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

As Li Jing rode on his horse, watching the firelight recede into the distance on the official road to the east, a slow smile crept onto his lips.

Standing beside him were several centurions, all of whom were the same group who had "fled in panic" earlier. Now they were fully armed and ready to fight, showing no signs of disarray.

Clearly, this was something Qin An had planned in advance, deliberately choosing to feign defeat.

Qin An also used himself as bait to lure Wang Cong away, so that Cao Deren could take the bait.

He had already handed over the real command of the team to Li Jing.

He had a lot of confidence in his brother-in-law, which is why he dared to take the risk of playing such a game.

"Cao Deren's men should be arriving soon," Li Jing said to Luo Kai beside him. "Keep an eye on things here, don't let the fleeing soldiers really break down."

Luo Kai nodded and turned to arrange for the formation to be rearranged.

Li Jing turned his horse and rode westward for a while. In the darkness of the night, he could already vaguely see the bridgehead city.

He drew his sword and placed it across his lap; the moonlight shone on the blade, making it gleam with tiny white flashes.

"Just wait and see," he said in a low voice, as if speaking to his personal guards, but also as if speaking to himself, "Someone's taking the bait."

……

On Cao Deren's side, ever since Wang Cong led his troops out of the city, he had been pacing back and forth in his tent.

He looked at the map on the table seven or eight times, pressing his finger into the location of Pingyang Slope on the map, leaving a shallow indentation.

Clearly, although he had agreed to Wang Cong's plan, he still felt somewhat uneasy.

As he waited anxiously, he suddenly heard the sound of rapid hoofbeats outside.

Immediately following, a guard demanded an answer, and a man, panting heavily, replied: "General Wang has achieved a great victory! Quickly report to General Cao!"

Cao Deren suddenly stood up and kicked over the low stool next to him.

The tent flap was lifted, and a cavalryman covered in dirt rushed in, half of his face smeared with black ash, his chest heaving violently.

"General Cao! General Wang's raid on the camp was successful! Half of Qin An's camp is burned down. General Wang has personally pursued Qin An and sent me back to report!"

Cao Deren stepped forward and lifted the man up: "What did you say? Say it again."

"General Wang laid an ambush at Pingyang Slope, waiting for Qin An to set up camp, unsaddle his horses, and remove his armor while he was resting, before charging down and catching him completely off guard!"

The cavalryman, panting heavily, reported, "The torches burned the tents, and the government troops scattered and fled. Qin An ran away before he was even fully armored, heading east along the main road! General Wang is chasing after him with over a thousand cavalry. He sent me back to ask you to clean up the mess!"

Cao Deren took a half step back: "Did you see clearly? Qin An really ran away?"

"I saw it clearly!" The cavalryman nodded several times. "I recognized his black horse immediately. It was struggling to carry two people; its pace was noticeably slower!"

"General Wang said that it would only take a few miles to catch up, and he urged you to leave the city as soon as possible and wipe out the scattered government troops completely, so as to prevent them from regrouping."

Cao Deren remained silent for three breaths, his gaze sweeping back and forth across the face of the personal guard twice.

The other person's eyes showed only excitement and anxiety, not guilt.

He turned and walked to the map, his gaze sweeping back and forth twice over Pingyangpo and the eastern official road.

Running his finger along the official road, he found it to be a wide-open space with no terrain suitable for hiding or ambushing.

How many people are left around Qin An?

"The three thousand cavalry were all there. Some were scattered, some ran away, and at most a thousand or so followed Qin An eastward."

The cavalryman wiped the sweat from his face. "General Wang told me to tell you that the main force of the government troops is there. Once they catch their breath and regroup, it will be difficult to fight them."

Cao Deren remained silent for a while, his thumb repeatedly rubbing the hilt of the knife, several thoughts passing through his mind.

He was afraid it was a trap, but Wang Cong was no fool.

The fact that he could think of setting up an ambush in advance, seize the right moment to strike, and fight side by side to achieve results proves that this person is indeed truly capable.

Moreover, the details the messenger mentioned matched up.

When the horse is unsaddled, the man is unarmed, and they are resting after dinner, you can't make up a story unless you've personally witnessed it.

Cao Deren whirled around: "Men! Beat the drums and gather the generals!"

The drumbeats exploded in the night, instantly bringing the Qiaotoucheng camp to life.

The clanging of armor echoed as some men led their horses out, while others fastened their breastplates and ran towards the training ground.

"Gather five thousand men and follow me out of the city!" Cao Deren didn't bother to explain further and simply issued the order.

Upon hearing the order, Chen Gong, who had come running at the sound, paused for a moment: "General, it's not even dawn yet, how can we rashly leave the city..."

"Wang Cong has succeeded." Cao Deren took the armor from his personal guard and put it on.

"Qin An was being chased and attacked. He ran away before he was even fully armored. If I don't go to his aid now, and he recovers and launches a counterattack, Wang Cong's two thousand men will all be wiped out in the wilderness."

Chen Gong opened his mouth as if to say something, but he knew Cao Deren's personality; once he made a decision, it was hard for him to change his mind.

He simply nodded and turned to relay the order.

When the five thousand troops marched out of the west gate of the city at the bridgehead, the sky was still pitch black.

Cao Deren rode his horse in the middle of the column, leaving Chen Gong behind to guard the city. Behind him were a thousand cavalry and four thousand infantry, with torches forming a long line.

The night wind brushed against my face, carrying the scent of hay and dust. The earthen dragons kicked up by horses' hooves churned in the moonlight, and faint firelight shone on the eastern horizon, reflecting against the clouds.

That direction is indeed Pingyangpo.

Cao Deren's heart skipped a beat.

After running for a while, the firelight got closer and closer, and the smell of burning could be smelled in the wind. The smell of burnt tent cloth, hay and something else mixed together was pungent.

He slowed his horse down and raised his hand to signal the rear guard to slow down.

The official road ahead was in a mess, with hoofprints and large patches of blood mixed in with the dust.

There were signs of trampled grass by the roadside, and several corpses lay across the road. Judging from their armor, they were government troops.

About a mile further on, the sounds of battle grew clearer and clearer.

Scattered across the open fields on both sides of the official road were small groups of cavalrymen engaged in battle, with torches stuck in the ground illuminating small circles of the battlefield.

Some people were slashing at each other, some were chasing each other, and some were turning around and running back.

Several stray warhorses were running wildly, dragging their reins, while a tent, half-burnt, lay askew by the roadside, emitting smoke.

Cao Deren reined in his horse and scanned the area.

chaos!

But it was indeed a chaotic situation on the battlefield.

The government cavalry was being forced to retreat westward by several groups of people who were chasing and shouting, holding torches that illuminated the "King" flag.

The morale of the government troops collapsed; some ran away, while others were caught up and killed after taking only a few steps.

"General Cao!" a centurion called out from the side, "General Wang's men are still in pursuit! Should we...?"

"Press them down!" Cao Deren drew his sword and pointed forward. "Charge! Leave no survivors!"

Five thousand troops spread out from both sides of the official road, pressing towards the battlefield like an unfolded fan.

Horse hooves trampled through dry grass and scraps of cloth, while shouts of battle clashed together in the night wind.

Cao Deren charged ahead and saw a group of government cavalry running westward with their backs to him, their helmets askew, their armor askew, and their weapons discarded.

He pointed the tip of his knife: "Chop him up!"

The men and horses behind them roared and charged forward.

The government troops collapsed at the first contact; some were caught and cut down, some were knocked off their horses, and the rest scattered and fled.

Cao Deren's lips curled into a smile.

Wang Cong did a good job.

But when they had chased him for only an arrow's length, a sudden change occurred.

Wang Cong's men, who were originally fighting with the "fleeing government troops," suddenly turned their horses around.

A group of cavalrymen carrying the "King" flag simultaneously turned around, their spears aimed at the direction from which Cao Deren was charging.

At the same time, the fleeing government troops also suddenly stopped.

The men who had just been fleeing in disarray suddenly mounted the spare warhorses that had appeared by the roadside and charged back.

"What..." Before Cao Deren could finish speaking, the two groups of men closed in from both sides like scissors.

Further away, those scattered "scattered soldiers" who were originally fighting their own battles in the wilderness also changed their expressions at the same moment.

The torches illuminated their orderly ranks; there were no more defeated soldiers, and each group was rushing in the same direction.

The two sides, who were just fighting each other, now all pointed their spears at Cao Deren's five thousand reinforcements, their movements so synchronized as if they had rehearsed it countless times.

Cao Deren's pupils contracted sharply.

His first reaction was that he had mistaken the banner, but his second glance revealed the face under the banner with the character "王" (king).

He didn't recognize the centurion in front, nor the others beside him.

He had met most of the people Wang Cong left behind a few times, but he had no recollection of these faces.

"No..." Cao Deren's throat tightened, and he abruptly reined in his horse, changing the direction of his blade. "Form ranks! Form ranks to meet the enemy!"

That's too late.

The 5,000 troops were already spread out too far, and the front two flanks collided with "friendly forces".

Before Cao Deren's men could even distinguish right from wrong, they were engaged in close combat. Some instinctively raised their knives to block, while others shouted "We're on the same side!" The enemy was aiming for vital points with every strike.

The front-row soldiers were cut down in shock, their screams and the sound of metal clashing rang out almost simultaneously.

"They are the enemy! Fight!" Cao Deren shouted at the top of his lungs, but his voice was drowned out by the greater chaos.

The team was completely thrown into chaos.

More troops continued to pour onto the battlefield, where they were already engaged in a fierce battle with the ambushing government forces.

The person in the middle was being pushed forward by those behind them, not understanding why.

Before anyone could finish asking "what happened," a spear tip suddenly appeared and pierced their ribs.

Chaos spread throughout the entire formation within moments.

Cao Deren's men couldn't distinguish who were left behind by Wang Cong and who were government troops in disguise.

Several instances of infighting occurred.

A group of men had just cut down the government troops on the left when they turned around and were slashed in half by "friendly troops" rushing in from the right.

Those were clearly Cao Deren's men, but their flags were not visible in the darkness, and both sides were bloodthirsty!

"General Cao! Let's retreat!" A bodyguard shouted, pulling on the reins. Half of his face was covered in blood, and his eyes were filled with terror.

Looking around, Cao Deren saw that the five thousand troops were in complete chaos.

Meanwhile, the government cavalry that had originally "fled" had turned their horses around and returned.

The horses' hooves pounded the ground with a hum, and the torches formed a river of light.

The most critical thing is that direction.

Cao Deren suddenly turned his head to look at the official road to the east, where a troop of cavalry was rapidly approaching.

He recognized the man at the very front; it was Li Jing, the young man who had humiliated their three-way alliance!