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

While everyone was discussing Li Jing.

Li Jing's side was on a battlefield where the air was still filled with the smell of burnt grain.

The charred grain carts lay haphazardly on the official road, still emitting wisps of smoke.

The bodies of the guards were dragged to the roadside and laid out in a row, while the living prisoners squatted beside them, their hands covering their heads.

A bodyguard ran over, holding an account book that had been taken from the escort officer.

Li Jing took it and flipped through it. The ledger meticulously recorded the origin and destination of every single grain item.

This batch of grain was transferred from the Wang family granary in Luocheng and transported to Cao Deren's Chang Le Army camp.

It also bears Wang Chong's private seal.

"Interesting." Li Jing closed the account book and handed it to Xue Ju beside him. "Send this account book to Xu Mao's camp."

Xue Ju was taken aback: "Give it to Xu Mao?"

"Wang Chong's grain was transported to Cao Deren." Li Jing pointed to the records in the account book. "Look at the dates. It started half a month ago. This is the third batch that we burned."

"But our intelligence indicates that Wang Chong has repeatedly emphasized that the grain reserves in Luocheng are running low and that the quota should be reduced."

Xue Ju's eyes lit up: "He's hiding grain, only supplying himself and Cao Deren?"

"Either it's only for Cao Deren, or Cao Deren offered a higher price." Li Jing stuffed the account book into Xue Ju's hand, a sly look on his young face that seemed out of place for his age.

"Regardless of the reason, once Xu Mao sees this account book, do you think he'll demand an explanation from Wang Chong?"

Xue Ju was silent for three seconds, then gave him a thumbs up: "Young General, your trick is even more cunning than your brother-in-law's."

"I learned it from him." Li Jing mounted his horse, took one last look at the still-smoking wreckage of the grain carts, and said, "Let's go, next target: the hay storage yard."

……

The atmosphere in the main command tent of the rebel army's main camp could no longer be described as merely tense.

Wang Chong sat in the main seat, with a bowl of porridge that had gone cold on the table in front of him.

This is the breakfast delivered by the kitchen this morning.

He glanced down at the thin porridge in the bowl, so watery you could see your reflection in it, then pushed the bowl aside, the bottom of it hitting the table with a dull thud.

"It's been half a month already." Cao Deren sat on the left, his tone relatively calm, but his fingers kept tapping on the table.

"The horses in my camp have started to have their feed reduced. They used to have three meals a day of hay and concentrate, but now the concentrate has been completely cut off. Xiong Zi told me yesterday that his black-maned horse hasn't had concentrate for three days and its legs are weak when it runs."

"At least your men have some fodder," Xu Mao said, sitting on the right, his voice a few decibels lower than usual. "My horses are almost starving."

"Yesterday, the mess hall distributed only half a bowl of thin porridge to each soldier, barely enough to hold chopsticks upright. My men are already cursing."

Wang Chong raised his eyelids and glanced at him, but did not say anything.

Cao Deren stopped tapping his fingers on the table and turned to look at Xu Mao: "Brother Xu, what do you mean by that? Are you complaining that I got too much? The grain came from Luocheng, and my Chang Le Army didn't take a single extra grain. Everyone should divide it according to the rules, so no one should complain."

"Rules?" Xu Mao sneered. "What rules? I don't know anything about these rules."

Cao Deren's eyelid twitched.

Just as he was about to speak, Wang Chong finally spoke up.

That's enough.

The two words were uttered, and the tent fell silent for a moment.

Wang Chong slowly stood up, walked to the map hanging on the tent wall, and spoke in a very low voice with his back to the two men.

"The grain supply route being cut off is not my fault! You all know how many carts have been burned in the past two weeks. It's not that I'm not supplying grain, it's that the grain simply can't be transported in."

"What do you suggest I do? Empty the granaries of Los Angeles and fill them for you? And then what? Seventy thousand people starve?"

Xu Mao's fingers clenched and unclenched on his knee.

He wanted to argue.

You told me that it couldn't be transported in, but how did you manage to transport those batches of grain to Cao Deren?

But he didn't say it.

He simply chewed on the thought in his mind over and over again until his teeth ached.

Wang Chong didn't turn around, seemingly knowing what Xu Mao was thinking: "Yesterday, the grain transport team lost another batch of grain. It was robbed on the rural road in the north. Of the three hundred men escorting the grain, only a dozen or so made it back. The rest were either dead or captured. You should have received the battle report by now."

He paused, his voice suddenly turning cold. "Speaking of which, that road has always been guarded by my men. Brother Xu, your cavalry camp is closest to that road. Where were your patrols that night?"

Xu Mao suddenly raised his head: "Wang Chong, what do you mean? You suspect my men deliberately let them go?"

"I didn't say that." Wang Chong turned around and looked at him expressionlessly. "I was just asking where your men were at the time."

The atmosphere inside the tent suddenly became tense.

Cao Deren glanced at Wang Chong, then at Xu Mao, his lips twitched slightly, but he ultimately remained silent.

He simply picked up the teacup slowly.

He sipped his tea slowly, as if there was something in the bowl worth savoring.

Xu Mao stood up, his voice rising involuntarily.

"My men have been patrolling outside for half a month straight. The cavalrymen's horses have run out of feed, and they're exhausted. It's impossible for the patrol lines to cover every inch of the road. Don't you believe me?"

"Fine, you hand over the grain protection duties to Brother Cao, let my men rest for a couple of days. Do you think I want to take on this mess?"

With the battle reaching this point, Xu Mao was clearly seething with anger.

From the beginning, I suggested that we defend the city, but they disagreed and insisted on going to war.

Now things have gotten so bad that we're in this state of neither fighting nor retreating.

As a result, even now, there are problems with the supply of food and provisions.

"I didn't say I didn't believe you." Wang Chong's tone remained calm and even. "I just feel that there are some accounts between the three of us that need to be settled clearly."

"Account?" Xu Mao's voice rose half an inch, and he finally said what he had been holding back for a long time.

"Alright, let's settle the accounts then. Last time, the batch of fine grain transferred from Luocheng totaled eighty carts. Why did my Ligang Village only receive twelve carts, while Brother Cao's Changle Army received thirty carts?"

"Is it calculated by headcount or by contribution? Chief Wang, you should explain this calculation method to me."

Wang Chong's expression finally changed.

The change was extremely subtle, but both Xu Mao and Cao Deren noticed it.

Cao Deren put down his teacup and coughed, "Brother Xu, where did you hear this false information? If there really were that much grain, how would our brothers go hungry?"

"Heh..." Xu Mao sneered.

These two companies are openly and covertly excluding us. Do they really think we're blind?

He could tolerate other problems, but food supplies were the lifeblood of all his brothers, and he could not tolerate it at all.

"Chief Wang, don't forget, I'm not your subordinate, but an ally sent to assist you. If our supplies aren't guaranteed..."

Xu Mao didn't say what he meant, but everyone understood what he meant.

This is already a direct threat.

Wang Chong's face also darkened.

In fact, he knew in his heart that he had handled this matter in a rather unethical way.

The Li Gangzhai army led by Xu Mao was an allied force that came to help.

Anyone would feel uncomfortable if they were treated differently like this.

But the relationship between Shan Tong and Qin An always left him feeling like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat.

Furthermore, since Pei Yan was the only one who died in battle, he felt that if he didn't do something, not only himself but also his subordinates would be unhappy.

Now, faced with Xu Mao's confrontation, he suddenly found himself in a dilemma.

Cao Deren stood between the two men and suddenly realized a fact.

The three of them were no longer discussing how to deal with the government troops.

They were arguing.

They argued over provisions, over profit sharing, and over a single, insignificant remark.

The war has turned out this way; our three-way coalition has truly been a failure.

"This looks like a sign of defeat!"

Even Cao Deren was starting to have second thoughts.

If this continues, we might really lose.

No general wants to lose a battle.

Not to mention, as Xu Mao said, he was just an ally, why risk his life?

"That's enough," Wang Chong said for the second time.

After being threatened by Xu Mao, he realized the seriousness of the problem.

He walked back to the head of the table and sat down. His voice returned to its previous steady tone, but there was an almost imperceptible weariness hidden in the last syllable.

"I will find a way to solve the food problem within three days. If that doesn't work, then we'll have to take action."

Xu Mao and Cao Deren exchanged a glance but neither responded.

Wang Chong felt incredibly exhausted.

Feeding 70,000 mouths every day is a huge drain on him.

To ensure the supply of provisions, he deployed a large number of troops to guard the area.

But Li Jing managed to slip through the guards' nooks and crannies.

Such a huge loss and expenditure caused him great distress.

If he hadn't been somewhat distrustful of his allies and he hadn't been afraid to let them into his base, he would have wanted to retreat long ago.

But if he really can't hold on any longer, he'll have no choice but to take some risks.

……

Just as the Allied forces were considering retreating, Li Jing compiled the latest batch of battle reports and handed them to the messenger who came to make contact.

After half a month, he lost a lot of weight, and his cheekbones became more prominent, but his eyes were much brighter than before.

The messenger took the battle report and then pulled a letter from his pocket and handed it to him: "Young general, this is from General Qin."

Li Jing opened the letter; it was very short, containing only one sentence.

"Well done! Keep up the good work and go all out. I'll come back in a few days to celebrate your success!"

Clearly, although Qin An was recuperating in Shaanxi, he was still quite concerned about the situation at the front.

He had seen everything Li Jing had done.

Seeing his brother-in-law rise to prominence and gradually realize his talent, he felt greatly comforted.

Li Jing also found encouraging news in Qin An's letter.

Clearly, his brother-in-law had recovered from his injuries and would be able to return to the battlefield soon.

Although he did play well during this period, and became more and more confident with each game.

But being young, he still felt a little uncertain.

Now, upon learning that Qin An was about to return to camp, they instantly felt reassured and their courage returned.

He folded the letter and stuffed it into his pocket, a smile playing on his lips.

He mounted his horse and shouted to his brothers who were eating dry rations behind him, "Get up! We have another job tonight."

Xue Ju stood up from the rock, patted the dirt off his backside, and asked, "Which road should we burn tonight?"

"Don't burn the grain." Li Jing reined in the horses, glanced back at him, and said, "Burn the camp!"