Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

It was not until about noon that Tia stood up, put away the notebook she carried with her, and said to Orville: "Let's go, get ready for the war."

"I thought we would take a break during this time."

"Restoration is for soldiers, not generals. As long as the war is not over, there is no vacation for qualified generals. If we rest for a while, the opportunity may slip away, and the soldiers are almost here."

The two came out of the library one after another and wanted to leave directly, but there was a crowd of people gathered at the door. A rough count was about four or five hundred. They looked at Orville covetously, as if they were looking at the murderer of their father.

They were not soldiers, but Greek immigrants living here. These Greeks have had many conflicts with the Palphians in recent years, especially during the rebellion. Racial hatred has become commonplace, and there are blood debts on each other's hands.

Signaling Orville to stand back, Tia stepped forward and questioned them: "Greeks, why are you stopping the Roman soldiers?"

The leaders said in unison: "We have undoubtedly offended the great Rome, and we just want the barbarian to pay for his crimes. He is the leader of the barbarians, so he must die! We demand that he be tried!"

Tia sneered: "The trial is over, and his life is preserved. You are not judges, don't use your Greek customs to instruct the Romans. He was captured on our battlefield, and you, the protected civilians, have no reason to interfere with our decisions. Don't gather a bunch of rabble to come and shout, and everything will go according to your wishes. If you are so opinionated, why don't you do it yourself? Why don't you go and quell the rebellion yourself? Why don't you use your own sword to fight for it?

There are thousands of bandits gathered in front of you at the port of Joppa. Why don't you dare to vent your anger on those people and go to find a powerless prisoner of war? Why do you have to beg my father to wipe out the pirates in a humble manner? Aren't you all big men with hands and feet? ! You are the Greeks who gave birth to Pyrrhus and Alexander. Your ancestors once put pressure on Rome. Now you should be ashamed of your dishonor! Simon of the Holy City killed thousands of you. You are so brave, why don't you go to the Holy City to judge him? ! "

She drew her sword out of the sheath, held it in her hand and looked around the crowd. Everyone who looked at her lowered their heads and was silent.

After everyone made way, she put away her sword and gestured to Orville. The two left the library and went to the square.

Since both of them were dressed in military uniforms, they didn't need to change clothes. They went directly to the square in front of the Governor's Palace. About 500 cavalrymen were on standby.

The flag held by the leader did not belong to the 12th Legion but to the 7th Legion. They looked in good spirits, but their clothes were more or less covered with dust and mud. They should be troops withdrawn from the front line and temporarily assigned to Tia.

Orville rode the warhorse prepared by Tia for him and left with the small group of troops.

——

"I don't think you can be a military adviser, but you are barely qualified as a local guide. I asked the bachelor of Caesarea, and you are right. The black north wind is coming. After the storm comes, they can no longer escape by boat. It is precisely because of this that they are likely to quietly transfer from the land with their retreat cut off. We must hurry and intercept and eliminate them in the port of Joppa before they transfer."

Tia briefly explained the combat objectives, while Orville was thoughtful and began to recall the information about the bandits.

"If I remember correctly, the bandit leader of Joppa Port is called John, John of the Limestone Land?"

Tia has good military literacy and remembers the relevant people clearly: "That's right, he is not a local, he led a bandit gang and a group of refugees to occupy this place. Why, do you have an impression of him?"

"We have met before." He had contact with John and knew that the other party bullied the weak and feared the strong.

After a mental struggle, he chose to continue speaking: "Sir, I know what kind of person John is. Compared with directly taking action to provoke his ferocity, I have a simpler solution."

"You can talk about it, but I may not adopt it. I am skeptical about your military understanding." That being said, with her father's request in front, Tia gave Orville a chance to speak.

The bandits in Joppa Port have recently made a disturbing discovery-Roman cavalry wandering around. Although there has been no conflict, everyone knows that this is a matter of time.

As the leader, John asked someone to go out to explore the situation, and sure enough, he found Roman soldiers who were building a camp. It seems that there are not many people building a camp, so there are two choices in front of them.

Either they should catch the Romans off guard before their main force arrives, or they should run away.

John had accumulated some confidence in his previous robbery of Roman merchant ships, and his subordinates followed suit. He decided to attack the Roman camp that had not yet been built at night.

So, thousands of bandits without any organization and coordination gathered that night and approached the camp built by the Romans in the open space outside the town in the dark.

The camp was not fully built at all, but there were a few tents set up in the foundation of a few wooden piles. Seeing this, John and others could not help but relax their vigilance. In their opinion, attacking such a camp was easy.

When they gradually approached the camp and prepared to launch an attack, a fire suddenly broke out in the camp, which made the bandits panic for a while and didn't know what to do.

This fire seemed to be a signal for attack. From the distant mountains and forests came the sound of dense horse hooves. A whole cavalry regiment of more than 500 cavalrymen were divided into three groups and attacked the bandits from different directions.

Although the bandits had an absolute numerical advantage, they had never received special training and did not know how to deal with the division and encirclement of the cavalry column. The night increased their fear. They instinctively wanted to stick together, but because of lack of training, they squeezed together, resulting in no space to regularly and orderly lay out their spears against the enemy.

The Roman cavalry could calmly draw their weapons and chop the enemy like a target, easily cutting and breaking up the bandits' formation. The huge casualties of their companions caused the bandits' morale to collapse, and they completely lost their organization and fled in all directions. Only John and his confidants were better, at least they knew to stick together and point their weapons at the enemy.

They stood closely together and slowly moved towards the town, hoping to use the complex terrain over there to deal with the Romans.

The cavalry seemed to have little interest in them, and instead dispersed to hunt the fleeing soldiers who ran towards the mountains and plains.

Two legs can't outrun four-legged creatures. Although some escaped, most people were either captured or killed on the spot.

John instinctively felt that something was wrong. He understood the principle of capturing the leader first, and these soldiers couldn't fail to understand that the Romans were definitely planning something. But he had no choice. The only place nearby that could provide shelter was the port of Joppa itself. If they moved slowly into the wilderness or scattered and fled, they would definitely die.

In this way, they were driven into the port by the cavalry like a flock of sheep. Fortunately, the port of Joppa had not fallen yet, and hundreds of bandits were killed from it, forcing back the cavalry who didn't want to fight, and John and others were temporarily safe.

After such a surprise attack, the bandits in the port of Joppa suffered heavy losses, and John and others were completely discouraged and dared not fight the Romans head-on again. John now had only one choice: to run away quickly.

John looked at the coast anxiously. It was impossible to escape from the sea in the current weather.

The dark clouds blocked the moonlight, and thunder and lightning flashed in the thunderclouds, as if Poseidon's sea monster was really roaring. The storm blew towards the coastline, and the powerful force of the storm could be felt at a safe distance.

Going by sea at this time was tantamount to suicide, but John, who was frightened, could not care much. He and his surviving colleagues talked incoherently about the horror of the Roman soldiers, and panic spread in the port.

At this time, Roman cavalry was found very close to the city. This time, they did not intend to be just scouts, but kept approaching the town, which became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

The robbers were afraid before the battle, leaving most of the local residents behind, occupying the boats and running to the sea, hoping to hold on to the reef until the storm passed or the Romans left. This became the beginning of the tragedy.

The power of the storm made them afraid to go deep into the sea, and the Roman army made them afraid to stay on the shore for a long time. Many ships were blown by the strong wind and collided with each other or even hit the reefs. In order to avoid the reefs, more ships sailed into the deeper sea and were swallowed by the huge waves. These people were caught in a dilemma.

Many people drowned; many people were swallowed by the waves; many people crashed into the reefs and cliffs and died; many people felt that it would be more comfortable to die under their own swords.