Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

This time, Orville did not intend to besiege the enemy without attacking like he did when he besieged Paris, but to prepare for a siege war with the enemy, so he asked the soldiers to start cutting wood to build embankments, siege platforms, siege towers and other equipment, and began to coordinate the logistics team in the rear to transport heavy weapons such as scorpion crossbows and catapults. Orville wanted to attack in the standard way of the Romans and demonstrate his military capabilities.

This was his battle to establish his prestige in Britain. If it went well, the Anglo-Saxon countries would surrender directly. At that time, he only needed to deal with the Celts who remained in the mountains and the Vikings who were out of reach.

Paris had been besieged before, and it was relatively a larger city, so the legionnaires and auxiliary soldiers were familiar with it. Now it was nothing more than a copycat, and Orville didn't have to worry too much. Several captains naturally arranged the tasks properly.

The preliminary preparations took about a week, during which the Romans were constantly attacked and ambushed by the defenders in the city, and both sides had been engaged in small-scale battles around the space outside the city. Relying on their familiarity with the terrain, the Wessex people in the city often went out of the city at night, and while harassing, they would also bury a large number of simple traps in inconspicuous places. Although most of them were not fatal, under the sanitary conditions in ancient times, being injured was also a test of life, and some of Orville's men could not make it.

There were some casualties, but overall it was acceptable, just a little troublesome. The Roman army gradually surrounded Winchester, and the blockade was built little by little.

At this time, Joan of Arc, who went to Wales to contact the locals, received news that the local leader wanted to meet with Orville in person to ensure that Orville was an invader who could be trusted a little bit.

——

Temporarily handing over the dispatch of the army to Belisarius, Orville took his personal guards to the port, and took Rollo, who had nothing to do, as his guard. On the one hand, he received the supplies shipped from the other side, and on the other hand, he took time to meet with the other side's leader.

In the ancient world, there was inevitably a time lag in information. When Orville led his men to Portsmouth, the other party had already arrived.

Orville casually asked Jeanne: "Tell me what this person is like. I think it is polite to know more about the negotiating party in advance."

"Queen Boudica is a very determined warrior. According to your Roman point of view, she has many virtues and is a respectable person."

According to the real historical situation, the uprising of Queen Boudica of Iceni against the Romans occurred about ten years ago. Coincidentally, Orville's adoptive father Vespa was one of the people who participated in suppressing the uprising, and he earned a lot of military merits from this.

Maybe the Romans' rule in the British Isles during that period was indeed unpopular, and the rule was also somewhat loose. A few years after the Boudica uprising was suppressed, the second uprising broke out in the British Isles. It is said that the Celts here have a cultural tradition of letting women lead troops to fight, and the leader is still a queen named Kartimandua.

In terms of time, the time when Orwell landed in Britain was almost exactly the time when the Roman legions landed in Britain in another time and space to suppress the Cartimantuan uprising. It was just that the enemies of both sides changed to a different ethnic group. Perhaps this is also a subtle commonality.

This person is not so well-known because her nature is somewhat different from that of Queen Boudica. There is not much in the Cartimantuan national uprising. It is more like a mercenary leader on the border who has become powerful and has his own troops. The levels of the two are different from the perspective of modern people, and Boudica's personal morality in the records is also more likable.

Orwell thinks that some records are simply to blacken the "black" Emperor Nero of the Roman Empire, so that the barbarian queen has good morals and self-control, and the emperor of the empire is licentious and loses his virtues. In fact, the difference in the personal morality of the two barbarian queens may not be so different.

Under the pen of some writers in the empire, the enemies of the empire must be portrayed as barbaric, ignorant, and morally destitute. This has become a kind of correctness. It's just that Black Nero became a greater right for a period of time, so a barbarian woman Boudica was temporarily needed to set off. In fact, these people in historical records have become victims of dragging and outputting opinions. Of course, they themselves will definitely not care, they are dead.

Some trivial knowledge and irrelevant thoughts from the last world flashed through his mind, and Orville nodded to Jeanne, allowing her to invite people in.

Similar to Boudica in the historian Dio's record, this is a tall woman with a stern expression, bright eyes and thick red hair that falls to her waist. She wore a large golden collar, a brown-gray tunic, and a thick cloak on the outside, which was tightly fastened with a collar pin. She looked quite eye-catching and gave people a sense of awe without anger.

Before Orville spoke, the other party spoke first: "I have heard about your deeds through some channels, the prince of the Roman Empire, you, like those Anglo-Saxons, want to reach out to our original land."

Orville did not deny or give himself a high-sounding excuse, but nodded in agreement with the other party: "From your perspective, it can be said that my goal is to establish order and stability in Britain. At the same time, I personally hate violence, exploitation and disorder, which is one of the manifestations of barbarism and backwardness. I think we can reach a consensus on this point, and this result should be better for you."

Boudica sneered: "Maybe, but how do you prove what you said?"

"You can cross the strait at any time and go to the other side of the strait to see my achievements and listen to your relatives' evaluation of me. I have to admit that there are some Roman governors who are idle, but I am not, and I can guarantee that the next few British governors will not be useless and greedy.

But how can you prove your ability and role to me? You will soon see the role and ability of the Roman Empire clearly, and you have already seen our construction capabilities. Please answer me, how to prove that you are a friend who can cooperate with the Roman Empire, which will determine your final treatment, becoming a vassal state or a province. "

"In the mountains to the west and north of the so-called "Anglan", I can mobilize 60,000 soldiers and 500 chariots. These soldiers should be enough for you Romans to pay attention to. You can ask the envoy you brought with you for details. You should really thank her, otherwise I would not even think about talking to you. "