Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 178 Negotiation Failed
Orville ordered his troops to begin a forced march and quickly arrive near the city of London, while being on guard against possible ambushes by the enemy.

The expected encounter did not occur. Orville successfully arrived near London, and was surprised to find that it had become an empty city. Except for the old, weak, sick and disabled, most people had moved away, leaving Orville with nothing. It seemed that the retreat was not impromptu or panic, but rather leisurely.

Orville did not make things difficult for these old men who had no way to retreat. He just asked them about the whereabouts of the defenders in the city. The answers he got were quite intriguing.

Most of the defenders in the city followed Harold and were preparing to head south, apparently to join the Franks who were crossing the sea. Orville studied the map and could probably understand the other party's thinking.

The Franks lacked ships to cross the sea, and crossing the sea itself was risky, so they would definitely choose the fastest route. The geography of this world has not changed fundamentally, so the approximate location of the other party's crossing the sea can also be inferred.

It is nothing more than crossing the sea and landing through the Strait of Calais. The enemy should land at the White Strait of Dover, and then the strengthened English will either seek a decisive battle or begin to try to sneak attack the occupied Wessex.

So far, the Vikings have not moved south, and there has been no news of them continuing to plunder England. It seems that there must be some kind of cooperation between the two sides, but Orville and the officers are not worried about this - they should fight when they need to, and there is no need to be timid.

He ordered his soldiers to march southward following the enemy's traces, hoping to block the enemy directly there.

…………

When Orville was chasing the enemy, he deliberately passed through several cities. These cities were either undefended or completely deserted. Orville did not even send troops to occupy them, but only focused on marching south.

Maintaining the supply line was a problem, and Orville did not dare to be careless about this issue. In any case, a lot of time would be spent on setting up camps during the march, and the subsequent baggage trains would use these camps to transport food.

He left about a hundred auxiliary soldiers in each camp as sentinels. Once there was a situation in the rear, he could react as quickly as possible. Cavalry were always on standby to deal with emergencies. Orville thought that his preparations were relatively sufficient.

As he was marching south, he passed through the port city of Gillingham. All the soldiers in this city had also evacuated, leaving only civilians in the city, but there were several Viking longships parked prominently in the port.

The ship was blatantly flying a raven flag, which was obviously a Viking ship. After the sentry went over and asked carefully, he learned that the other party wanted to negotiate with him.

Orville has always cherished this kind of communication opportunity. Naturally, he would not refuse it and agreed to the other party's request immediately.

When Orville and his personal guards arrived at the dock, the other party had already set up the table and was waiting for Orville to arrive.

Rollo, who was standing behind Orvel, took two steps forward and whispered in his ear, "The man in the lead is Ivar the Boneless, the son of Ragnar Lothbrok. The man with brown hair and black tattoos behind him is his brother Ubbe. Ivar is the actual commander of the Viking army, and Ubbe is his right-hand man. The other party should have some sincerity in the negotiations."

This was not to say that he was in Cao's camp but his heart was with Han. After all, Rollo had been hanging out with Ragnar on the sea before. Although there were some frictions between the two sides, they were still in the same industry and had some friendship. Orville responded to the other party to show that he understood, and then walked over to greet the other party.

The first to speak was the Viking leader Ivar: "I have heard stories about you in the North. As the adopted son of the Roman emperor, you should be a capable and intelligent man, so let's get straight to the point."

"I'm not opposed to talking, but whether we can reach a consensus depends on you."

"I want all the land of the Kingdom of Northumbria, and the land of the Picts in the north (Scotland) will also belong to us. The rest of the land in England belongs to you. If you insist on wanting the Kingdom of Ulster, I can give it to you, but you have to pay a ransom."

"So what can you bring me?"

"I will help you deal with the Franks and Harold Godwinson. At the same time, my fleet will never harass any of your Roman lands again. We will maintain peace. The lands of Northumbria and other places are enough to satisfy me. If there are still people seeking wealth, it is not a bad idea to go to the Franks' lands.

This should be a good condition for you. The disguised Viking fleet will be used by you Romans. If you can provide enough money, we can really fight for you Romans.

In this case, you have to satisfy our desire for exploration. Some of my people are very interested in the Mediterranean world, and I heard that there are more vast and rich lands and oceans to the east of the Mediterranean. I hope you can provide us northerners with this opportunity.

I am not being hypocritical. Everything I said is true. I really want to reach an effective agreement with you Romans. I think robbery may be a way out for the northerners, but we cannot survive by robbery forever. The so-called force is better than hard work is not a long-term solution. If we want the northerners to develop, the best way is to find a support for ourselves. I think you Romans are more suitable than the Franks.

After all, there is no territorial dispute between us. Your eyes are on the Mediterranean, and our eyes are on the North Sea. Neither of us will hinder the other. You bring what we northerners need, and we northerners are willing to fight for you with blood and sweat. This should be a very fair deal. I don't accept bargaining, because this is the lowest price I can offer. It's not easy to make my men spit out the land of Mercia."

Ivar spoke sincerely, and his eyes were genuine and didn't seem fake. Orville couldn't help but think seriously about what he said and judge how feasible this condition was.

"Let me ask you first, do you represent the Danes, the Vikings, or the sons of Ragnar?"

"After all, I am not the King of Denmark nor the legitimate leader of the Vikings, so I only represent myself and my brothers, but this is also a great force. You should understand that investing in the future is worth looking forward to. The Norn goddesses (goddesses of fate) are so unpredictable, which is also their most attractive feature."

"Your conditions are very good, and I was tempted for a moment, but I can't agree to this request now. I'm afraid we still have to decide the outcome on the battlefield. If you are willing to lower your standards after that, we can talk again."

(End of this chapter)