Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

In addition to military settlers, the Ptolemaic army also has local Egyptians and mercenaries, neither of which can be mobilized now, or even if they are mobilized, their combat effectiveness is questionable.

As mentioned earlier, the situation in Egypt is quite special. Most of the land is in the hands of the royal family and the temple. Most of the local Egyptians are tenant farmers. In order to control costs and control the channels for upward mobility, these people will not receive much excellent military education. The combat effectiveness of tenant farmers who have not undergone good training can be imagined. They come here just to make up the numbers.

As mentioned earlier, in the eyes of these Greek immigrants, Alexandria is not the Alexandria of Egypt, but the Alexandria next to Egypt. This city has a kind of contempt for the conquered people from the bottom of its heart. Now let the conquered people surround the city for them. Regardless of whether the Egyptians will do it or not, many locals do not want to see it, so most of the troops from the native Egyptians were turned away and transferred to the border with Palphi to be wary of Cleopatra's soldiers.

As for the number of mercenaries, it is more reliable. After all, sometimes they do have some combat effectiveness. The Ptolemaic Dynasty would recruit retired Roman legionnaires or elite Greek mercenaries as combat supplements, and these people were guaranteed.

However, because of the long period of peace, it has been too long since the defense was packed up and thrown to the Romans. There are few mercenaries in Alexandria now. Temporary employment also takes time, and it can't do anything to Orwell on Soros Island in a short time.

In short, the army of the Ptolemaic Dynasty has already stacked up the BUFFs. There are military households, tenants and mercenaries. It may be okay in the early days of the dynasty, but the combat effectiveness can be imagined after a long time.

In history, Caesar encountered similar armies. When Alexandria did not have the advantage of terrain and people, he used a few thousand people to make the opponent's 20,000 or 30,000 people exhausted. The quality of these armies can be seen. It can only be said that except for a few armies, they are basically rotten.

Now Orwell is guarding the island, and a hundred-man team can block the embankment, and the opponent's numerical advantage cannot be brought into play at all. The two sides could only fight head-on, and the result of the fight was not good for the Ptolemy royal family - they had 300 to 400 casualties in one day, while the other side probably had only dozens of casualties, most of whom were probably lightly injured.

The casualty ratios of the two sides were not on the same level, and it was obvious that the current soldiers could not do anything to Orwell's army. If they wanted to change the situation, they had to send a more powerful army to the field.

Berdinos looked a little gloomy. He glanced at King Ptolemy on the throne behind him and asked him: "In my opinion, the current situation requires General Achilles' army to be dispatched. What do you think..."

"No problem! I will dispatch the troops right away! Those useless soldiers are useless. We still have to rely on the most powerful guards to fight and decide the outcome."

The person who spoke was the guard general Achilles. It was obvious that he lacked basic respect for the king. He agreed to Berdinos's dispatch order without waiting for the king to nod. Berdinos was still smiling, and there was no sign of unhappiness, but a trace of hostility flashed in the eyes of the young King Ptolemy. This kind of behavior of taking the place of the dead would make everyone unhappy. After all, he was a king (or someone who thought he was a king).

Finally, he took a deep breath and did not get angry in public, because he knew that it was useless to get angry. These people would still despise the royal authority as usual, which would lower his image in the minds of the few loyal ministers and make them lean closer to Cleopatra, who had a backer.

"Then, do as you say, Berdinos. Let General Achilles mobilize the army and launch an offensive the next morning."

After that, he simply made a few more instructions, then announced the end of the meeting and returned to his palace to recuperate on the pretext of being unwell.

The officials basically did not disperse, and Berdinos continued to organize the meeting below and made various detailed arrangements for Ptolemy's instructions.

…………

On the other side, Orville and Cleopatra stood side by side on the top of the Soros Island Fortress, observing the brightly lit defense positions below.

This Egyptian princess is indeed capable. Through good lobbying methods, she successfully mobilized a lot of people in the town to help with defense. The addition of hundreds of local laborers and the cooperation of local people greatly relieved the pressure on Orville's side.

Cleopatra did not mention what price the townspeople demanded. I think she settled the matter herself and did not pass it on to Orwell.

This made Orwell's evaluation of her a little higher. The two were definitely not completely of the same mind, but Cleopatra was still capable. When needed, a capable ally is better than ten fake losers. This is a consensus.

Holding the casualty statistics report in his hand, Orwell did not hesitate and handed the paper to the other party: "Is this what you want to see? In fact, there is no need to go to this step. How will the Egyptians see you later?"

Cleopatra glanced at the numbers on it and replied calmly: "Your Highness, I want to correct one thing. It's not how the Egyptians see me, but how the Greeks see me. The two are different. In my opinion, the royal families of all generations have attached too much importance to the ideas of the residents of Alexandria, so the royal family has the current situation. They are forced by these self-proclaimed noble citizens to make the choice of drinking poison to quench thirst.

The situation should change now. First of all, you should let the locals know that you are different from some people in the royal family. You will not accommodate the likes and dislikes of the residents of Alexandria. When the residents of Alexandria block the way of the Romans, they have to make way. "

Orville was not persuaded by this argument: "So without the support of the local residents, how can you and I govern the local area?"

"You should know that there are only a few hundred thousand Greeks here, and there are millions of pure Egyptians. Do I need to say more about who you should win over? From the beginning, the thoughts of these people in Alexandria are not that important. You have to let them understand this. "Cleopatra looked at Orville with burning eyes.

Orville was a little surprised - it was obvious that the other party's ideas were not limited, and she could see the world outside Alexandria, which was rare.

He originally planned to do this, to win over the locals to balance the power of the Greeks. He could provide the locals with a more equitable upward channel, and he could also divide some of the land that originally belonged to the temple and the Ptolemy royal family and give it to the locals. In addition to the bureaucratic reforms he was going to implement, as long as he treated the locals as human beings, it should not be difficult to govern them.