Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 263 Flexibility
The situation in the Governor's Palace also affected the Ptolemaic royal family. They also noticed the changes on Soros Island and hurriedly mobilized Alexander's garrison troops to try to retake Soros Island, but found that the road was blocked.

Several main roads leading from the military camp to the port were completely blocked, with trucks filled with stones and sandbags piled up. The army wanted to remove the roadblocks but was blocked by their own people. They could only slowly mobilize and evacuate the troops through several small roads.

At this time, many houses near them began to catch fire again. The fire quickly expanded and spread to more houses around. In order to prevent the fire from getting out of control and setting the entire city on fire, many troops had to stop mobilizing and stay where they were to put out the fire or demolish houses to create isolation zones.

And the situation did not stop there - the densely moored ships in the port of Alexandria were also set on fire artificially. The fire spread rapidly throughout the port and showed a tendency to spread towards the city. The Library of Alexandria built next to the port was about to be threatened.

Astolfo, who had completed his mission, did not participate in today's military operations. He took his brothers to a small tower on the suburban hills and observed the battle situation in Alexandria from above.

Holding a bottle of wine in his arms, Astolfo frowned and took a big gulp: "I remember I didn't order the city to be set on fire, right?"

A burly man next to him agreed: "At least you didn't tell us about this, so it shouldn't happen."

"That was done by those people in Egypt. Tsk," he said with some dissatisfaction, "These people are really willing to sacrifice such a great city."

"So what are we going to do now? Go help those Romans?"

Astolfo shook his head. "No, that's not necessary. Let our prince take care of the rest. We just need to wait and see what happens. Wolfgang, go get the boat ready. If the situation changes, we can just take the boat and leave. We have done our best here and deserve Orville's care for us during this period."

Hearing that their boss was thinking about running away at this time, everyone was a little speechless - when Astolfo recruited them, he said that they were about to go to Egypt to enjoy exciting adventures and expeditions, but in the end they didn't see much of the things he talked about, and they did a lot of stealing and sneaking around. They couldn't figure out whether they were here for an adventure or to apply for a job as a thief.

But even though he complained, the man named Wolfgang still gave the order. Apart from the fact that the goods did not match the orders, they were quite satisfied with the time they spent with Astolfo. Everyone also accepted that Astolfo was their leader, and the leader's orders were usually obeyed, and this time was no exception.

After receiving the order, the men began to act one after another. Astolfo nodded with satisfaction and continued to observe the situation in Alexandria attentively.

He knew that what happened in this city in the next one or two days would have a profound impact on the overall situation in the world, so he wanted to be a witness and now just watch quietly.
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On the other side, after Stilicho captured Soros Island, Orville immediately moved to Soros Island with all his belongings and personnel.

He did order several locations in the city to be set on fire, but the locations were carefully selected so that it would be difficult for the fire to spread. Those fires that got out of control were not caused by his people. Coupled with the uncontrolled fire in Alexandria, Orville probably understood that Cleopatra must have done something behind the scenes.

She obviously had a loyal force at her disposal, but she had concealed it from Orwell, and during the period when Alexander's army was in chaos, they also acted on their own initiative. This put Orwell in an awkward position, the locals must hate him now, and the Ptolemaic royal family is likely to break off relations with him, and the next battle may be inevitable.

Standing on the fortress wall, Orville glanced at Cleopatra, and Cleopatra also noticed Orville's gaze, so she responded with a polite smile, and did not seem to explain what she had done.

"I hope you can give me an explanation later, otherwise I will be very angry."

Orville threw down these words and turned around to continue commanding the soldiers to reinforce the fortifications. He really hated this kind of self-willed behavior, especially since it would cause him a lot of trouble. Someone would definitely die, and he didn't know how many families would lose their sons or fathers.

What he said sounded a bit hypocritical, but he really felt that if conditions permitted, the number of deaths should be reduced as much as possible, and every life counts. Cleopatra's actions went against his philosophy.

But Cleopatra reached out and grabbed Orville's cloak: "Will you allow me to go to the town below the fortress? I want to mobilize the local residents. They are all boatmen or fishermen. They are quite tough and patient and can help us."

"If you can do it, it's up to you. But you have to come back before Achilles' (the commander of the Guards) army surrounds you. The battlefield is not a suitable place for you. If you die at this time, it will be even more difficult for me to do it. Maybe I will be banished to Britain by my father and never be able to return to Rome for the rest of my life."

He is seriously short of manpower now, so it would be great to have some help, provided that nothing happens to Cleopatra herself. Otherwise, this battle would be meaningless, and if the claimant dies, there would be no justification for the war.

"Of course, I will pay attention to my safety."

Orville nodded, then gestured to Trajan: "Take half of my guards with you to protect Her Royal Highness the Princess. If there is any change, bring her back as soon as possible."

Cleopatra quickly led her men away to the town below the fortress to do ideological mobilization work. Orville did not have high expectations for her and continued to seriously organize the army for defense.

After a while, Ivar and others who were sent out also returned to Soros Island by boat. After they got ashore, they immediately changed into the exquisite weapons prepared for them by Orvel - a set of fine chain mail plus a set of Roman ring armor, with a full set of protective gear including helmets, greaves, wrist guards, etc., and a variety of weapons and equipment. These people were transformed into heavy infantry armed to the teeth.

Orville always trusted his subordinates and gave Ivar's soldiers the best equipment. They were very satisfied with this treatment. Now they could fight with Orville in a big part because Orville really gave them excellent treatment. Now it was time for Ivar to repay Orville with his blood and sweat. He himself knew this and was mobilizing the soldiers and giving them pre-war speeches.

(End of this chapter)