Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

The Nabataeans on the other side of the battlefield didn't know what Ivar was thinking. They only saw a group of strangely dressed foreigners driving strange boats into the heart of their formation like crazy, and then hacked at random without caring about the overall situation of the war, as if they were possessed by the devil. The sea was dyed red with blood and full of broken limbs, like a terrible scene that only exists in the underworld.

This gesture successfully shocked the locals. For Ivar, his strategy had the opposite effect - more Nabataeans merchant ships began to withdraw from the battlefield to escape, and even some warships with weak fighting will were swept away, and some warships with fighting will were also affected by the retreating ships. The Nabataeans' formation, which was not tight, became full of loopholes. The captains under Ivar instinctively seized the opportunity and began to cooperate in hunting down the warships that refused to retreat.

Even the sailors on the Nabataean warships could not compare with the northerners in hand-to-hand combat. Without the cover of the formation, they were quickly surrounded by the flexible and maneuverable Viking longboats, becoming meat on the chopping board and being slaughtered at will. Objectively speaking, there were still brave men among the Nabataeans. Seeing that there was no hope of winning, many sailors chose to ignite their warships and the warships of the northerners with burning asphalt, and died with these people, but these people had no impact on the overall situation. The northerners who jumped off the ship to escape were quickly rescued by their companions and continued to fight on the new longboat, while the Nabataeans who jumped off the ship to escape were often killed in the water by the northerners with javelins, axes and long swords.

There were even many northerners who took pleasure in this, rowing boats around the edge of the battlefield, stabbing the Nabataeans who were paddling with swords, driving them back to the center of the battlefield, and then watching them gradually drowned by the turbulent sea water due to blood loss and physical exhaustion.

Soon the Nabataeans' resistance weakened in many places, and the only fresh troops were the ships that besieged the Roman warships. The northerners tightened the siege and surrounded these ships.

The Roman warships were quite strong and durable, and so far, few of them had been sunk or occupied by the Nabataeans. The remaining surviving warships and the northerners cooperated internally and externally, and the Nabataeans, who were struggling to hold on, suddenly entered a state of collapse and could only watch themselves being eliminated bit by bit.

Ivar ordered that except for some prisoners of war that looked very valuable, any captured Nabataeans were killed on the spot. The ocean was almost completely stained with blood, and the wreckage of burning ships and countless corpses floated on the sea.

This naval battle ended in a somewhat anticlimactic way. The main reason should be attributed to the opponent's coach's misjudgment and the Nabataeans' lack of experience in large-scale naval battles. Facing the overly cruel battlefield, they were unable to adapt to it at once, and were directly penetrated by Ivar and his men.

If the other side could have discovered the problem earlier and taken targeted precautions, the result of this naval battle should have been evenly matched, but unfortunately there was no room for ifs in this matter. The Roman navy represented by Ivar won a great victory and officially announced its dominance in the sea around the Sinai Peninsula to the surrounding forces.

——

Ovel silently observed the situation on the coast and felt a little uncomfortable - on the one hand, it was moral and emotional, and on the other hand, he felt uncomfortable with Ivar's behavior of taking the place of the dead. Obviously, Ivar felt that he had grown wings and could do things independently at some times without listening to orders.

He had no intention of using force, and had reminded Ivar to be more restrained in his work. He did not expect that this kind of thing would happen. Now the Nabataeans would hate the Romans, and he had to take the trouble to reconcile the contradictions between the two parties.

He said to Agricola with a cold face: "After you go back, remember to remind me to write a letter to Rollo in the British Province. This matter is more important, don't forget it."

"Yes!" Agricola probably understood Orville's thoughts.

Since Ivar is now somewhat disobedient, but Orville can't be too extreme to make him useful now, the best way is to attract a group of people, and from this point of view, Rollo is also a good choice. He is different from Ivar. Ivar has a vague way of thinking of a national leader, at least thinking about how to make his people live better in the future, and this future also includes their descendants hundreds of years later, while Rollo is a more realistic person. He thinks about how to climb up and then how to get a higher position for himself or his descendants.

So relatively speaking, Rollo has less things to consider and is more obedient to orders, so Orville will leave Rollo in Britain. He is afraid that Belisari will not be able to suppress the ambitious Ivar after he leaves. Now that both places are considered stable, it is normal to make some personnel transfers. I believe Rollo is willing to come here to share a piece of the pie.

After the naval battle, Ivar went ashore to replenish supplies and repair and count the losses. Overall, it was acceptable. Their navy was still combat-capable. On the other hand, the Nabataeans had lost their confidence in fighting. Seeing this, Orville did not let his army waste time in the same place, but marched forward directly and began to threaten the core city of the Nabataeans, Petra.

Petra means "rock". It is a city built in a canyon. Even from a modern perspective, it is a very magnificent place. Due to the narrow terrain, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as the two passes are controlled, the Romans will have no way to deal with the people inside no matter how strong their combat power is. However, Orville did not intend to attack the city by force, but only intended to sign a surrender agreement with the other party.

The army was divided into two groups to block the entrance and exit of Petra. Orville knew that the other party must have secret passages or something, but he didn't care much, as long as he could basically hinder the other party from trading.

A few days later, the other party sent an envoy to negotiate, and Orville gladly accepted the other party.

——

In the central army camp, Orville formally met with the Nabataean envoy.

The envoy was a dignified old man with a white beard and a frown. It was said that he was a member of the royal family with status. After the meeting and courtesy, the other party went straight to the point and started negotiations.

"We are sorry for robbing your caravan. As compensation, we are willing to hand over those robbers with both hands and guarantee that similar accidents will not happen again. Your fleet can move freely in the waters under our control. We will no longer collect taxes or protection fees from any Roman ships. We are willing to contribute a generous gift to you. We can also negotiate to cede part of the border land. If you have any other requirements, we can negotiate again."