Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

Finally, after an urgent discussion, Berdinos and others decided to deploy more than 10 million people, not only to guard against the 12th Legion, but also to guard against more legions that might follow. At least 30,000 people would barely make them feel at ease.

Three gifted people also went with the army. Before, there was only one gifted person supervising the battle on the front line, which was not enough. At least four people were needed to have some deterrence and margin.

This inevitably left Alexander's military force empty. Ptolemy Egypt had packaged the national defense affairs to the Romans in batches, and only maintained an army of more than 60,000 people. A large part of them had to guard against peasant uprisings in various places and the Nubians near the southern border going north. Although Alexandria was the absolute capital in terms of politics, economy, and culture, the nearby garrison was only about 30,000. After this transfer, the garrison was only more than 10,000 people.

This is still an advantage, but it is much smaller than before. After deducting the loss of troops during this period and adding some temporary miscellaneous troops, the number of troops on the other side is now only 13,000 to 14,000, which is about three times that of Orwell.

The gap is huge, but if you look into it, it is not impossible to fight.

——

Mucinus did not appear in Palfy by chance. Orwell secretly sent a letter to the other side before the war, asking him to pay attention to the movements in Egypt and the emperor's orders. Once the situation changes, it is best not to waste time. Don't mobilize the border troops slowly, which will increase the defense risk of the Syrian province and the risk of Orwell. He took his own small team and took over the command of the 12th Legion temporarily.

Mucinus also listened to the advice. After receiving the letter, he stayed in Antioch and paid close attention to the situation in the two places. After receiving the emperor's order, he was well aware of the principle of speed in war and knew that he could not delay for a moment. He traveled day and night to Palfy.

Orville had previously called the commander of the 12th Legion to explain the situation. In addition, with the emperor's order, the other party handed over his military power without much delay, so this matter was sudden. The 12th Legion suddenly attacked Egypt, and Alexandria hastily dispatched troops to support.

Orville has been observing the movement of the other side's army on Soros Island. The high tower has a good view. This matter is large in scale and cannot be hidden at all. Orville noticed that their military deployment was a bit messy, and only the garrisons on the island in front of him were intact.

Before the other side redeployed, if he defeated the enemy troops on these islands and then took advantage of the situation to attack Alexandria, the result could not be bad.

While constantly thinking about the possibilities of various military issues in her mind, Cleopatra reached out and handed a somewhat heavy and rough wooden barrel back to Orville.

"This thing called a telescope is really magical. Is it some kind of magic or a gifted person?"

"It's just an optical problem. You can ask Ptolemy. He should be able to explain it to you after thinking about it."

Orville explained briefly and carefully put his telescope in his arms.

The principle of this thing is not difficult. At least Orville, who has hardly studied physics, can understand it. It's just that the material is really hard to find. There are almost no such transparent and suitable things in ancient times.

There are still many impurities in glass these days. Orville also wants to make pure and transparent glass like other time travelers to make a lot of money, but he has tried many times with various methods in his memory and has no results. It can only be said that it may take a few years of trial and error.

In the end, he temporarily put this matter aside, spent money to find pure and transparent crystals, and then polished them into a suitable shape by hand, and barely made a few telescope test products.

The effect should be said to be unsatisfactory. The magnification is not high and it is a bit unclear. Maybe using it is the biggest improvement.

The telescopes in this space and time are not so revolutionary, because there really is a small group of "eagle eyes" who can act as telescopes in the army, but this does not mean that this little thing is not practical. It is still very useful when marching and fighting, and its function is even more than that.

Cleopatra said jokingly: "I also learned a little from him, and I also know the story of Archimedes. The key point should be these two crystals. Maybe we can cooperate to do some business in the future. This novelty may not be unimpeded in the army, but after decoration, it will definitely make a lot of money to give it to the dignitaries."

It is said that Archimedes once built a super-large concave mirror, and then used this concave mirror as an optical weapon to gather light and ignite the sails of the Romans to resist the invasion of the Romans. The truth of this story is very controversial among modern people, but at least there are similar stories in this space and time.

Orville couldn't help but look at the other party. There is a reason why the knowledge attribute is so high. Cleopatra is a person of the intellectual level even among all people.

"I will find you if I have the chance. And not only that, there are many things we can discuss cooperation on. But not now, it's better to concentrate on the battle now."

Cleopatra bowed to Orville: "Goddess Isis (goddess of life) will bless your victory, Anubis and Hades (both gods of death) will be waiting for your enemies in the underworld. I don't have a deep understanding of the battlefield, so I won't go over to cause trouble, but if you can rush into Alexandria, my hidden soldiers will contact you as soon as possible. I have given them instructions, and they will be your subordinates at your command. There are about 500 of them, and their combat effectiveness should be good. I hope they can help."

The other party gave him the bottom line, and this attitude was quite satisfactory to Orville. He didn't like people hiding important matters during cooperation, and an army was certainly part of the important matters.

After thinking for a while, he ordered a guard beside him: "Take 30 people and keep an eye on Her Royal Highness the Princess when we go out for a night raid. If the situation on our side is not right, take her and important personnel to quickly break out by boat and leave Soros Island. You will temporarily command her in the future, and protect her safety as you protect my safety."

He felt a little sorry for not having the opportunity to fight for glory, but the guard actually knew that this was a kind of care for him. The situation on the battlefield was very dangerous, and the orders of the superiors were absolute and could not be violated, so he saluted Orville to show his obedience, and then went down to mobilize people.

Orville also went down with him to make the final pre-war mobilization for the soldiers.