Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

Two nights later, in the army camp, Orville was debating with Alfred, or rather, Alfred was debating with Orville unilaterally.

"Occupying England will only cause you more trouble. I do not expect to guarantee the complete freedom of Wessex and other countries, but I want to tell you that retaining some of our freedom is a more cost-effective deal. We can help you keep an eye on the Celts in the north and west. They are less trustworthy than us. With our help, you only need one or two hundred men to govern the entire British Isles...

What belongs to you will definitely be yours. We will provide you with money, food, livestock, and minerals. I am willing to make huge concessions on behalf of my brother and become your hostage to fight for you. As long as you withdraw our troops, we are willing to give everything."

Alfred never expected the Romans to withdraw unconditionally. He hoped to become a vassal state instead of a Roman province, but Orville was not interested in such a proposal from beginning to end.

"Your choice is only to become a province of the empire. We can discuss the details. I am willing to give you some leeway. It can only be like this. I suggest that you relax your standards quickly. You may not suffer losses after entering a bigger stage. You have been to Rome and know how magnificent it is. The Roman Empire is a powerful country. As long as a little bit of nutrients leak out of the fingers of such a country, it will be enough for you Anglo-Saxons to benefit endlessly. This is your opportunity, not a survival crisis. What is the future of fighting with your own people on this small island? If I don't cross the strait, you will need at least a hundred years to unify as a whole.

In the empire, you will definitely enjoy more things. I am not asking you to be killed. Even if I don't come, there will definitely be more stringent generals coming in a few decades."

No matter how Alfred persuaded, Orville's answer was still similar. He was not in a hurry to slowly waste time with the other party, and was extremely patient to waste time with the other party.

Until the end, Alfred finally gave up.

He sighed heavily and collapsed in the chair weakly: "So, Your Highness, you won in the end. Can I get the details from you?"

In fact, Alfred also knew in his heart that it might be a more realistic choice to join the empire. Wessex's national strength was not enough to compete with the Roman Empire, but he was really unwilling. After all, it took his ancestors hundreds of years to open up such a piece of land. Now he was asked to hand it over to the Romans for rule. It would be strange if he didn't feel disappointed.

However, there is no way now. The only realistic choices are two: either open the city and surrender now, or insist on resisting to the end.

If it is facing those Vikings who lack the endurance of a protracted war, then Alfred thinks he can deal with the other side. The military and civilians will be divided into small groups and deal with those Vikings in the barren mountains and swamps for three to five years. He is confident that he can drag the Vikings to negotiate. But now he is facing the Romans, and he has no such confidence.

The Romans are more powerful, and their base is only a strait away from the Kingdom of Wessex. It is not an exaggeration to set out in the morning and arrive in the evening. The Wessex people lacked a decent navy and could not stop the Romans' continuous supply of materials and military forces.

The Vikings were more of plunderers, while the Romans were one of the best conquerors. The two were not the same concept. Even if the Wessex people could barely repel the Romans after a bloody battle, the royal family, which had lost a lot of blood, would either be overthrown by the powerful ministers below or be annexed and defeated by the Vikings in the north. Such a result was not good for Alfred. Instead of this, he might as well seriously consider Orwell's proposal.

At least the other party was a civilized person who kept his word and could communicate and reach a lasting agreement.

…………

After the long negotiations, Orwell let Alfred leave and waited for the other party to send news. He would try to persuade King Aethelwulf to surrender to the Romans.

Obviously, this would take some time. He gave Alfred three days. If there was no accurate news after three days, he would order the army to continue the offensive and seize the rest of Winchester.

While he was patiently waiting for the situation to change, unexpected urgent news came from the mouth of the Thames - the English Channel fleet he hastily formed was defeated at the mouth of the Thames, and the old Trajan, the fleet commander, was killed on the spot. The fleet, which originally had 60 or 70 ships, now lost almost one-third and almost fled back to the port of Caen to recuperate.

After Orville learned the details of the situation, he didn't know what to think. It was not the Vikings, who Orville had always been very vigilant and conducted targeted training, who defeated the Roman fleet, but the local Anglo-Saxons who were ignored by him.

The Romans' attitude towards the navy has always been subtle. On the one hand, they are an agricultural nation and are not so good at sailing. In several battles against Carthage, more people died in shipwrecks than in naval battles. Compared with nations like the Greeks or Carthaginians, they are indeed not keen on sailing. But on the other hand, as the rulers of the Mediterranean, since they have the confidence to say "our sea", they must have a strong navy to deter the villains.

Orville was restricted by this situation. His fleet seemed to have good parameters on paper, but Trajan, who served as admiral, was good at land battles, but it was difficult for him to fight naval battles. Orville had no other talents to use. The Romans could not accept that Rollo and others, who were born in the barbarian tribe, were promoted to their admirals. Naturally, they could only find someone from the Roman military system. This person was generally not found, so Orville could only choose Trajan to take over for the purpose of political balance.

Originally, he thought that Trajan had a strong basic quality and would not make any mistakes. He did not expect that he would lose his life in an instant.

After the fleet landed, Trajan still thought like an army general and ordered the soldiers to set up camp on the ground. As a result, there was a gap between the infantry camp and the naval fleet's anchorage, and the local Anglo-Saxons seized the opportunity to raid.

Many ships were burned, and the Romans felt that they could not return to Gaul, so they began to lose their composure. Old Trajan died in the chaos.

The remaining troops could only hastily withdraw to Gaul with the body of old Trajan. It took Orville a while to receive the news, and he was also very troubled for a while. The originally perfect battle plan was disrupted.