Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

In the mountains of Asia Minor, a large cavalry unit is marching.

The young Frankish prince observed everything around him with curiosity. He was surrounded by hundreds of Frankish knights in uniform. They were now in Asia Minor, walking on the land of the Kingdom of Pontus.

After he advised King Charles, King Charles did not retreat in the face of difficulties. Instead, he became more energetic and ordered a considerable number of cavalry units that could be mobilized to go to Pontus. Instead of taking the traditional route, they relied on the power of the Scythians to go downstream along the dense water network. After arriving at the coast of the Black Sea, they quietly took a boat to Sinope.

Adding together more than a thousand people, even if it was cavalry, it was not really a lot. It can only be said that the gift was light but the sentiment was heavy. Mithridates also understood this point and only asked them to move with the army without a strong order. The prince served as the commander of the Frankish army. King Charles wanted to let him exercise and gain experience. This time he was just a nominal commander, and the actual combat was responsible for others.

In fact, he felt that he could already command the army in person. The Roman Trajan was slightly younger than him and was now the commander of a legion. However, this was his father's intention and there was nothing to say. He looked at the cavalry troops around him with some boredom.

The Scythians were not a particularly powerful nomadic people. Mithridates had to work hard to get two or three thousand people here. Together with the scattered troops, there were 5,000 cavalry here. The quality was uneven and the equipment level was worrying, but cavalry was cavalry after all, and it was an expensive, highly mobile and powerful branch of the army.

So after learning that the Roman commander went west alone, the Scythian chief was very confident. He also knew that the Romans were strong and difficult to deal with, but in his cognition, the cavalry must be stronger than the infantry when the number was similar, no matter how exaggerated the gap in training, equipment and fighting willpower between the two sides was.

In the prince's view, confidence is a good thing, especially when fighting with the Romans, you must have confidence, but confidence should not be excessive and evolve to the point of arrogance. The chief in front of him has this tendency.

Mithridates' order was to harass, but he was a bit self-willed and always wanted to find an opportunity to confront the Romans head-on to solve the problem once and for all.

This is understandable, after all, he felt that he was riding a four-legged creature and could run away even if he couldn't beat them, which meant that they were invincible and would not suffer much loss if they just clashed with them.

As Orwell's army gradually moved away from the Roman camp near Sinope, the chieftain became bolder and began to harass more frequently. In the end, this harassment turned into a battle. The Romans formed up by the water and faced the Scythian army head-on.

They were arranged by a river. The first row was not infantry, but a large number of unloaded carriages - these carriages had thick wooden boards and shields on one side for protection, and brackets on the other side that could be embedded in the ground to stabilize the body. The Romans stood on these vehicles in groups of three or five to be on guard.

The carriages extended from the left side of the formation to the right side, forming the skeleton of the position, forming a half-moon arc. Behind the carriages were various soldiers - those holding javelins, spears, bows and arrows, and those operating small scorpion crossbows. It looked like a very complete formation, but neither the chief nor the prince had seen anything like it.

The prince quietly discussed with his men: "Is this a new tactic invented by the Romans?"

"It should be similar. The commander of the other side is the governor of Egypt, Orville Flavius, the adopted son of the Roman emperor. This person has always been particularly fond of applying new technologies, and the results are mixed. I personally think it's not bad."

"Then wait and see." The prince simply responded, and then turned his attention back to the battlefield.

The chief also showed a certain degree of caution in the face of something he had never seen before, but he did not understand the doorway. After hesitating, he still thought that he could not retreat at this time. He began to order the army to launch an attack and attack the Roman defense position.

Then they kicked the iron plate as expected.

The Scythian cavalry lacked impact power, and the mainstream was riding and shooting and harassment. Even the armored shock cavalry like Orwell, who used tall horses, could not overturn the specially reinforced carriage with five or six people standing on it. The cavalry could only rush to the bottom of the position and then began to hesitate.

Some people rode horses to kill the enemies standing on the carriage, but their mounts were killed by the long spears stabbing from all directions, and then they were killed by the javelins or arrows shot out.

Some people simply chose to dismount and climb in, but were killed by the legion infantry who were ready to go with short swords. They were completely scattered when they were fighting on foot, and their equipment level was not as good as the legion soldiers wrapped in one or even two layers of armor. The result is self-evident.

After the failure of melee combat, there was no need for the chief to give orders. These people took the initiative to retreat and began to try to harass the Romans with bows and arrows, just as the Parthians did to Crassus's army in the Battle of Carrhae.

But Orwell was not Crassus. His army had a strong long-range force and was well prepared.

Most of the arrows from the Scythians fell on the wall or shield on the outer side of the chariot, causing little effective damage. Even the arrows that fell inside the army were not very effective. The armor rate of the Auvergne army was quite high, and it was difficult to be effective just by shooting with a small-pound horse bow.

At this time, the Romans did not just sit there and take the beating. They drew their bows and arrows and shot outward with bows and arrows or crossbows.

Let’s not talk about the auxiliary soldiers. Orwell’s legionnaires are equipped with strong bows and crossbows. The poundage and performance are much stronger than the ordinary bows and arrows of the Scythians. Although the horse archery has the advantages of flexibility and strong mobility, it is used on horseback after all. The poundage cannot be too high to pull it. It is inherently inferior to the performance of the same level of infantry bows.

The Scythians can shoot at the Romans, and the Romans can also attack the Scythians, and even shoot more accurately and more powerfully.

Obviously, the Scythians have no protection from chariots and fortifications, and they are not wearing heavy armor. The bows and javelins of the Romans have caused them a considerable degree of trouble.

The situation is not only that. Orwell arranged a considerable number of scorpion crossbows behind the army. These heavy equipments are operated and shot efficiently with the cooperation of several auxiliary soldiers and legionnaires. They have satisfactory accuracy. Each round of scorpion crossbow volleys can cause considerable casualties to the Scythians.

After a long attack, the Scythian chieftain’s face is becoming more and more gloomy.