Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 213 The Situation in Egypt

As for the northern theater, the situation is even more stalemate.

[The Boneless] Ivar is the son of the legendary Viking hero Ragnar Lothbrok, and he is also a very charismatic Viking leader. The soldiers under him all follow the lead of Ragnar's sons, and their loyalty is much higher than those of the scattered Viking pirates. Orville tried various methods but failed to pry open the other side's corner.

Since Cu Chulainn did not go to Ireland, Orville supported Finn MacCool as the temporary leader of Ulster according to his own plan. Finn MacCool was a very prestigious person and the son-in-law of the former king Comfort. It was not unreasonable or against rules for him to temporarily take over the military power of the chiefs in a critical moment.

The only person who is qualified to compete with Finn is Cuchulainn, the king's nephew. But now he is fighting in the Lowlands and cannot return home immediately. The domestic opposition has nothing to say. Any opinions can only be discussed after Cuchulainn returns. For now, they can only wholeheartedly support Finn as the King of Ulster.

As Cuchulainn himself thought, his departure made Ireland a little more united and eliminated the potential risk of having two command centers.

Even so, Finn and his group of warriors were caught in a tough battle. They were not as strong as the Vikings in frontal combat and suffered heavy losses in several battles. In the end, they could only rely on their mass base and familiarity with the terrain to consume the enemy and fight guerrilla warfare to delay time.

If Orville hadn't been covering from the side and always preparing to organize a fleet to land in Dublin, Finn's situation would probably be even worse. Even now, the situation is far from good. Half of the land of the Kingdom of Ulster has been occupied, and the rest is in danger of being ravaged by the Vikings.

Orville had to balance two fronts, and so did Ivar, who also had to pay attention to things in Dublin and the Northern Isles (islands near Scotland) at the same time. Both sides were always on high alert, fearing that any accidents would ruin the delicate balance.

The situation was basically deadlocked at this point. Orville could not defeat the opponent, and did not dare to really organize tens of thousands of people to cross the sea to attack Dublin again. He would easily be trapped to death on the island by the Vikings who had the naval advantage. Ivar was almost unable to inflict any serious damage to Orville in England. The two sides could beat each other to a pulp, but no one was able to end this gladiatorial contest.

If time permits, Orville actually doesn't mind continuing to fight with the enemy. The enemy's human resources and endurance are always limited. At most, the enemy will be exhausted in three to five years. The Romans can just use rotation to nail down these Vikings.

In another three to five years, he would be able to make use of the resources and manpower here, and the shipyards in Caen would be able to produce a truly powerful fleet. At this time, there would be no suspense, even Ivar would have to surrender and choose to negotiate with the huge Romans.

But now, the situation in the East does not seem to support him to continue to grind slowly here.

Normally, according to the situation in the past two years, Cleopatra would write him a letter about once a month, reporting on business matters and interspersed with some personal life matters. Occasionally, she would bring some interesting little things to Orville, such as a book, an ornament, a piece of cloth, etc. Generally speaking, the communication between the two sides was not very frequent, and the frequency was probably just that of ordinary pen pals. In recent months, the frequency of Cleopatra's letters to Orville has increased significantly. Even if the communication between the two places is relayed by a special person, there is still a time difference of about two and a half months. In other words, since the beginning of winter, the frequency of Cleopatra's letters to Orville has increased significantly.

The content of the letters gradually changed from reporting business to venting her worries. Orville now received a letter from Cleopatra about every two weeks, and a large part of the letters were complaints about Orville.

The troubles that the future Cleopatra mentioned were mainly related to her brother. Strictly speaking, this should be considered her fiancé, because before his death, her father ordered his daughter and son to get engaged in order to ensure the political stability of the country. According to his original idea, the two sides would share power in this way, reach a delicate political balance, and thus achieve stability.

At first glance, it seems to be a logical thing to do, but the fact that their father, the former Egyptian King Philopator the Pied Piper, was nicknamed "The Pied Piper" must have a reason. He was a mediocre person, except for his cruelty, who looked like a ruler. He did not analyze the current political situation in the Kingdom of Egypt at all, and made this will in a hurry.

Judging from the results, Cleopatra, who was gradually maturing, wanted to get rid of the control of the powerful minister Berdinos over the government and the royal family from the beginning, but the young king was inexperienced and was directly controlled by Berdinos and became a puppet. Cleopatra's only advantage of being righteous was now offset, and her faction could only barely protect themselves in the court struggle.

As his brother grew older, his ambitions for politics and power grew wildly. It was estimated that in two years, the conflict between the two sides would reach a point where they would have to resort to swordplay. It was obvious that Cleopatra was not in an advantageous position at all, so she had to seek cooperation with Orville, hoping to stabilize the situation with the power of the Roman Empire.

Judging from Cleopatra's recent letters, the situation in Egypt has been deteriorating. Cleopatra's people are being squeezed out. It is estimated that she will soon be unable to stand in Alexandria and will have to leave. This time may be one or two years, or it may be a few months or even now.

The only high-ranking official in the Roman Empire who supported Cleopatra from beginning to end was Orville himself. The Governor of Egypt had already received many benefits from Berdinus, and it seemed to be beneficial to the Romans to let Berdinus rule Egypt, so he would not add insult to injury, but he would definitely not help the Ptolemaic royal family.

Once Cleopatra was driven out of Egypt, she and Orville would only have three to five years left. Legitimacy and justice were also time-limited. As a woman, she was not necessarily as legitimate as the puppet king in the eyes of the Greeks, and support for her would decrease over time.

The puppet king might wake up and fight with Berdinos again in the future, but at that time it would have nothing to do with the two of them, so if Orville wanted to intervene in Egypt, he had to resolve the Egyptian affairs within the next few years.

(End of this chapter)