Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 149 King Bran

While the troops were being mobilized, Orville was confirming the situation with Stilicho.

"How is the army's equipment?"

"We have replaced all the armor according to your request. The old armor was given to the auxiliary army or the Vikings. Most of the armor was purchased from Rome. Our production was not enough, and Governor Tiya supplemented some of the funds for us. The rest of the weapons and equipment are basically complete. The crossbows and bows are a little insufficient, but it is not a big problem and can be accepted."

"Got it. Just continue with your work." Orville sent the other person away.

In the stereotype, the Roman army was equipped with beautiful and decent lath armor, or at least mail armor, which was uniform and neat. In fact, even in the Roman Empire, except for the Praetorian Guard, most regular army armor was not completely uniform, and it was normal to use whatever could provide protection.

Lath armor, mail, halberd, scale armor...basically all kinds of armor can be seen in the army, which does not affect the use of the equipment, but Orville thinks that this situation will affect the maintenance and repair of the equipment. So when the financial resources allow, he uniformly equips his soldiers with mail armor, which will improve the endurance of the troops, and the key is that it looks much better visually.

The armor that was replaced after the change of clothes still had a place to go. Both the Vikings and the auxiliary troops did not mind accepting free armor. After all, it was not broken and could be used after some repairs. It was normal to pull armor and weapons from the dead. It was nothing serious. Armor was sometimes more valuable than human life.

In fact, he also planned to strengthen the existing mail armor by splicing and sewing some large pieces of armor on the armor to increase the defense. But the current production capacity can't even meet the basic mail armor, let alone the advanced demand. The mail armor is enough to deal with the elite troops of the British enemy. It is not cost-effective to stack the defense to the point of overflow.

Things like troop composition and weapons and equipment have been explained very clearly before. The generals on the Roman side are still the same: Trajan the Elder, Stilicho and Belisarius.

The commander of the Gauls was Gildereth, the commander of the Vikings was Rollo, and Jeanne d'Acre also requested to accompany them. This was roughly the composition of the personnel.

In order to prevent the Gallic uprising from resurfacing, the first group to land on the island was one and a half legions under Orville.

Orville gave the order that he would take action as soon as he received new news from the Vikings and officially land on the British Isles. Now the legion, food and fleet are all ready, and they are just waiting for the most appropriate time to act.

…………

During the waiting period, Orville and Jeanne took some time to chat for a while. He was very interested in some things.

"Have you heard the story of the hero Bran?"

Jeanna shook her head and denied it: "I haven't heard of it. Is it a legend among you Romans?"

"No, he is actually a British Celtic hero. Legend has it that after his death, the hero Bran asked his men to cut off his head and take it to the White Mountains for burial, with his head facing the continent, so that Bran could continue to protect Britain from invaders from the mainland." Orville felt that many stories of the British natives had a heavy background, and he didn't know whether it was the culture itself or the result of evolution. The story of King Arthur is similar. Legend has it that King Arthur did not die, but was taken to the immortal Avalon. When necessary, King Arthur would return like lightning.

In short, King Arthur and Bran failed to defend Britain in the end, let alone return like lightning.

Jeanne, though devout, would not dwell on local legends: "It's a very impressive story. I guess Bran must have been a popular leader when he was alive."

"Indeed, I think his story will be passed on forever. I have another question for you. My ultimate goal is to establish Pax Romana on the British Isles. Is this something you can accept? Although it's a bit late to talk about these things now, it's better to ask for your opinions."

"I will reject excessive luxury, and I will reject unbridled tyranny. If your so-called peace is based on these things, I will not agree with it, but if you can ensure that the people's lives are stable and orderly, then perhaps the peace under Roman rule is better than the current state of my compatriots.

But my attitude remains unchanged. The Roman Empire's unbridled demand for land will eventually kill you, just like many nobles. Accumulating too much wealth will sooner or later lead to corruption, and the country will fall. Therefore, the best state is for everyone to live and work in peace on their original land. Abandoning war and extortion is the right way. "

Orville couldn't be an idealist, but he was not annoyed by idealists who combined knowledge with practice. He just smiled at the second half of the other party's sentence and was not angry at all.

"I personally don't deny your idea, but considering the reality, it is unrealistic. It is more practical to let the British accept Roman management..."

Jeanna glanced at him: "I know, I understand."

Like later colonists, the Romans' actions in Britain had two sides - constructive and destructive.

Orwell is not interested in whitewashing the invasion. Rome is indeed a representative of classical antiquity. The average quality of the bureaucracy in the classical era cannot be expected. Governors often did unscrupulous things, causing the locals and even the Romans themselves to suffer. This is of course part of the destruction and brutality of the Romans. But at the same time, they are not like barbarians who only know how to exploit and plunder. They will intentionally or unintentionally bring some of their own things into the conquered areas.

The Romans opened dozens of mines in Britain, paved roads of astonishing length, built unprecedented large cities, and brought new technologies and political models. It can be said that the true history of Britain began with the rule of the Roman Empire. More than 600 years after the Romans left, Britain was connected with the European continent again because of the Norman Conquest. During this period, Britain completely fell into a dark age. It is not to say that there was no progress and development, but it is still correct to say that the progress was seriously lagging behind and the situation was very chaotic.

Jeanna continued, "I have another request. After you land on the island, let me negotiate with the local Celts. I think you and the local indigenous people will not go to war at all, and you can coexist in a cooperative way."

"Of course, no problem. I would rather say that I want it. Our goal is assimilation, order, stability and coexistence, not low-level genocide. No one wants to shed more blood, and no one wants to point the butcher knife at the helpless civilians."

(End of this chapter)