Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 294 Hidden Danger Relieved
The enemy commander had bet on the wrong horse and overestimated the combat strength of his side, but now it was impossible to withdraw the soldiers. The Romans would definitely pursue the victory, and the soldiers in front and behind would be crowded together, which would easily lead to a rout. So they had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue to deploy troops to the enemy's central position.

The Romans remained fearless in the face of danger. Under the on-the-spot command of the centurions and captains, they fought against the barbarian soldiers who far outnumbered them. They formed a dense shield wall formation and pushed and rammed their enemies. From time to time, a dagger-shaped short sword would pierce out from the upper side of the large shield, reaping the lives of the opposing soldiers.

To put it in a more entertaining way, the Romans were completely professional in dealing with these barbarians, because their first powerful enemy was the Gauls in northern Italy, and their military equipment was designed to a certain extent to fight this kind of barbarians, not to mention that the Celts on the British Isles were more like the original barbarians than the Gauls, retaining the most barbarian elements, and had relatively low production capacity and military technology.

One of the secrets of close combat on the battlefield with cold weapons is to use more people against fewer. The Roman short sword mainly attacks by stabbing and the formation is very dense. The long sword and axe used by the Celts mainly hack and chop. In order to make full use of the weapons in their hands and lack of strict training, there are inevitably gaps between the soldiers, and the area is not small.

Often a long sword has to face the stabs of four or five daggers, and two fists are no match for four hands. Even the tallest and strongest warriors can only die on the spot when faced with daggers that pierce their bodies and they cannot dodge. Due to the crowded conditions on the cold weapon battlefield, these people are even pushed and shoved after death and will not fall down for a long time.

As the battle lasted longer, the battlefield was piled with bodies of the dead, most of whom were Celts, with only a few being Romans.

As the battle time lengthened, the barbarian army's weakness became increasingly apparent, their physical strength gradually depleted, and their patience and confidence gradually collapsed. As for the most intense battlefield situation, there was no need to use any strange tactics. The Celts simply could not defeat the Romans in the purest, bloody and direct hand-to-hand combat. Unless something unexpected happened to the Romans' flanks, it would only be a matter of time before they would pierce through the Celtic center.

After realizing this, the opposing commander immediately sent the remaining elite troops to the flanks to exert pressure, while using his own cavalry units, hoping to quickly penetrate the Germanic auxiliary troops on the Roman flank, which increased the pressure on the Germanic side.

The German commander severely reprimanded the soldiers and personally drew his sword to kill several wavering soldiers, maintaining the front line with this bloody method.

Having said that, the situation on the Germanic side actually favors them - because many of them are spear phalanx soldiers.

In this era, the Roman legionaries are still recognized as the best sword and shield infantry in the Mediterranean world. But even they suffered a lot when they fought against Alexander's cousin, King Pyrrhus, who was nicknamed Alexander's living counterpart.

Unless Hercules were still alive, once the phalanx spearmen were officially deployed, it would not be possible to break through by just charging head-on. Faced with the phalanx spears as densely packed as hedgehogs, even the bravest man would be frightened, fearing being strung together like a human skewer, and would not charge forward stupidly.

When the Romans used sword and shield infantry to face the spears in the front formation head-on, the result was a complete and inglorious defeat. They could only make a breakthrough by attacking the vassal troops on the flanks. Now, let alone these Celts.

Although the quality of the German auxiliary troops was far inferior to that of Alexander or Pyrrhus' warriors, they were able to hold their spears upright, which was enough. The Celtic warriors on the opposite side seemed timid and hesitant to move forward.

One of the shortcomings of phalanx infantry is that it is afraid of long-range firepower, and another is that it is too bulky. Both of these points were solved to a certain extent by Belisarius.

After the exchange of fire in the center, Belisarius transferred the scorpion crossbows and most of the archer troops to the two wings to suppress the enemy's archers. Although the Romans in the center would be under greater pressure, it was not a big problem. The Celtic troops were caught off guard by the increased number of archers.

Their goal was not to deplete the Celtic melee forces, but to suppress the Celtic's small number of archers who had been silenced. The effect was quite successful. Due to the protection of cover, the Celtics were at a disadvantage during the shootout.

These warriors could not ignore the attacks from the archers in the distance and continue to attack the seemingly fragile spear phalanx. Instead, they turned around and shot at the archers attacking them. It can be said that the enemy's hatred and attention were attracted away, which allowed the Germanic phalanx spearmen to act as terrain generators with greater peace of mind.

In addition, Belisarius did not make any mistakes in the deployment of troops. He fully deployed the phalanx spearmen and then filled the battle line with cleverly deployed German elite sword and shield infantry. This protected the flanks of the phalanx soldiers and gave them enough sense of security and confidence.

The enemy's attack also became somewhat difficult. The local Germanic people did not have time to receive Roman training and become a typical Roman heavy infantry sword and shield unit, but they were still a Vikingized sword and shield infantry. Their combat effectiveness was quite good, at least enough to deal with these people.

The phalanx soldiers shortened the width of the battle line, and the enemy's soldiers rushed to the front of the sword and shield infantry in large numbers, and the two sides began hand-to-hand combat.

After more than a hundred years of heated exchanges, these Germanic people have developed genuine confidence in fighting against the Celts. They were once elite private soldiers of the nobility, with good training and weapons and equipment. After the two sides engaged in battle, the Germanic people actually had a slight advantage.

After all, the Germanic people were the people who drove the Celts to the edge of the land, and relatively speaking, the Germanic people's fighting power was slightly better.

It is impossible to determine the winner in a short period of time. For the Celtics now, not being able to determine the winner means gradually moving towards failure.

The enemy commander had a relatively clear understanding of the situation, so he sent out his own cavalry unit in an attempt to flank the enemy's position from behind.

At this time, another major disadvantage of the Celts emerged - most of their so-called cavalry troops were horse-drawn chariots, which could be called living fossils on the battlefield. Moreover, the horses were much shorter than those on the mainland, which put them at a great disadvantage against the high-quality Germanic cavalry.

They knew that chariots were heavy and sluggish, and would be sitting ducks against nimble cavalry. It was because their own breeding standards had not kept up, and the horses could not act as flexible carry people, so they could only use the horses to pull carts.

At this point in the war, the outcome was self-evident. Some clear-headed barbarian leaders were already quietly preparing to retreat with their men. Although the barbarian commander knew that the situation was unfavorable, he still gritted his teeth and ordered his cavalry to launch a charge, hoping to find a chance to defeat the Germanic cavalry on the opposite side, and then go around the Romans' flank for a last-ditch effort.

If the cavalry in the eastern part of the empire had not seen chariots for a long time, they might be able to achieve a surprise victory through this method, but they were now facing the Germans, who had fought with them for many years, and they knew very well how to deal with the Celtic old chariots. Although the Romans had abandoned the slightly outdated model of chariots in actual combat, they had an almost obsessive enthusiasm for chariot racing and were relatively familiar with this weapon. Several teams of cavalry were separated from the Roman army to surround the chariot phalanx. The more agile cavalry easily hung around the chariots, and then used javelins, bows and arrows and other weapons to attack the Celtic horses that were only painted with paint for metaphysical defense.

There is no doubt that these bulky chariots can hardly touch the skilled cavalry of the Germans. Even if a few chariot drivers with excellent driving skills and excellent archers can kill a few scattered cavalry, it will be of no avail. The German cavalry is roughly estimated to have several hundred cavalry. On the contrary, any chariot team with the ability to resist will be given special attention, and will be chased and intercepted by dozens of cavalry, and will soon die on the spot.

In this way, the few mobile forces of the Celts were also lost on the battlefield. The cavalry, which had lost its restraint, began to go around from the flank and outflank the Celtic army from behind. Fortunately, the Celts had a large number of people and were able to allocate some troops to block the German cavalry that had outflanked them.

These German cavalry were mainly light cavalry, and the impact power of cavalry in this era was not enough. When faced with the blocking infantry, they were unable to directly charge at them, but instead got into a small-scale fight with these soldiers.

But at this moment, an unknown number of Vikings suddenly rushed out from the rear of the Celtic army. The coalition forces, who were unexpectedly attacked from both sides, were thrown into chaos and didn't know what to do.

These people were Rollo's men. Rollo himself led a mixed force of Vikings and Anglo-Saxons to confuse the front line. Rollo's own warriors, led by Roman officers, sailed down the river in longboats, took a long detour to get behind the Celtic Legion, and had been waiting for an opportunity on the edge of the battlefield. Now that they found the opportunity, they immediately launched an attack and began to attack the Celtic positions from behind.

The situation seemed somewhat critical to begin with. The opponent's commander-in-chief had no reserve troops around him, and only a few guards and personal soldiers remained.

One side was in high spirits, while the other was forced to fight hastily and had no numerical advantage at all. The outcome of the war can be said to be quite one-sided.

This surprise force became the last straw that broke the camel's back. The soldiers fighting hard on the front line immediately became morale-shaken when they discovered that their headquarters was under siege. Belisarius seized the opportunity to send all his cavalry and reserve troops to support the German cavalry who were fighting hard with the enemy on the flank of the battlefield.

There is no need to say much about what happened next. The weak infantry line was penetrated, and a large number of cavalrymen detoured from the flanks of the front line to the rear and flanks of the Celtic front line, and then launched a massive charge at their backs.

Under attack from all sides, the Celtic coalition began to disintegrate, and the disintegration turned into a crushing defeat in a short period of time. This time Belisarius showed no mercy and ordered the soldiers to pursue the enemy mercilessly. Any soldier who resisted would be killed on the spot, and those who did not resist and surrendered would be tied up with ropes and controlled, awaiting post-war disposal.

The Germanic cavalry returned to their old duties. Belisarius loosened the restraints on these cavalrymen, and they excitedly used lassoes and other equipment to capture fleeing Celtic warriors all over the mountains and plains. The situation became quite chaotic.
-
The battle actually ended in the afternoon, but the work of cleaning the battlefield, treating the wounded, dealing with prisoners, burying bodies and counting the dead continued until noon the next day before we had some clues.

At this point, there was naturally no need to continue the war, so the barbarians reluctantly elected a barbarian leader who had not died in the war, and asked him to be the speaker to negotiate peace with the Romans.

Since the other party has already surrendered, the Romans will naturally accept it with pleasure.

As governor and war commander, Belisarius announced the plan for dealing with these barbarians and the rewards for the victors.

For the victors, bounties, celebratory banquets, sharing of spoils and so on are naturally indispensable. Belisarius also promised to give the dead a pension that exceeded the customary amount, and even the German soldiers would have a share, which was considered to satisfy these soldiers with money.

The central government’s financial allocation has not been spent yet, so it is not difficult to allocate some money to reward the soldiers.

As for these barbarian leaders who were suspected of colluding with the Franks, Belisarius directly charged them with the crime of conspiring to contact the Franks and attempting to subvert the rule of the empire.

The main culprits were the most active tribal leaders. As a matter of course, their homes were searched and those who were alive were hanged on the cross, and those who were dead would be hanged on the cross for the second time if their bodies could be found.

In addition, the barbarian tribes with the strongest resistance attitude will be dispersed and thrown into the southern province of Gaul, and the remaining barbarians who participate in the resistance will also be treated accordingly.

The heirs of the barbarian tribes would be required to serve as hostages in the British province of Londinium or the capital Rome for a period of time to receive Roman education, and Belisarius required them to pay blood tax, that is, to serve the empire.

In addition, the border with the Celtic barbarians in the west was pushed forward by about thirty or forty kilometers, and their space was further compressed.

Belisarius also used coercive measures to regulate the mode of trade, coexistence, and communication between the barbarians and the Romans, and did not allow robbery, theft, etc. to occur, thus achieving the result he wanted on the western border of the British province.

Although they had some opinions about Boudica, after this incident, the Romans still designated Boudica as the leader of the tribal alliance. She would continue to negotiate with the Romans as a representative and serve as a bridge to communicate and regulate the relationship between the Romans and the locals.

According to Belisarius' understanding, things were forced through by force, and the main hidden danger in the western part of the British province was successfully eliminated.

(End of this chapter)