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

The autumn wind at the front lines whipped up sand and gravel, which clanged against the armor of Qin'an.

He reined in his horse, gazing at the distant, sprawling camps shrouded in gray shadows of twilight, a dryness rising in his throat.

This marks their fifth trip between the logistics base and the front lines in the past two weeks.

"Captain Qin, we've stopped up ahead, let's take a break!" A hoarse voice came from behind; it was Wang Hu, a veteran from the same team.

He carried a gleaming spear on his shoulder, and beads of sweat trickled down his wrinkled brow.

Qin An glanced back at the laborers pulling the grain carts. Most of them were barefoot, their straw sandals worn through, leaving bloody footprints on the yellow earth.

Seeing that the procession ahead had indeed stopped and the messengers were running around, Qin An breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let the brothers rest for half an hour, and give some water to the laborers as well." He dismounted and handed over the water bags. "The front lines are pressing hard; once you've rested enough, you have to get going."

Wang Hu gulped down half a bag of water, wiped his mouth, and said, "In this war, food supplies are more precious than human lives. The other day, the third team was transporting grain when they were ambushed by the Baekje people. They burned both the people and the grain. I heard that the front line hasn't had a meal for three days."

Hearing this, Qin An felt a little heavy-hearted.

The initial period after arriving at the front line was relatively easy for the soldiers responsible for logistics.

But as the battle lines continued to advance, logistical support became increasingly strained, and their good days came to an end.

They became the rear supply troops, constantly traveling between the logistics base and the front lines to transport provisions.

This is no easy task.

Anyone with even a basic understanding of warfare knows the principle that supplies must precede troops.

With supply lines stretched out, food supplies became a critical problem.

Just then, Luo Kai's personal guards rode up and said, "Captain Qin, the centurion wants to see you."

Qin An followed his personal guards to the front of the group and saw Luo Kai staring intently at the distant mountains.

"Chief of a thousand men".

Luo Kai turned around, his stubble thicker and his eyes sunken: "I just received orders to rush to the front lines tonight and deliver the supplies by tomorrow morning."

"Throughout the night?" Qin An exclaimed in surprise. "The brothers and laborers are almost at their limit. What if we're attacked while marching at night..."

He was physically strong to begin with, and since he was riding a horse the whole way, he was not in any serious trouble, but the others were not as relaxed as he was.

"I know," Luo Kai interrupted him, his voice weary, "but the front lines are in dire need of attention. The general's orders are absolute. If we miss the deadline, all one thousand of us will lose our heads."

He patted Qin An on the shoulder, "Tell the brothers to be on their toes. Once we cross this mountain, we'll be within the perimeter of our camp."

Qin An didn't say anything more.

He knew Luo Kai was telling the truth.

Perhaps driven to desperation by the increasingly favorable situation at the front, the Baekje people went mad.

They were no longer harassing in small groups, but were attacking the grain transport teams in organized groups, as if they would not stop until they cut off Daxing's supply line.

This is also why Qin An and his men became the grain transport army.

……

After a short rest, the group continued their journey. The evening glow shone through the sparse shadows of the trees onto the grain carts, and the laborers' panting sounds were particularly clear in the quiet mountain forest.

Qin An rode his horse along the side of the group, gripping the iron spear at his waist.

He always felt that the forest was too quiet, so quiet that there wasn't even the chirping of insects.

"Qin An, look!" Luo Kai's voice suddenly rang out.

Qin An looked up and saw a flock of crows circling above the mountain valley in front of him, the sound of their wings flapping like rags being torn in the wind.

His heart skipped a beat; if the birds didn't land, something unusual must be going on.

"Pass down the order: halt the advance and form ranks!" Luo Kai's voice instantly turned sharp.

Although exhausted, the soldiers were well-trained and quickly surrounded the grain carts in the middle, with pikemen setting up a gun emplacement on the outside and archers nocking their arrows.

Almost the instant the formation was completed, a whistle came from the mountains ahead.

Immediately afterwards, countless dark figures darted out from the bushes, forming a dense, swarming mass, their knives and axes gleaming coldly in the moonlight.

"Baekje people!" someone shouted.

Qin An narrowed his eyes.

These Baekje people were thin and wore tattered clothes; many of them even carried hoes and sickles.

"They're not elite troops, they're just ragtag soldiers," he told Luo Kaidao.

Luo Kai sneered, "Baekje has no one left; they're even using civilians to fight." He raised his voice, "Listen up, all of you! Guard the grain carts and don't let them get close!"

But the Baekje people seemed to have gone mad, shouting slogans that were incomprehensible, and many of them, holding torches, charged straight toward the gun formation.

"They want to burn the grain!" Qin An's heart tightened.

Luo Kai's expression changed drastically: "We can't let them get close! Qin An, you lead a team as the vanguard and break through their formation!"

"Yes!" Qin An mounted his horse, drew his iron spear, and ordered, "One squad, follow me!"

Forty cavalrymen followed behind him, their hooves shaking the ground.

Qin An drew his bow and aimed at a Baekje man holding a torch in the crowd.

The boy looked no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, with a childish face, but his eyes were as fierce as a wolf cub's.

"Whoosh!" The arrow pierced the air and accurately struck the boy's neck, while the torch clattered to the ground.

Almost simultaneously, a hail of arrows rained down from the Baekje army.

Qin An ducked behind the horse's neck, and with a few clangs, the arrows bounced off the armor.

"Speed ​​up!" he roared, pointing his iron spear straight ahead.

The moment the warhorse crashed into the crowd, Qin An felt as if he had been plunged into a raging storm.

His iron spear moved like a butterfly flitting among flowers, thrusting left and right, each swing sending sprays of blood flying. A Baekje man swung an axe at him, but Qin An flicked his wrist, pressing the spear shaft against the axe blade, and thrust it forward with a sudden burst. The spear tip pierced the man's throat, spraying blood all over his face.

The stench of blood made his throat tighten, but he didn't stop for a moment.

These people may have been farmers yesterday, but today they are enemies who are about to kill them.

"Stay close to the captain!" Wang Hu's shout rang out from behind.

Qin An turned around and saw the cavalry forming a wedge formation, tearing a gap in the Baekje ranks like a sharp blade.

He took a deep breath and drew his bow again.

This time, he set his sights on a Baekje chieftain riding a skinny horse in the distance.

The moment the arrow left the bowstring, the leader seemed to sense the danger and suddenly turned to the side.

But the arrow was too fast; it still grazed his arm, leaving a trail of blood.

The leader screamed and turned his horse to run away.

"Trying to run away?" Qin An sneered, spurred his horse on, and gave chase.

Two horses chased each other through the chaotic crowd, and the Baekje chieftain kept turning back to shoot arrows, but Qin An dodged them all.

Just as he was about to catch up, Qin An suddenly threw his iron spear, the shaft whistling through the air as it precisely pierced the leader's back.

The leader fell from his horse, and the Baekje people around him paused for a moment upon seeing this.

"Kill!" Qin An drew his long sword from his waist and, using the momentum of his warhorse, cut down two more enemies carrying torches.

Just then, he heard Luo Kai roar, "Qin An, there's a gap on the left flank, quickly fill it!"

Qin An turned his head and saw a group of Baekje people bypassing the cavalry and rushing towards the grain carts.