Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 11 Recruit Training
The population of this city and the surrounding areas is not small, certainly 30,000 or 40,000. Orville only needs 600 people, so there is a lot of room for selection. In line with the principle of not wasting opportunities, he tried his best to pick out the 600 people who have the least worries, are the strongest, and are the easiest to manage.

Orville had not a penny in his pocket, so he relied entirely on the Romans for food and equipment.

Of course, they could not afford horses and armor, but the equipment for the light infantry was easy to get. After Vespa gave the order, each legion allocated some of its spare weapons and easily filled the gap of several hundred men.

Hundreds of small shields, a small number of short bows and arrows, a sufficient number of javelin tips and a small number of standard short swords. This is all their equipment. To be honest, there is no preference. This is the equipment of light infantry.

When people talk about the Roman Legion, they usually think of the heavy infantry. In fact, the core is indeed the heavy infantry, but in addition, each legion also has a considerable number of light infantry. This is not much different in the history of any world.

They were either new recruits joining the battle for the first time or foreigners. Their roles in the war were to contain and harass the enemy, transport supplies and build fortifications, or they might serve as cannon fodder to deplete the enemy's strength depending on the circumstances. In short, the work they did was not very decent.

Orville was also at a loss as to how to train these people. Vespa meant to leave it all to him, and he had no idea how to do it.

After some consideration, he decided to copy the policy of the historical Roman general Scipio. Since he was able to lead such a trained army to conquer Spain and North Africa, there would be nothing wrong in copying it.

On the first day, the soldiers ran five kilometers armed, carrying all their food and weapons.

The next day, clean and maintain weapons and equipment, and clean your body at the same time.

On the third day, rest and free time.

On the fourth day, practice hand-to-hand combat and the use of thrown weapons.

This cycle repeats itself with four days as a cycle.

This is the basic policy. Except for the day of rest when Orville does not plan to move, the rest of the training schedule must be adjusted according to the mental and physical state of the soldiers. In short, it is a periodic and targeted training in weapon maintenance, physical fitness and battle formations. The idea is very clear.
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After taking over the stronghold of Waterdeep, the Palphi people had actually lost all the cities in the surrounding area. Apart from the countryside, only three small and medium-sized strongholds remained.

Vespa's plan remained unchanged, and he was going to take down all these strongholds before winter.

Vespa divided his forces into four parts - the main force was to guard the prisoners captured during this period, and three forces were set aside to deal with the three strongholds.

The number of garrisons in these strongholds was not large. Both were built on mountains, like eagle's nests, easy to defend and difficult to attack. The Roman commanders did not want to waste troops and mainly adopted siege.

They built bunkers, siege towers and battering rams on the hillside, waiting for the defenders to become exhausted, and then looking for an opportunity to take down these strongholds in one fell swoop.

Tia also received a mission from Vespa. She was to lead a cavalry to capture the isolated Camel Town in the north.

This was not a strategic stronghold, nor was it of any practical value. It was located in the northwest of the kingdom. The Romans had ignored this town at first, but taking it had great symbolic significance. After taking these three strongholds, Vespa could declare that he had completely suppressed the rebels in the north of the province, which was a great boon to morale and also an important political asset. Since the other troops were preparing for a siege, horses were not very useful. Attacking Camel Town only required taking the enemy by surprise, which would not take long and would not cause any losses. Therefore, Tia received cavalry support from other legions and led more than a thousand cavalry out of the city.

It was rare for Orville to ask to follow the army, because if he didn't, he would have to clean up the bodies with his men. Even if he didn't have to do it himself, it wouldn't be a good job, so he might as well go out and get some fresh air.

Riding on the overgrown road, Tia held a map in her hand and began to discuss plans with several other commanders.

"A town without city walls can be captured with just one surprise attack, so it won't be a big problem. The locals know they are isolated, so their will to resist should not be strong."

The opinions of several commanders were not very different, and this was their combined meaning, but Tia seemed to disagree with the proposal.

"Enough blood has been shed, and more blood will be shed in the future. I am tired of this method, so I will change my approach and persuade the city to surrender first."

These cavalrymen were not all educated in the Roman style. Many of them were barbarian mercenaries trained as reserve officers. It was okay to expect them to fight bravely and fight ten against one, but it was also okay to expect them to obey Tia's command. Don't make it difficult for them.

Tia was also very clear about this. The established practice was to allow them to plunder and massacre after breaking into the city. She just didn't want to do that, but she couldn't directly violate the unspoken rules between her and the barbarian cavalry, so she came up with such a tactful way.

With the example of Tiberias' surrender and Tiya's military achievements, several commanders did not want to offend her and agreed to this decision.

More than a thousand cavalrymen rushed over a long distance and soon arrived at Camel Town. The intelligence was slightly inaccurate. The rebels here had built a simple wooden wall, but it was of no avail. Tia judged that the wall could not stop them.

She rode to the town gate and announced loudly: "Within a hundred miles, you are the last stronghold that has not surrendered. Cities stronger than yours have not been able to stop any of our attacks. You are the only one left fighting alone. Accept Rome's surrender terms, and your property and life will be protected. These agreements are still valid now, even though you are so rude and impolite.

It is absurd to resist without victory. If you reject my kindness and generosity, you will find your walls destroyed like toys and you become slaves in vain. Cherish your chance, this is the last kindness Rome can offer!

After saying this, Tia led the army to set up camp outside the city without caring about the other party's reaction.

It can be said that these words were very effective. Before the camp was set up, several people came out of the city to negotiate with Tia.

Orville narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at the people approaching from a distance, and whispered to a guard of Tia beside him: "Keep an eye on them later, be careful of those who want to fight to the death. I will take the leader's weapon. I want to take this opportunity to identify who the other party is."

The guard immediately looked at his superior, and after Tia nodded slightly to indicate her permission, he solemnly nodded his head to agree to Orville.

There were only five people in the group, and they behaved very properly. They immediately surrendered their weapons and allowed the Romans to search them.

(End of this chapter)