Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

Orville ordered the army to start a rapid march and quickly arrived near the city of London, while being alert to possible ambushes.

The expected narrow road encounter did not occur. Orville successfully arrived near London, and was surprised to find that it had become an empty city. Except for the old, weak, sick and disabled, most people had moved away, and there was nothing left for Orville. It seemed that the retreat was not a temporary impulse or a panic, but a leisurely one.

Orville did not make it difficult for these old people who had no way to retreat. He just asked them about the whereabouts of the defenders in the city, and the answer he got was also quite intriguing.

Most of the defenders in the city followed Harold. They were preparing to rush south, and it seemed that they were preparing to join the Franks who crossed the sea. Orville studied the map and roughly understood the other party's thinking.

The Franks lacked ships to cross the sea, and crossing the sea itself had certain risks, so they would definitely choose the fastest route. The geography of this world has not changed fundamentally, so the approximate location of the other party's crossing the sea can also be inferred.

It's nothing more than landing by crossing the sea through the Strait of Calais. The enemy should land at the White Strait of Dover, and then the strengthened English will either seek a decisive battle or start trying to sneak attack the occupied Wessex.

So far, the Vikings have not gone south, and there has been no case of Vikings continuing to plunder England. I think there should be some kind of cooperation between the two, but Orville and the officers are not worried about this - fight when you need to, don't be timid.

He ordered the soldiers to march south following the enemy's traces, and block the enemy directly there.

…………

When Orville was chasing the enemy, he deliberately passed through several cities, which were either unguarded or completely empty. Orville didn't even divide his troops to occupy them, but just marched south with one mind.

The maintenance of the supply line is a problem, and Orville dare not be careless about this issue. In any case, he will set aside a lot of time to build camps during the march, and the subsequent baggage team will use these camps to transport food.

He left about a hundred auxiliary soldiers in each camp as sentinels. Once there was a situation in the rear, he could react as quickly as possible. There were cavalry on standby at any time to deal with emergencies. Orville thought that his preparations were relatively sufficient.

When he was marching south, he passed the port city of Gillingham. All the soldiers in this city had also withdrawn, leaving only civilians in the city, but there were several Viking longships parked conspicuously at the port.

The raven flag was blatantly hung on the ship, which was obviously the Vikings' own ship. After the sentinel went over and asked carefully, he learned that the other party wanted to negotiate with him.

Orville has always cherished this opportunity for communication. He naturally would not refuse it when it was in front of him, and he immediately agreed to the other party's request.

When Orville arrived at the dock with his personal guards, the other party had already set up the table and waited for Orville to come.

Rollo, who was standing behind Orvel, took two steps forward and whispered in his ear: "The man in the lead is Ivar the Boneless, the son of Ragnar Lothbrok. The man with brown hair and black tattoos behind him is his brother Ubbe. Ivar is the actual commander of the Viking army, and Ubbe is his right-hand man. The other party should have some sincerity in negotiations."

This is not considered as being in Cao's camp but with his heart in Han. After all, Rollo had been hanging out with Ragnar on the sea before. Although there were more or less frictions between the two sides, they were still in the same industry and had some friendship.

Orvel responded to the other party to show that he understood, and then walked over to greet the other party.

The first to speak was the Viking leader Ivar: "I have heard about you in the north. As the adopted son of the Roman emperor, you should be a capable and smart man, so let's talk straight to the point."

"I am not opposed to talking, but whether we can reach a consensus depends on you."

"I want all the land of the Kingdom of Northumbria, and the land of the Picts in the north (Scotland) will also belong to us. The rest of the land in England belongs to you. If you insist on wanting the Kingdom of Ulster, I can give it to you, but you have to pay a ransom."

"Then what can you bring me?"

"I will help you deal with the Franks and Harold Godwinson. At the same time, my fleet will never harass any of your Roman lands again. We will maintain peace. The land of Northumbria and other places is enough to satisfy me. If there are still people seeking wealth, go to the land of the Franks. That's not a bad idea.

This should be a good condition for you. The fleet of Vikings in disguise will be used by you Romans. If you can provide enough money, we can really fight for you Romans.

In this case, you have to satisfy our desire for exploration. Some of my people are very interested in the world of the Mediterranean. I heard that there are more vast and rich lands and oceans to the east of the Mediterranean. I hope you can provide us northerners with this opportunity.

I am not being hypocritical to you. Everything I said is true. I really want to reach an effective agreement with you Romans. I think robbery may be a way out for northerners, but we can't survive by robbery forever. The so-called force is better than hard work is not a long-term solution. If we want northerners to develop, the best way is to find a support for ourselves. I think you Romans are more suitable than the Franks.

After all, there is no territorial dispute between us at all. Your eyes are on the Mediterranean, and ours is near the North Sea. No one will be delayed. You bring what we northerners need, and we northerners are willing to pay blood and sweat to fight for you. This should be a very fair deal. I won't accept the bargain as this is the lowest I can offer and it won't be easy for my men to spit out the land of Mercia. "

Ivar spoke sincerely, and his eyes were sincere and didn't seem to be fake. Orville couldn't help but think carefully about what he said and judge how feasible this condition was.

"Let me ask first, do you represent the Danes, the Vikings, or the Ragnar sons?"

"After all, I am not the king of Denmark nor the legitimate leader of the Vikings, so I only represent myself and my brothers, but this is also a great force. You should understand that investing in the future is worth looking forward to. , The Norn goddesses (goddesses of destiny) are so unpredictable, and this is what makes them most attractive.”

"Your conditions are very good, and I was moved for a while, but I can't agree to this request now. I'm afraid we still have to decide the outcome on the battlefield. After that, if you are willing to lower your standards, we can Let’s talk again.”