Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

Tia and Orville both welcomed the arrival of the scientist Ptolemy. Although his knowledge of geography and astronomy was mainly in the area near Egypt, and he did not know much about Gaul, which the Romans were now paying attention to, he was a true master and professional after all. Orville gave him about two weeks to make up for the relevant knowledge. After returning from his studies, he was able to talk freely.

At this time, Ptolemy had not yet completed his main works, but it did not prevent him from being an excellent astronomer and cartographer, and he already had a rough outline of future theories in his mind. Orville thought that he would need such an expert in the future, so he wanted to pull him over.

It was a bit difficult, but he took it one step at a time and tried his best to dig up the foundation. Just in case.

——

While the two members of the Flavian royal family were studying theory and preparing for war, the Senate was really impatient.

The situation of the uprising in Gaul was even less optimistic than expected. It was almost shrinking to the province of Narbonne Gaul, and the Gauls, who had gained confidence in their successive victories, even began to make tentative attacks on the Germanic Legion’s garrison.

The Senate and the Roman people could not stand this kind of arrogant behavior, so they decided to send troops in advance.

It was only February now, and the troops recruited from various provinces were either on the way or still in training. In addition to the 10,000 guards, the only troops that Rome could directly mobilize were two legions of 10,000 people.

Although the situation was critical, it was not a matter of life and death, and the Senate would not mobilize the entire nation. These soldiers were veterans recruited and professional soldiers quickly mobilized from neighboring provinces. They were well-trained and had a certain guarantee of combat effectiveness.

The Senate decided to transfer these people to the Narbonne Gaul province first to block the offensive of the Gauls, and if there was a chance, they would dampen their spirits and let them know the normal combat effectiveness of the Roman army.

The commander was Lucius Domitius Aurelianus, the commander of the Guards Cavalry mentioned by Vespa before, also known as Aurelian, the world restorer in later generations. Hearing this nickname, you can tell that he is not simple. Considering the opponent's combat effectiveness, Orwell can be sure that at least he will not be defeated again.

The battle plan currently determined by the Senate and the Emperor is roughly as follows:

Aurelian serves as the commander-in-chief of the Gallic Rebellion Corps. The leaders of the five legions under his command are basically from the Senate. They advance northward from Narpan Gaul.

The German Legion should have 60,000 people in service. Now there are only 20,000 people guarding the border. Vespa will bring eight legions of about 40,000 legionnaires to temporarily supplement the defense line of the German Legion. The plan does not elaborate on the auxiliary troops, but now the ratio of auxiliary infantry to legionnaires is basically one to one.

On the one hand, they are responsible for guarding against the attack of the Franks, and on the other hand, they also have to attack the Gauls westward from the Rhine.

Including these auxiliary troops, Aurelian led at least 50,000 people to advance northward from the south, and Vespa led 100,000 people to advance westward from the Rhine defense line, while guarding against the Franks. The plan is roughly like this, which should be more than enough to deal with Gaul. Orville thinks that with Aurelian's 50,000 people, it is not much different.

Vespa has not announced the commander yet, but he must have a clue in his mind. Orville will definitely not be the commander-in-chief. He estimates that he can get a legion commander or a position not too far away.

After sorting out the things, Orville participated in the farewell ceremony for Aurelian.

…………

Looking at Aurelian in military uniform and high-spirited, Orville felt a little emotional.

Aurelian is still well-known in the hearts of history enthusiasts at home and abroad. During his tenure, he repelled the barbarians who threatened Rome, defeated the separatist forces of the eastern provinces, Queen Zenobia of Palmyra, and the emperor of the Gallic Empire, which was also a Roman. He still yearned for unification in his heart and directly chose to join the territory of the Roman Empire. Aurelian recovered the land of Gaul without a single soldier.

He defeated three powerful enemies during his five years in office, but was assassinated by his men when he was preparing to go on an expedition to Persia. It can be regarded as an example of dying before achieving success, which makes heroes shed tears.

His attributes in this world are also worthy of those achievements in history, which is very good.

[Lucius Domitius Aurelianus - a brilliant general]

Diplomacy: 13

Military: 36

Management: 16

Strategy: 13

Knowledge: 16

The total value is similar to that of Tia and Vespa, and he is obviously a talent with a partiality, but the remaining four dimensions are not particularly difficult to describe.

Orville did not have much contact with Aurelian. He only had frequent contacts with Belisarius of the Guards, and he was not familiar with the rest of the Guards. However, Aurelian in this world is similar to that in another world. He is strict in military discipline and restrained and serious. As a general, he is very perfect.

Although his thinking is obviously good at quick attacks, it should not be difficult for him to guard a place. The basic quality is there. Now Aurelian is fighting rich wars that he has never fought in his eight lifetimes.

When he led the troops to fight, the combat quality of the Roman army declined seriously, and the entire empire was in a state of sluggishness.

A few examples should make it clear. In the previous few hundred years, the Romans did not need to open the map of Italy when fighting wars. In the time of Aurelian, they had to fight to defend the capital and study the terrain and roads of Italy. After the battle, they had to build city walls in the capital to ensure that it was foolproof.

In ancient times, the army had to shout and kill to ensure morale, but the Roman army did not need shouting and killing to boost morale at its peak. Instead, they thought that shouting and killing would make it difficult to hear the commander's orders during the war, so they prohibited soldiers from shouting and killing. They also did not need to use tight formations to maintain the courage of the soldiers, and could support a flexible and mobile combat mode with a hundred-man squad as a unit.

A hundred years after Aurelian, Roman soldiers also needed to use shouting and killing and overly dense formations to maintain morale. The originally good training organization almost collapsed, and the proportion of barbarian soldiers in the army continued to rise. The generals at the peak of the empire would be mad at these people.

Now Aurelian is leading serious Roman legionnaires, who have received strict training starting from three years, and have learned necessary combat skills such as swordsmanship and javelin since childhood. Their military literacy is beyond doubt. Orville feels that Aurelian can even be expected to create unexpected miracles with these 10,000 people.

After a brief farewell ceremony, the tall and strong Aurelian with a resolute face led two legions to the province of Narbonne Gaul to receive the remaining soldiers there.

With all the defeated soldiers and auxiliary soldiers, Narbonne Gaul had about 20,000 soldiers, and the combined strength of the two sides was 30,000, which was barely enough.

The Gauls were much more powerful, claiming that their number was about the same as when the Gaul national hero Vercingetorix revolted, with 200,000 people, but the actual number was more or less exaggerated. However, no matter how much the number was inflated, the number of enemy troops that Aurelian had to face directly was more than 100,000, not counting the Gallic army that the Germanic Legion faced.

The next war would be a tough one, so Orville was so desperate to recruit soldiers with loans. One more person means one more combat power, and one more combat power means one more chance of survival and military exploits.