Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 112: Build a Stronghold and Fight a Stupid Battle
Orville didn't argue with the other party, but just smiled and shook his head. There was no need to discuss these issues with the other party.

Maybe the Eternals thought that the Palphians were beyond saving this time, so they didn't rescue them, but the Gauls still needed to be rescued, so they left Jeanna Dacre behind.

Some people in the future will discuss what would happen if Byzantium had its own Jeanne d'Acre. I guess it is the Parvi people who are discussing this in this time and space. What would happen if Jeanne d'Acre was present in the First Parvi War? But this is all imaginary. Orville knows that even if Jeanne was present, she would be killed by the party members themselves.

It was really hard for him to feel bad towards this girl. From many perspectives, she was a person without any real shortcomings. After she was captured, the British court, which directed and acted in its own trial, spent a long time looking for evidence against her but couldn't find any, so they could only fabricate charges and finally sentence her.

The French theologian who was responsible for examining her eventually changed from being unbelieving to being convinced in a sense. Even the most conservative theologians left such records.

"Everyone has to believe that Joan of Arc does have firm faith, and they have to agree with her actions. Joan of Arc seems to have nothing to do with any greed, ugliness, hatred, resistance and revenge."

"This young girl's lifestyle was an ideal model for all Catholics, and she seemed to bring salvation to all who approached her."

There is no denying that the praise from later generations may be a bit excessive, but Orwell can't help but have a filter for historical figures. This is the first time he has turned against a historical figure he respects, and his mood is inevitably a bit subtle.

In the end, Orville wrote back.

[I would also like to accept your request, but Rome will only negotiate peace when it wins, not when it loses. Even a temporary peace talk will only result in the next war, which is something I personally cannot avoid.]
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Ragnar hesitated between the Gauls and the Romans for a while, until he received the news from Tia that Rouen had been captured and the Roman army had crossed the Seine. Only then did he decide to help Auvers fight the Gauls.

Orvel handed over cartloads of silver to Ragnar, who smiled brightly and was actually quite satisfied with the price. The North was not as wealthy as Rome, so this amount of money was already quite a lot and could be exchanged for quite a lot of things.

After basically ensuring that there were no worries, Orville began to organize the legion to complete the siege of Paris.

Originally according to his prediction, at this moment the defenders in Paris would start thinking about how to escape and break out, so he asked Ragnar to lead his men to block the rear of Paris and stop Jeanne Dacre if she tried to lead her troops to break out.

But in the end, no one in the city tried to escape or break out. They just continued to guard the city, looking quite confident.

Orville was not in a panic and continued to build fortifications. There were many forests near Paris, which were excellent building materials and it would be a pity not to use them.

Paris is one of the largest cities in Gaul. It has developed better than its contemporaries in history. The city walls are relatively high and thick, and many residents in the city can be mobilized to form a temporary army. A direct attack is not a very wise choice.

If all the people under Orville's command were legionnaires, he would dare to fight like this, but the Vikings would not fight a tough battle for them. Auxiliary soldiers were okay for assistance, but they could not be relied upon in a tough battle. The only ones who could really fight were his one and a half legions.

It was fine for these people to surround without attacking, but a strong attack was too strenuous, so siege was the best option. The current situation was that there was enough time but not enough manpower for the siege. Orville's goal was to pin Jeanne Dacre in the city, and this military achievement was enough to satisfy him. As for the rest, he had already made a lot of contributions such as advancing a certain number of kilometers, and there was no essential difference between advancing 200 kilometers and advancing 400 kilometers.

Caesar had won the Battle of Alesia largely thanks to the Romans' insane civil engineering capabilities, and now Orville was doing exactly the same thing, encircling the entire city of Paris.

First there was a circle of wooden fences, in front of which was a V-shaped trench, in front of which were antler obstacles and a number of buried pit traps. A few dozen meters behind the fence there was a three-story sentry tower for cover shooting, and this very complete wall slowly surrounded the entire city of Paris.

Orville was not to be complacent. He would not make the same mistake as the Roman army at Orleans.

He built two layers of such a defense network, one to deal with the Paris defenders, and the other to deal with possible support troops.

Caesar used the same tactics in the Battle of Alesia, which enabled him to confront 340,000 men with only 50,000 men, turning a siege into a defensive battle and taking advantage of the terrain.

After receiving the money, Ragnar worked quite efficiently. He asked his men to help the Romans build fortifications with all their heart and soul, more or less intending to steal their skills. Orville only asked his army to keep an eye on the Vikings to prevent them from suddenly turning against him, and did not stop the rest.

The Viking leader showed a strong curiosity. While his compatriots were satisfied with earning money, he often showed a thoughtful expression and often asked Orville's men and even Orville himself questions about everything, from art to architecture to history, etc., covering every detail.

Ragnar was one of the first Vikings to start raiding countries along the Atlantic coast, and there was more to it than just stealing money.

When sailing from Norway and other places to Britain or Gaul, the sea conditions in the North Sea are very terrible, with huge waves and storms occurring frequently, and shipwrecks are common.

Unlike the generally stable and peaceful sea conditions in the Mediterranean, sailing in the North Sea tests people's courage and spirit of exploration. At this time, the first group of people who dare to go out to sea to explore and come back alive must be people with strong curiosity and spirit of exploration. Ragnar is one of them.

He admitted that Ragnar was an impeccable leader as a pirate - highly mobile, brave, cunning, decisive, and pioneering. As a legendary figure who opened the future Viking Age, he certainly had many advantages, far more than disadvantages, otherwise he would not have been able to succeed.

However, this did not prevent Orville from having a very good impression of Ragnar. The Romans did not like pirates, and Orville did not like pirates either.

Of course, both parties don't have to like each other now. It's just an employment relationship. As long as they get the job done for the money, it's fine. Both parties have always been well aware of this.

While Auvers was competing with the city of Paris, other Roman troops on the front line were also not idle and were also carrying out various military deployments.

(End of this chapter)