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

As dawn broke, a thin mist still lingered over the open fields outside Yangkoucang.

Qin An led two thousand cavalrymen to the outside of the rebel camp. From afar, they could see that the camp gate was open and the inside was quiet.

Only a few wisps of smoke rose from the charred tents, the usual hustle and bustle gone.

"General, something's definitely not right." Luo Sheng reined in his horse, his brow furrowed. "It's too quiet. It seems they really did retreat last night."

Qin An nodded, pointing his halberd forward: "Let's go in and take a look."

The cavalry split into two groups and charged into the camp like two iron torrents.

The camp was indeed eerily empty, with collapsed tents, scattered weapons, and smoldering fires...

Everywhere you look, there are signs of a hasty evacuation.

Occasionally, a few rebel soldiers wearing tattered armor would peek out from their tents, only to collapse to the ground the moment they saw the cavalry, their swords and spears clattering to the ground.

"Don't kill me! We surrender!" A rebel soldier with a thick beard ran out, his hands raised, his trousers still covered in bits of grass. "The main force left last night, leaving us behind to guard the camp..."

Qin An dismounted and walked forward, stepping over the mess on the ground.

He lifted the curtain of a tent, inside which were crammed a dozen or so emaciated soldiers, most of them looking sickly. When they saw him enter, they huddled together in fear.

Further on, more and more rebels emerged from their hiding places, their faces pale and without any decent weapons.

"Take a headcount," Qin An said to Han Quan behind him.

Half an hour later, Han Quan reported: "General, there are a total of five thousand men, all of whom are old, weak, sick, or disabled, and half of them are wounded. They have no fighting ability whatsoever."

Qin An stood in the center of the camp, looking at the rebel soldiers squatting on the ground trembling, and suddenly understood something.

These people weren't left behind to guard the camp.

It was clearly a burden that Xu Mao deliberately threw at him.

Five thousand mouths need to be fed, and five thousand people need to be guarded. The garrison at Yangkoucang is already insufficient. If we divide our troops to guard the area, where will we find the manpower to pursue the main force of the rebels?

"Well done, Xu Mao." Qin An sneered, tapping the crescent blade of his halberd with his fingertips. "He's quite the shrewd strategist."

Luo Sheng said urgently, "General, we can't let Li Mi and his men escape! If they gain a foothold in Xinyang City, they'll be even harder to deal with next time they come!"

Qin An was well aware of this principle.

But looking at the five thousand surrendered rebels in front of him, he was in a dilemma again.

Kill them?

Killing surrendered soldiers without cause will chill people's hearts. Who would dare to surrender again when encountering rebels in the future?

Release them?

These people will go back to their old ways and become a menace again.

Hand it over to the garrison at Yangkou Warehouse?

With so few people in the city, it would be good enough if they could defend the city; how could they possibly have the energy to guard the prisoners?

If things go wrong, they might even seize Yangkou Warehouse.

"General, how about..." Han Quan lowered his voice and made a throat-slitting gesture.

To be honest, Qin An did feel a fleeting moment of attraction.

If I could personally kill so many rebels, my strength would definitely increase significantly.

At that time, even Shan Tong will probably be no match for him.

But the idea only flashed through his mind for a moment.

Killing prisoners is not unacceptable, but before the situation in the world becomes clear, one must maintain a good reputation.

Qin An glared at Han Quan: "Soldiers must have a bottom line in their actions."

He pondered for a moment, then looked up and said, "Luo Sheng, leave your wounded brothers behind. Take these men to Yangkou Warehouse and keep them under guard. Give them some dry rations so they don't starve to death, and also so they don't escape. We'll deal with them when General Zhang arrives."

Luo Sheng was taken aback: "General, then you..."

"I'll take eight hundred cavalrymen to pursue them." Qin An mounted his horse, his black cloak billowing in the morning breeze. "Li Mi thinks he can return to Xinyang City so easily? Not so easy!"

All eight hundred cavalrymen were completely unharmed.

These figures were tallied yesterday, and Qin An was aware of them, which is why he made this arrangement.

……

Horse hooves pounded the dew-dampened grass as Qin An led eight hundred cavalrymen at breakneck speed toward Xinyang City.

He also knew that the rebels numbered over 20,000, and his 800 men could not possibly fight them head-on.

All we can do is stick to them like a persistent infection, slowing them down, and ideally forcing them into chaos.

After chasing for thirty miles, the rebels appeared on the horizon ahead.

More than 20,000 people formed a long line and were slowly moving along the official road. The flags were crooked and the line was very long, indicating that the evacuation was very hasty.

Qin An reined in his horse, signaling the cavalry to slow down and follow at a distance.

"General, shall we make our move?" Xue Ju gripped his saber tightly.

Qin An shook his head: "No rush. They are still on guard. Let's wait until they are tired and relaxed."

Sure enough, by noon, the rebel army's ranks gradually dispersed.

Many people fell behind, supporting each other and panting. The soldiers responsible for bringing up the rear also sat down to rest by the roadside, their vigilance noticeably lowered.

A glint flashed in Qin An's eyes, and he cracked his whip: "Split into four teams and harass from the left and right flanks. Don't linger in battle; retreat after you've fought!"

The eight hundred cavalrymen instantly split into four groups, like four silver snakes, and charged towards the flanks of the rebel army.

The archers on horseback drew their bows and nocked arrows; with a few swift "whoosh" sounds, the rebel soldiers lagging behind fell to the ground.

"Enemy attack!" panicked shouts rang out from the rebel ranks.

The soldiers at the rear hurriedly grabbed their weapons, but before they could even form ranks, the cavalry had already charged forward. With a few slashes of their sabers, they cut down a group of men before quickly retreating and disappearing into the woods by the roadside.

"Qin An! It's Qin An again!" Li Mi heard the commotion in the middle of the column and was so angry that he almost fell off his horse. He reined in his horse and looked back, only to see the rear guard in complete chaos, with dozens of corpses lying on the ground, and the shadows of cavalrymen vaguely visible in the distant woods.

"Xu Mao! Look at this..."

Xu Mao's face darkened: "He's trying to stall for time. The slower we go, the more likely Zhang Xu's army will catch up."

He said to the messenger beside him, "Have the troops speed up. Shan Tong, you take five thousand men to cover the rear and hold off Qin An at all costs!"

Dan Tong, who was seething with anger, grabbed his long spear and charged to the back of the column upon hearing this: "Brothers, follow me back! Let's cut off that Qin An brat's head and use it as a chamber pot!"

But when he led his men to the spot where the cavalry had disappeared, the woods were empty, with only a few startled birds taking flight.

Dan Tong was so angry that he yelled loudly, but he couldn't even catch a glimpse of the enemy.

And so, for the rest of the journey, Qin An's cavalry harassed them repeatedly like ghosts.

When the rebels stopped cooking, they rushed out and hacked down several cooks and overturned the cooking utensils.

When the rebels set up camp at night, the rebels would shoot arrows and set fires outside the camp, disturbing everyone's sleep.

Even the rebel squads fetching water would be ambushed and killed by them.

The most ruthless attack was when Qin An seized the opportunity when the rebels were crossing the river. He led his cavalry to charge down from upstream. The water splashed up by the horses' hooves mixed with arrows, scattering the rebels who were crossing the river. Hundreds of them drowned in the river.

When Shan Tong arrived at the riverbank with his men, Qin An had already led his cavalry across to the other side and stood far away on the hillside, as if mocking their incompetence.

"Qin An! If you've got the guts, come down and fight me one-on-one!" Shan Tong roared from the riverbank, thrusting his long spear into the water, sending up a high spray of water.

Qin An reined in his horse on the hillside, pointing his halberd at Shan Tong: "Shan Tong, if you've got the guts, come and chase me!"

Dan Tong was trembling with anger, but looking at the rushing river and the eight hundred cavalrymen on the opposite bank, he knew that chasing after them would only lead to losses, so he could only watch helplessly as Qin An rode away.

By the third day, the rebels were exhausted.

Many people developed blisters on their feet, and some collapsed on the ground, unable to get up again.

There was a lot of complaining in the group. Some people started to grumble in hushed tones, saying that they shouldn't have retreated so hastily, and even more so, they shouldn't have provoked Qin An, that fearsome god.

Li Mi sat on horseback, watching the procession slow down, his brows furrowed in worry.

He turned to Xu Mao and asked, "This can't go on. Shan Tong can't stop Qin An at all. How about... we send all the cavalry to cover the rear?"

Xu Mao sighed: "That's all we can do. Send the order down to put all the cavalry under Shan Tong's command. We must keep Qin An occupied, even if it means losing all our cavalry, we must get the main force back to Xinyang City as soon as possible."

The rebel army had nearly two thousand cavalrymen. Although their equipment and training were inferior to those of Qin'an's men, they were still a considerable force.

With this reinforcement, Shan Tong felt emboldened and took the initiative to come to their door that very afternoon.

"Qin An! You coward, do you dare to come out and fight?" Shan Tong led the rebel cavalry in formation on the official road, their long spears pointing straight ahead.

Qin An was resting with his men by the roadside when he heard the shouts. He mounted his horse and said, "You've come at the perfect time."

He said to the cavalrymen beside him, "Remember, we outnumber them, don't engage them in direct combat, flank them and shoot them!"

Eight hundred cavalrymen split into two groups, flanking the rebel cavalry from both sides. Archers on horseback continuously fired arrows, and the rebel cavalrymen fell from their horses, struck by arrows one after another.

Dan Tong roared and led his troops in a charge, but Qin An's cavalry did not engage them at all, but simply circled around them like a group of bullfighters toying with a bull.

"Chase! Chase him!" Shan Tong's eyes turned red with anger as he spurred his warhorse to pursue Qin An.

Upon seeing this, Qin An turned his horse around and fled at lightning speed.

Dan Tong's cavalry chased for a while, but gradually the distance between them widened and their formation broke up.

Just then, Qin An suddenly reined in his horse and turned around, brandishing his halberd: "Charge back!"

Eight hundred cavalrymen, like swords drawn from their sheaths, instantly plunged into the rebel cavalry's formation.

With slashes of sabers and thrusts of halberds, the rebel cavalry were caught off guard and fell to the ground.

Dan Tong roared and turned to rescue, but by the time he rushed over, Qin An had already led his men through the enemy lines and left, leaving behind only corpses and chaotic rebel forces.

"Ah—!" Shan Tong looked at the corpses on the ground, many of whom were cavalrymen he had personally trained, and his heart ached so much that it almost bled.

But he was helpless.

The rebel cavalry did have a numerical advantage, but their quality was far inferior.

The cavalry led by Shan Tong were just like the cavalry led by Qin An when he first became the cavalry commander.

They were all hastily put together and could not unleash the full potential of cavalry.

When the two sides collide, they are basically left with no choice but to fight on the defensive!