Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 212: Silent Angels and the Policy of Dividing
Jeanna was helpless: “I can only contact you, and I understand that you can’t handle everything, but I hope you can help this time.

Now is the autumn harvest time, which has a huge impact on them. If the harvest is delayed, they will starve to death in the winter and spring. Behind each person is a family of three or five lives.”

Hearing this, Orville leaned on his head and thought for a while: "What I can do is very simple, that is, to solve the problem as quickly as possible. Once the problem is solved, Governor Bilichika will not need to build so many ships. I will do this without your urging. In addition, I can write you a letter of recommendation so that you can meet the other party. I am not familiar with Governor Bilichika. We only have some official contacts, but you can try to negotiate with him. He was chosen by my father, and he should be able to give me a little face.

If they are really in financial difficulty next year, please contact me again and I will try to arrange some work for them, so that they won’t starve to death. I can only promise so much, and my power is limited.”

Jeanna forced a smile on her face. "Thank you. I'll take care of it right away. Please write to me as soon as possible. It will take some time to get to Belichika Province from here, and the road is not safe. There are pirate activities."

Orville wrote a letter to Governor Bilicica on the spot and asked him to take it away. Jeanne took the letter and was about to leave in a hurry, but Orville stopped her and said, "Did your God tell me something?"

He didn't expect oracles or clairvoyance to turn the situation around, but he felt a little strange. Those so-called angels had been very active in the Gallic War before, but now they seemed to be silenced and didn't say a word.

Jeanna closed her eyes for a moment, then said to Orville seriously, "Watch your back. That's what they said, but the angels were unwilling to reveal what they meant."

Orville gestured to the other party, indicating that he could leave.

In fact, he felt that it was the same as not saying anything if he said something without a beginning or an end, which would only cause trouble for others, so it was better not to say anything. But at least it was a reminder for him. He thought that the person behind the words might be the Vikings, who were reminding Orville not to invite wolves into the house, so as not to bring disaster upon himself.

Thinking about it carefully, he had indeed relied too much on the Vikings in recent times. There was no way that the Romans did not have strong naval combat capabilities. If they wanted to fight the Vikings at sea, they could only use the brutal method of "using barbarians to fight barbarians".

Those who fight bravely deserve to be rewarded, but Orville should also be careful not to cultivate a force that becomes too powerful to be eliminated and annoys his own people.

Orville understood the reminders from the so-called angels in this way. Whether it was right or not was hard to say. These supernatural creatures always liked to pretend to be profound. Riddlers never spoke complete sentences. How to interpret oracles had always been a controversial topic. There had even been wars in the past due to different understandings of oracles.

Whether one's personal understanding is right or wrong can only be known when the facts are revealed. Orville can only wait patiently and cautiously.
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The battle between Orville and the Vikings was in full swing, from September to October of that year until the beginning of January of the following year. From 73 to 74, the intermittent wars of varying sizes never stopped.

There were few wars with more than 5,000 participants, and they were always various encounters, looting and raids. If Orville relied on himself, he would have been drained of blood in the British and Gaul provinces long ago, but he had the support of the entire empire. With the emperor's direct order, and now making friends with the powerful people in the empire, it was a worthwhile investment. The governors and generals of the surrounding Narpan Gaul, Belichika, and High German provinces were all dedicated to Orville. They actively provided Orville with supplies, soldiers and various assistance, and even the richest High German governor personally sponsored Orville's military expenses of 150,000 dinars.

With their generous assistance, Orville could naturally take his time to fight the enemy. He divided the battle line into two - the lowland war zone against the Danish king and the Franks, and the northern war zone against the orthodox Viking Ivar.

In the lowland war zone, the Germans discovered a very embarrassing problem: their numbers were decreasing, but the size of the Roman fleet was increasing, because a large number of northerners chose to defect and work for the Romans.

Orville played to the Vikings' needs and tried to win them over in addition to brutal suppression. He offered attractive prices to Viking captains who were willing to surrender.

As long as the captain took his longship and the crew to surrender to the Romans, he would be rewarded with a manor in the British province according to the size of his fleet, which would be large enough for them to make a living. If he made subsequent military achievements, he would receive other rewards.

Many pirates had great respect for their leader Rollo. They had seen that Rollo had gained his place in the empire with his strength and bravery, and had won the respect of the Roman Empire. With such a concrete example before them, they could not help but believe it.

The wealth of the Roman Empire has always attracted these barbarians from the marginal lands. Orville was an exceptionally generous governor. These Vikings had not formed the so-called national and ethnic concepts. For them, it didn't make much difference who they worked for.

Under such circumstances, many longship captains and even small pirate leaders chose to surrender to the Romans. Orville accepted them all and not only kept his promise to give them land, but also helped to settle their families so that they could work at sea with peace of mind.

In his opinion, this is also part of his British plan. These Vikings will definitely not get along with the local Anglo-Saxons, so using them to contain the locals is a good way. By the way, it can also solve the coastal problems that bother him. In short, it is a good thing to do.

In addition, the shipyard established by Orville in Caen is gradually expanding its production capacity and is producing warships continuously. The shipbuilding speed of the German small workshops cannot keep up with the Roman factory production. As a result, the situation in the lowlands is slowly and irreversibly leaning towards the Romans. Overall, it is quite optimistic.

King Charles of the Franks encountered some difficulties in his expedition to the east, which consumed more manpower, material resources and financial resources than expected. Correspondingly, the resources available for the lowlands were reduced, which made Orville's work go even more smoothly than expected.

(End of this chapter)