Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 264: The Army of Peace

No matter how slow the reaction was, the Ptolemy royal family now understood that this was a conspiracy between Orwell and Cleopatra. They sent a large army to surround Soros Island the next day and sent envoys to try to negotiate with Orwell.

Orville's reply to the other party was quite righteous - evidence had been found that the Egyptian governor Antonis had accepted bribes, neglected his duties, and colluded with local people to damage the interests of the empire. According to the laws of the empire, he should be sentenced to death. The Ptolemaic royal family of Egypt colluded with Antonis and withheld a lot of tribute, and should also be subject to investigation by the emperor. Instead, he advised Berdinus and King Ptolemy to give up their resistance and accept the Roman investigation with peace of mind.

He did not admit that he had attacked Antonius, nor did he admit that he had set fire to Alexandria. He even had the audacity to interfere in the affairs of the Ptolemaic royal family. The subtext was that he did not want to communicate properly.

The Ptolemaic royal family, who were accustomed to compromise and weakness, should have been more likely to choose to stop and cooperate with the so-called investigation because of the existence of the Roman emperor. But now they were forced by the angry citizens of the capital to take action against Orville on Soros Island.

Most of the residents of Alexandria were Greek immigrants, and Ptolemaic Egypt also had some remnant customs from the city-state civilization era. For example, the residents of the capital had a great influence on politics, and even Berdinus and others could not ignore their wishes.

In their view, the weak Ptolemaic royal family had repeatedly compromised with the Romans, and now the Romans had become so crazy and unscrupulous that they began to set fire to the city and even burned many ships. This behavior could not be tolerated by even the weakest ruler, otherwise the king would have no authority to exist.

In the eyes of the residents of the city, they were great Greeks, subjects under the rule of Ptolemy, the successor of Alexander, while the Romans were just a group of former barbarians and upstarts who made up a far-fetched claim that they were the so-called remnants of Troy. They had a strong sense of self-esteem, and at this time they really couldn't stand it anymore.

So, after several failed attempts at negotiation, King Ptolemy had no choice but to bite the bullet and announce the mobilization of his troops to launch an offensive against Orville.

At this time, he did not dare to declare war on the Roman Empire. He just said that he would accuse Orwell of his brutal behavior to the central dignitaries in Rome, and then control the law-breaking Orwell for the Roman emperor. In short, he repeatedly emphasized one fact - Egypt had not yet separated from the Roman Empire, and this matter was just some kind of "personal grudge" between Egypt and Orwell, and would not expand to a grudge against the entire empire.

Since most of the naval ships were destroyed in the fire, they were unable to conduct a landing operation. The army gathered in front of the causeway, preparing to storm the Roman garrison on Soros Island through this narrow path.

At this time, the Romans had not yet completely repaired the various obstacles on Soros Island, so someone was needed to buy time on the causeway. There was no doubt that the person who took on this task was Ivar the Boneless.

The embankment was only three or four meters wide. In order to fully exert his strength, Ivar shouted for his men to leave, picked up a two-handed axe himself, and stood on the embankment to block the Egyptian soldiers who were rushing up.

The axes used by the Romans now are more like a mixture of an axe and a pickaxe. They are not used for fighting but for building camps. The axes used by the Vikings are not exactly like this. They are more like a special weapon of war.

Suitable for both chopping and sweeping, the axe structure can hook open the opponent's shield, and the blade is wide and sharp. The weapon in Ivar's hand is a customized version of this axe after multiple upgrades.

Ivar's axe was like a dramatic weapon in some comics. Its size was quite exaggerated, and with a nearly two-meter-long handle, the overall weight reached an incomprehensible 20 kilograms, which looked quite intimidating. Combined with Ivar's nearly two-meter-tall height, this image made the Egyptian soldiers in front of him hesitate to move forward. In the end, under the strong command of the superior, the soldiers reluctantly pointed the spears at Ivar and began to prepare to advance slowly.

The causeway was not wide enough for the guns to fully deploy, so the battle on the causeway was a complete melee.

Ivar wielded the axe, swinging it with ease, using it like a sledgehammer. All the soldiers who were hit either had their bones broken and were knocked off the embankment, or were killed on the spot.

This can be regarded as a one-man-out situation. The other side seemed to have some concerns and did not send any more talented people on their side to fight. Ivar held out on the embankment for a long time under the cover of archers and javelin throwers behind him.

Only after he was somewhat exhausted did he withdraw from the battlefield under the cover of his men. What awaited the soldiers of both sides was a protracted, bloody hand-to-hand combat with no rules or reason.

The equipment level of the Alexandria city garrison is quite good. After all, they are soldiers from the capital, and for the sake of face, they will not be too bad. They all have armor and matching standard equipment, but these equipment are not good enough compared with the Vikings.

Not only were they lacking in weapons and equipment, but they were also no match for the northerners in physique and training.

I don't know if it's because of the difference in diet or if Bergmann's law (the higher the latitude, the larger the animal, representative examples are polar bears and wolves) applies to humans, but northerners are generally a head taller than Egyptians or Latins, and even taller than their Germanic relatives, which gives them an advantage in this kind of hand-to-hand combat.

Battle formations can make up for some of the differences in physical size, but they are useless in a melee - larger size means greater strength, and greater strength means advantage.

The Romans were used to being bullied for their short stature, so they strengthened their armor in areas that were of particular concern, such as the shoulders, and used their superb technical and tactical skills to make up for some of their physical deficiencies. This was not the case with the Egyptians.

They had not yet kept up with the changes in the version, still had the weapons and equipment of the Diadochi era, and had fatal shortcomings compared to the professional soldiers recruited by Rome - most of these people were so-called "military settlers".

This is a practice that is somewhat similar to the military household system of the Eastern Dynasty Ming Dynasty, but it is not yet so perfect. Soldiers obtain a piece of land by serving, and their sons will receive certain military training when they are young, and when their fathers are old and frail, they will take over their fathers' responsibilities and continue to serve as soldiers.

The benefits are obvious, it is stable and can expand land, but problems are inevitable over time. Ptolemaic Egypt is now facing this situation - these military settlers have been at peace for too long and have neglected training. They lack understanding of the basic question of how to fight, and the result is disastrous when facing the Vikings who are as fierce as wolves and tigers.

(End of this chapter)