermore, since Qin An had not made any moves, he decided to give it a try and send some troops to attack the city.

If we're fast enough, we might be able to capitalize on the time difference and take over Yangkou Warehouse.

Xu Mao's idea was good, but Qin An clearly wouldn't give him that chance.

As soon as he made a move, Qin An on the high slope seemed to sense it. With a flick of his whip, two thousand cavalrymen sped off like arrows toward the rebel army's flank.

The dust kicked up by the sound of horses' hooves, like a yellow dragon, instantly closed the distance with the rebels.

"Loose the arrows! Form ranks!" Xu Mao shouted sharply. The five thousand rebel soldiers who were originally going to attack the city hurriedly turned around and raised their shields to form a defensive line.

Arrows rained down on the cavalry, but were deflected by their armor, only managing to slow their charge.

Qin An's cavalry charged to the front of the defensive line, but did not break through. Instead, they circled a hundred paces away, with archers on horseback constantly firing arrows to kill the rebels in the front ranks.

Once the rebels had organized a defense, they turned their horses around and retreated back to the high ground, leaving behind a field of corpses and panicked rebels.

"See that?" Xu Mao sneered at Li Mi, who had rushed over. "These two thousand cavalrymen are like a noose around our necks; if it loosens even slightly, it will strangle us. Without ten thousand men to restrain them, we can't move an inch!"

Li Mi looked at the cavalrymen who had stood still again in the distance, his face turning pale and then red. Finally, he slammed his fist into the tree trunk next to him and turned back to the siege front.

For the next two days, the battlefield fell into a strange stalemate.

Li Mi's 10,000 troops attacked the city every day, but were always repelled by the defending army at the most critical moment.

Xu Mao's 10,000 troops guarded the flank like wolves eyeing their prey. As soon as Qin An's cavalry made the slightest move, they immediately formed a defensive formation.

Qin An, meanwhile, led his cavalry to observe from the high ground, occasionally taking the initiative to distract the rebels, but never engaging in battle with Xu Mao's main force.

The commanders on the city walls gradually figured out the rebels' patterns.

Although their offensive was fierce, they dared not commit their full forces because they were wary of Qin An's cavalry, and each charge lasted less than an hour before they would retreat to regroup.

He took the opportunity to have the soldiers take turns resting, and even freed up manpower to repair the city gate that had been damaged by the impact.

On the evening of the third day, when the rebel army's siege horn sounded again, Qin An noticed that many of the rebel soldiers below the city were looking around and their charge was slowing down.

"They can't hold on much longer," Qin An said to Li Jing beside him. "Their supplies have been burned, their morale is low, and if this drags on any longer, they'll collapse before General Zhang's army even arrives."

Li Jing nodded, looking at the defenders stubbornly resisting on the city wall, and then at the menacing cavalrymen beside him, and suddenly understood why Qin An was not in a hurry to attack.

They were like a wedge driven into the rebels' weak spot, putting them in a dilemma.

Meanwhile, in the rebel camp, Li Mi and Xu Mao were having an unprecedented argument.

"We must retreat!" Xu Mao slammed a report from a scout onto the table. "Zhang Xu's 50,000 troops have already reached the front lines and could arrive here at any moment. If we don't leave now, we'll be surrounded!"

Xu Mao had always been quite concerned about the reinforcements from the imperial court.

Once he confirmed that Zhang Xu and his men had arrived at the front lines, he realized that his last chance was gone.

We absolutely cannot stay outside any longer, or the consequences will be unimaginable.

Li Mi suddenly stood up, knocking over the wine bowls on the table and spilling wine all over the floor.

"Withdraw?" His eyes were bloodshot as he pointed outside the tent. "We've lost over 20,000 brothers here! Half our supplies are burned. If we withdraw now, wouldn't all that blood have been shed in vain? Yangkou Granary is right in front of us. If we attack for another day, who knows..."

"What do you mean, 'maybe'?" Xu Mao interrupted him sharply, his eyes as sharp as knives. "Maybe Zhang Xu's army will arrive, and we won't even be able to return to Xinyang City! Li Mi, look at yourself now! You look like a gambler who's lost everything!"

He stepped forward, almost pointing his finger at Li Mi's nose: "I said before that Qin An is a formidable enemy, and we cannot underestimate him. Even if it costs us dearly, we must wipe out his cavalry!"

"And what happened? You chose to retreat at the crucial moment, preventing the battle from being fully successful. Now, you've fought to the bitter end, and you still want to cling to the illusion of 'maybe'?"

Clearly, Xu Mao still harbored some resentment about that previous bloody battle.

If we had been willing to pay a huge price to exchange for Qin An's cavalry back then, how could we be in such a passive position now?

Seeing that Li Mi was still stubbornly clinging to his beliefs at this crucial moment, he couldn't care less about giving his lord any face.

"Hesitation will only lead to disaster!" Xu Mao's voice echoed in the tent. "If you still want to be the leader of Ligang Village, put away your resentment! As long as you're alive, you can always rebuild!"

The tent was deathly silent.

Li Mi's chest heaved violently. Looking at Xu Mao's bloodshot eyes, and recalling the great threat posed by Qin An, as well as the unyielding military flag on the city wall, he suddenly felt as if all his strength had been drained away, and slumped back into his chair.

He remained silent for a long time until the footsteps of patrolling soldiers came from outside the tent, then he slowly spoke, his voice hoarse like sandpaper: "You're right... I was confused."

Xu Mao was stunned.

He had prepared a whole host of arguments to refute Li Mi's stubbornness, but he never expected him to suddenly admit his mistake.

Li Mi raised his head, the madness in his eyes fading, replaced by a clarity that came after a setback.

"I wanted to win too much!" He gave a bitter smile. "I developed Ligang Village to its current great heights and now command an army of over 100,000. I was thinking of rising to the top in one step, but I forgot that war is not gambling... Old Xu, I was wrong. Don't take it to heart."

He stood up and bowed deeply to Xu Mao: "From now on, I'll leave everything to you."

Looking at Li Mi in front of him, Xu Mao suddenly realized that his lord, whom he had previously regarded as wise and mighty, seemed to have returned.

In just a moment, he understood the key to it.

It's obvious that Li Mi had become a little arrogant because things had gone too smoothly for him before.

Now facing adversity again, he has regained his rationality and clarity.

Although we paid a heavy price in the process, this result is not unacceptable.

He sighed and helped Li Mi up: "Your Majesty is too kind. Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war. We may lose this time, but we can win next time."

"Next time?" Li Mi frowned. "Once Zhang Xu's army arrives, we probably won't have another chance to take Yangkoucang. There won't be a next time."

Xu Mao walked to the map and pointed to Xinyang City.

"No major battle ends so easily. Temporary gains and losses are nothing. We can't get the grain from Yangkou Granary for the time being, but we still have some reserves that can sustain us for a while."

"As long as we can rely on Xinyang City to severely damage the imperial army, Yangkou Granary will eventually be ours again."

Li Mi looked at Xinyang City on the map, and his eyes gradually brightened:

"That's right. Although we weren't able to complete the grand strategy in one go, we still managed to take Xinyang City."

"With the fortified city of Xinyang in place, we can inflict heavy losses on his troops. The imperial court will be severely weakened, and Yangkou Granary will be isolated and helpless. Why would we be afraid of not being able to take it?"

As Li Mi spoke, he suddenly burst into laughter: "Good! We'll do it your way! Send down the order that the entire army will quietly withdraw at midnight tonight, leaving five thousand old, weak, sick, and disabled soldiers to guard the camp."

"As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn. As long as our main force is still intact, we will be able to fight back sooner or later."

Xu Mao looked at the light that had rekindled in Li Mi's eyes. This time, it was no longer blind madness, but rather a sharp glint of strategy.

He nodded slightly and turned to arrange the withdrawal of troops.

At midnight, the rebel camp was completely silent.

Five thousand old, weak, sick and disabled people huddled in the camp.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the camp, 20,000 rebel troops were quietly withdrawing.

Li Mi and Xu Mao walked at the front of the group without looking back at the direction of Yangkoucang.

In the darkness of night, their shadows were stretched long by the moonlight, like two lurking beasts waiting for the next opportunity to pounce on their prey.

On the high slope, Qin An looked in the direction of the rebel camp, his eyebrows slightly raised.

He heard the sound of horses' hooves coming from afar. Although it was very faint, it could not be hidden from the cavalrymen around him who had been tempered by blood and fire.

"General, is the rebel army making a move?" Han Quan whispered.

Qin An nodded: "They must have also received news that General Zhang Xu was not far from us, so they chose to withdraw their troops overnight."

He was also keeping a close eye on the movements of the reinforcements. Now that the rebels had made this move, he understood the situation without even needing to investigate.

"Withdraw the troops? Then we..." Xue Ju suddenly felt a little eager to try.

But before he could finish speaking, Qin An reached out and stopped him.

He did not intend to act rashly.

Qin An understood that with Xu Mao's abilities, once he decided to withdraw his troops, he would definitely not give him any opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

Taking action rashly could easily lead to falling into the other party's trap.

He turned his horse around and said to the cavalry behind him, "Notify the garrison commander of Yangkou Warehouse that the rebels have retreated. Tell him to strengthen the guard. We...return to camp to rest."

"We'll follow them when it's light; we can't let them get away so easily."

Qin An's gaze also turned towards the direction of Xinyang City.

He suffered a great loss in the battle of Yangkoucang, and he would not let these rebels come and go as they pleased so easily!