Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

Orwell and Boudica, the leader of the Welsh barbarians, reached an agreement that the two sides would not interfere with each other, and the Romans returned part of the land originally occupied by the Germans to them. This apparent harmony did last for a while, and the two sides carried out normal trade and exchange activities, but as time went on, Boudica's problems gradually emerged - barbarians are barbarians after all, and their organizational and control abilities are not good.

Boudica is nominally the leader they jointly elected, but that's all. Boudica can only rule one of the tribes. The rest of the tribes nominally respect Boudica as the leader, and to a certain extent obey the other side's command during the war. This kind of control is really not strong. If the people of the tribes below want to do something, Boudica usually can't stop them at all.

Belisarius has recently received several reports of merchants being robbed or even killed on the spot by these barbarians, which has made many merchants panic. Now most merchants are unwilling to go to lands outside of England, and even the number of people traveling to England for business is much less than expected.

After all, this kind of business is not particularly profitable, and now there is a risk of life, which leads to very few people willing to go. More merchants would rather do business on the European continent. Anyway, the income is not much worse than this, and the safety is much better.

He also reported these problems to Boudica through legitimate official channels. The language is quite serious, but there is no substantial effect-on the one hand, Boudica really can't restrain them, and on the other hand, Boudica can't understand how serious this matter is.

Belisarius is not asking for an explanation for the death of these merchants and going back to report to their families. He is questioning Boudica as an official of the empire, why the residents of the empire died in Boudica's territory.

After writing several letters in a row, Belisarius did not see the response he wanted to see. This situation made him think-can he let it go like this?

Obviously, as a responsible governor who cares more about life, Belisarius cannot ignore their behavior. If they can rob merchants today, they may go even further tomorrow and enter the provinces of the Roman Empire to start looting.

His rough hands kept rubbing his chin, and finally he made a decision and looked at his messenger: "Let the first and second battalions get ready and follow me to the border. At the same time, let them be prepared for battle. If we encounter barbarians who rob our caravans, we will fight them."

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Turning his eyes back to Egypt, Orville was still fighting the Egyptian army a few days later.

It should be said that the Egyptian army also achieved some results and removed several stone wall defenses, but the defense line became more and more perfect as time went on. Orville would order soldiers and strong men to try their best to set up new traps on the island every day to delay the enemy's offensive. Faced with a large number of traps and complete fortifications, the Egyptian army still failed to make any substantial progress.

For unknown reasons, the other side did not continue to send the guards to fight. Ordinary soldiers were not on the same level as Orwell's soldiers. Even if they had a numerical advantage, it was still difficult to play out in this environment. The battle line was deadlocked near the fortress of Soros Island. The other side spent seven or eight days and had not even touched the wall of the fortress.

This period of time was not considered a long siege. It was normal for a siege to last for several months in this era, but the Egyptian army had not fought a hard battle for too long. This short-term defeat made their military morale a little unstable.

The obscure attitude of the Roman Empire further fueled this uneasy mood, but now that Berdinos was still in power, it was a hidden danger and had no substantial impact on the current situation.

On the ninth day, the Egyptians brought heavy siege weapons from the other side - about thirty or forty catapults and crossbows. These bulky weapons began to continuously bombard the Soros Island Fortress and the stone walls below. Orwell was not to be outdone and dragged out his own heavy weapons to fight back.

He didn't bring this kind of thing when he came, but the Romans mastered the technology to make these weapons. With the materials available, they made a lot of torsion ballistae and catapults. Even if the quality and durability were slightly worse, they were still usable. Orwell also stockpiled a lot of materials and rushed to make a hole on the top of the fortress, so that they could shoot down calmly.

Both sides had the technology to make heavy projectile weapons. One side had more people and the other side had the advantage of terrain, so neither suffered a big loss. At the same time, the Ptolemaic army also began to work overtime on the island to rush to make towering siege towers. Seeing that these towers were getting taller day by day, Orwell knew that it would not be long before the other side touched the fortress wall.

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While Orwell was fighting with the Ptolemaic army, the Roman city was not idle either. The Senate had been arguing fiercely for several days.

What Orwell did had spread to the Roman city. The senior officials who learned about this matter were deeply shocked, and then the evaluation of his behavior was very polarized—one side thought he was right, and the other side thought he was wrong.

Those who oppose him believe that the situation in Egypt is now very stable and there is no need for any more trouble. Moreover, Orville's execution of Antonius without the court is an overstepping of authority and abuse of power for personal gain. It is even more absurd that he fought against the Ptolemaic army without knowing his own strength. It is better to keep things quiet while Ptolemaic Egypt does not want to resist the Romans. Not to mention severely punishing him, but also giving the Ptolemaic royal family a reasonable explanation, such as throwing him back to the British province for decades and not being able to come back.

Those who support him mainly believe that Egypt will sooner or later become a province of the empire. The current Ptolemaic royal family has hindered too many things. Orville is not wrong to "accidentally" seize the opportunity there and not let go. It is unknown when there will be such a good opportunity to intervene next time.

As for Antonius's affairs, although it is indeed wrong to overstep authority, if his crimes are true, he is indeed guilty of death. Considering that the affairs of Egypt are more important than the life of a mere elder, this behavior can be understood. Orville's merits outweigh his faults. There is no need to pursue responsibility now. Seizing the opportunity to further intervene in Egypt is the key.