Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 157 Encounter on a narrow road

Some people very generally call the indigenous barbarians on the British Isles Celts. In fact, this is an imprecise and vague concept, which is infinitely divisible.

For example, now the Celts in Wales and Ireland regard each other as mortal enemies. The hatred accumulated between them over hundreds of years of history is even more intense than that towards the Anglo-Saxons. It is obvious that the two cannot be called the same branch.

If we narrow the scope to Ireland, it has never been a unified entity, but has always been in a state of fragmentation. Due to the influence of a certain work, many people should have some impression of the Irish Son of Light, Cuchulainn, the Bulldog of Culan.

His story tells of a great battle over a bull between Upper Ulster and Connacht in Ireland. Irish mythology before this also recorded many such battles. Naturally, this is a loose geographical concept rather than a political concept.

Until the Vikings invaded, there was no unified political entity there, and they barely elected a leader to fight against the Vikings. In this situation, if you told the locals that you were one family with the neighboring tribe, they would not understand at all. They just thought that the people in the neighboring tribe deserved a beating and were competing with them for land and livestock.

In Orwell's view, this situation is perfect for balancing. By winning over one group and dividing another, only very few resources are needed to bring the locals under the rule of the Roman Empire. This is a tried and tested approach in history. Perhaps the most successful colonial conqueror is Cortes, who conquered today's Mexico using this method.

Let's get back to the point. Now, in line with the central idea of ​​using the best of what is useful, Orville assigned a lot of tasks to Jeanne. Although from the perspective of a diplomat, Jeanne seemed to lack many necessary qualities - she was not familiar with the local culture and etiquette, lacked a deep and systematic understanding of the local situation, and had a naive and cute understanding of politics.
But Orville couldn't tell why. It might be because Jeanne herself had a special appeal, and she could really help get things done. Even the Celts in Ireland and Wales had vaguely heard of the story of the Gaulish "Saint" Jeanne Dacre, which was also a plus.

Apart from her, there was really no better person around Orvel.

Orville was not very trustworthy of those Gauls who were Celtic by blood. At least he knew that Jeanne would not plot anything, nor did she have many evil ideas. She was really busy trying to achieve the best outcome for everyone.

As for the Romans under Orville, they were certainly not lacking in literacy and vision, but one big problem was arrogance.

They would admit that there were some aspects of the barbarians that were worth learning from, and that the Romans had some shortcomings that needed to be corrected, but they would never think that the barbarians were superior to the Roman Empire. In their minds, they inherently took the other side for granted as a group that should be conquered. It was certainly not a good habit to speak condescendingly when negotiating interests. Who doesn't have a little pride and self-esteem?

If it was for post-war peace talks, there would be nothing wrong with doing so, and it was not outrageous to have such an idea in this era, but what Orville wanted now was appeasement and seeking common ground while reserving differences. Sending these people would only increase his workload. He did not want to have to deal with the various trivial issues of the Celtic natives after defeating the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings.
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After spending almost half a day solving the problem of the Welsh barbarians, Orville took over the convoy responsible for transporting baggage and supplies. He was going to take these supplies to the Winchester front.

Even the baggage train that transported food did not need a good manpower configuration. There were about 500 escorts, 200 more because of Orville's personal guards. In addition, there were about 500 laborers who were recruited from Gaul or Britain. It was not difficult to find people to help as long as they provided food and accommodation and some benefits. Orville did not bring any entourage with him. After all, it was just escorting food, so there shouldn't be any big problems. He just set off for the Winchester military camp.

The reason why they came here quickly was because they rode directly on horseback, but this time the transportation of goods returned to the snail's pace, with a daily distance of about 15 to 25 kilometers. Since they were not in a hurry, Orville did not urge the team to march quickly, but just moved slowly according to the rules and regulations.

The journey should have been trouble-free, but an unexpected situation occurred on the fourth day.

Orville was leading his men along a temporarily opened road at a snail's pace, but he suddenly spotted the shadows of an enemy cavalry unit at the edge of his vision in the distance.

They did not approach the baggage train. Instead, they quickly disappeared after confirming the location of Orville and others. Orville did not relax like the soldiers around him. Instead, he felt a chill down his spine.

His military literacy was not excellent, but he still had basic military knowledge. This was not the enemy's main force, but the vanguard before the main force. Usually, they would be the main force after reconnaissance. If nothing unexpected happened, the enemy's main force would come up immediately.

Generally, only large-scale troops need to be equipped with this kind of reconnaissance cavalry. Small-scale stragglers usually ambush on both sides of the road. They lack sufficient observation experience and immediately rush forward like a tide when they see a baggage convoy. He has gained experience in fighting security battles in Gaul, and it is basically this fixed pattern.

There were only a few hundred people around him, so it might be difficult to expect to fight the enemy with real swords and guns. It was impossible to run away easily. The marching speed with so many burdens was not fast at all. Now he didn't know where the enemy's army was. It might be a few hundred meters away from them, or it might be a few kilometers away from them.

There are only two choices before Orville now - either to run away on horseback with a few trusted men, or to stay where he is and hope that the other party can retreat safely. Basically, there is no second choice for him.

The first thing Orville thought of was to escape. He was a cautious and somewhat timid person. He had no idea what the enemy's military strength was like. There might be thousands or even tens of thousands of people. If they held on, it would be a number that their few hundred people would not be able to handle at all.

As the saying goes, "As long as the green mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood." He believed that his life should be more important than the hundreds of people in front of him. Letting himself leave safely first was the most logical choice. The remaining hundreds of people might not die. Anyway, a gentleman's agreement was signed with the Kingdom of Wessex. The two sides would exchange prisoners when necessary. This should not take long. Maybe before that, the Kingdom of Wessex would surrender to the Roman Empire, and these prisoners might not be in danger of their lives.

(End of this chapter)