Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 118 Secret History
"There is nothing wrong with this self-proclaimed title. The Gauls can indeed call themselves warriors. First of all, they are indeed quite brave and good at fighting. In history, they were once a strong enemy of the Romans and even looted the city of Rome, which was not yet strong and prosperous in the past.

Outside the battlefield, they do have some virtues that warriors should have. Compared to those followers of Palphi, at least they will not massacre the Romans after occupying the city, and their leaders also have basic political ideas, and their ideological and moral performance is not unreasonable. At least now I don’t think that the Gauls are barbarians. Caesar has purified many of their barbaric customs.

Although their tactics were somewhat insidious and they refused to engage the Romans head-on, and became afraid after being defeated. However, this is how a warrior should behave, playing to their strengths and avoiding their weaknesses, not using their weaknesses to attack the enemy's strengths, and making the most of their advantages. So it can be said that the Gauls were warriors, and excellent warriors at that. "

"So you think they're pretty good?"

Orville was quite surprised that Procopius would give a positive evaluation. Historically, he looked down on anyone who was not a Roman.

In fact, even if it was a Roman, if the other party lacked in moral integrity, he would still look down on it, and would be sarcastic in his works or directly criticize him.

Even Belisarius, the [Last Roman], did not escape. Of course, compared with others, he was already gentle and considerate to Belisarius. It would be more accurate to say that he hated him for not fighting for it rather than looking down on him. In "Secret History", he called him a "turtle man" and disliked him for being too tolerant and honest to the point of seeming a little cowardly. This was his greatest gentleness.

To be honest, Procopius was also a very sad man, because he was born at the end of the classical era and witnessed the end of the classical era and the beginning of the Middle Ages.

Augustine, who was born one or two hundred years earlier than him, is considered the founder of medieval Christian historiography, but he is still considered a historian of the classical era and the last important historian. The key lies in his ideas.

Why is he so good at criticizing? He even criticized Justinian, a wise ruler, as "an idiot who is sometimes vicious and sometimes submissive". Orwell felt that it could be summed up in one sentence: "The ancient customs are no longer there, which is sad and lamentable."

Procopius may be the last group of upper-class aristocrats who had received a good cultural education in the classical era and still recognized the traditional Roman virtues in his heart. He had not been assimilated by the empire at that time and still held the ideas of the old generation.

He could not understand the emperor's centralized policy, the empire's policy of compromise, his indifference to cultural undertakings, the Senate's existence in name only, and he could not accept this emperor who came from a humble background and did not understand the beauty of culture and high-end art. As a result, he became extreme and blindly opposed any reform measures of this era. He simply admired the past and yearned for that era like the rising sun. Unfortunately, he was born at the sunset.

This awkwardness created the dark and cynical Procopius in "The Secret History", but it is obvious that he was more objective and natural in this era. After all, what he pursued in another world can be found in this world.

Procopius himself was not aware of Orwell's interesting thoughts. He just continued to answer Orwell's questions truthfully.

"They are worthy warriors, but that's all. The Romans transcend this category. Soldiers, not warriors, should appear on the battlefield. Only Rome has real soldiers. Other countries are just warriors and warriors at best. They should be good as gladiators and attendants, but only Romans have the ability and responsibility to rule the world. There is nothing to say about their resistance. Nero's governance of the empire was indeed not good, so their resistance is somewhat understandable. Now is not Nero's era, and their resistance should stop."

Nero was the one who took the blame. Anyway, the dead could not crawl out of the grave to defend themselves. The governance of the provinces was the responsibility of the governors. Some governors were indeed insignificant and needed to be disciplined. But even if Procopius knew about this problem, he could not say it openly. The Senate had not yet died like Nero.

"I understand your understanding. Keep doing your thing. I still have to inspect the camp."

Orville smiled and shook his head, then stood up and left to inspect the auxiliary soldiers' camp.
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Rather than saying that most of the auxiliary soldiers are soldiers, it is better to say that they are laborers who occasionally work part-time as soldiers. At any rate, that is how Orville uses these people. Except for a few elite ones, the combat effectiveness of these Palfi men should not be overestimated.

According to common sense, these auxiliary soldiers would be responsible for guarding the supply stations set up by Rome along the marching route. The marching camps previously set up by the Romans would later become transit stations for loading food and supplies. A small number of soldiers would be stationed in these stations, and auxiliary soldiers would usually do this minor work.

If they had not undergone several months of intensive training during the march, Orville would not have dared to assign them such a task, for fear that they would run away with the food. Up to now, their combat effectiveness has only been at the level of "barely acceptable".

After all, they were half-forced here, and Orville had no expectations for them. Belisarius and Stilicho were responsible for training them, and they only had time to teach them how to use slings and charge forward with spears, and obey some basic commands. They were far from the kind of soldiers Orville required.

It is not easy to achieve this effect by training overtime while marching every day. Many inferior armies in the Middle Ages were at about the same level and could only make do for the time being.

Sitting quietly beside him, after Belisarius finished his training, Orville asked him, "How are the weapons and supplies needed for the siege being prepared?"

"Everything necessary has been prepared, and we have already contacted the Vikings. They are willing to use their ships to help our army fight. However, there are many fortifications on both sides of the Seine River, and we have also found hidden stakes and iron chains in the river. It is obvious that they have been prepared for the Vikings' attack from the water. It may be risky to rush in directly.

Our army is not sure how many enemy troops are in the city, but we are sure that there are at least 100,000 people living in Paris, including the rural civilians who have come here to seek refuge. These people are all our potential enemies.

And you know the temperament of those barbarians, a group of bloodthirsty robbers who like to plunder. After all, Paris is also part of the Empire. If we let them attack the city, it will inevitably cause damage to the city itself, which will be very detrimental to our future rule and will also make us lose the support of the local people."

(End of this chapter)