Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 28 Augustus is the Strongest Man
Less than two weeks after John Levi took control of the city, it fell into complete chaos and disorder.

The civilians in the city either indulged in depravity and became corrupt along with the Zealots, or lived in constant fear, thinking all day long about how to escape from this city of death. The production in the city basically came to a halt, and the lives of all citizens were greatly affected.

Just as the Priest Party had expected, Bal Giora of the Dagger Party successfully defeated the main force of the Idumaeans through a series of deceptions and fierce subordinates, and plundered their land and recruited manpower.

Having absorbed some of the elite strength of the Idumeaeans, he now has not only light infantry, but also regular heavy infantry. Although his training is certainly not comparable to that of the Romans, this is a huge advantage compared to the people in the holy city.

He made no secret of his ambition to get his hands on the Holy City. While the Roman issue was still unresolved, many conflicts broke out between the two sides. The final result was that the Gladiuses kept approaching the Holy City, while the Zealots kept shrinking their forces to prepare for defense.

At this time, the priest party lured the other side into the city according to the plan. Just as expected, the short knife party readily agreed to the invitation of these guides. The two parties cooperated internally and externally to launch a surprise attack and successfully captured the city gate.

At this time, many people in the city also rose up in resistance, and joined forces with the army outside the city to defeat the Zealots.

John organized his men to retreat into the temple. This was not an undefended religious place like an ordinary church. The temple was the best defended fortress in the entire city. It was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it also had well water to provide water, so it was not afraid of a short-term siege at all.

Although the Dagger Gang did not have the same scruples as Ana and launched several rounds of attacks directly on the temple, they did not continue the attempt after discovering that they had suffered heavy losses and were content to plunder the money and supplies in the holy city.

Now the civilians in the city have almost given up hope on these gangs, and many of them have taken advantage of the chaos to flee the city. This is probably their last important chance before the arrival of the Romans. Even so, many people still fail to react in time or dare not take the risk and continue to stay in the city.

There are now three forces in the city: the Zealots occupy the temple, the Priests occupy a corner of the upper city, and the Daggers occupy the rest.

In the temporary headquarters of the priest party, an old man angrily scolded one of the leaders: "Are you satisfied now? Another bandit has entered the city. How ridiculous! The beast called civil strife is devouring the body of this city. It has become the prey of war, colorful rule and party struggles. Are you satisfied with this outcome?"

The accused man was not angry, but replied indifferently with a verse from the Bible: "But the wicked will be cut off, and the treacherous will be rooted out."

"You are giving the Holy City to the Romans and doing the work of a traitor!"

The man sneered: "Go and argue with my dead wife and children. This city has been polluted by sin. It would be nice if the Romans were to be the last judge of this city, just as the book says.

Don't be afraid of sudden terror. Don't be afraid of the destruction of the wicked. After the Roman trial, the saved will ascend to heaven and enjoy eternal bliss, and the punished will go to hell and suffer eternal punishment. If you are the former, you should thank me. If you are the latter, you deserve it. "

The logically closed man was very satisfied with this theory, so he drew his sword on the spot, pierced the old man's body, and kicked him to the side.
-
It seemed that the candied fruits did not cause any diplomatic problems. After obtaining the loyalty oath from the Egyptian governor, the fleet immediately set out for Caesarea, the residence of Vespasian.

After only two days of hard work, the fleet entered the port of Caesarea. As expected, Tia was warmly welcomed by Vespa, and this time Orville was also invited to attend.

In the Governor's Palace, Vespa sat on the main seat and looked at Tia with a smile: "Do you have any new news? Judging from the time, you should have returned before you even arrived in Rome."

"When we were in Cyprus, we learned that Galba had died, and his deputy Otto had succeeded him as emperor. The Germanic Legion was marching towards Rome, and there would be a fierce battle between the two sides. In view of this situation and the prophecy that Orville mentioned before, I took the initiative to go to Egypt and brought this thing back to ensure that there would be no mistakes."

Tia presented the loyalty oath to Vespa, and Vespa's originally calm expression quickly turned into astonishment.

He looked at Orville subconsciously: “Whose idea was this?”

However, Tia denied his idea: "In the end, it was my idea. It had nothing to do with the other two. It's absolutely true."

Vespa was silent. He knew his daughter would not lie.

He looked around and found that there were no outsiders on the field. Tia was his daughter, and Orvel had long seen through the ambition hidden in his heart. Now that she was promoted by him, there was no need to hide anything.

He finally spoke with true feelings: "I understand your thoughts, but I still find it difficult to make a decision. How ridiculous it is to be involved in a civil war with two young daughters at the age of fifty!"

Tia opened her mouth but said nothing because her sister still lived in Rome and she had the same concerns.

Orville knew that it was time for him to speak up. Anyway, the outcome of history was that Vespasian would ascend the throne and become emperor. The credit for persuading Vespasian to ascend the throne was right in front of him and he should not waste it.

After asking Vespa for instructions, he said, "It is the best choice for you to ascend the throne and become emperor now. Otto and Galba in Spain are not qualified to govern the country. They are just lucky speculators. They have no wisdom, strength or wealth. They have nothing. The Germanic legionaries only have brute force. Their thirst for wealth will make them lose the support of the Senate and the people. Being too close to their Frankish friends will make them sell out the interests of the country. They are not qualified to be the helmsmen. Rome will not prosper under their management.

You have the wisdom, persuasiveness, forbearance, self-discipline and fortitude necessary for a ruler. You have everything you need to rule Rome. You don't need to be afraid of the obstacles those people will cause to you. Now you have a full twelve legions in Syria, Parvathy and Egypt. They are almost not consumed by war and are not infected by mutiny. These legions have combat experience and are therefore strong enough.

You have a navy, cavalry, and infantry, a king loyal to you, the grain of Egypt and the great wealth raised for this Palaeocalypse, the loyalty of the eastern provinces, and more experience than anyone else. The strongest of the army is Augustus. I think no one is fit to be the Roman emperor except you. "

(End of this chapter)