Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 23 Allegiance
It is still the three elements of succession to the throne, orthodoxy, authority and strength. Otto and Galba are of the same lineage and there is no essential difference between them. Orwell is not optimistic that he can sit firmly on the throne of emperor.

After all, it was just news from merchants, and it wasn't very detailed, but Orville knew what happened in that year in history.

This year is known in history as the Year of the Four Emperors, as four Roman emperors were replaced successively.

The situation in this time and space seems to be a little worse. Galba didn't even make it to the new year and died in November. So if the subsequent history is not too far off, this year should be called the Year of the Three Emperors, but it is also the same. Five emperors were replaced in two years, and the political situation was extremely unstable. It almost became the last year in the history of the Roman Empire.

After learning this important news, several people returned to the boat and began to discuss what to do.

Tia was naturally the decision maker: "The situation changed so quickly that I didn't expect it, but no matter what, we are now faced with an important choice. Should we continue this journey to Rome to swear allegiance, or should we return home and discuss it with my father and others?"

Berenice was very self-aware and just said, "My brother told me to listen to your arrangements. I don't understand political matters, so it's all up to you. My brother also said that the Herod royal family obeyed the decision made by Vespasian."

Orvel's status is not high enough to discuss things with Tia, he can only offer suggestions, and now all the pressure is on Tia.

Orville didn't say anything at first, he just looked at the other person calmly. He had nothing to do along the way and had said everything he needed to say while chatting with Tia.

He is just an aide now, and it is enough for him to explain the pros and cons. He decided to let Tia take over, and he would not cross the line.

Although Tia is too upright, her political sense and overall view are not bad. She knows better than Orville what kind of chaos Rome is in now.

It was obvious that Otto would not be able to keep his throne. The only difference was whether they had to go to Rome to get the latest intelligence and participate in Roman politics, or go to Vespa and call on everyone to prepare for chaos.

It is difficult to distinguish between good and bad, so Tia has a headache. This choice is not easy to make.

At this moment, she remembered the conversation between Orville and Vespa.

Titus Flavius ​​Vespasian would become Caesar, master of land, sea, and all mankind.

His father did not deny it at the time and told him to "talk about it later". Maybe this is what he meant by "later". Now he should think about this issue carefully.

After thinking it over carefully, Tia made another firm decision: "Turn around and drive to Egypt. We need reinforcements there. I believe they will provide them."

This made Orville feel strange. Seeing Orville's subtle expression, Tia laughed and patted his shoulder.

"Your words reminded me that growing wheat is not as profitable as growing grapes and olives. So as long as we control the granary first, everything will be fine."

Orville's expression quickly changed from confusion to surprise. Tia's comprehension was stronger than he thought.

In the Mediterranean world, Egypt is undoubtedly the granary. The history of this world is a little biased. Egypt, like Palae, was a Roman vassal rather than a province. Although the Romans also had governors and many troops in Egypt, Egypt still had its own royal family and its own administrative system. It did not need to bear military service every year, but it had to hand over a large amount of grain to supply the Romans. In addition to the more grain purchased through normal means, it can be said that the Romans' food supply relied heavily on Egypt.

As long as Egypt is under control, Rome will suffer famine in two or three years. Because the land around Rome is not as fertile as Egypt, the competitiveness of growing grain is not strong, and the consumption of wine by dignitaries is amazing, so now almost all the crops grown around the city are cash crops.

It only took a little reminder for Tia to see this, but Orville also raised his own question at the right time: "If this is the case, how can we ensure that the Egyptian governor will stand on our side? We only have a few thousand seafarers, and we might be detained in return."

"We just need to explain the pros and cons, and the answer will come naturally. The current Governor of Egypt also has a good relationship with my father. When my father was consul, he issued bills that were beneficial to him. Compared with associating with the Franks, the vulgar German Legion or the unreliable Spanish Governor, at least my father's reputation as consul was not bad."

Tiya was not worried at all, and obviously believed in the friendship between his father and the Governor of Egypt, which made Orville more worried, of course.
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Not long after, Vespa, who was stationed in Caesarea, also received news of the civil strife among the Parvi people.

It was winter now, which theoretically made it difficult to deploy troops, and the issue of the oath of allegiance was still pending, but this was a good opportunity that any general would find difficult to ignore.

After much deliberation, he decided to organize an offensive to take advantage of the enemy's weakness, mobilizing only one legion and a small number of auxiliary troops at a time to fight in rotation.

In the first round of offensive, after hesitating for a while, Vespa decided to let his confidant Trajan the Elder lead the 12th Legion, which was temporarily under the jurisdiction of Tia, to lead the attack. He also considered the choice of auxiliary troops.

Although Valerian said that Orville's auxiliary troops had not yet completed their training and could only basically obey orders, Vespa finally decided to let this unit participate in the attack.

He didn't count on the combat effectiveness of the auxiliary troops at all, he just wanted to see what the effect would be and let the local people express their opinions first.

In any case, it was not a big problem. The Holy City was a very difficult fortress to capture, but the remaining villages and towns were not a problem for the Roman legions at all, not to mention that the other side was fighting among themselves and had no time to organize a decent defense.

His battle plan had not changed. He wanted to turn the city into an isolated one, compressing the enemy's living space like a python strangling its prey, and finally letting the enemy collapse without a fight due to lack of supplies.

The war situation on the front line, which was full of hope and optimism, could not conceal the murky political situation in Rome. He decided to act quickly so as not to be dragged down by this war and affect a series of subsequent actions.

He held an unspoken loyalty ceremony - one person stood in front of the stage and read the declaration of allegiance to the entire army, declaring allegiance to Emperor Galba, but no one from the officers to the soldiers responded, it was just a formality.

Galba rebelled against the orthodox Roman emperor, but he himself did not have any of the qualifications to become emperor. Even 80 to 90 percent of the soldiers did not know where he was from or what he did, so it was not difficult for him to pretend to be loyal to the emperor.

After the ceremony, the soldiers rushed to the battlefield again and began to capture the various strongholds of the Parfi people.

Looking at the soldiers heading to the front line, Vespa's own mind was no longer here.

(End of this chapter)