Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

As for the northern theater, the situation is even more stalemate.

[Boneless] Ivar is the son of the Viking legendary hero Ragnar Lothbrok, and he is also a very charismatic Viking leader. His soldiers are all loyal to Ragnar's sons, and their loyalty is much higher than those scattered Viking pirates. Orville used various methods but failed to pry the other side's corner.

Since Cu Chulainn did not go to Ireland, Orville supported Finn MacCool as the temporary leader of Ulster according to his own plan. He is a very prestigious person, and he is also the son-in-law of the former king Conforchu. It is not unreasonable or irregular to temporarily take over the military power of various chiefs in a critical moment.

The only person who can compete with Finn in terms of qualifications is Cu Chulainn, the king's nephew, but now he is fighting in the lowlands and cannot return home immediately. Now the domestic opposition has nothing to say. If there are any opinions, they can only wait until Cu Chulainn returns in the future to discuss them. For now, they can only support Finn as the King of Ulster wholeheartedly.

Just like Cu Chulainn's own thoughts, his departure made Ireland more united and eliminated the potential risk of having two command centers.

Even so, Finn and his warriors were in a tough battle. They were not as strong as the Vikings in frontal combat, and they suffered heavy losses in several battles. In the end, they could only rely on their mass base and familiarity with the terrain to consume the opponent and fight guerrilla warfare to delay time.

If it weren't for Orwell's cover from the side, always preparing to organize a fleet to land in Dublin, I'm afraid the situation on Finn's side would be even worse. Even now, the situation is far from good. Half of the land of the Kingdom of Ulster has been occupied, and the rest is in danger under the ravages of the Vikings.

Orwell has to take care of two fronts, and so does Ivar. He also has to pay attention to Dublin and the Northern Isles (islands near Scotland) at the same time. The spirits of both sides have always been highly tense, fearing that something unexpected will ruin the current delicate balance.

The situation was basically deadlocked at this point. Orville could not hit the other side, and did not dare to really organize tens of thousands of people to cross the sea and attack Dublin again. It would be easy to be trapped on the island by the Vikings who had the naval advantage. Ivar was almost unable to injure Orville in England. Both sides could beat each other to a pulp, but no one could end this gladiatorial activity.

If time allowed, Orville would not mind continuing to consume the other side. The other side's human resources and endurance were always limited. At most, the other side would be exhausted in three to five years. The Romans could use rotation to nail these Vikings.

In another three to five years, he would probably be able to initially use the resources and manpower here, and the shipyard in Caen would be able to produce a truly powerful fleet. At this time, there was actually no suspense. Even Ivar would have to surrender and choose to negotiate in the face of the huge Romans.

But now, the situation in the East does not seem to support him to continue to grind slowly here.

Normally, according to the situation in the past two years, Cleopatra would write him a letter about every month or so, reporting on business matters and interspersed with some personal life matters. Occasionally, she would bring some interesting little things to Orville, such as a book, an ornament, a piece of cloth, etc. Generally speaking, the communication between the two sides was not very frequent, and the frequency was probably just that of ordinary pen pals.

In recent months, the frequency of Cleopatra's letters to Orville has increased significantly. Even if the communication between the two places is relayed by a special person, there is about a time difference of about two and a half months. In other words, the frequency of Cleopatra's letters to Orville has increased significantly since the beginning of winter.

The content has gradually changed from reporting on business to venting the troubles in her heart. Now Orville can receive a letter from Cleopatra about every two weeks, and a large part of it is complaining about Orville.

The troubles that the future Cleopatra mentioned were mainly related to her brother. Seriously speaking, this should be her fiancé, because before his death, his father ordered his daughter and son to get engaged in order to ensure the political stability of the country. According to his original idea, the two sides would share power with each other in this way, reach a delicate political balance, and thus achieve stability.

At first glance, it seems to be a logical thing, but their father, the former Egyptian king Philopator, the Piper, must have a reason for being nicknamed "The Piper". He is a mediocre person, but he can be a bit like a ruler in terms of cruelty. He did not analyze the current political situation of the Kingdom of Egypt at all, and directly made this will in a hurry.

From the results, the gradually mature Cleopatra wanted to get rid of the control of the powerful minister Berdinos over the government and the royal family from the beginning, but the young king was inexperienced and was directly controlled to become a puppet of Berdinos. Cleopatra's only advantage of righteousness has now been offset. In the court struggle, her faction can only barely protect themselves.

As his brother grew older, his ambitions for politics and power grew wildly. It was estimated that in two years, the conflict between the two sides would reach a point where they would have to resort to swordplay. It was obvious that Cleopatra was not in an advantageous position at all, so she had to seek cooperation with Orville, hoping to stabilize the situation with the power of the Roman Empire.

Judging from Cleopatra's recent letter, the situation in Egypt has been deteriorating recently. Cleopatra's people are being squeezed out. It is estimated that she will soon lose her foothold in Alexandria and have to leave. This time may be one or two years, or it may be a few months or even now.

The only high-ranking official in the Roman Empire who supported Cleopatra from beginning to end was Orwell himself. The governor of Egypt has taken a lot of benefits from Berdinos. It seems that letting Berdinos rule Egypt is beneficial to the Romans, so he will not add insult to injury, but he will definitely not help the Ptolemy royal family.

Once Cleopatra is driven out of Egypt, she and Orwell will only have three to five years. Orthodoxy and righteousness are also time-limited. As a woman, she may not be as legitimate as the puppet king in the eyes of the Greeks, and support for her will decrease over time.

The puppet king might wake up and fight with Berdinos again in the future, but at that time it would have nothing to do with the two of them, so if Orville wanted to intervene in Egypt, he had to resolve the Egyptian affairs within the next few years.