Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 171: Defeat in the Naval Battle
Two nights later, inside the army camp, Orville was debating with Alfred, or rather, Alfred was debating with Orville unilaterally.

"Occupying England will only bring you more trouble. I don't expect to guarantee the complete freedom of Wessex and other countries, but I want to tell you that it is a more cost-effective deal to retain some of our freedom. We can help you keep an eye on the Celts in the north and west, who are even less trustworthy than us. With our help, you only need one or two centuries to govern the entire British island...

What is yours will definitely be yours. We will provide you with money, food, livestock, and minerals. I am willing to make huge concessions on behalf of my brothers and become your hostage to fight for you. As long as you withdraw our troops, we are willing to give everything. "

Alfred never expected the Romans to withdraw unconditionally, and hoped to become a vassal state instead of a Roman province, but Orville had little interest in this proposal from beginning to end.

"Your choice is only to become a province of the empire. We can discuss the details beyond that. I am willing to give you some leeway. It can only be like this. I suggest that you quickly relax your standards. You may not suffer any loss after entering a bigger stage. You have been to Rome and know what a magnificent city it is. The Roman Empire is such a powerful country. As long as a little bit of nutrients leak out from the fingers of such a country, it will be enough for you Anglo-Saxons to benefit endlessly. This is your opportunity, not a crisis of survival. What future do you have in fighting with your own people on this small island? If I don't cross the strait, it will take at least a hundred years for you to be unified as a whole.

In the empire, you will definitely enjoy more things. I am not going to kill you all. Even if I don't come, there will definitely be more strict generals coming in a few decades."

No matter how Alfred persuaded him, Orville's answer remained the same. He was in no hurry to waste time with the other party, and was extremely patient in killing time with the other party.

Finally, Alfred gave up.

He sighed heavily and slumped in his chair, "So, Your Highness, you won in the end. Can I go over the details with you?"

In fact, Alfred knew in his heart that joining the empire was probably the more realistic option. Wessex was not strong enough to compete with the Roman Empire, but he was unwilling to do so. After all, it took his ancestors hundreds of years to open up such a piece of land. Now he was asked to hand it over to the Romans. It would be strange if he didn't feel disappointed.

However, there is no other way now. The only two realistic options are: either open the city and surrender now, or resist to the end.

If he was facing those Vikings who lacked the endurance for a protracted war, Alfred felt that he could deal with them, and the army and civilians could split up and fight the Vikings in the barren mountains and swamps for three to five years. He was confident that he could drag the Vikings to the point where they would have to negotiate. But now he was facing the Romans, and he didn't have that confidence.

The Romans were more powerful, and their base was only a strait away from the Kingdom of Wessex, so it was not an exaggeration to say that they could reach the Kingdom in a day. The Wessex people lacked a decent navy and could not stop the Romans' continuous supply of materials and military forces.

The Vikings were more of plunderers, while the Romans were the best conquerors. The two were not the same concept. Even if the Wessex people could barely repel the Romans after a bloody battle, the royal family, which had lost a lot of blood, would either be overthrown by the powerful ministers below, or be annexed and defeated by the Vikings in the north. Such an outcome was not good for Alfred. Instead of this, he might as well seriously consider Orwell's proposal.

At least the other party is a civilized person who keeps his word and can communicate and reach a lasting agreement. …………

After a long negotiation, Orville let Alfred go and wait for news from the other side that he would try to convince King Æthelwulf to surrender to the Romans.

It was obvious that this would take some time, so he gave Alfred three days. If no accurate information came after three days, he would order the army to continue the offensive and capture the rest of Winchester.

While he was patiently waiting for the situation to change, unexpected urgent news came from the mouth of the Thames - the English Channel Fleet he hastily assembled was defeated at the mouth of the Thames, and the old Trajan, the fleet commander, was killed on the spot. The fleet, which originally had a size of sixty or seventy ships, had now lost almost one-third of its size and almost fled back to the port of Caen to recuperate.

After Orville learned the details of the situation, he didn't know what to think. The ones who defeated the Roman fleet were not the Vikings, who Orville had always been very vigilant and conducted targeted training, but the local Anglo-Saxons who he had ignored.

The Romans' attitude towards the navy has always been rather subtle. On the one hand, they are an agricultural nation and are not very good at sailing. In the battles against Carthage, many more people died in shipwrecks than in naval battles. Compared with nations like the Greeks or Carthaginians, they are not really keen on sailing. But on the other hand, as the rulers of the Mediterranean, since they have the confidence to say "our sea", they definitely need a strong navy to deter villains.

Orville was restricted by this situation. His fleet seemed to have good parameters on paper, but the old Trajan, who served as admiral, was good at land warfare, but it was difficult for him to fight naval battles. Orville had no other talents to use. The Romans could not accept the barbarian Rollo and others who were promoted to their admirals. Naturally, they could only find someone from the Roman military system. Generally speaking, this person could not be found. Therefore, for the purpose of political balance, Orville could only choose old Trajan to take over.

He originally thought that old Trajan had solid basic qualities and nothing would go wrong, but he didn't expect that he would lose his life in an instant.

After the fleet landed, Trajan the Elder still thought like an army general and ordered his soldiers to set up camp on the ground. As a result, there was a gap between the infantry camp and the naval fleet's anchorage, and the local Anglo-Saxons took advantage of the opportunity to launch a surprise attack.

Many ships were burned, and the Romans felt they could not return to Gaul, so they began to panic. Old Trajan died inexplicably in the chaos.

The remaining troops could only hastily retreat to Gaul with the remains of old Trajan. It took a while for Orville to receive the news, and he was very troubled for a while. The originally very complete battle plan was disrupted at once.

(End of this chapter)