Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 155: The Intensity of War in the Novice Village
Boudica's words were very confident and seemed to be well-prepared, but Orville didn't think so. He thought that these Celts could at most be considered as being recruited, and that absorbing these people was to make them stop resisting, and it would be a bit difficult for them to really help in the battle.

It is said that the Boudicca Uprising in history mobilized 120,000 Celts to participate in one go, and it was also a massive battle. It is estimated that because the land of England was occupied by others, the Celtic population also decreased accordingly, so it was halved to only 60,000 people.

These 60,000 people may sound like a lot and are actually not a small number no matter how you calculate it, but this is the 60,000 people according to the barbarian standards, and it is a typical example of a whole family being swept in one wave with varying quality. The combat effectiveness of this type of tactics cannot be counted on.

To give an example, let’s not talk about Caesar in the late Roman Republic or those tough guys and highly qualified legionnaires in the early and middle stages of the Empire. Stilicho, a general under Orville in the late Empire, fought this kind of bad battle.

At that time, the Roman Empire was on the verge of collapse and could not muster many high-quality field troops. Faced with such an army of nearly 400,000 people, Stilicho, on the one hand, recalled the border guards, and on the other hand, he tried his best to recruit fugitives and slaves to join the army. Together with the 30,000 barbarian allied troops, he gathered a total of 70,000 miscellaneous troops.

These 70,000 ragtag troops defeated the 400,000 barbarians without much effort. Of course, this was related to Stilicho's own command skills, but it was also closely related to the backward tactics of several hundred years BC, which was to attack the entire family at once.

When fighting against such troops, it is not an exaggeration for the legionnaires to be able to defeat ten enemies with one on the front battlefield, because in official history, Boudica was indeed beaten like this by the Romans in her last battle.

The Gauls on the mainland were far superior to their cousins ​​on the British Isles in terms of both the intensity of their wars and the degree of their foreign exchanges. To put it more dramatically, the Gauls' military science was at a higher level, and although they were slightly backward, they were still able to fight.

The Gauls had good metallurgical technology, and their military tactics used mounted infantry, light cavalry and heavy infantry lines. Although they lagged behind the hegemonic countries in terms of organizational concepts, political concepts and logistical concepts, they were generally at the same level as the Mediterranean world. The backward parts could rely on combat willpower and terrain to take advantage of these things.

But as for the Celts on the British Isles, although this statement is disrespectful to their bloody history, there were objective reasons why they were conquered by the Anglo-Saxons or Romans. They were indeed a bit backward in many aspects.

The Roman Empire is often compared with unified states such as the Qin and Han dynasties. There is no need to distinguish between the better and the worse. Generally speaking, they were of the same size and level, and were relatively advanced at the same time. The Celts on the British Isles, in terms of cultural and military levels, were basically at the level of those early tribal clans using horse-drawn chariots on the Central Asian steppes.

In terms of military tactics, they relied on horse-drawn chariots and skirmish lines. In terms of culture, until the Romans came into contact with them, they were still in a tribal state with a system of communal wives. In terms of agriculture, they were still in a state of slash-and-burn farming. They still made sashimi like the Maori or Ainu (that is, the blue sashimi of later generations, the symbol of Scotland). They could not make dairy products such as cheese, had poor textile skills, and rarely settled in one place for a long time.
To be honest, in the Romans' cognition, there are no barbarians as barbaric as these in Europe. To put it in a high EQ way, they are more simple and have not become listless due to long-term comfort. To put it in a low EQ way, they are in the original and authentic barbarian state.

It was precisely because of the long-term separation from the European continent that caused the sluggish development that their performance when facing the Romans was so disastrous.

When Boudica's uprising was at its most violent, she did inflict heavy damage to an entire legion of Roman soldiers through surprise attacks and other means. But afterwards, Boudica, full of triumph, fought a decisive battle with a Roman regular army of about 10,000 men. The difference in troop strength between the two sides was approximately 15 to 1 to 20 to 1 according to different records. The final result was that the Roman army massacred the local Celtic army. It can hardly be called a battle or a war, and the quality gap between the two sides is evident.

The Celts in this time and space are relatively more civilized and advanced, mainly in terms of production, lifestyle and cultural customs. Orwell made some efforts to understand the military, and found that it was not much different from the previous life, which was a very sorry state. So he did not expect the Celts to make any outstanding contributions, and it would be good if they did not drag their feet and did not lead to rhythm. These are Orwell's own inner activities and actual thoughts, and such words cannot be said openly. In another time and space, Boudica may not understand the biggest gap between the Celts and the Romans until her death. It is a bit difficult for this time and space to expect the other party to learn without a teacher.

"I will verify the information with Jeanne later. If it is true, you have a certain strength. I can accept that you maintain a certain degree of autonomy, but there is a prerequisite. Everyone in the Roman-ruled area must abide by Roman law, and some appropriate laws must be implemented in your settlements. This is my requirement.

If you seek the wealth, culture and technology of the Roman Empire in the future, you will be subject to more constraints from us, and you will have to sacrifice something to gain something. This is as it should be, is it okay? "

Boudica nodded after thinking for a moment: "It seems to be fine at the moment, but we need to discuss the details. We definitely cannot accept anything that is too unreasonable."

"Of course. This will be finalized to your satisfaction and we should be able to reach a consensus."

Orville smiled. At least he was satisfied with the result.

Some scholars hold the view that the more civilized a place is, the easier it is to conquer it; conversely, the more barbaric and desolate a land is, the more difficult it is to conquer it.

Since he had a vested interest in the matter, Orville felt that the first half of the sentence was unfair, but he also thought that the second half made sense.

As for the actual situation in Wales and Scotland, there are many mountains and forests. The forest is the mother of these barbarians. It is meaningless to waste time with them in such a place because it has no value.

After all the effort to drive the barbarians out of the forest, the Romans only got a piece of wasteland which was not worth occupying at all. It would have been better to just leave it to the barbarians and let them enjoy freedom on their own land.

After coming into contact with the Roman Empire, it was only a matter of time before these barbarians became Latinized and civilized. Even if the barbarians were not brought under rule, they would be assimilated imperceptibly. There are many such examples in history.

This is exactly what Orwell wanted. Although his plan was to conquer the entire British Isles, it did not mean that he had to use the army to conquer every piece of land.

(End of this chapter)