Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

Almost all auxiliary soldiers were envious of the treatment of regular Roman legionnaires. Not only the income was not low, but there were also various invisible or tangible welfare benefits and preferential treatment policies. Even the Roman Empire could not support such soldiers. If there are too many, we can only take the route of elite soldiers.

Regardless of the higher level of productivity in this time and space, the Roman Empire with 50 million people in another time and space could only ultimately support 150,000 legionaries and 150,000 supporting auxiliary infantry. The number of armies in this time and space was relatively small compared to the population. There's a lot more to say, but it's not so extravagant as to give preferential treatment to auxiliary infantry.

Except for those auxiliary soldiers who fought for Roman citizenship and may have high morale, most of the remaining auxiliary soldiers were made of local materials and just muddle along. Their service locations are usually near their hometowns, rather than being deployed all over the world like Roman legions. They may be stationed on the Nile River this year and stationed on the Rhine River next year.

As far as the situation in the ancient world is concerned, there are very few examples of legionnaires. Only a few countries have the need to guard their borders, and only a few countries can afford to maintain elite standing armies.

Even if you don’t like it, you have to admit it—the system that has lasted for a long time, even if there are many unreasonable things, is certainly reasonable in some aspects. The same is true for the Roman auxiliary system. Although the combat effectiveness is low and the quality is unstable, it is low-cost and can stably turn some of the high-quality young adults who serve into Roman citizens, which still has many advantages. Raising those standing armies has already overwhelmed the empire's financial situation. If the times are bad, the emperor or wealthy senators sometimes have to use their private property to subsidize the state treasury to maintain it.

Orville believed that the military expenditures of the Roman Empire were too high now, and they should find ways to appropriately reduce them. Naturally, he would not turn all auxiliary troops into standing armies in a whimsical way. The main force of the auxiliary army should still be based on these bulk troops. After all, they are cheap. , he just wants to raise an elite auxiliary force that can enable them to follow the legionnaires in the north and south and perform stably.

It is not that there are no such troops in Egypt, Greece, and North Africa. He wanted to replicate a more professional and elite example in Gaul, and through this army, certain generals within the Roman Empire could see the necessity of military innovation.

The locals did not have a good impression of the Romans, even if Jeanne, Gilles Dress and others later tried their best to reconcile the conflicts. However, Orville and Tia both believed that there must be brave men under heavy rewards, and they could not recruit them. The person who came up should look for the reason from his own side, whether the money was not enough and the treatment was not good enough.

They didn't have much money in their pockets, but there were still a lot of confiscated farms. In order to stimulate the local people to join the army, he and Tiya announced after discussing that they would recruit an excellent special auxiliary army, with service years starting from twenty-five years. The year is shortened to fifteen years. In addition to the regular granting of citizenship and certificates, these people can also participate in the distribution of spoils, and can also be assigned a piece of land when they retire. The land is divided from the nobles' estates, and each piece is Large enough for a family to farm and live.

After the news spread, a lot more people came to sign up. Orville even had room to choose. Two thousand people were screened out, and they basically had a basic foundation in archery. These were the seeds of his archer unit.

…………

"So this is your final product?"

Tiya holds a crossbow in her hand. This is not the first time this kind of weapon has appeared in the Mediterranean, but it is still quite new. Different from the steel crossbows in late Europe, this is a wooden composite crossbow. This weapon was also popular in Europe for a short period of time. It is said that it was the influence of nomads or Persians from the East.

"Having absorbed the previous experience in making horned bows, you should know the difference between this thing and bows and arrows. For Romans who don't like archery, this is much easier to handle than a bow. An ordinary archer will be in good condition after shooting seven or eight arrows. If you start to slide down and use your feet or the pulley to cock the crossbow, it won’t necessarily be tiring to shoot out a pot of arrows.”

Tiya also discovered the advantages after trying a pot of arrows: "In other words, if novices who have never shot arrows practice for a short period of time, this crossbow will almost be able to form combat effectiveness, and its accuracy and durability will be comparable to bows and arrows. Improved?"

"That's probably true, but for elite archers, it's a bit superfluous. In the time it takes for a crossbow to fire two arrows, a fast archer can shoot six, seven or more arrows. As long as the archer doesn't exhaust himself, the shooting speeds of the two sides are incomparable. , even if the accuracy is not that important in the military formation, there will still be a slight gap. "

Regarding the question of who is better with crossbows, Orville prefers to win or lose. At least the projectile ability and shooting speed of bows and arrows cannot be compared with crossbows. Crossbows suffer a lot when shooting against each other, but crossbows have one of the biggest advantages. The threshold is low and the lower limit is high.

To take an extreme example, when modern people demonstrate their sling skills, they have hit normal targets nearly 200 meters away. This range is scarier than many crossbows in Orwell's hands, but it does not prevent most slingers from throwing stones. After going twenty or thirty meters away, the accuracy was contrary to the price of the leather rope, which was touching.

The army is not a place to display individual martial arts. It is a good thing to allow everyone to exert similar effects. Crossbows meet the requirements very well.

If the Romans were a civilization with a strong archery tradition, they would probably disdain these things, but the problem is that they did not. For a long time, the people only used bows and arrows as toys for hunting and entertainment rather than as weapons for killing people in combat. Their archer skills were not necessarily good. It is much better than the cavalry level, so it is better to use something that is guaranteed to be useful.

Tia also knows this very well: "For us, this is not a problem, because there are not many high-quality archers. I am more concerned about how many pounds this thing can be, how far it can shoot, and how many can be made each month. This is for use in the barracks, not for fun."

"Anyway, it does not affect carrying. It is not convenient for marching and fighting, but it is not troublesome. The range is about 100 meters and can penetrate part of the linen armor. At a distance of more than 70 meters, it can penetrate the large shield of the legionnaires. The effect within 40 meters is more worth looking forward to. I believe that this thing must have great potential. The output is not very good. Among the craftsmen, only a few masters I brought from Rome can make crossbows. It takes time to promote technology. About 500 people can be armed in half a year. It should be better after the technology is promoted later."

"It sounds good, but there is another problem. How much does it cost?"

"It's not cheap, but it's not too expensive. The material cost is affordable. I am trying to simplify the production process and reduce costs, but it will take time."