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

The word "coward" bounced back and forth between the city walls and the mountain cliffs, stirring up echoes.

A burst of laughter erupted from the government troops, with some even slapping their thighs and laughing so hard they were doubled over.

Luo Kai laughed so hard he wiped away tears on the battlefield, and said to Cheng Zhiyuan, "This kid is better at cursing than fighting."

Wang Chong's face turned from red to green, from green to white, from white to black, and finally turned ashen.

He had lived most of his life in luxury and held a high position of power; he had never been humiliated in public like this before.

Moreover, the person who humiliated him was just a young man in his early twenties.

"Qin An!" Wang Chong slammed his fist on the battlement, his voice hoarse, "You're asking for death!"

He turned to the general behind him and shouted sternly, "Pass down the order: the entire army must hold the line to the death! Anyone who retreats without permission will be executed! I want to see just how capable Qin An is to get past my defensive line!"

The attempt to persuade the other side to surrender ended abruptly amidst laughter.

The Wang family's defenses were put on full alert.

The archers cocked their bows, the spearmen took their positions, and the rolling logs and stones were lined up along the crenellations of the city wall.

The drums beat heavily, like the heartbeat of a giant beast, each beat striking the heart of every person.

Qin An's smile vanished.

His gaze swept over the generals beside him, over the soldiers behind him whose faces were tired but whose eyes were resolute, and then he slowly raised his halberd.

"Brothers." His voice was not loud, but it cut through all the noise like a blade.

"This wall in front of us is the last vestige of the Wang family's dignity. If we break through it, we can escape; if we break through it, the world will be ours."

He paused, then his voice suddenly rose: "I know you're tired, and I'm tired too, but if we stop now, General Zhang and his five thousand brothers will have died in vain."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin An took the lead and rushed forward.

He didn't say another word, because the four hooves of the Snow-Treading Black Claw were already off the ground, and the cold light of the Fangtian Halberd was already shining in the twilight.

"kill!"

Luo Kai's knife was already chipped, but he switched to another one and charged forward again.

Cheng Zhiyuan cleaved two rebel soldiers in front of him with his great axe, blood splattering all over his face, but he instead threw his head back and laughed loudly: "That was satisfying!"

Han Quan led his cavalry, constantly approaching the defensive line and conducting mounted archery to kill as many enemies as possible.

The soldiers all rushed forward.

No one backed down, no one hesitated.

Those with broken swords used their fists, those with lame legs used their spears as crutches, and the wounded soldiers climbed off their stretchers, picked up stones from the ground, and threw them onto the city wall.

Because they saw hope.

To break free is to live.

Staying means death.

This arithmetic problem is easy for anyone to solve.

The Wang family rebels also fought desperately.

Wang Chong personally supervised the battle from the city wall. A row of supervisors held gleaming swords, and anyone who dared to retreat a step would be beheaded on the spot.

The rebels' arrows rained down like locusts, and logs and boulders rolled into the crowd with a deafening roar, their screams mingling with the clang of metal.

The two armies clashed fiercely at this narrow pass, like two giant meat grinders, dragging fresh lives into it and crushing them into flesh and blood.

The corpses were piled up layer upon layer, and the blood flowed down the mountain path in dark red streams.

Qin An, who personally led the attack, had lost count of how many people he had killed.

His halberd was already soaked in blood, and the shaft was covered with a sticky dark red coating, requiring him to shake it from time to time to keep a firm grip.

But the Wang family's defenses were simply too strong.

Behind one stockade wall lies another, and behind one layer of deer antlers lies yet another.

Qin An tore open a gap, and the rebels immediately blocked it with corpses and a human wall.

Qin An fought his way out, and the rebel army immediately flanked him from both sides.

Wang Chong, standing on the city wall, stared intently at the battle below, his brows furrowed in worry.

Four full hours have passed since the start of the battle.

The sky had completely darkened, and torches lit up the battlefield, casting the figures of the fighting onto the walls, distorting like a chaotic dance of demons.

The government troops are still charging.

Their casualties were already heavy, and the bodies of the fallen lay scattered across the path of attack, yet those behind continued to charge forward.

The soldier with the missing left arm was still wielding his sword with his right hand, and the wounded soldier with an arrow in his abdomen was still crawling forward.

The boy soldier, who looked no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, screamed as he pierced the chest of an old soldier.

These people are reckless.

Wang Chong suddenly felt a chill.

He had assumed that the government troops were like cornered beasts with no way out, and would only fight once.

But he was wrong.

These people are fighting desperately, but not like cornered beasts; they are fighting for a way to survive.

The closer they got to survival, the more frenzied, ruthless, and reckless they became.

And what about him?

Wang Chong's gaze swept over the soldiers on the city wall.

The soldiers' faces were filled with fear.

The memory of Qin An's 40,000-strong army being routed in a single blow was still vivid in Pei Ji's mind. Pei Ji's remaining troops described Qin An's ferocity as terrifying as a demon.

Once morale is lost, it can't be recovered by the swords of the supervising team.

If the fighting continues, even if they manage to hold this line, the Wang family's entire fortune will be wiped out.

The Wang family has come this far thanks to these tens of thousands of private soldiers.

They weren't peasants who rebelled because they couldn't survive. The Wang family's rebellion was opportunistic; they seized the opportunity to get a share of the spoils.

What speculators fear most is investing too much capital.

If all these tens of thousands of soldiers are wiped out here, even if we destroy Qin An, what will we use to fight Li Mi? What will we use to compete with Dou Xia?

Wang Chong's palms were already sweating as he gripped the sword hilt.

He didn't want to risk his life.

He just wanted to take advantage of the chaos to make a quick buck.

The cost is too high now, so high that he's starting to hesitate.

In the instant Wang Chong hesitated, Qin An seized upon that flaw.

He noticed some loosening on the left flank of the rebels; the soldiers there seemed to be waiting for orders, but they didn't receive them.

This is a sign that the generals' will is wavering.

Although the flaw was small and only lasted for a few breaths, it was enough in Qin An's eyes.

"Cheng Zhiyuan! The gap on the left flank!" Qin An roared, pointing his halberd in that direction.

Cheng Zhiyuan instantly understood, and led his soldiers like a red-hot dagger, plunging them fiercely into the gap.

The rebel formation began to have a chain reaction.

The wavering on the left wing spread to the central army, and the chaos in the central army then affected the right wing.

"Xue Ju! Han Quan! Li Jing!"

Three battalions of cavalry poured in through the breach, like a flood bursting its banks, turning the breach into a vast, desolate expanse. The Wang family's rebel army began to falter; first a few men retreated, then dozens, then the entire force.

The supervisory team frantically slaughtered deserters, but there were too many deserters to keep up with their numbers.

Wang Chong saw it.

He saw his soldiers in retreat and Qin An's cavalry moving through unopposed territory.

He gritted his teeth, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

If we commit all the reserve teams now, we might be able to plug the gap.

But what happens after it's blocked?

Even if he manages to block them, how many people will he have left?

He started calculating.

After calculating it all, it became clear that no matter how you looked at it, the cost of this battle was too high.

He's not a gambler; he won't bet all his chips.

He was a speculator, and what speculators excel at is cutting their losses when things go wrong.

The Wang family's legacy cannot be destroyed here, nor can his ambitions end here.

"Give the order to release the right wing and let them pass."

"General?" Pei Ji's eyes widened, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"I said, let go of the right wing." Wang Chong's voice was somewhat tired, but more so it was a cold and resolute determination.

"Let them go. Let Qin An go, let these lunatics go. Let them go wherever they want, as long as they don't stay on my territory."

Pei Ji opened his mouth, but ultimately clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Yes."

The right-wing rebels suddenly began to retreat, and a gap appeared in their previously tight defenses.

The gap wasn't large, but it was big enough for a large army to pass through.

Qin An was the first to notice this change.

He didn't hesitate, nor did he consider whether it was a trap.

At such a moment, hesitation meant death. He spurred his horse, and with a long neigh, the Snow-Treading Crow darted towards the crevice like an arrow released from a bow.

"Charge with me! Everyone, charge with me!" Qin An's roar drowned out the noise of the battlefield.

His halberd shone like lightning in the torchlight, its tip pointing directly at the entrance to the path to survival.

The gap was shrinking at a visible rate, but it was enough; enough for them to get through.

Luo Kai and Cheng Zhiyuan followed closely behind, and the infantrymen used their last bit of strength to run wildly behind the cavalry.

The wounded soldiers were carried along by their comrades, and their supplies were abandoned by the roadside. Everyone had only one thought: to rush over.

The government troops surged out like a flood bursting its banks, rushing through the gap.

Qin An was the first to charge out, followed by Luo Kai, then Han Quan, then more cavalry, and then infantry.

Qin An reined in his horse, turned around and looked at the closing gap, watched the last government soldier rush out of the gap, and watched the gap finally close.

Behind him were the last remaining soldiers, covered in blood and wounded, yet they all stood.

He looked up at the figure that was faintly visible on the city wall.

He knew why Wang Chong had let them go.

It wasn't out of kindness, nor out of cowardice, but out of scheming.

Wang Chong did not want to deplete his resources to intercept a group of remnants of the army.

But those who scheme will ultimately perish from their own schemes.

Wang Chong let him go today, but he will get his revenge with interest in the future.

"General, we've broken through." Luo Kai's voice rang out beside him, trembling with disbelief. His battle robe was soaked in blood, and his beard was blackened by smoke, but he grinned, laughing like a child.

Cheng Zhiyuan laughed too, but then he suddenly started crying, cursing as he cried, "Damn it, I thought I was going to die in front of that wall..."

Laughter spread through the group.

Some people are laughing, some are crying, and some are both laughing and crying.

This remnant army that fought its way out of Black Mountain City, this remnant army that was surrounded and pursued by 100,000 rebel troops, this remnant army that everyone thought was doomed, is still alive.

Looking at the soldiers who were both crying and laughing, Qin An also showed a genuine smile.

I have finally lived up to Zhang Xu's and everyone's expectations.

They still managed to break through the encirclement with their brothers.

However, his smile quickly faded!