History is rife with stories about some King/General/Warlord demanding that his princely sons lead their battalions to capture some town and then re-join his larger army. It was common to send a scout or courier to go find the sons for an update, essentially asking "where are you?". If a long siege or other poor conditions delayed one of the princes, then by the time he arrived to the meeting location the father could already be dead, or worse, extremely disappointed.