Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

Zhao Zheng opened his eyes drowsily, and what he saw was not the familiar big bed, but a dark and depressing tent.

Subconsciously, he wanted to raise his hand to wipe his eyes, but found that his hand was also shackled, and he could barely lift it up.

Just as he was about to say something, he felt a strong sense of dizziness. The oppressive tent made it difficult for him to breathe. He struggled to stand up and wanted to go outside to get some air.

Staggeringly, I opened the tent and looked up to see tents like this all around me, as well as campfires that can only be seen in movies and TV series.

"Where is this going?"

As soon as he had this thought, he felt someone hit him hard on the back of his head, and he immediately passed out again.

——

When he opened his eyes again, it was already dawn. The sky was just getting bright, which made the inside of the tent much brighter. What appeared with the light was the memory of the original owner.

His current name is Orville Tyrion, a young rebel leader who participated in the local uprising and eventually failed after resisting the Romans for a long time.

Most of his companions chose to die in battle or commit suicide, while he chose to surrender to the Romans.

Now he is imprisoned in the Roman camp, awaiting trial. If the result does not satisfy the Romans, he will probably be in trouble.

This identity is not optimistic, but what is even less optimistic is the situation in the world.

At first glance, the evolution of the world seems to be the same. The Romans are conquering the world everywhere, but Orville heard that recently there was a Viking named Ragnar in Gaul who was plundering along the river. The unified country of the Eighth Route Army, Egypt in the south has a sister named Cleopatra, the Fertile Crescent and the Iranian Plateau in the east each have powerful countries in their rising stages, and the Pontic Kingdom in Asia Minor is fighting the Romans.

Coupled with the frequent occurrence of magic, witchcraft and supernatural phenomena in various places, Orville felt that being in prison had become a minor problem. Such a world that looked like a poisonous amphitheater was no less than witnessing the indescribable to him. of ancient gods. Or maybe he had witnessed the ancient god before he could see such an abstract world line.

After waiting there for a long time, he could barely accept the reality, and then began to think about how to escape, at least to ensure his survival before talking about anything else.

After waiting for a while, a tall officer wearing ancient armor came in and looked down at Orville.

Orville knew him, his name was Nicanor Stilicho, he was the local tribune before the war, and he had known him before.

"Name and identity?"

"Orville Tyrion, temporary governor of Mel region. Tribune of Nicanor, I think we are old friends. Is it necessary to say this?" He pretended to be relaxed.

Nicanor still had a business-like tone: "Just answer the orders truthfully from Chief Vespa."

Orville frowned secretly, hearing this tone, I'm afraid things are not optimistic.

After asking a few more questions, Nicanor leaned down to untie Orville's shackles. During this process, the other party's hand touched his neck, and a string of information suddenly came into his mind.

[Nicanor Stilicom, the dull and brave warrior]

[Diplomacy: 13 Military: 15 Internal Affairs: 9 Strategy: 7 Knowledge: 11]

Orville was stunned for a moment, and then the corners of his mouth turned up uncontrollably. Nicanor, who caught this, patted his head gently.

"Don't use your brain. It's useless to try to escape like yesterday."

Orville nodded in agreement: "Can you give me a piece of paper? I have something to write."

Nicanor, who had an absolute advantage in force, was not afraid of him using his brain and gave him a piece of paper directly.

Taking the paper, he pretended to write a few words on it, then folded it and put it in his arms, before being escorted to the Chinese army camp.

On the left and right sides were dozens of officers wearing armor, and sitting in the center seat was an unimpressive middle-aged man. He didn't look as strong and tall as other young and middle-aged officers. He was slightly bald and hunchbacked, and his face had some grooves. He was smiling kindly at Orville.

"Are you the local governor?"

"I am indeed so appointed."

"You have done a good job here. There are six Parfi governors around here, and you are the only one among them who has blocked me and my men for more than a month. The soldiers under you are quite good. Killing in those fortresses More than 700 of my outstanding soldiers were killed, which really gave us a headache."

The words were kind and did not mean to be sarcastic or sarcastic, but as a prisoner of war, Orville was naturally at a disadvantage. When this matter was mentioned, everyone present looked somewhat unkind.

From Orville's point of view, this was inevitable. He had impressions of many people on the field. He had fought against him in the past dozens of days, and many of his subordinates, relatives and friends died in the war.

He lowered his head slightly and began to say what he had prepared: "I don't want to do that, but obeying orders in war is what I have to do."

Vespa asked with interest: "If you don't want to, you can behave more mediocre instead of holding us back for forty-seven days like now. Both sides have paid a lot of unnecessary losses. To you Parr The hatred accumulated by the Filipinos during the war made it difficult for me to restrain my soldiers after the city was broken."

"Except for me, the remaining governors were recruited from nearby bandits and turned into formal armed forces to deal with the Romans. People with impure blood like me are not loved by the rulers of the Holy City. Those despicable people If the bandits go back, they will be punished at most, and no one expects them to be able to stop the powerful Roman army. I'm afraid it will be bad, so I have to work hard to survive. "

Vespa grinned, and the grooves on his face squeezed together: "In that case, even if I let you go, you will probably have nowhere to go, right?"

"As a Parphine, I was subject to the king, and the priests did not establish a new king after the king was expelled. Now that King Aquita has returned to his kingdom with the Romans, it is natural that I, as a subject of the king, should continue to serve The king serves, so it’s not like he has nowhere to go.”

Hearing this, all the officers present either smiled with relief, or looked at Orville with contempt - everyone knew that King Aquita was the agent of the Romans to rule this remote place, and obeying the king meant obeying Rome. authority.

The smile on Vespa's face became even bigger: "Then you may have to go through some competition. There are many loyal nobles like you. Many of them have already contacted us in advance. King Aquita's court is already very busy. ”

The implication is that if you want to survive, you must show your worth, otherwise Orville may be left to the officers to vent their anger. They have just experienced a siege battle and are full of rage. If this is the case, he will be in danger.

Orville lowered his head: "I have the defense map of the Holy City, and I have a good understanding of the surrounding military deployment. I should be able to help you."

The original owner chose to surrender in the end, not to mention that Orville had no sense of belonging to this world, so he chose to surrender directly.

Vesper shook his head: "I have all these, and they are more detailed than your updates."

A servant wearing heavy armor beside him took out a scroll at the right time, pulled it open and showed the contents to everyone present. It was a map with dense footnotes, and it was obvious at a glance that it was extremely detailed. In this era, maps with this kind of accuracy can only be used by the military, which shows that some high-level officials within the Holy City may have rebelled and surrendered to the enemy.

The officers below seemed not to know about this in advance, and they also burst out in exclamation, and then various compliments or congratulations came out of their mouths.

With this map, things will be much easier.

Orville's face was not good. He thought he could save his life by relying on the information in his hands, but he did not expect that the Holy City warlords who clamored for war and incited others to bleed were even worse than him. Not long after the fight, some collaborated with the enemy and prepared to surrender.

The original life-saving trump card was ineffective, and the opponent might not value his little remaining wealth. Orville lowered his head, his mind running at high speed. Finally, he made a decision and looked up at Vesper sincerely.

"I have an important prophecy to share with you. If you are willing to believe me, please promise not to spread it outside and give me a more private venue."

Vesper looked at Orville with interest. He was a very practical person, so he was not interested in prophecies. However, he was curious about what tricks the other party could come up with, and there was no loss in seeing it, just to pass the time.

He waved to the officers on the left and right: "You have all heard it. It is said that the Palfi people are a people who are good at prophecy. I also want to know whether this is true, so let me listen. I will talk to you at the celebration banquet later. The good news you shared is waiting for me.”

Vespa's tone was somewhat joking, and all the officers responded with hearty laughter. Quite a few of them glared at Orville viciously, and muttered a few vulgar words in their mouths before leaving the camp. In less than three minutes, Orville, Vesper and his guard were the only ones left in the tent.

Vespa nodded slightly, and put his hand on his chest and swore: "On the name of Titus Flavius ​​Vespasianus and the honor of my family, I will keep your secret during the war. Now. Please share the prophecy with me, I look forward to the surprise you bring me.”

Orville stood up and walked towards Vespa. The warrior beside Vespa wanted to stop Orville, but Vespa stopped him.

Orville took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Vesper. Vesper also reached out to receive it. Their skins came into contact, and a string of information was transmitted into Orville's mind.

[Titus Flavius ​​Vespasianus, the ambitious politician]

[Diplomacy: 20 Military: 18 Management: 21 Strategy: 17 Knowledge: 17]

With his suspicion confirmed, Orville narrowed his eyes and waited patiently for Vesper to open the envelope, and then turned the letter over with a half-smile, showing him the blank inner pages.

Orville then stared into Vespa's eyes and said calmly: "I know the law very well and how a general should die, but I think I should tell you the prophecy. You, Titus .Flavius ​​Vespasian, you will become Caesar, the master of the land, the sea and all mankind, and your descendants will be your heirs. I will experience all this as a witness of the beginning of your great deeds. history."

The guard's body couldn't help but tremble, and he looked like he was trying his best to suppress a smile. He thought he was in a hurry and went to the doctor and started talking nonsense, but Vesper's reaction was completely different - his pupils first narrowed suddenly and then quickly Returning to normal, after carefully studying Orville for a long time, he finally caught the fear and hesitation he wanted to see from the depths of Orville's eyes.

Unconsciously changing his sitting position, Vespa immediately returned to normal and joked: "I am too old, and I am a businessman who sells donkeys. I am not the material to be an emperor. Hahaha, you should ask someone else. Well, maybe some young boy can be stimulated by you and become an emperor or a consul in the future.

Let's talk about some practical things. I think you have pretty good military qualities and can serve Rome as a staff officer. You can serve as a staff officer for the acting commander of the Twelfth Legion. But I personally suggest not to be too far away from your legion commander. Yuan, for your safety, there is some minor conflict between the Twelve Legions and the Palphi people. "

Orville left as if he had been granted amnesty. After he left, the attendant immediately asked: "I don't think such a clown can give me any reliable military advice. To bring prophecy and divine will into the conversation, according to My experience is that most of them are crooks or liars. Specifically, he should be a cowardly flatterer who is full of lies.”

The voice was not a deep male voice, but a bright and powerful female voice, which seemed quite out of place in the military camp.

Vespa turned his head and looked at the other party: "Do you really think so? Let's not mention those 'prophecies' for now. We will discuss this matter later. He did block us for two months, and he was far more powerful than his colleagues. ”

"The aliens here are actually quite insightful in terms of law and ideology. I have learned about it in my spare time during the war. As the local saying goes, you should never consult a coward about military affairs. I think this is very correct. His If the situation were in my place, I think I could hold you off for about sixty-four days."

Vespa shook his head repeatedly: "It seems that my decision was correct. He will be your staff during this period of time. You know what the situation of the Twelfth Legion is, so try to protect his safety and use this period of time to observe. Let’s see if he really has that kind of prophetic ability.”

Only then did the woman seem to understand: "Father! What do you mean?"

"We will discuss this matter later. Now you are the commander of the Twelfth Legion, and I am the counter-insurgency commander of this operation. It's that simple. Don't think about irrelevant things."

".I understand. After the salary is paid, I will set off with you and continue to advance towards the holy city of the Palphi people."

"By the way, I would like to urge you again, tell the cavalry of the Seventh Army to quickly complete the advance mission and then camp on the spot. We don't have much time left, it is very limited."

Vespa rubbed the ring engraved with the eagle pattern on his finger and murmured to himself, and the armored woman quickly exited the camp.