Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 256: Kill first and tell later
During this period of time, Orville sent people to investigate the situation and obtain evidence, while at the same time he began to calculate the military strength of the locals. He wanted to make sure whether he could deal with it.

The result is obvious. If we only consider the data on paper, there is a big gap between him and the opponent.

Antonis has two legions and supporting auxiliary troops in Egypt. One is in the south to guard against potential enemies there. It will take at least a month to get there, so it can be ignored for the time being. The other is stationed in Alexandria. Including the auxiliary troops, the total number is about eight or nine thousand.

This is still a secondary factor. The main factor is the Ptolemaic royal family's troops. The Roman Empire's guards were 10,000 people, and the Ptolemaic Egyptian guards were 3,700 people, including 3,000 elite heavy infantry, divided into three infantry regiments, and 700 elite cavalry, which were nominally military forces directly under the king. In addition, there were also an uncertain number of king's guards, conservatively estimated to be 300 to 500 people.

In addition to these people, there are also ordinary troops. Orville has no way of knowing the exact number. It is estimated that the other party can mobilize 40,000 people in a short period of time. However, these people have to guard against Cleopatra's army that is getting closer to the Egyptian mainland, so the number is at least halved.

No matter what, the other side has an absolute numerical advantage. After all, he only has a few thousand people. If there is a military conflict, Orville will have to use his brain to think of a tricky way, so he will frequently scout the place.

…………

Orville was taking his time and waiting for the situation to change, but Cleopatra, hundreds of kilometers away, was very anxious.

Her communication with Orville was seriously affected. Due to the obstruction of Berdinus's minions, she could only send letters to him through King Herod. The efficiency would be much lower due to the transfer of letters in the middle. King Herod was also designated as a target of vigilance by Berdinus, and his letters were difficult to break through the barriers and reach Orville. The communication between the two sides was almost zero in recent times.

At this time, one is afraid of over-imagining, but Cleopatra couldn't help over-imagining. After all, Orville was in Alexandria, which was the base camp of Berdinus. She didn't know what price Berdinus would offer to Orville and the emperor, nor did she know whether Orville would choose to give up the alliance with her in a fit of impulse or after careful consideration. This feeling can be said to be quite torturous.

Especially since Orville passed Antioch when he was sailing on the sea but did not come to join her, and he also asked the Twelfth Legion to do nothing but maintain the balance. In Cleopatra's view, this seemed like he was waiting for a good price, which made her panic.

After she failed in the political struggle and was driven out of Egypt, it was not so easy for her to come back. She had originally planned to return to Egypt with her army in dignity, but the current situation forced her to change her mind. If she wanted to stabilize her political allies, the best way was undoubtedly to go and communicate with Orville in person.

So she now had to make a choice - to stay with her army from beginning to end, or to sneak into Egypt with light equipment and then find a way to reunite with Orville.

Berdinos was very wary of her. It was obviously impossible to bring a large army back. Cleopatra also knew that most of her soldiers came to her for money or speculation. Not many people were truly loyal to her. With these troops she had put together, she would definitely not get any good results in a head-on confrontation. The winner of the game was Orville or the Romans. With this understanding, she made a decisive decision. In the temporary camp in Palphi, she immediately ordered her generals: "The Roman army has separated us from the army of the eunuchs (referring to the dictatorial eunuch Berdinos). No matter what, the eunuch would not dare to risk the world's disapproval and ignore the Romans to attack us directly. In that case, we only need to wait to enter Egypt. The angry emperor will deal with Berdinos's affairs.

I had to leave the army that was loyal to me because I needed to negotiate with the Romans in person. I had to go to Rome to confront the emperor, hoping that he would make concessions. The Roman prince had a good relationship with me and he would intercede for me.

Now our army has not been attacked by the Egyptians, thanks to him. I believe that after explaining the pros and cons to the emperor, His Majesty will make the right choice. The connection between the Governor of Egypt and the eunuch is too close. I think the emperor must be doubting whether Antonius is an Egyptian or a Roman, whether he has two hearts towards him, and whether his existence is good for the country of Rome. I just need to take advantage of his suspicion and I believe we can get the answer we want. "

In fact, Cleopatra lied to her subordinates because she didn't want them to know that she was going to Alexandria. This move would cause great controversy and further shake the already shaken military morale. So she took a step back and said that she would seek justice from the emperor, which made it easier for her subordinates to accept it because her father had done something similar at the beginning of his reign. It was not the first time that she had filed a complaint and asked the emperor for intervention.

The prerequisite was that she exaggerated her relationship with Orville and produced a lot of seemingly true evidence (that is, the correspondence between the two), proving that she also had helpers in the central empire. Otherwise, these generals would probably not agree.

The generals looked at each other and felt that this matter was understandable and that there was indeed hope, so after a show of hands and a small debate, they finally agreed to let Cleopatra go out for help.

After all, the Tenth Legion is now clearly waiting for the arbitration of the capital. It is not certain whether Berdinus or King Ptolemy will also go to Rome. If they go and Cleopatra does not, there will be no need to fight this war. Whoever the Roman central government supports will win. In order to avoid this situation, it is better to let the young queen go in person.

However, although the matter was recognized, the subtle looks of those generals still made Cleopatra quite unhappy - those looks clearly said that Cleopatra got support by relying on her "overly close" relationship with the Roman prince and by whispering in his ear.

This kind of tinted glasses is inevitable. Cleopatra does not have superhuman martial arts like Tia, who can lift a tripod and shoot bows with both hands. Cleopatra does not have strong enough military forces, such as a heavy cavalry army of 10,000 people. Therefore, she can only be regarded as an ordinary woman by these people. Ordinary women in this era are generally not respected. All the respect from the people around them comes more from family and bloodline.

Silently memorizing these people's names and faces, Cleopatra put on a cloak to hide her figure, and left the camp in a carriage escorted by a team of reliable guards, preparing to go to Alexandria.

(End of this chapter)