Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 339 Petra

The Nabataeans on the other side of the battlefield had no idea of ​​what Ivar was thinking. They only saw a group of strangely dressed foreigners driving strange boats rushing into the heart of their formation like crazy, and then hacking indiscriminately without caring about the overall situation of the war. They were as brutal and crazy as if they were possessed by the devil. The sea water was dyed red with blood and was filled with broken limbs, like a horrible scene that could only be seen in the underworld.

This gesture successfully intimidated the locals. For Ivar, his strategy had the opposite effect - more Nabataean merchant ships began to withdraw from the battlefield to escape, and even some warships with weak fighting will were swept away and scattered. Some warships with weak fighting will were also affected by the retreating ships. The Nabataeans' originally not even a tight formation now became full of loopholes. The captains under Ivar instinctively seized the opportunity and began to cooperate in hunting down those warships that refused to retreat.

Even the sailors on the Nabataeans' warships could not compete with the northerners in hand-to-hand combat. Without the cover of the formation, they were quickly surrounded by the flexible and maneuverable Viking longships, becoming meat on the chopping board and being slaughtered at will. Objectively speaking, there were still brave men among the Nabataeans. Seeing that there was no hope of winning, many sailors chose to use burning asphalt to ignite their own warships and the warships of the northerners, and perish with these people, but these people had no impact on the overall situation. The northerners who jumped off the ship to escape were quickly rescued by their companions and continued to fight on the new longships, while the Nabataeans who jumped off the ship to escape were often killed in the water by the northerners with javelins, axes and long swords.

Many northerners even took pleasure in this. They would row boats around the edge of the battlefield, stab the paddling Nabataeans with their swords, drive them back to the center of the battlefield, and then watch them gradually drown in the surging sea due to blood loss and exhaustion.

Soon the Nabataeans' resistance weakened in many places, and the only remaining forces were the ships that besieged the Roman warships. The northerners tightened their siege and surrounded these ships.

The Roman warships were quite strong and durable, and none of them had been sunk or captured by the Nabataeans yet. The remaining surviving warships and the northerners worked together from inside and outside, and the Nabataeans, who were struggling to hold on, suddenly went into a state of collapse and could only watch themselves being destroyed bit by bit.

Ivar ordered that any captured Nabataeans, except for some prisoners who looked valuable, be killed on the spot. The ocean was almost completely dyed red with blood, and the wreckage of burning ships and countless corpses floated on the sea.
This naval battle ended in a rather anticlimactic way. The main reasons should be attributed to the opponent's coach's misjudgment and the Nabataeans' lack of experience in large-scale naval battles. Faced with the overly cruel battlefield, they were unable to adapt and were directly defeated by Ivar and his men.

If the opponent could discover the problem early and take targeted precautions, the result of this naval battle should have been evenly matched. But unfortunately, there was no room for if. The Roman navy represented by Ivar won a great victory and officially declared its dominance in the waters around the Sinai Peninsula to the surrounding forces.
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Orville was silently observing the situation on the coast, and he also felt a little uncomfortable - on the one hand, it was a moral issue, and on the other hand, he was unhappy with Ivar's behavior of taking his place. It was obvious that Ivar felt that he had grown strong enough and could act independently without following orders at times.

He had not intended to use force, and had reminded Ivar to be more cautious. He did not expect that this kind of thing would happen. Now the Nabataeans would harbor hatred towards the Romans, and he would have to work hard to reconcile the conflict between the two sides.

He said to Agricola with a cold face: "When you go back, remember to remind me to write a letter to Rollo in the British Province. This matter is quite important, don't forget it."

"Yes!" Agricola probably understood Orwell's idea. Since Ivar was now somewhat disobedient, it would be difficult for Orwell to be too ruthless to use him now. The best way was to attract a group of people. From this point of view, Rollo was also a good choice. He was different from Ivar. Ivar had a vague way of thinking like a national leader. He was thinking about how to make his people live better in the future, including their descendants hundreds of years later. Rollo was a more realistic person. He was thinking about how to climb up and how to get a higher position for himself or his descendants.

So relatively speaking, Rollo has less to consider and is more obedient to orders, so Orville left Rollo in Britain. He was afraid that Belisarius would not be able to control the ambitious Ivar after he left. Now that both places are stable now, it is normal to make some personnel transfers. Rollo must be willing to come here to share a piece of the pie.

After the naval battle, Ivar went ashore for replenishment and repair and to count the losses. Overall, it was acceptable and their navy was still combat-ready. In contrast, the Nabataeans had lost their confidence in the battle. Seeing this, Orville did not let his army waste time there, but marched forward directly and began to threaten the core city of the Nabataeans, Petra.

Petra means "rock". It is a city built in a canyon. Even from a modern perspective, it is a magnificent place. Due to its narrow terrain, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack. As long as the two passes are controlled, no matter how strong the Romans are, they can't do anything to the people inside. However, Orville did not intend to attack the city by force, but only planned to sign a humiliating treaty with the other party.

The army was divided into two groups to block the entrance and exit of Petra. Orville knew that the other party must have secret passages or something like that, but he didn't care much, as long as he could basically hinder the other party's trade.

A few days passed like this, and as expected, the other party sent an envoy to negotiate, and Orville gladly accepted the other party.
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Inside the central army camp, Orville formally met with the Nabataeans' envoys.

The envoy was a dignified old man with a white beard and a furrowed brow. He was said to be a member of a royal family of high status. After the polite exchanges, the other party went straight to the point and started the negotiations.

"We are sorry for robbing your caravan. As compensation, we are willing to hand over those robbers with both hands and guarantee that similar incidents will not happen again. Your fleet can move freely in the waters under our control. We will no longer collect taxes or protection fees from any Roman ships. We are willing to contribute a generous gift to you. We can also negotiate to cede part of the border land. If you have any other requirements, we can discuss it again."

(End of this chapter)