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

After five days of pursuit, Qin An and his men had gained a great deal, but Xu Mao and his group had also managed to cover a considerable distance and were now almost deep into the heart of the Wang family's territory.

In addition, we've also lost a lot of men, so it's no longer suitable to continue the pursuit. We can only do one last job.

The orders were passed down through the ranks, and the five thousand cavalrymen quickly took on their respective duties.

The iron discipline forged in days of battles ensured that no one dared to slack off in the slightest.

Especially after hearing that this was the final battle, everyone mustered their spirits despite their exhaustion.

Cheng Zhiyuan leaned against a tree trunk, wiping the blood-stained axe as he chuckled in a low voice, "General, your fighting style is ruthless. The repeated attacks are like cutting flesh with a dull knife; they must be completely broken down by now!"

Luo Kai was changing the tassel on his spear when he heard this and looked up: "Xu Mao is indeed a capable man. Even after being beaten to such a state, the team hasn't completely collapsed. I wonder how he managed to do that?"

While they were wondering, Xu Mao was making grand promises to his subordinates.

"Hold on a little longer. If we just grit our teeth and push into the heart of the Wang family's territory, Qin An will be hesitant to pursue us too far, fearing the consequences!"

Xu Mao repeated these words over and over again, and to boost morale, he added, "I swear on my life that this is absolutely the last battle. If you hold on, I will take you home."

The moment the words "go home" were uttered, the rebels, who were on the verge of collapse, were instantly invigorated.

It can be said that the remaining personnel have been sustained by these two words over the past few days.

Now that Xu Mao spoke with such certainty, the previously low morale finally began to recover somewhat.

Just then, Shan Tong stepped forward: "Since this is the final battle, then leave it to me. I will lead my men to confront him head-on!"

Xu Mao sternly stopped them from engaging in direct combat.

Logically speaking, this was indeed the best choice, because Qin An only wanted to pick on the weakest target. Shan Tong's cavalry suffered the fewest losses and still had more than a thousand riders.

Dan Tong was confident that even if he couldn't beat Qin An, he could still put up a fight.

However, Xu Mao flatly refused: "Absolutely not!"

Shan Tong wanted to say more, but Xu Mao stopped him, saying, "Although this is the last battle with Qin An, it may not be our last!"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately understood and stopped saying anything more.

……

Two quarters of an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

Qin An pressed the stopper back into the water pouch, and his movements were a beat slower than usual when he mounted the horse. A soreness came from his hip, but the discomfort dissipated most of it after he gripped the Fangtian Halberd.

He glanced back at the cavalrymen lined up behind him.

Of the original five thousand men, only a little over three thousand remained, but they still stood in perfect formation, their swords pointing in the same direction.

"This is the last trip. Once we've killed them all, we're done." Qin An said calmly, then spurred his horse forward.

Three thousand cavalrymen pressed down from the top of the hill, their hooves crushing the dry grass, the sound of their hooves clashing together in the night wind.

This time, Qin An didn't flank or try to find an opening; he chose the front, the hardest side.

He knew that Xu Mao must be on guard, and besides, they were already very familiar with each other's battle tactics.

It's virtually impossible to take shortcuts now.

Xu Mao's team had already noticed the movement, and being prepared, they formed a more compact formation than in the previous days.

However, due to the heavy casualties, gaps remained between the shields.

When Qin An's halberd cleaved through the first shield, the person opposite him let out a short, painful scream.

Then came the second and third, with each strike of the halberd causing someone to fall backward.

Cheng Zhiyuan's great axe cleaved in from the right, the blade striking the second row of shields, denting the shields and flipping the shields and the people behind them backward.

But this time, the opposing team didn't disperse.

Someone came up behind the overturned shield, and someone filled the gaps where the shield had been cleaved.

Xu Mao stood in the middle, his voice hoarse but clear: "Hold on! Rotate between the front and back! Shieldbearers, don't retreat!"

His commands echoed from the ranks, and the remaining troops, in the darkness, slowly but resolutely closed the gaping wound.

Qin An clearly felt resistance when he rushed into the formation.

The feeling of ease that I had a few days ago, which dissipated with just a rinse, has disappeared.

Although the person opposite was exhausted, there was something in their eyes that only a trapped beast would have when it was driven to the brink of despair.

Someone thrust a broken spear at the chest of the Snow-Treading Black Steed, but Qin An swept the spear shaft off with his halberd. The man then rushed forward with his bare hands and grabbed the horse's neck, only to be thrown off by the Snow-Treading Black Steed and fall to the ground. Another soldier rushed forward to fill his place.

"They've gone mad." These three words flashed through Qin An's mind.

He quickened his pace, the blade flashing left and right, but his advance was slower than in the previous days.

From the flank came Luo Kai's shout: "General! They've traded their lives for ours!"

Qin An did not answer, but continued to slash forward.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Xu Mao's command flag was still standing in the middle of the formation, its surface rolled up, with Wu Tian and Wu Yun standing on either side of the flagpole.

At the end of the first charge, Qin'an's cavalry broke through the enemy lines, but at a much higher cost than in the previous days.

When he reined in his horse and turned back to count the number of men, he found that the number of men he had brought out of the formation was nearly a hundred fewer than when he had charged in.

Cheng Zhiyuan's axe blade had three chipped edges, and Luo Kai's right arm guard had a deep cut.

"Again." Qin An turned his horse around.

During the second wave of the attack, Xu Mao's troops even began to launch small-scale local counterattacks.

At a certain gap, several rebel soldiers suddenly rushed out and crashed into the flank of the government cavalry.

Although it did not cause much damage, it disrupted the rhythm of the attack.

Qin An had to be distracted by the counterattacks, which slowed his advance even further.

Just as Qin An cleaved through the fifth row of shield bearers, a sudden sound of horses' hooves rapidly approached from the side.

He turned his head to avoid a halberd's shadow, and the halberd returned to its rest, the resounding clang of the clashing blades exploding in his ears.

Wu Tian arrived, the tip of the halberd sliding in along his shaft, aiming for his ribs.

Qin An stepped aside half an inch, the tip of his halberd grazing the armor plate as it passed.

He was not at all surprised by this situation.

In the past few days, one of the Wu brothers always stayed behind to protect Xu Mao from being killed, while the other tried to keep him occupied.

He was already familiar with this style of play.

Just as Qin An was about to retaliate, another gust of wind blew from the other side, and Wu Yun's gun arrived.

The two weapons blocked Qin An's retreat from the left and right.

Qin An could only hold his halberd horizontally, the shaft blocking both the spearhead and the halberd tip. The three weapons became tangled together, the sound of metal scraping against metal sharp and piercing.

Wu Tian pressed down with his halberd, while Wu Yun thrust his spear upwards from below. The two worked in perfect harmony, using their combined strength to jam Qin An's halberd shaft in the middle.

"Qin An, I've finally caught you!" Wu Tian's voice came from behind the boring bar, carrying a simmering ferocity that had been building up for days. "This time, you're dead!"

Before this, Xu Mao dared not let Shan Tong's cavalry linger in the camp, lest Qin An unexpectedly wipe them out.

The two brothers had to leave one of them behind to protect Xu Mao.

But individually, they couldn't stop Qin An, who was determined to escape, which was extremely frustrating for them.

But now it is the final battle, and Shan Tong's cavalry, with men on horseback and in full armor, no longer have the worries they had before.

With Shan Tong protecting Xu Mao, the two brothers were finally able to free their hands.

Now that we've seized the opportunity, how can we let it slip by?

"Heh, you think you two brothers can kill me if you come at me together? Then come and try."

Although the situation was unfavorable to him, Qin An did not panic at all.

Having decided to fight this final battle, he had already considered all the possibilities.

Being besieged by the Wu brothers was to be expected.

Far from being afraid, he actually wanted to test his limits.

Seeing Qin An's continued arrogance in front of his two brothers, Wu Yun sneered, "You're just being stubborn. I'll see how long you can hold out."

Qin An tried to push upwards with both arms, but couldn't budge it.

The combined power of Wu Tian and Wu Yun exceeded the limit he could withstand.

He could only use the speed of his horse to veer to the side and pull the halberd shaft out of the pincer attack.

As Qin An's steed, Wuzhui, shifted two steps to the left, Wu Tian's halberd arrived again, thrusting from the left front at an even faster speed than before.

Qin An parried the attack and retaliated with a backhand sweep.

In the brief moment when Wu Tiantang was defending, Wu Yun's spear thrust in from the right, aiming for Qin An's horse's neck.

Qin An parried the spear tip with his halberd, but this left an opening on his right side.

Wu Tian's halberd slid in along the shaft of his spear, the tip scraping a deep gash in his shoulder armor, causing the metal to curl up.

Three warhorses circled and crisscrossed in the narrow gaps in the formation.

Qin An fought two opponents alone, his halberd flying back and forth, but each parry was more difficult than the last.

Wu Tian and Wu Yun clearly saw this too. The two became more and more in sync as they fought, one attacking and the other defending, one advancing and the other retreating, squeezing Qin An's room to maneuver smaller and smaller.

"Have you run out of energy?" Wu Tian's voice carried an undisguised smugness as the tip of his halberd grazed Qin An's side once more. "Weren't you pretty good at chopping just now?"

Qin An did not reply.

He was indeed feeling his own state.

Although his body showed no signs of collapse after days of running around and fighting, his strength was indeed somewhat less than at his peak.

Facing two opponents, each stronger than himself, he was barely holding on, each exchange consuming his last remaining strength.

After a few more rounds, Wu Yun's spear swept across from the side.

Qin An ducked to avoid the bullet, a strand of his hair being severed by the gust of wind and scattered in the night breeze.

Seeing this from a distance, Cheng Zhiyuan swung his great axe and chopped down two rebel soldiers in front of him, then turned to charge this way.

Qin An caught a glimpse of his movement out of the corner of his eye and, in the brief moment he parried Wu Tian's attack, shouted, "Don't come any closer! They can't do anything to me!"