Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 12: Burning the City
Orville mixed in with the guards and found someone familiar as expected. He pulled his helmet down to cover his face and lowered his head slightly to prevent the other party from recognizing him. Then he walked forward to confiscate the other party's weapon, and a string of information came into his mind.

[John Levi, the cruel and decisive tyrant]

【外交：14军事：16管理： 3谋略：17学识：6】

John Levi was a not very noticeable person. He was neither tall, muscular and strong like a typical Roman officer, nor did he carry a certain aura like Vespa and his daughter. He looked like just an ordinary person.

He is a little thin but not skinny, a little tall but not eye-catching, and his appearance is nothing special. If you don't pay close attention, he will not be recognizable in a crowd.

He walked quickly to Tiya, gave a not-so-standard greeting, and then got straight to the point: "I am the leader of the locals. I welcome these suggestions and will persuade everyone to accept them. But I hope you will respect our traditions and laws and let us go today and give us a day. Today is our Sabbath. According to our sacred laws, we cannot negotiate or participate in matters related to war on this day. I hope you can respect our local customs. This will not cause you any loss."

When Tia saw that the other side was not going to continue fighting, she was in a good mood and said, "No problem. The beliefs and culture of the locals can be respected within limits. I will wait here until tomorrow."

"Wait a moment, I have a question." Orville interrupted at this time, staring at John.

John looked calm: "Please go ahead."

"How can we be sure that you really want to surrender? Camel Town has been isolated in the north for so many days, and you have no intention of negotiating with us. Now that the Roman cavalry has arrived, you are ready to surrender?"

This is also the question in the minds of many officers. So far, they have encountered many cases of false surrender. Each time may not be fatal, but it will cause more trouble. No one wants to deal with the mess.

John spread his hands and looked at Tia innocently: "We didn't know that Tiberias and Waterdeep had already fallen before, and we still had hope. Now that resistance is hopeless, why do we still have to fight? If you don't want to believe us, I am willing to stay here with my followers, how about that?"

"Let's do it this way. I will give you enough respect." Tia nodded and agreed to this matter.

He was quite good at judging people. Among all the people present, Diya had the highest official rank and was the easiest to fool. The strategy attributes of the other officers were all above ten points, in other words, they were all above the average. Only Diya was seriously below the average.

It's not that she is stupid or has low emotional intelligence. After Orville's observation for some time, she is more innocent and kind. It's a bit strange to say this about a general, but it's true. She can think of many things, but she is unwilling to think too badly of others or be wary of others.

Similar to the Roman emperor in history, if she continued to be so naive, she would probably end up being murdered.
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Since the superior had given the order, it was carried out accordingly. However, that evening, a reconnaissance cavalryman urgently reported that a large group of troops were evacuating the city.

When Tia heard this, she lost her sleepiness in an instant, sat up from the bed, and ordered her cavalry to rush into the city to intercept those who were fleeing.

Orville didn't sleep at all, he was waiting for changes to happen. He knew that people who were labeled as vicious would not surrender easily and would fight the Romans to the end.

Tia was organizing the cavalry to intercept, so there was no need for him to go over and cause trouble. He brought a few people to the tent where John was imprisoned and lifted the curtain.

As expected, there was no one in the tent, only a few bodies lying on the ground, it seemed that they had already run away. Orville walked closer and bent down to carefully observe the shackles that were twisted open. This strength was not something that a human could have. It was very clear that John Levi or one of his men was also a "talented" person, and this was a premeditated action.

Sighing, he said to the soldiers on his left and right, "Don't report this to the legion commander yet. Wait until she's done with her work tonight. This kind of bad news could easily cause her trouble on the battlefield."

In fact, Orville knew very well that Tia already knew that she had been tricked, but there was nothing she could do. She could only take advantage of the situation and follow the other party's thinking. She couldn't just watch the other party slip away.

Turning her attention to Tia, she didn't even have time to make a pre-war speech. After the soldiers gathered, she immediately led the team to start the action.

As she expected, the small number of defenders' fences did not stop her and her cavalry, and the group successfully entered the town.

But at this moment, the situation changed again. Not long after they entered the town, flames began to rise into the sky from the outskirts of the town.

There are many wooden structures in this town, and given the dry autumn weather, the fire started quickly and soon turned into a big fire.

The most crucial point is that only a few people escaped, and most of the local residents are in the town. The situation here is very chaotic now. If left unattended, most of the residents will probably be burned to death.

After hesitating for more than ten seconds, Tia finally made a difficult decision: "Send out three teams of 100 people to help with the evacuation, and the rest of you follow me!"

After planning in this way, the effect is still not optimistic.

Before leaving, John Levi deployed a number of diehards in the city. With the idea of ​​dying together with the Romans, they mixed in the crowd and waited for an opportunity to attack. Many Roman soldiers were caught off guard and suffered casualties.

Since they were not rescuing their own people in the first place, these soldiers had no enthusiasm. As a result, many soldiers simply gave up on going deep into the rescue and turned their horses around to head out of the city, not allowing those who had escaped from the city to leave, in order to prevent the rebels from taking advantage of the situation and escaping.

We can no longer count on rescue efficiency, so these people can only save themselves. However, the locals did not expect a big fire, and are now basically in a state of panic and confusion.

Tia went to chase the other rebels, but some of them stayed in the camp and some participated in the rescue. Now there were only about four or five hundred cavalrymen following her. The rebels were obviously well prepared and had planned the route in advance.

The surrounding environment was relatively complex, with undulating terrain and many trees and bushes. The rebels, who were familiar with the local environment, quickly shook off the rebels with the help of the terrain. Tia tried hard to intercept some small groups of rebels, but most of them were women, children and the elderly who were exhausted, and she failed to catch the mastermind of the other side.

If they continued chasing, they would easily be ambushed. Tia had no choice but to give up, and took the prisoners back to the camp, where she began to quietly count the losses.

(End of this chapter)