Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

Ouville didn't have to wait too long. After more than two months, he returned to Rome and held a triumphal ceremony with General Aurelian. The Senate used various methods to appease the emotions of the Roman residents and make them believe that the empire's national destiny was still at its peak.

Tia didn't care about these things. Vespa and the Senate who stayed in Rome were busy enough. She was very active. With the help of the imperial government departments, she completed the requirements on Orville's list in a few days and found various talents and resources for him and the army.

Then she immediately set off to return to Lugden Gaul Province. When she returned, she went directly by sea to Marseille Port, and then rode on the road at full speed.

Because they were traveling light and there were not many people accompanying them, they didn't have to spend three to five hours a day to set up camp. The speed of travel was very fast. It took about a month from Marseille to Lugden Gaul until the other party arrived in Caen. It took less than one and a half months in total, which was considered fast in the ancient world.

At this time, Orville had just sent away the Vikings who had been staying near Caen for the winter, and at the same time, he had just finished building the necessary facilities such as the port and dock. It was just a few days away.

Orville was very considerate and helped the other party prepare various files and documents. It took Tia a few days to get familiar with the situation, and then she gradually took over Orville's work as the provincial governor.

He was happy with it. After the workload was reduced, he had more time to focus on the issue of military construction. The two of them had their own division of labor and occasionally exchanged some experiences with each other. As long as the two sides cooperated well, two people were always better than one person.

After the craftsmen arrived, the shipbuilding work was soon in full swing. There were many forests near Caen. Orville requisitioned some local civilians and exchanged food for the other party to cut wood and drag the wood to the port, and then the craftsmen and soldiers began to process and manufacture ships.

After Tia, Orville and several senior officers discussed, they decided to build a fleet that could sail on the Atlantic Ocean first, mainly to ensure control over the English Channel. The Vikings are the fleet's imaginary enemy. Because of Rollo and Ragnar, they have a relatively in-depth understanding of the Vikings' navigation capabilities. It is definitely unrealistic to sail to Northern Europe and play home exchange with the other party. The Romans do not have the need to explore the Atlantic Ocean now, so the highest requirement is to ensure the safety of the offshore.

It is also impossible to intercept the other party outside the coastline. As long as they can intercept and stop the other party after landing, the requirements are not very high. The Romans can use their own shipbuilding technology to build ships directly.

The shipbuilding logic of the Vikings and the Romans is different. One is to build the keel first and then the shell, and the other is to lay the shell first and then the keel. In addition, there are also significant differences in other technologies. Generally speaking, Viking shipbuilding is more dependent on materials and craftsmanship. The threshold of Roman shipbuilding is not so high and it is not so dependent on the quality of materials. If you have to say, the Vikings' technology is slightly ahead, but the Romans' is not unusable.

Generally speaking, demand generates technology. The Vikings have to cross the Atlantic Ocean, so they just need a high-strength hull, while the Romans have to trade in the Mediterranean with stable sea conditions, so they just need a large-load cargo ship.

It is difficult for the Romans to build large warships that can sail in the Atlantic Ocean. To be honest, the Romans were not very talented in sailing. It is also difficult for the Vikings to build super-large ships like the Romans. Their social structure determines that it is difficult for them to build super-large warships.

As mentioned in the previous article, the gap in the size of the warships of both sides has been mentioned. The upper limit of the shipbuilding industry of both sides still depends more on cargo ships. The cargo ship with the largest carrying capacity discovered by the Vikings should be the Knar shipwreck discovered by Hai Zebi. It is estimated that the carrying capacity is about 38 tons. Considering that the bow of this ship is wide, the construction is solid, and the freeboard is higher, it has good seaworthiness and can sail in the North Sea. In fact, it is also a good level. The Romans cannot currently build such a large ship that can cross the North Sea.

The largest Roman cargo ship discovered so far is the Madrague de Giens, which has a carrying capacity of 400 tons. 6,000 to 8,000 50kg wine jars were found in the wreck. The Romans called this super-large cargo ship "Ten Thousand Jars Ship", which was specially used to transport wine. It was one of the largest ships in the world at the same time.

Compared with the Vikings, the Roman Empire had a significant advantage - they did not need to cross the North Sea, that is, they did not need to build ships with high seaworthiness and quality. Relatively speaking, they could make warships larger and higher, and they could also separate warriors and oarsmen, which was relatively advantageous in naval battles.

The logs were dragged to the vicinity of the dock, then processed into planks of different sizes and lengths, and then further assembled and spliced ​​into the hull. Under the command and labor of the craftsmen, the ship gradually took shape, from trees to manned sailing objects.

The progress is good, and the craftsmen are skilled in their work, but shipbuilding is a laborious task. The number of craftsmen in Orville is definitely not comparable to that of big cities such as Rome, Athens, and Alexandria. If the statistics are calculated on a half-year basis, he can probably make 15 heavy warships in half a year, an average of two ships per month.

It doesn't sound like much, but it's actually okay. This is different from those small ships with a carrying capacity of more than ten tons. They are all behemoths on the sea and are used as warships.

Transport ship Orville plans to directly requisition local civilian ships and merchant ships. Anyway, the goal is to transport people and materials across the strait intact. This is not difficult in calm weather. Any ship is almost the same, just spend the money wisely.

——

In the mansion requisitioned by Orville, he and Tia were chatting and eating lunch in the living room.

Since it was peacetime and they were not in the barracks, the current environment was not tense, so the two of them were relatively relaxed. The lunch was quite rich and paired with wine.

Salad, ham, white bread, high-quality fish sauce, boiled lamb, grilled fish, not much, basically enough for two people.

When he led the troops to fight before, except for occasionally sneaking in like a thief to eat a bite, Orville had always eaten the army's standard set meal of dry bread and bacon. Now that conditions are relaxed, although he is not extravagant, it is reasonable to eat normal things within the limit.

Tia had no objection to this, and sat opposite Orville to chat.

"Do you still remember Pliny the Elder? He and I used to serve in the same military district, and we were friends. He recently wrote a new book that is quite interesting. It talks about all the wars and conflicts in history between us and those Germans. I think he wrote it very well, with a comprehensive summary and some new ideas."