Gao Xing anxiously look around his surrounding. To the east, he can see Hongze Lake off into the distance. While to the west was a open field. He look to the sky to see that the sun was starting to set soon.

"Commander." Meng Bao called out as he rode back towards the center from the front. "The sun is setting. It would be wise to set up camp soon before it gets dark."

Gao Xing nodded in agreement. He pointed at the open field. Meng Bao looked around the field then nodded and rode off to issue orders for the men to make camp. Gao Xing turned towards the carriage.

"My lady. It is getting dark so we are setting up camp here." Gao Xing informed Lingqi.

"Very well." Lingqi answered.

As the men was setting up camp, Gao Xing went to check on the provisions. Originally, the trip was suppose to take around five days. It is the end of the second day, and who knows when they will be able to return back to Xiapi, and this worried Gao Xing. Meng Bao walks up behind him and called out.

"Commander?" Meng Bao asked. "Are you worried about supplies?"

"Yes, Meng Bao." Gao Xing answered quietly. "We currently still have enough for a few days. Three at the most. With so many enemies around, we may end up losing more than we can afford to, and I don't know if we would be able to resupply anywhere until Xiapi."

"Commander, if I may?" Meng Bao added. "if you will take a look at this map." He pulls out a map and layed it out on the ground for Gao Xing to see. "Since we are near Hongze Lake, we should be around here at the moment. If we go a little Northeast of here, we will reach one of our forification between the borders of our lord and Yuan Shu. From there we can resupply and leave our injured there."

"That sounds good Meng Bao." Gao Xing answered happily. "How long will it take to reach it?"

"About a day and a half commander." Meng Bao answered. "But it will take about three days from there to Xiapi."

"Hmm..." Gao Xing paused to think for a moment. "Either we go striaght back to Xiapi and take at most two days, or head towards the fortification to resupply and it'll take a total of about four days. I am worried that if we come into contact with the enemy, we may not make it back to Xiapi before we run out of provisions." Gao Xing paused for a bit again before speaking. "Where is Feng Ji?"

"He is inspecting the injured and setting up guards around the camp." Meng Bao replied. "Shall I call for him?"

"Yes, if you would please." Gao Xing answered still looking at the map. Meng Bao ordered one of his men to go fetch Feng Ji. After a short while Feng Ji appears.

"You summoned me commander?" Feng Ji asked, after bowing.

"Yes I want Meng Bao's and your opinion." Gao Xing replied. After he explained the situation to Feng Ji, he await his answer.

"I believe it might be better to go resupply." Feng Ji replied after giving it some thought. "We can even pull some soldiers from there as well."

"Pull soldiers from one of our fortification?" Meng Bao asked.

"Yes." Feng Ji replied. "From the looks of it, it was made to defend against Yuan Shu, but seeing as he is not our primary enemy at this moment, I think taking some soldiers would not be bad. Besides, with so many enemy around out here on the borders between us and Yuan Shu, I doubt he would attack us. And if we reach Xiapi and it is under attack, we can provide better support with a larger army."

"I see." Gao Xing answered quietly. "What is your opinion Meng Bao?"

"Feng Ji has some very solid points. I will have to agree with him on that as well. I originally wanted to go supply there, but getting more soldiers would not be a bad idea."

"Very well." Gao Xing replied. "We will head towards the fortification early morning tommorow. Tonight, everyone rest well."

Meng Bao and Feng Ji bowed and walked off to the set of tents. Gao Xing however walked towards the tent setup for Lingqi. Upon reaching it, he could see light from a latern inside the tent. He took a moment to explain the situation and the plan for tommorrow to her. After he finish he turned to return to his tent when she called out to him.

"Ah, Gao Xing, please wait."

Gao Xing turned back towards Lingqi's tent, and answered. "Yes, my lady?"

"Won't you stay and chat with me for awhile?" Lingqi asked. "It has been awhile since we got to spend some time together."

Gao Xing tought for a bit before answering. "Yes, my lady." He remained outside the tent, facing away, while Lingqi remainded inside. The two talked for a long time, reminiscing about their childhood and about how life seemed much more carefree and easier. Eventually their talking slowed down, and then it became silent.

"Gao Xing... What do you think about my marriage to Yuan Shu's son?" Lingqi asked.

Gao Xing didn't answered. He remeined silent for a minute before speaking. "I am sorry my lady, but I must return to my duties now. Please get some rest." He bowed and then walked away.

"Sleep well Gao Xing..." Lingqi said quietly.

The marched towards the fortification took two and a half days, longer than Gao Xing and Meng Bao had thought it would take. Upon reaching the fortification, Gao Xing gave it a quick inspection. It had small wooden walls and a gate on the north and south side. He rode up to the front of the gate.

"I am Gao Xing, son of Gao Shun!" Gao Xing shouted. "Open the gate!"

The gate opens and a man in a officer's armor runs forth to Gao Xing and bowed. "I am Li Gong, the garrison commander. What brings Master Gao Xing here?"

"We need some supplies for our return to Xiapi." Gao Xing replied. "Do you have any to spare?"

Li Gong looked at Gao Xing confusingly. "Master Gao Xing... Xiapi is under seige by Cao Cao."

Gao Xing showed a shocked expression. "When did Cao Cao arrive?!"

"A few days ago." Li Gong answered. "We've had been ordered to hold position here."

Meng Bao rides up to the two. "Commander, is something wrong?"

Gao Xing turned to Meng Bao. "Xiapi is under seige by Cao Cao..."

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"What?!" Meng Bao let out. "But that would explain the large forces of Cao Cao's being this deep into our lord's territory. For now, we should move all our injured into the base."

Gao Xing agreed and looked at Li Gong. Li Gong moved aside lead the way for them. Gao Xing turned and order his men to go into the base. Once inside Gao Xing called for all the officers to gathered to determine their next move.

"How many men do you have here Li Gong?" Gao Xing asked. "And how much days of provisions do you have once you include the thousand men with me?"

Li Gong thought for a moment before answering. "I have three hundred heavy infantry, two hundred light infantry, and three hundred archers. A total of eight hundred. With your men, I reckon we have enough supplies for thirteen days."

"Thirteen days..." Gao Xing said quietly to himself, lost in thought, worried about the seige. Should he wait here and wait for further news about the seige, or take his men to go assist in the defence of Xiapi. He looked at all the other officers in the room. "Meng Bao, let me see that map again please." Meng Bao walks over and hand the map over to Gao Xing. He looks at the map over and came to a decision. "Li Gong. Can I ask  you and your men to abandon this location and follow me back to assist Xiapi?"

"I am sorry master Gao Xing. Master Chen Gong had instructed me to hold this location until further notice or until I can no longer hold this location." Li Gong answered quickly and sternly.

"I see." Gao Xing replied quietly. "Then may I asked to borrow some supplies for my men and leave my injured here?"

"That I can do master Gao Xing." Li Gong answered. He pointed at one of his men. "You, go ready some supply cart for master Gao Xing. Enough for fifteen days."

"Yes sir!" The officer replied and ran off.

Gao Xing was about to dismiss all the other officers before one of Li Gong's soldiers came running in. "Commander! We are under attack!"

"What?! Now?!" Li Gong answered. "Quickly, get the men in order." He turns to Gao Xing. "My apologies Master Gao Xing, may I ask for your assistance?"

"No need to ask Li Gong." Gao Xing answered quickly. "Feng Ji, order then men into formation."

"Yes sir." Feng Ji ran out shouting orders. The men outside quickly gathered into formation.

"How many enemies do you see?" Gao Xing asked the soldier.

"B-by quick count, at least five thousand sir!" The soldier answered.

"More than twice our numbers." Meng Bao said. "But may have walls, but they are not sturdy, and looked makeshift. They can fall quickly if we don't stop the enemy advance."

"Meng Bao, can I ask you to lead our calvary to slow the enemy advance to buy us some time?" Gao Xing ordered.

"Yes commander." Meng Bao said as he rushed out. "I'll buy us as much time as I can."

"Li Gong, have your men form a concave aroundthe gate from the inside." Gao Xing ordered. "Your archers will rain arrows on the enemies once Meng Bao returns."

"Yes commander." Li Gong ordered his officers to carry out the order quickly.

Gao Xing feels a little bad for taking over command, but seeing as he is the ranking officer, he figured it was fine. He quickly grabbed his spear and ran to Yinglong. He started shouting out orders to the men to quickly form up. He looked around and saw that Meng Bao and the calvary had already went out the gate. He saw that the infantry had gathered around the gate already with the heavy in front and the light behind them. The archers on the other hand around scattered and was running about in a panic.

"All of you! Hurry up! The enemy are upon us!" Gao Xing shouted. The archers stopped in their tracks to look at him. "Some of our men are outside to buy us time! But it will not be for long. Quickly form up and get ready to release your arrows once they return."

The soldiers then calmed down and quickly got into formation. Meng Bao and his men ran back into the base.

"Archers fire!" Li Gong ordered. The archers started firing over the walls. Cao Cao's  solders started raming at the walls. Their own archers fied down on Gao Xing's men. Some their archers go down while their infantry was fine due to them raising their shields to defend themselves. Thinking quickly, Feng Ji ordered for some of the light infantry to fall back to the archers to help defend against the arrows. A short moment later, Cao Cao's forces tears down the gate and through the gate, meeting the concave of Feng Ji's infantry.

Feng Ji and his men were able to keep the enemy at bay while Li Gong's archer rained arrows upon the enemies still outside the walls. After they saw that they weren't going to get in, Cao Cao's troops called a retreat. Before Gao Xing and the rest of his officers could relax, Feng Ji spots more of Cao Cao's soldiers in the distance. He rode out on his horse to go scout. He was shocked to see the large number of soldiers there. By his quick count, he saw almost five thousand. And he saw that Cao Cao's calvary was moving foward. If they charged into the base, they will easily break through the concave and open a path for their infantry to pour in.

Feng Ji rushed back to warn Gao Xing. Gao Xing pondered for a moment, and turned towards Li Gong. "Li Gong, we can not hold this position for long if they attack us with their full force."

"What do we do then?" Li Gong asked.

"We will have to abandon this location." Gao Xing ordered. "We will try to head back to Xiapi, and find a way back into the city."

Li Gong pondered the thought for a while. He agreed hesitantly. Gao Xing ordered for the soldiers to prepare to retreat, taking what supplies they can, and buring the rest. He ordered for the injured to be moved first and for Feng Ji to hold the concave until the injured and supplies had been move before retreating. He ordered Meng Bao to go first to ensure that there was no enemies waiting outside the south gate.

The soldiers quickly packed supplies into wagons and pulled it out the south gate. Cao Cao's soldiers had reached the gate and broke through the concave with their calvry. Cao Cao's infantry then quickly poured in, killing everyone that they can.

"Feng Ji! Pull out now!" Gao Xing shouted, while he stand at the south gate. Feng Ji's men started pulling away from Cao Cao's troops, but was pursued and cut down as they ran. "Calvary! On me!" Gao Xing shouted and charged towards them to aid Feng Ji's retreat. He quickly reached their location and cut down a few of Cao Cao's soldiers. He found Feng Ji surrounded by enemy soldiers. He rushes over and cut one down. "Grab on!" Gao Xing reaches a hand out towards Feng Ji and he grabs hold of it. Gao Xing pulls him onto Yinglong and rode off.

"What about our solders that are left behind?!" Feng Ji shouted, looking back at the soldiers. The other calvary each grabbed a soldier and rode after Gao Xing. Feng Ji breath a sigh of relieve that some of them were rescue, but was sadden that the rest were left behind as they rode out the south gate.

Gao Xing, Feng Ji, and the his calvary regroup with Meng Bao several lis south of the fortification. When Meng Bao saw Gao Xing's group, he rushed over.

"Commander, are you ok?" Meng Bao asked worriedly.

"I am fine, Meng Bao." Gao Xing answered. He looked back at the soldiers that accompany him, and then at the group the left before him. "How... many men do we have left? What about our lady?"

Meng Bao hesitated before he answered. "Some of our men got lost in the retreat. I did a count before you arrive, and we have a thousand and two hundred men here."

Gao Xing then looked back and gave a quick count of the men that followed him. About five hundred. "A thousand and seven hundred men..."

"Our lady is safe my lord." Meng Bao added. "But she seems shaken when she didn't see you. I recommend going to see her first."

"Very well." Gao Xing replied. "Meng Bao, Feng Ji, check on our provisions and treat our wounded." Gao Xing rode towards the carriage to see Lingqi. "My lady, it's Gao Xing."

"Gao Xing?!" Lingqi called out. She pops out of her carriage to see him. "You're safe..."

"Yes, my lady." Gao Xing replied. "I am sorry for worrying you."

"As long as you are safe, that is all that matters." Lingqi replied before going back into her carriage.

"Don't worry my lady." Gao Xing added. "I will stay alive long enough to bring you back to your father. Now, please excuse me as I have to go discuss our next step with the others."

"Very well. You are dismissed." Lingqi replied. She breath a sigh of relieve out of view to Gao Xing as he rode away from the carriage.

Gao Xing returned back to Meng Bao and Feng Ji. "How is our provision? And our soldiers?"

Meng Bao turned to answer. "I think we have enough supplies for at least ten days."

"The treatment for our soldiers are going ok, but..." Feng Ji added, but paused.

"Go on, Feng Ji." Gao Xing said, worried that it was something bad.

Feng Ji looked at Gao Xing and quietly answered. "We don't have enough bandages for the wounded. At the same time, a lot of our wounded are too severe to treat on the field. They might not make it back to Xiapi."

Gao Xing pondered for a moment. "Please treat the more severely injured first. We can't risk losing any more men."

"Yes, commander." Feng Ji answered.

"Commander, what do you plan to do from here?" Li Gong asked as he walked up to them.

Gao Xing turned to look at him. "Li Gong... I am sorry I couldn't help you defend your fortification..."

"Do not worry about it commander." Li Gong answered. "If not for you, my men and I may not have made it."

"Thank you, Li Gong." Gao Xing answered. "I plan to return to Xiapi to possible help with defending it. I ask that you and your men join me."

"Yes, commander. I would be happy to." Li Gong answered. Gao Xing smiled and pat his shoulder.

"Everyone, up camp for tonight." Gao Xing ordered. "Tommorrow we make our way back to Xiapi."