Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 146: The Battle of Revenge

"We are not afraid of any war. This is what I told you. In our opinion, the brave warriors who died in battle will go to Valhalla after death to enjoy endless feasts and duels. So we are not that afraid of dying in battle."

Before the Vikings discovered that it was more profitable to expand outward, the way they competed for resources was internal consumption. It wasn't long after they got out of this stage, and they didn't mind fighting with their own people.

After getting the other party's confirmation, Orville felt relieved. At the same time, he added a few more imaginary enemies in his mind - Ragnar's five sons and the Viking army from the north.

"Thank you for sharing the news with me. I will remember this and ask your people to be prepared when they return. There may be trouble in a few months."

Rollo didn't understand what Orville meant, but he still promised to pass on the order.
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After two months of quiet waiting, news came from the Vikings on the Frankish coastal islands - Ragnar's sons, led by Ivar the Boneless, claimed that Ragnar was killed by King Ella of Northumbria, and they wanted to avenge their father, so they summoned all Viking warriors to join their Viking army to retaliate against the Kingdom of Northumbria.

The eldest of Ragnar's sons is Bjorn the Brave, but he seems to have little interest in Viking raiding. He is content to manage the real estate and business properties left by his father. He provides food, money and manpower to his brothers but does not participate in raiding. Among the remaining four sons, Ivar is the leader.

Now it seems that Ivar is a man who can adapt to changing circumstances. The Ragnar in this world died in a shipwreck instead of King Ella, but Ivar still put the blame on Ella, which facilitated his own conquest, and covered his invasion with the cloak of revenge for his father, successfully mobilizing more people.

It is now the end of August and the beginning of September. It is estimated that by the beginning of next spring we will see a large group of Viking pirates landing in England and fighting fiercely with the local Germanic compatriots.

Now Orville is faced with a choice - whether to attack Britain now or wait until the Vikings take action before attacking Britain.

If we act now, we can seize the initiative by surprise, but the army of Orville is not fully prepared yet, and it is already late autumn. Acting hastily may not be a good thing.

The most important thing is that Orville has not prepared winter clothes for all the soldiers. The climate in Britain is even colder, which is a bit unbearable for the Roman soldiers.

Orville's strategy has always been conservative and steady, and this time is no exception. After discussing with several officers and Tia, they finally decided to fight again in the early spring of next year and wait for the opportunity now.

After a busy day, Orville returned to his home. It was not time for Tia to come back yet and she was still outside inspecting the situation. He was happy with it and stayed in the study to read quietly. The servants were sent to the villa next door. Now he was the only one in the room because he believed that silence could make people think about problems fully.

But not long after, Jeanne d'Acre pushed the door and walked into the villa courtyard. She met Orville's eyes as he sat at the desk. Orville gestured to her and asked her why she came.

Now Jeanne is still his messenger, but she will only contact him when necessary. The relationship between the two sides probably remains at this level, and they are considered to be friends who are neither too close nor too distant (Orville thinks so himself).

"It's about a village. The people there need help. It's almost harvest time, but they don't have enough young people to harvest the crops. I hope you can allow me to leave for a while. I want to organize people to help them."

"It's up to you, but I'll give you a little advice. Don't work too hard on yourself. If you keep busy going from village to village, you'll never be able to help everyone. Just focus on solving potential problems in the process. Then you can do a lot of meaningful things in the remaining time." Jeanne has proved during this time that she does not want to rebel against the Roman Empire anymore, so after obtaining permission, she can go out to do things, and her freedom is not greatly affected.

"It is the job of politicians and nobles to focus on key issues or solve problems at different levels. In my opinion, what I do is the most meaningful thing. If there are always people who need help, I hope I can stay busy forever. But unfortunately, our lives are limited and we will all return to God's arms in the end."

Orville didn't want to refute this view, after all, it was a noble thing, but he also made another request.

"No problem, but promise me that you'll stay with Domitia for a while after you finish these things. She needs similar friends."

Hearing this, Jeanna's expression softened a little: "No problem, I'll go."

Although she is very mature compared to her peers, Jeanne is still a young girl after all. She is not like Tia who has passed her expiration date, nor is she like a saint who is completely free of desires. She also has the moods and some thoughts of girls of the same age, including friendships and social activities that normal people have.

Over the past few months, she and Domitia have really become friends. Apart from their differences in beliefs, the two have no conflicts, or rather, all the conflicts broke out in this area. The two get along quite well and are friends in every sense of the word.

During this time, Jeanne herself has come out of the shadow to a certain extent. She chooses to make up for her mistakes with actions and help more local people and anyone in need she meets.

Most people still yearn for order and kindness. The Romans were a little wary of these behaviors at first, worried that she was secretly colluding with the Gauls with evil intentions, but after watching her for a few months, they almost understood that at least Jeanne had no such intentions.

Now some Romans with a strong sense of justice will participate in the activities organized by Jeanne. Although there is a subtle missionary color, it is mainly about helping each other and alleviating the poor. Orville has no reason to stop them.

Surrendering to the Romans did not seem to have much impact on her reputation. Jeanne's fame in Gaul continued to grow. According to Orville's own somewhat malicious imagination, Jeanne's position in Gaul was a bit like Song Gongming in the Water Margin, something like "Caen's timely rain" and "Lugden Hu Baoyi".

Of course, this kind of idea is just something I think about in my mind at most. I guess no one would understand it if I say it out loud.

After getting permission from Orville, Jeanne handed him a letter: "There was someone waiting at your door to deliver a letter to you, but he seemed to be worried about disturbing you so he didn't come in. I'll give it to you by the way."

"Thank you." After a brief exchange, Jeanne left Orville's study and hurriedly called for manpower to go to the village to help.

(End of this chapter)