Gao Xing inspected his troops before the arrival of the target of their escort. He lecture some soldier, who's gear were poorly maintain. Under normal circumstances, he would punished them, but seeing as war is upon them, he can not afford injuring his men, even if it was to be light. He was a fair bit nervous as he had never command troops before, and here he is commanding a little over a thousand men.

"All officers, step forth." Gao Xing called out. "I wished to learn your faces.

Twelve individuals step forth. There were ten hundred man commanders and two five-hundred man commanders. Gao Xing carefully inspected them. Most of them were older, and had years of experience.

"I am Gao Xing. I will be your commanding officer for this task." Gao Xing said as he bowed his head to show respect to his seniors. "I hope that you will guide me through this task as I have much to learn."

The two five-hundred commanders step forth and kneeled down and bowed as well.

"This one is named Feng Ji." One of them said. He was older, but still fairly young as well. Most likely to be in his early twenties.

"This one is called Meng Bao." The seconded one said. He was a much older man. Clearly he has had much experience, as you can see on his worn out expression.

"Thank you both." Gao Xing said, nodding in approvement of the two. "The two of you are my lieutenants, and be in command of five one-hundred commanders and their soldiers each. Meng Bao, I'll ask for you to take the front. With your experience, I believe that you can better spot ambushes and would be able to command your men in such an event. Feng Ji, I'll ask you to cover our rear. In case of an attack, I want you to be able to secure us an escape route should we be pushed back."

"Yes sir. We obey your command." Both Feng Ji and Meng Bao shouted.

Gao Xing was happy that he cower while giving out commands. Especially since they are veterans and his seniors. He continued to assign the five one-hundred commanders to them. Just as he finished, someone came up behind him.

"Hmph, so Gao Shun made you the commanding officer for my daughter's escorts?" The man bellowed.

Gao Xing turned around. The man was large and in fully body armor. His gaze pierce through Gao Xing, and his pressence intimidated him to no end. Gao Xing recognized the man as his lord, Lu Bu. He quickly kneel down and bowed his head. His men followed suit.

"Yes, my lord." Gao Xing answered meekly.

"Stand." Lu Bu ordered, and Gao Xing rose up to his feet. "This is a very important mission. I do not care if you failed in reaching Yuan Shu or not. All I care about is my daughter's safely. If you come under attack, you WILL protect her with you life. Understood?"

Gao Xing nodded and didn't mutter a word.

"Good. You must protect her until you reach Yuan Shu, or returned her home safetly. That is your one mission." Lu Bu continued. "If you failed in protecting her, I don't care if you are Gao Shun's own child, I'll kill you myself."

"Father, please don't intimidate my escorts before we set off. It'll lower their morale." A voice called out behind Lu Bu.

Gao Xing peeked out to see who it was. It was a beautiful lady. Her short hair that barely reach her neck. She was wearing some light armor and carrying her own sword. This puzzled Gao Xing, as it was very uncommon for women to wear armor, wield weapons, and had short hair.

"Lingqi! How many times have I told you to wear your dress?! Why won't you change out of that armor?!" Lu Bu shouted at his daughter.

"Am I not heading out into possible danger? Why would I not protect myself with armor?" Lu Lingqi snapped back. Only she would dared yelled back at Lu Bu, who is a well known fierce warrior.

Gao Xing watched in fear. Someone who would dare speak out against their lord is possible a hard to deal with person. But he remaind quiet, and continued to watch the two bicker.

"Fine! Wear it!." Lu Bu finally gave in to his daughter. He turn to look at Gao Xing. "Do your job quickly." He stomped off into the distance.

"I guess I'll be in your care Gao Xing." Lu Lingqi said, looking at Gao Xing now.

Gao Xing stared at her for a moment before answering.

"Y-yes, my lady." Gao Xing let out meekly.

"You don't have to be so formal Gao Xing. We've known each other since we were young." Lu Lingqi replied with a small grin.

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Gao Xing had met Lu Lingqi when they were still kids, but at the time he did not know who she was. He had thought she was the daughter of one of the officials. The two of them would study together and practice together when they sneak out of the house. She had longer hair back then, but Gao Xing had always thought she was a bit more... boyish than the other boys he had met.

"Forgive me, my lady. I did not recognized who you were before. I will also have to continued addressing you this way, as you are my lord's daughter." Gao Xing finally replied.

"Fine. If thats how you want to be." Lu Lingqi replied. "Now, quickly take me to my carriage. Are your soldiers ready?"

"Yes, my lady." Gao Xing replied. "Your carriage is over here. The soldiers stand ready. We can leave once you get in your carriage."

Gao Xing leads Lu Lingqi to her carriage. Once she got in, he he order his men into formation and inspected the carriage once more. Once he was satisfied, he got on Yinglong.

"Open the gate!" Gao Xing shouted towards the gate captain. The gates slowly opened. "Move out!"

The soldiers marched out the gate and headed south. The trip would take a few days. The first day ended without much happening as they are still within their own territory. On the third day, they reached the borders between Lu Bu's and Yuan Shu's territory. The road was covered in hills. Gao Xing thought it would be a great location for an ambush, and order his men on high alert. As his men continued walking, a large group rose up from the hills, and held up banners. The banner flew Cao Cao's colors and the character Yue.

"AMBUSH!" Meng Bao shouted back towards Gao Xing. The enemies fired a volly of arrows at their men.

"Form a defensive circle! Quickly! Protect the carriage!" Gao Xing hollered out. "Meng Bao! Take some men and circle around them!"

Meng Bao ordered for two hundred of his light infantry to follow him and leaving his heavy infantry and archers behind for Gao Xing to use. Recognizing the character, he now knows who he is facing. Yue Jin of Cao Cao's army. A well known and talented man.

"Heavy infantry, raise shields! Cover your fellow archers from the incoming arrows! Archers! Fire at will towards the enemies! You don't have to hit them! Just distract them to buy time for Meng Bao!"

Gao Xing's men followed his orders, and his archers randomly fired at the enemies. His own guards formed a smaller circle around the carriage and protected it with shields. After a short while of back and forth arrow volleys, Gao Xing heard shouting coming from the side of the enemies. It looks like Meng Bao had reached them.

"Archers! Cease fire! Meng Bao has reached the enemies! Feng Ji! Take your calvery and go assist Meng Bao in routing the enemies!" Gao Xing ordered and was pointing towards the sound of the fighting.

Feng Ji and his calvery charged forth towards the enemies. After a short battle, Yue Jin's forces sounded a retreat and ran off into the west.

"Regroup! Sound the regroup! Let Meng Bao and Feng Ji know to return and not persue them!" Gao Xing called out. The drums signal for a regroup sounded off loud and clearly for Meng Bao and Feng Ji. The two rejoin the rest of the army.

"Commander, why did we not persue them and wipe them out?" Feng Ji asked, dissappointed in the order.

"There could be more ambush lying in wait where they are retreating to. And our orders are to reach Yuan Shu, not to engage and wipe out enemy forces." Gao Xing replied. "What's our casualty?"

Meng Bao looked around quickly before answering. "About a hundred commander. But only a few deaths from the looks of it. I'll get a more accurate count soon."

"Good. Treat the wounded quickly. We have to keep moving before more shows up." Gao Xing ordered. He turn to check in on the carriage. "My lady? Are you ok? Did any arrows get through?"

"I am fine, Gao Xing." Lingqi called out from inside the carriage.

"Very well. Please remain in the carriage. We will continued on momentarily." Gao Xing replied before turning to check up on his men. He checked on his officers while they checked on their men. They finish quickly and continued on. He ordered two of his men to scout ahead for any signs of enemies. Making it pass they hills they came into an open field. Gao Xing became anxious now. If theres another enemy force around, they will most likely used calvery now. The open fields will allow them to run freely. One of his scouts returned alone, filled with arrows.

"C...commander... large enemy force... ahead..." The scout said before falling off his horse and collasping on the ground.

Gao Xing rushed over to check on the scout, but he was dead. "You have done well in informing us before you departed." Gao Xing got up and called Meng Bao over. Feng Ji was staying back a little distance away from the main army as he was covering the rear.

"Meng Bao, what do you think we should do?" Gao Xing asked.

"Commander, it might be better to retreat. If there's a large army in front of us, we can't them on with our small army." Meng Bao replied. "We will have to fail this task, but at least our lord's daughter will be safe."

"That was my thought as well. We can't take on a larger enemy force in open field." Gao Xing quietly replied.

Just then one of Feng Ji's men came by on a horse. "Commander! Report! Large enemy approaching from behind. They are flying Cao Cao's banners with the Character's for Li."

Gao Xing was shocked. "They really want to stop us from forming an alliance with Yuan Shu..." He said quietly. "Go back and tell Feng Ji to meet us five li east from here. We are pulling back."

The soldier bowed and then ran back towards Feng Ji's unit. Gao Xing turned back towards his men who were waiting for his command.

"We... are pulling back. This alliance with Yuan Shu is a failure." Gao Xing called out. "We will regroup with Feng Ji five li east of here, and then head back towards Xiapi."

The men look at each other confusingly, but followed the order and prepare to march east. After a quick march they reached their destination. Feng Ji had already reached the location and was awaiting them.

"Commander, what will we do from here on?" Feng Ji asked, unaware of what they are currently doing now.

"We are heading back to Xiapi." Gao Xing replied. "Get your men ready quickly. We have to move fast before we are surrounded."

"What? Retreat?" Feng Ji shouted.

"Yes. There's a large army between us and Yuan Shu. And an army approaching us from behind." Gao Xing replied calmly. "We have to quickly return before we get surrounded. Our main mission to form an alliance with Yuan Shu is a failure, but we must still protect our lord's daughter."

Feng Ji remained quiet, and then turned to order his men to get ready. After some quick preparation the small army marched northeast, taking a detour that would take longer to reach Xiapi but by doing so, would avoid the forces of Cao Cao.