Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 206 No Turning Back

After helping Cleopatra deliver the letter, Orville kept Ptolemy in Rome using various excuses.

At first, they wanted to introduce him to Pliny the Elder, one of the most learned men of his time. Later, they invited him to visit the library in Rome. Later, they invited him to observe the customs and people of Gaul and Britain. In short, they wanted to find a way to keep him.

Cleopatra must have instructed him behind the scenes, and Ptolemy himself was quite pleased with this kind of enticement, so he stayed reluctantly and became Domitia's teacher. He would also do things for Orville when necessary. After going north to the province of Gaul, Orville relied on this great scholar in many ways.

Astronomy at that time was at a small peak of development, and had not yet degenerated into the level of pure metaphysics in medieval Europe. As a scholar who studied astronomy and geography, Ptolemy had to be able to know arithmetic and geometry, and his level was quite high. Due to the limitations of the times, he might not be able to compare with the geniuses after modern times, but he could do simple things with ease.

He helped Orville draw precise maps of Gaul and Britain, which greatly improved the army's communication efficiency and marching speed. He also acted as a guide and architect at times to help the army choose suitable geographical locations for cities and fortresses. In short, he could do anything that was slightly related to his job, and he did it very well.

He also urgently transferred dozens of accountants from his own industries in the province of Gaul to help Ptolemy with his work, but even so things were still difficult.

Recently, every time Orville saw Ptolemy, he was busy doing calculations, with dark circles under his eyes and a very bad mental state. And every time he found Orville coming, he would usually start complaining about the poor work ability of the Gauls after saying a few words, saying that they couldn't even do the smallest things well, and that most of the things they brought up were wrong.

Orville could only laugh it off and let the other party overcome the difficulties. Ptolemy was not very impatient and just continued to work reluctantly. It would take some time before the accurate results could be obtained.

…………

Turning our attention to the front battlefield, the war between the Vikings and the Romans has been slowly unfolding.

Stilicho, who was in charge of the front-line battle, wanted to have a decisive battle with the Vikings, but the other side completely ignored the various provocations of the Romans and just did their own thing - sending a small force to conduct reconnaissance along the coastline. Once they found that the Romans or locals were negligent in defense, they would immediately mobilize a large force to plunder, and then leave calmly after robbing before the army arrived to support, leaving only a mess where they were.

The Romans really had no good way to deal with these people, so they could only fight hard, robbing a few villages today and killing a small fleet of Vikings tomorrow. They had to compete with the opponent in terms of size and recovery ability.

In this situation, the gains and losses of one or two small conflicts are no longer important. What is important is to preserve strength and not bleed. Based on this basic principle, both sides are now fighting very cautiously, not seeking to achieve merit but to avoid mistakes.

This is only the case in Britain, but it may not be the case in other places. For example, in Scotland and Ireland, the intensity of the war is much higher.

The Celts in Scotland had been launching fierce attacks on the Vikings' various strongholds, and the offensive and defensive situations were different at this time. The Vikings were much stronger in frontal combat, but they also faced similar problems: the Celtic settlements were extremely difficult to locate in the mountains and forests, and the frequency of their attacks was very unpredictable and there was no pattern at all. After the Vikings struggled for a while, they finally chose to abandon all the land strongholds and chose to leave only those island strongholds. It can be said that the Celts' combat goals had been achieved, and they did not think they could fight a naval battle with the Vikings at the beginning.

This was not a big deal for these pirates, just a little trouble, but the situation was different in Ireland. The biggest difference between Ivar the Boneless and his father Ragnar Lothbrok was their attitude towards foreign lands. Like many of his contemporaries, Ragnar had a strong sense of hometown, which made him unwilling to leave his hometown. He believed that the land of other countries was simply for plunder.

As for Ivar, his ambitions were much greater. He had always been committed to establishing a Viking kingdom on the British Isles. He had basically succeeded in Ireland, and in real history his successors would also succeed.

This obsession made him strong, but it also made him never give up the land he had already obtained easily.

So in Ireland, facing the relentless pressure from King Comfort, he would not give in this time and would confront the Irish head-on.

…………

Almost at the same time, in Ivar's mansion in the Viking fortress of Dublin in Ireland, several strong men were sitting together, discussing strategic and tactical issues in the form of a round table meeting.

Ivar's youngest brother Ubbe was the first to speak up. "I think we should hold out for a while and wait for help. They have a lot of warriors, more than three times as many as us. We will never gain an advantage in a field battle. The Danish king's army is on the way. We can hold out for a few more months, and then we can cooperate directly with the Danish king's army. We will definitely win in the end if we follow the plan."

This time, Ubbe's speech was agreed by everyone present. They didn't want to take the risk of fighting a life-and-death battle with the Celtics outside the city at this time. It was dangerous and the benefits were not great. The safer method was more popular.

Ivar's other brother [Snake Eyes] Sigurd echoed this time, "Besides that, Brother Bjorn has also prepared a large number of supplies and men for us. His pioneering activities in the north have been very effective. He has now become a local leader with three to five thousand brave men under his command, who can help us a lot.

When he arrives at the battlefield, our situation will improve immediately. With these reinforcements, we will have more than 20,000 people in Dublin. At that time, these Celts will not be a threat at all. They have not received even a little favor from the Norn goddesses, and their understanding of war makes Odin laugh. "

Ivar remained silent, observing his brothers - the Viking pirate business was their family business, and the brothers in his family were all brave and good at fighting, so now those who could sit at the table and make decisions were all his family members.

Seeing that Ivar didn't say anything, everyone knew his temper, so they didn't urge him, but just used their eyes to remind him to make a decision quickly.

After a long while, Ivar finally spoke slowly: "I remember I said that I would never turn back no matter what."

(End of this chapter)