Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 272 Pre-War Speech
"I know that you don't want to die in the chaos and lose your sons and fathers. You must have some opinions about me and question why I am so eager to use force against the Egyptians. I can only tell you that every battle and every swing of a weapon must be meaningful. I will not let a single person's blood be shed in vain.

Nearly half of the wheat you eat every day in your hometown comes from Egypt, from the land under your feet. If the situation in Egypt is unstable, your hometown will also be in turmoil. Is this what you want to see?
We will bring blood, but we will also bring new order and stability. The Egyptians are completely corrupt. What we need now is a fire to burn this tree, and then the Romans will plant new species, so that new towering trees can grow on the ashes. If we let the Egyptians continue to rot like this, the foundation of this tree will be unstable, and it will collapse sooner or later, hitting the Romans who are taking shelter under the tree, and we will be broken and bloody.

Instead of this, we might as well take the initiative to cut down the tree and burn it. Egypt is controlled by their eunuch tyrants. We will correct the order, and the glorious bloodline of Alexander's successors will be revived with the help of the Romans. All the arrogant people will be judged by us in the court and on the battlefield!

Men of the Tiber, rulers of the world, think of our ancestors, think of Hector (Trojan hero), Aeneas (founder of Rome, Trojan hero), Manilius (who fought and defeated the Greek ruler Pyrrhus), Paulus (Aemilius Paulus Macedoniancus, who actually turned Macedonia into a Roman vassal state) and Lucius (Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus, who joined forces with his brother Scipio Africanus to defeat the resurgent Seleucid Empire). When did the Romans ever fear these Greeks? ! "

Trajan solemnly brought the eagle flag to Orville, who took the eagle flag with a soaring eagle sculpture on the top with both hands and showed it to the soldiers in front of him.

In fact, these soldiers were not formally organized into a complete legion, they were just considered legion soldiers and received legion treatment. However, the atmosphere had come to this point, so Orville just went along with it to create some atmosphere.

"Soldiers, unite under the banner of the eagle! The victorious eagle will fly over the mountains, over the pyramids of the Egyptians and the lighthouses of the Greeks. Then you can display your wounds with honor, and once again boast of your achievements.

You will be the founders of a new empire, and when you are old, you will be surrounded by your fellow countrymen and respected by them. They will listen to your stories of great deeds with admiration. You can proudly say that I was also a member of the imperial army that conquered Egypt, Syria, Greece, Gaul, Africa, Britain and Germany.

Glory to the brave soldiers and to our motherland! Hold on to your shields! Hold on to your spears! Sharpen your swords! This is a fateful day, and the fate of countless people will be decided here! "

Orville's speech, which stitched together a lot of things, also achieved certain results. The soldiers' fighting enthusiasm was mobilized to a great extent. After Orville left, they held their weapons tightly and began to prepare for battle under the command of their respective centurions.
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The first large-scale counterattack by the Roman garrison on Soros Island occurred in the evening of that day, one of the times when the enemy was the most slack. At that time, the Egyptians did not expect Orwell to fight so desperately, and only prepared troops to deal with small-scale night attacks.

There are only about two thousand soldiers on duty here, and only two talented people, which is completely disproportionate to the situation on Orville's side where all the soldiers are out in force.

From the beginning of the battle, the battlefield situation was one-sided - on one side were the Romans, who were in high spirits, in the limelight and well-equipped, and on the other side were the Ptolemaic Egyptian army, who were hastily prepared for the battle and had mixed equipment and training levels. They had never anticipated this offensive, and the simple defensive positions were quickly broken down by several talented people. Elite soldiers with short swords and large shields swarmed in and attacked every enemy they could see. Orwell preferred to capture enemies rather than kill them, but things should be prioritized. At this time, they could not be forced to capture the opponent, which was irresponsible for the lives of the soldiers and the war. Orwell's instructions to them were to kill the armed enemies when they saw them, and at the same time, not to pursue them and not to waste too much time on them.

After several rounds of non-stop charges, most of the Ptolemaic Egyptian troops on Soros Island were defeated. Some of them were killed on the spot, and more began to flee in all directions - some fled to the sea by boat, and some directly fled back to the mainland along the causeway. The remaining resistance forces with the will to fight were just a drop in the bucket. The Romans quickly took control of the situation, and the hostile forces on Soros Island were basically wiped out in one wave.

Orville rode on one of the few horses, not for charging or quick maneuvers, but simply to make himself more conspicuous and to be seen by as many soldiers as possible on the field.

What he was wearing was quite eye-catching - a golden breastplate with brass carvings of dragons and phoenixes, a towering crimson horsehair helmet on his head, and a purple cloak that symbolized his noble status. He looked as majestic as a general at a triumphal ceremony.

Riding on his horse at high speed, passing by the soldiers who were re-forming, Orville raised his sword in his right hand and said confidently: "Soldiers! Citizens! The rise and fall of the empire depends on this battle!!"

The centurions led their soldiers across the embankment in an orderly manner and rushed into the city of Alexandria. The defenders near the city were caught off guard and did not even have time to deploy a decent defense. The Roman army broke through their second line of defense, and then continued to attack the city with its remaining power.

Alexandria's bloated urban structure once again dragged down these armies, and their organization was also somewhat disordered due to troop deployment. Many troops in the city knew that Orville had invaded the city, but because the residents of the city panicked and rushed out of the city, the flow of people made it impossible for them to mobilize normally, and most of the troops could only watch Orville advance.

Orwell ignored the potential enemy forces around him, nor did he order his soldiers to burn, loot or set the city on fire. He just ordered his army to march along the main road towards the nearby palace. The surrounding civilians mostly avoided Orwell and the Roman army, and even if there were occasional carriages or roadblocks blocking the road, they would be demolished on the spot. With high morale and strong unity and cooperation, the legionnaires rushed all the way to the palace gate and confronted the palace guards head-on.

(End of this chapter)