Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

The next morning, the black north wind dissipated with the first ray of sunshine, and the coastline was full of incomplete corpses and shipwrecks.

Even experienced warriors rarely saw this scene, and their faces were heavy for a while. Not many people cheered and celebrated the death of the enemy. They all started to collect and burn corpses to prevent the spread of plague.

Orville certainly didn't see this scene with his own eyes. In fact, he was a little scared. He kept giving himself psychological hints, suggesting that this was just a part of history and he couldn't change anything. After repeating it many times, he pulled his hands out of his arms and pretended that everything was normal.

Tia was a little absent-minded looking at the coastline. She glanced at Orville who was still watching the show expressionlessly beside her, then quickly returned to normal and gave orders to her subordinates: "The remaining people in the city, whether women, children, the elderly or adult men, are local residents persecuted by bandits and have not done anything hostile to Rome. According to the law, these are the subjects of King Aquita, not rebels. We have the responsibility to protect the subjects of our allies and bring them safely back to other cities of the Parfi people. As for this place, in order to avoid it becoming a pirate den again, it will be razed to the ground."

The officers below agreed repeatedly, their eyes full of admiration and awe. To say that they looked down on this relative yesterday and thought that women should not go to the battlefield, but last night she used 500 cavalry to annihilate the 2,000 bandits with almost no losses, and personally commanded the cavalry, chopping off more than a dozen heads with the long sword in her hand. Even if judged by the most stringent standards, this is an impeccable victory, and Tia is also a capable general.

The Romans did not hate victory or strong men. Facing a strong general who could bring victory, these Roman soldiers could change their attitude. Now it was no problem for them to believe that Tia was not an ordinary woman, but the incarnation of the goddess of war Athena. Anyway, the battle was won, a great victory, and the general's words were what they wanted.

Cavalry was precious at all times, and the remaining dirty work was not their turn to do. Two other battalions of people came with a lot of military slaves to clear the field. Orville and Tia returned to Caesarea, where they were warmly welcomed by Vespa.

He was very satisfied with his daughter's achievements, and even more satisfied that the hidden danger of pirates was successfully resolved. He even held a banquet for this. Tia reported Orville's contribution to Vespa truthfully. Vespa was in a good mood and agreed to let him, a prisoner of war, attend the banquet.

——

The banquet was held in Philippi, the current capital of King Archita, the ruler of the Parvi people, and also a command hub.

Orville appeared at the banquet and changed his clothes. It was the toga worn by the Romans. A kind of oversized wrapping garment, most of the robes worn by people in the portraits of Roman philosophers in later generations are of this type.

Strictly speaking, people without citizenship cannot wear it, but this is Vespa's intention. He gave Orville an expensive toga and asked several servants to help Orville put on this difficult-to-wear garment.

On the surface, it shows recognition, but secretly it also means testing.

Not everyone can abandon their identity lightly. Orville is probably one of them. So far, he has no sense of identity with any country or nation in this world, so these are just labels for him, and they can be torn off and replaced when necessary.

Philippi is just an inconspicuous city on the east coast, but Vespa still did his best to organize a reasonable banquet.

It is not a private gathering of the upper aristocracy, where people eat and chat while lying down. It is more like a public banquet or a military celebration banquet. The chefs put the prepared things together for people to use. There are no so many rules of respect and inferiority in the lively and festive occasions.

Vespa was born as a mule driver and businessman. He was promoted to provincial governor and consul. He had a rich family background. It was no problem for him to hold a banquet to win over his subordinates and restore morale. Needless to say, as the highest commander on the battlefield, he was surrounded by many people. The same was true for Tia, who was the apple of the old general's eye. In addition, she won a victory this time and became the focus of the field.

And Orville was sure that the people around Vespa might be for courtesy, and the people around Tia were basically sincere and wanted to get something for free.

These people were turned away and went back to drink with their accomplices in shame. Orville sat in the corner and ate quietly, observing the actions of the people around him.

No one said it clearly, but Orville felt that he was a little isolated. Not many people liked him as a surrendered general, and he was happy to do so. He concentrated on eating. He didn't eat anything decent during the dozens of days of the siege, and later he kept eating military rations in the army. Now it is naturally great to change the taste.

He didn't have any taboos. The only thing he didn't touch was the wine that the Romans loved the most. It was said that they used lead containers to make wine, believing that this would make the wine sweeter, which resulted in the lead content in the wine exceeding the standard by more than 200 times. He didn't know what the world was like, but for his own safety, it was better not to drink it.

However, he was not the only one who was isolated on the field. Orville looked at the woman wearing the traditional long gown of the Palphians not far away, swallowed the unfinished steak in two bites, and walked over to greet her.

He bowed his head respectfully: "Lord Berenice, it's an honor to meet you. May you stay young, healthy and beautiful forever."

Berenice was stunned at first, and glanced up and down at the young man in Roman clothes, and then said: "Who are you?"

"Governor Mel appointed by the rebels, you should have some impression of me."

Berenice suddenly realized: "Orville, who was in the olive oil business, I remember. You now"

She glanced up and down at Orville's toga, and then subconsciously glanced at her traditional clothes. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words turned into a bitter smile on her lips.

"It was the Herodian family that was sorry for their subjects and made you homeless and helpless. I'm sorry that my brother and I failed to stop those people in the Holy City. I'm sorry that we didn't have the courage to refuse the Romans' request."

The woman in front of her has a beautiful face. She looks to be in her early thirties. She has fair skin and no calluses on her fingers. She is well-maintained. You can tell at a glance that she is a pampered aristocrat. The only drawback is that she is mentally exhausted, has obvious bags under her eyes, and looks worried. Orville also knows that it is difficult for this Sister Wang not to worry.

The governor sent by Rome did not want to govern this area properly at all. He used various means to provoke conflicts between the locals and the Greeks, and even personally burned, killed, and looted, which angered the local people.

The Herodian royal family were caught in the middle and were not human beings. On the one hand, they knew the strength of the Romans and did not dare to break up. On the other hand, the people below were really overwhelmed. From the perspective of Orville, an onlooker, even though King Aquita Weak, but sincere in easing the relationship between the two parties, the Roman governor simply came to stir up trouble, and all efforts were of no use.

This kind-hearted sister Wang even ignored her own reputation and walked barefoot to the Governor's Palace alone, threatening to dedicate herself to the Governor in order to stop the other party's atrocities. After saying this, the other party still turned a deaf ear and continued to go his own way, killing, looting, and forcing rebellions in this place.

In the end, the siblings had no choice but to cry loudly while giving a speech to comfort the people. Even crying could not fundamentally solve the problem. Some moderates represented by the royal family were driven out of the Holy City. Many people even Killed on the spot.

The Roman legions came back to suppress the rising local rebellion. King Aquita also wanted to command some auxiliary cavalry to have a sense of participation. Berenice had nothing to do, so she was put here as a mascot.

Orville couldn't bear to feel bad for such a kind-hearted lady: "It's not your fault. We can't change the situation. Now that the matter has come to this, what His Majesty the King should do is to quell the riot as soon as possible and reduce the losses. What you should do is Give your subjects confidence, so I need you to cheer up as soon as possible. The refugees in Joppa Port will be moved here in a while, and they should need your care. After all, you are a member of the royal family, so you can give them some comfort and confidence."