Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

After helping Cleopatra deliver the letter, Orville kept Ptolemy in Rome with various excuses.

At first, he wanted to introduce him to Pliny the Elder, one of the most learned men of the time. Later, he invited him to visit the library in Rome. Later, he invited him to visit the customs and practices of Gaul and Britain. In short, he wanted to find a way to keep him.

Cleopatra must have instructed him behind the scenes, and Ptolemy himself was quite happy with this kind of enticement, so he reluctantly stayed and became Domitia's teacher. When necessary, he would do something for Orville. After going north to Gaul, Orville relied on this great scholar in many ways.

Astronomy at that time was a small peak of development, and it had not yet degenerated to the level of pure metaphysics in the Middle Ages in Europe. As a scholar studying astronomy and geography, Ptolemy had to be able to do arithmetic and geometry, and his level was quite high. Due to the limitations of the times, he might not be as good as those geniuses in modern times, but he could do simple things easily.

He helped Orville draw precise maps of Gaul and Britain, greatly improving the communication efficiency and marching speed of the army. Then he would act as a guide and architect at some times to help the army choose the appropriate geographical location for cities and fortresses. In short, he could do anything that was slightly related to his job, and he did it very well.

He also urgently transferred dozens of accountants from his industry in the province of Gaul to help Ptolemy with his work, but even so, things were still difficult.

Recently, every time Orville saw Ptolemy, he was busy calculating, with dark circles under his eyes and a very bad mental state. Every time he found Orville coming, he would usually start complaining about the poor working ability of the Gauls without saying a few words, saying that they couldn't even do a little thing well, and the things they brought up were often wrong.

Orville could only laugh and let the other party overcome the difficulties. Ptolemy was not very impatient and continued to work reluctantly. It would take a while to get accurate results.

…………

Turning his attention to the front battlefield, the war between the Vikings and the Romans has been slowly unfolding.

Stilicho, who was in charge of the front-line battle, wanted to fight a decisive battle with the Vikings, but the other party completely ignored the various provocations of the Romans and just did his own thing - sending a small force to conduct reconnaissance along the coastline. Once they found that the Romans or locals were negligent in defense, they would immediately mobilize a large force to plunder, and then robbed and left calmly before the army arrived to support, leaving only a mess on the spot.

The Romans really had no good way to deal with these people, so they could only fight hard with them, robbing a few villages today and killing a small fleet of Vikings tomorrow. They had to compete with the other side in terms of size and recovery ability.

In this case, the gains and losses of one or two small conflicts were no longer important. What was important was to preserve strength without bleeding. Based on this basic principle, both sides were now fighting very cautiously, not seeking merit but avoiding mistakes.

This was only the case in Britain, but not necessarily in other places. For example, in Scotland and Ireland, the intensity of the war was much higher.

The Celts in Scotland had been launching fierce attacks on the Vikings' various strongholds, and the offensive and defensive situations were different at this time. The Vikings were much stronger in terms of frontal combat power, but they also faced similar problems: the Celtic settlements were extremely difficult to locate in the mountains and forests, and the frequency of their attacks was very unpredictable and there was no pattern at all. After struggling for a period of time, the Vikings finally chose to abandon all their land bases and choose to leave only those island bases. It can be said that the Celtic's combat goals have been achieved, and they did not think they could fight a naval battle with the Vikings at first.

This was not a big deal for these pirates, it was just a little trouble, but the situation was different in Ireland.

[Boneless] The biggest difference between Ivar and his father Ragnar Lothbrok was their attitude towards foreign lands. Like many of his contemporaries, Ragnar had a strong sense of hometown, which made him unwilling to leave his hometown. He believed that the land of other countries was simply for plunder.

As for Ivar, his ambitions were much greater. He had always been committed to establishing the Viking Kingdom on the British Isles. He had basically succeeded in Ireland, and his successors would also succeed in real history.

This obsession made him strong, but it also made him never give up the land he had already obtained easily.

So in Ireland, facing the step-by-step pressure from King Converg, he would not give in this time and would confront the Irish head-on.

…………

Almost at the same time, in Ivar's mansion in Dublin, Ireland, several strong men were sitting together to discuss strategic and tactical issues in the form of a round table meeting.

Ivar's youngest brother Ubbe was the first to speak up and make suggestions: "I think we should hold on for a while and wait for help. They have a lot of warriors, more than three times more than us. We will never get the upper hand if we fight in the field. The Danish king's army is on the way now. We can hold on for a few more months. Then we can directly cooperate with the Danish king's army. We will definitely win in the end if we follow the rules."

This time, Ubbe's speech was agreed by everyone present. They didn't want to take the risk of fighting the Celts outside the city to the death at this time. It was dangerous and the benefits were not great. The safe method was more popular.

Ivar's other brother [Snake Eyes] Sigurd rarely echoed this time: "In addition, Brother Bjorn has also prepared a large number of supplies and troops for us. His pioneering activities in the north have been very effective. Now he has become a leader in the local area. He has three to five thousand heroes under his command and can help us a lot.

When he arrives at the battlefield, our situation will immediately improve. With these reinforcements, we will have more than 20,000 people in Dublin. At that time, these Celts will not be a big deal. They have not received even a little favor from the Norn goddesses, and their understanding of war also makes the great god Odin laugh."

Ivar has been silent, observing his brothers - the Viking pirate business is their family business, and the brothers in his family are all brave and good at fighting, so now those who can sit at the table and make decisions are all his family members.

Seeing that Ivar didn't speak, everyone knew his temper, so they didn't urge him, but only used their eyes to remind him to make a decision quickly.

After a long while, Ivar finally spoke slowly: "I remember I said that I would never turn back no matter what."