Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 168 Attacked
As the battle situation on the front line was overwhelmed, the commander of the Kingdom of Wessex quickly made the right choice - he ordered
The soldiers withdrew from the city walls and retreated into the city to engage in street fighting, while concentrating most of their forces to defend the royal palace, which symbolized the kingdom's authority.

Orville's own legionnaires were of course able to follow the most basic orders and did not rush into the city. However, it was different for the Celts who came to help. They had a blood feud with the Anglo-Saxons in the city, and Orville clearly lacked the most basic control over them, so they completely ignored the commander-in-chief's orders and rushed into the city.

The soldiers and civilians in the city showed a strong will to resist in the face of the threat of death. They might be afraid of the Romans but they were definitely not afraid of the Celts who had been suppressed and beaten by them for a hundred years. This had already built up their confidence. Relying on the advantage of terrain, the Winchester military and civilians resisted stubbornly, causing the Celts who blindly rushed into the city to suffer serious losses.

Belisarius rode to Orville as fast as he could and asked him for advice: "Those barbarians have disrupted our existing plan. Should we go into the city to help them now, or should we just sit back and do nothing and proceed with the original plan?"

Orville looked at the burning Winchester and shook his head slightly. "Let them fight first. Our people will guard the city wall and no one is allowed to enter the city. The construction team can go up and completely remove a section of the city wall, so that the defenders in the city will not be able to defend it even if they retake the wall by force."

"Yes!" Belisarius responded, then quickly retreated and returned to the battlefield.

In his conception, the Romans, as future rulers, should not arouse hatred among any party. While demonstrating their strength, they should adopt a certain degree of conciliatory policies. However, specific issues should be analyzed specifically. It is very cost-effective to let different local ethnic groups harbor hatred for each other, which can greatly reduce the cost of governance.

He is not so conscienceless as to create conflicts, but taking advantage of them is still above the moral bottom line.
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After Belisarius left, he sent a construction team of several hundred people to the front line. They were armed with demolition weapons such as shovels, pickaxes and chisels, ready to help demolish Winchester's already shaky city walls.

It is precisely because of this that the defense around him became a little weak, which probably gave the enemies lurking in the shadows an opportunity.

Just as Orville was busy commanding and dispatching the troops, the light cavalry who were on guard near the hill suddenly blew the horn urgently.

A deep and penetrating voice resounded throughout the hill. Orville reacted immediately and shouted, "Meet the enemy formation and move closer to the regiment flag!!!"

Before, the talented people from Wessex had not made any move. Orville thought that they were going to kill the generals who were attacking the city on the front line. Unexpectedly, the other side had a higher level of thinking and wanted to capture the leader first, so they were ready to attack Orville.

The soldiers began to assemble in a panic, and Astolfo's expression began to become a little subtle, as if he was ready to watch the show and not interfere with what happened next.

Orville had just formed his battle formation when deafening shouts of killing came over. A group of heavy infantry on foot appeared on the edge of the battlefield for unknown reasons. The leading soldier was holding the flag of the King of Wessex. Orville recognized that this was probably Alfred's army.

"Hold the position and protect the regimental flag!!"

Orville ordered the soldiers to hold high the Silver Eagle flag that symbolized the headquarters of the legion, and he stood up and drew his sword, ready to join the battle.

Orville was attacked by surprise. The soldiers only had time to line up and didn't even have time to throw a few javelins properly. The two sides collided directly and started a bloody and tragic hand-to-hand fight. Orville knew that his fighting power was basically just to make up the numbers, so he didn't rush to the front line. He was protected by the guards in the center of the battle formation to observe the situation. However, Jeanna took the initiative to pick up her spear and sword and stood at the front of the formation.

Alfred and another Winchester gifted man were also in the raiding army. The weaker one of them held back Jeanne, while the other served as the spearhead of the attack and broke into the Roman army's formation.

Although Orville's men were one or two levels better in terms of training and equipment, the situation was not friendly to the Romans because the other side had unreasonable talents and a relative advantage in numbers. Orville was at a disadvantage from the beginning.

Orville gritted his teeth and ordered his own guards to join the battlefield. He also personally joined the battle to boost morale and began to fight to the death.

The opponent is just attacking in one wave. If they can hold out until reinforcements arrive, the Romans will win. If they can't, the Wessex will win. Both sides are well aware of this, so the battle is extremely fierce from the beginning.

Seriously speaking, this was Orville's first time to draw a knife and chop someone. He mixed in the army and fought the enemy like an ordinary soldier. The Wessex man's powerful chop almost made him fall, but the soldiers behind him helped him to stabilize his body. Orville, who regained his balance, stabbed the opponent with his sword. The opponent had nowhere to dodge and could only be stabbed. He died with his eyes wide open and unwilling, and gradually lost his breath.

According to some historical records, the situation on the battlefield in ancient times was so crowded that even after a person died, he would be pushed around and would not fall down for a long time. This was almost the situation Orville was facing now.

The centurions' orders were no longer effective. The soldiers could only rely on their own fighting willpower and bloodiness to fight the enemy head-on. Either you stab my heart or I cut your throat. The smell of blood floated in the slightly hot air.

"Protect the Commander! Protect the Commander!!"

Orville's personal participation in the battlefield greatly boosted the morale of the surrounding soldiers. They shouted various slogans and phrases to cheer themselves up and resisted the first wave of attacks by the Wessex people.

The first people to run into trouble were not the Roman soldiers, but Jeanne d'Acre who was fighting alone.

The physiological differences between men and women became secondary. The problem was that Jeanna's talent was not enough to enhance her physical fitness, and she was a latecomer. Although she had been practicing combat skills seriously, she was still far from perfect. This caused Jeanna to be one of the less capable people among all kinds of people with practical talents.

Although the talented person from Wessex was not very talented, he was much stronger than Jeanne after all. He showed confidence in the brief fight, and his offensive was becoming more and more fierce. He tried to break through Jeanne's weak defense and kill her on the spot, and then help Alfred who was busy breaking through Orville's defense line.

(End of this chapter)