Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 194 Vikings' Response Plan

Hearing Orville's question, Belisarius felt a bit of a headache. After thinking about the words he wanted to use, he decided to tell Orville the truth.

"We lacked communication with the locals before, especially we didn't determine the exact border between the two sides. There were many small-scale conflicts here and there. The brigades stationed on the border have suffered dozens of casualties. I think we should find a solution.

I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep dragging it on like this. The conflict between us and the locals is escalating and the situation should be contained in time.”

The border lines in ancient times were often very vague, but the situation between the Romans and the native Celts was more serious than this. It was obvious that the locals had a considerable degree of hostility towards the Romans, and the short-term coexistence between the two sides was not pleasant.

Orvel sighed slightly after hearing this: "I see. I will solve this problem later. I will go there in person and discuss these issues with the leaders there. By the way, has Cu Chulainn returned?"

"He has returned to his hometown with his warriors and should be sailing on the ship now. According to your instructions, we prepared a sumptuous farewell banquet and gifts for him. He felt very satisfied when he returned. Things should not be beyond our control. According to Cu Chulainn, his patriarch, King Confolch of Ulster, has thousands of warriors under his command. He is a pragmatic person and his words should not be exaggerated. Basically, we can take them seriously.

These people are enough to keep Conforchu and Ivar at bay in Ireland. We only need to provide them with weapons and a certain amount of money. Unlike the troublesome Greeks, these barbarians are easy to satisfy. "

Orville divided his tasks into two directions - internally, to govern the British province well, and externally, to handle relations with the Celts and Vikings well.

The Celtics were relatively easy to satisfy. According to the plan, the biggest victory would be for both sides to keep to themselves. Orville was not very interested in their land and population, and further fighting would not be worth the effort.

As for the Vikings, Orville wanted to get rid of them all at once, but this was not realistic in ancient times. These pirates were a bit similar to the nomadic peoples of later generations. They were just as difficult to deal with and couldn't be eradicated.

As long as there is land along the coast or along the river, there is a risk of being attacked. The local guards cannot catch up, and even if they catch up, they may not be able to defeat them. Even if they finally win the battle with great effort, it will only be a superficial injury for the Vikings, and they will recover after a few years of recuperation. As long as their homeland and base are not threatened, they can continue to harass the coastline.

Given the Romans' very weak Atlantic Navy, it was still unknown whether they could sail to Norway and Denmark, let alone further occupy land or inflict heavy damage on the large number of local Nordic people. This was an unrealistic thing to do and would not be worth the effort.

Therefore, this matter must be considered in the long term. Orville plans to gradually eliminate their various strongholds nearby, increase the cost and difficulty of their looting, and make them retreat in the face of difficulties.

Ivar has a large number of strongholds in Ireland, Scotland and other places, which are transit points for the Vikings' trade and looting activities. Orville does not intend to go through the trouble of expeditions to these Viking strongholds despite the hostility of the locals, so he will just leave this task to the locals.

He offered the following conditions to the main leader of Ireland, King Comfort: the Romans would provide the Irish with weapons, food and money to help the locals deal with the Viking invasion. The locals would do their best to deal with the Vikings, and when necessary, the Romans would send troops and fleets to fight against the Viking invasion.

Once the Vikings were driven out of the Celtic lands, the Celts could regain ownership of those lands, and the Romans would not interfere too much with their lands, only requiring the locals to open up trade. This was a very cost-effective deal for Confession, who was not an idiot and could see that there was a huge gap between the Romans in the late classical era and the Celts in the era of tribal chiefdoms. Trade would undoubtedly make them lose a lot, but they could also gain a lot, and in the long run the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

Even if the locals refused to have contact with the Romans, their fleets and legions would sooner or later arrive on Irish soil. Instead of this, it would be better for both sides to be decent and take what they need. The trend of the times cannot be stopped.

The Vikings were indeed brave and good at fighting, and some of their techniques surprised the Romans. The shipbuilders in Caen were dismantling and studying Viking longships. Previously, people around the Mediterranean used the hull-first shipbuilding method with mortise and tenon joints, that is, first assembling the hull and then attaching the ribs to make the ship.

The Vikings used a new technology, which can be called frame-first shipbuilding. They made the keel first and then attached the hull, which greatly simplified the difficulty of production while also making the strength not much different. At the same time, compared to the Romans' traditional shipbuilding method that used more wooden nails, the Vikings' new shipbuilding method using iron nails was undoubtedly more advanced.

At the same time, as far as Orville knew, the Vikings had independently developed blast furnace ironmaking technology through their own research, which was something they had only developed around the 12th century in history. In many ways, they were almost the same as the Vikings in real history in later generations, and even surpassed them in some ways, because the number of their talented people was still high, and the proportion was far greater than that of the Romans.

But even so, although the Vikings were brave and good at fighting and had some advanced technology, they still had a fatal flaw - they were too small in size. The combined population of several Nordic countries would be considered good if they had one or two million people.

Once they were dragged into a security war and a war of attrition by the Irish and Scots, they would find it difficult to cope. In addition, the Romans were relentless in competing with them in terms of national strength and size. Orville felt that the Vikings would definitely not be able to withstand it.

After confirming the Celtic matter, Orville continued to ask Belisarius: "Is Rollo ready?"

"He has 20 long ships now, and we gave him three heavy galleys, which should be enough for him to use. We have prepared weapons and food for them, and they can act at any time, just waiting for your approval."

"Then let them prepare for action."

"Yes, as you wish, I will go and inform him right away." Belisarius nodded respectfully and left the tent.

Orville watched the other party leave, then sat back in his seat and began to write a letter. After finishing, Orville handed the letter to his adjutant and asked him to deliver it.

"Prepare horses and guards for me. We are going to the north."

(End of this chapter)