Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

It was not particularly difficult to accept the use of Roman forces to maintain public order, but it was not the same to bring in the military forces of the Parphis. Both the native Egyptians and the Greeks had a concept that they were one to several levels higher than the Parphis.

Needless to say, the Greeks had not completely changed their mind. At least they thought that they were on an equal footing with the Romans and ruled the Mediterranean world, while the Parphis had been nothing more than subjects since ancient times. The Egyptians were in a similar situation. The story of the Exodus was basically well known to everyone, and they also felt that they were at least one level higher than the Parphis.

It was acceptable to let several ethnic groups live together, because it had always been done this way. There was a special Parphi settlement in Alexandria, and the scale was not small. However, letting the Parphis army take charge of the public order in Egypt was somewhat rebellious.

She herself also had a bit of the spirit of a royal family member, and Orville was an exception. She did not want the army of other countries to enter Egypt again. It was easier to invite a god than to send him away.

For this reason, Cleopatra felt that there was no need to offend the residents too much. At her own request, the Parfi cavalry was only assembled for emergency use, and did not enter the territory of Egypt. The main work of maintaining public order was done by the Roman cavalry.

The number of cavalry left by Orwell was not small by Roman standards, nearly a thousand people. Among these people, the ratio of old-style cavalry to new-style full-saddle cavalry was about 1:1. Orwell had made plans in advance for Cleopatra to be unable to suppress them, and it was barely acceptable to use these cavalry now.

The new-style cavalry was covered with a layer of not too thick horse clothes to cover the saddle. It was expected that the local priests or civilians with poor military literacy would not be able to see any way, so they were used like this for the time being.

Cleopatra also separated the cavalry of the guards and the auxiliary cavalry of the new legion, and put together a cavalry team of about 3,000 people. If they were not nomads, this number would have been very considerable. As for the quality issue, the enemies they were dealing with had no quality at all anyway, so some flaws were harmless.

The cavalry became a fire brigade, and they frequently moved along the Nile River and the delta. At this time, the expensive cavalry showed their value. A cavalry wing of several hundred people could move quickly at a speed that normal infantry could not achieve, and often several small-scale rebellions could be quelled in one day.

Large-scale rebellions were solved by infantry corps, and small rebellions were solved by cavalry. This combination barely controlled the situation in Egypt. After all, the rebels were at most numerous and widespread, but their quality was really not satisfactory.

Cleopatra also took the opportunity to catch the priests. Any priest caught in the rebellion was almost not forgiven. He was escorted to Alexandria and executed directly. His family was demoted to civilians, exiled, sold as slaves, and even the whole family would be executed if the circumstances were serious.

The network formed by the priests finally had a gap at this time, and the balance of power could be said to have reversed at this time. The power in the hands of the king would only become stronger and stronger in the future, and the fate of the priests was inevitably declining.

——

Ouweier on the other side started a new round of sea crossing operations after the army was ready. The fleet sailed directly along the Black Sea coastline. Pontus occupied a long coastline along the Black Sea, but their capital was not far from Byzantium, in Sinope, which is also a city in Turkey today.

This should have been a relatively large city in ancient times. The representative figure was Diogenes, the mentor of the Cynic school, who was said to have dealt with Alexander. Apart from him, this place was not particularly well-known in the Greek world.

The Black Sea people also needed ships for trade and war, but the Black Sea was not as frequent as the Mediterranean in terms of human activities after all, and the naval forces of various city-states could only be said to be unsatisfactory. At this time, Syria, Egypt, Rome, Byzantium and part of the Greek navy were all controlled by Oweier. The two sides were not of the same level, so the locals could only make trouble and it was difficult to cause a fatal threat on the sea.

Orweier first put down two battalions of soldiers to land and set up camp. The scouts of the Pontus people kept watching, but did not launch an attack.

The Roman soldiers were familiar with this kind of thing. The barracks were gradually improved, and the trenches, walls and tents were built. Only then did Orville feel at ease to send more soldiers ashore to guard or help build the camp.

After the framework of the camp was built, facilities such as bakeries, hospitals, warehouses, headquarters and stables were also built in every corner of the barracks. Orville was rushing to fight a protracted war. The camp was built like a small town. The first batch of 5,000 to 6,000 people from a legion lived in it.

The legions behind were still on the way and would arrive soon. Orville followed the first batch of troops to settle in.

——

That night, in the central army camp, Agricola was reporting to Orville.

"We found traces of the Scythians nearby"

Agricola held a short bow in his hand, a typical composite short bow with some special irregular patterns on it. This is the Scythian short bow.

This is a nomadic people with a long history in Eastern Europe. In history, they once surrendered to the Pontic people. Now they are gradually declining, and they are not a very difficult enemy.

It was expected that they would come to help. After all, the Kingdom of Bosporus (Crimea) has been controlled by the Pontic people. They control the entire Black Sea coast to a certain extent. Of course, this control is largely a fence-sitter. They will not really send troops to help either side. I am afraid that the outcome will be clear after the dust settles on the battlefield.

Orwell is not going to tolerate it anyway. These fence-sitters still don't understand the situation. At this time, they still want to wait for the price. This will only give the Romans a chance to intervene. When the Romans are free, things will not be so simple. They will lose a layer of skin if they don't die.

"It's not a bad thing. We lack experience in dealing with this kind of nomadic people. It's just right to test new tactics on them. We should think about how to deal with those Parthians. Tell the soldiers to work overtime to prepare things. After they are in place, we can go out."

"No problem!" Agricola replied.

...

A few days later, Orville made a rather rash order. One legion began to march alone. He led his troops to move in the opposite direction of Sinope, and the rest of the army stayed in the camp.

The commander of the Pontus also responded by taking measures - the main force confronted the Romans stationed in the camp, while the cavalry went to pursue Orville who was alone and deep in the camp.