Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 347: Attack
His young son continued: "If I am not mistaken, the Romans will withdraw troops from the Danube Legion to the south, and at the same time, the Egyptian governor Orwell will send troops to the north. These two armies will attack from the east and west.

So I suggest you don't use force. If you insist on war, you should start from the Danube, cross the Dacian land and attack the loose defense line of the Danube Legion. "

King Charles stared at the other side and said, "If this is the case, we will have to march two or three hundred kilometers deep into enemy territory to reach the Danube. The Dacians may be colluding with the Romans. If we make a mistake, our army will be blocked there and unable to move forward. We will become the big fish in the well and can only be slaughtered by others."

He asked his father in return: "What else can we do? All the German legions have not been mobilized, and they must be on guard against us now. If we assemble the army in an orderly manner and crash into their defense line, the result will be no different from the previous times. We can only have a chance if we surprise them, otherwise there is no possibility at all. We don't have enough knowledge about the things on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, which makes us unprepared. Even so, we have to pray that the time it takes for the army to assemble and set out is shorter than the time it takes for the Romans to quell the rebellion, otherwise we will run into eight to ten fully armed Roman legions, and there is basically no hope of crossing the Danube and defeating so many Romans."

In fact, the young prince wanted his father to give up. He thought there was no need to take such a hopeless military adventure. Even if it succeeded, there was no hope of dismembering this huge empire. At best, it would make the emperor angry and he would mobilize more troops to deal with the Germans.

It is true that the emperor's rule will loosen, but this is to pave the way for those who come after him. The bodies of the Germans and Romans will pave the throne for their successors. No one wants to make wedding clothes for others, so it is better to wait for the right time. He thinks that the Romans will become chaotic sooner or later. For example, after the death of Emperor Vespa, the issue of succession is enough for the Senate and the emperor's faction to fight. It would be more appropriate to take action at that time than now.

The Romans are not in chaos internally, and the Egyptians, Parthians, Parviians, Gauls, Germans, Dacians and other nations do not see any opportunities. Now is not the right time, so things can be put aside for now.

But King Charles obviously had a different way of thinking from his son. Facing this question, he smiled grimly: "You are right, so why don't we change our thinking? I can directly mobilize the troops of five cavalry wings..."

…………

On the other side, Orville quickly took the next step after ensuring the stability of the supply line. He gathered his troops together and handed over the task of defending the occupied areas to other troops. He led his troops north to prepare to meet with the Danube Corps in the north.

Mithridates had two choices: one was to continue guerrilla warfare and fight the Romans, and the other was to take a military risk and wipe out one army first. Calling himself a liberator and a great leader, Mithridates naturally chose the latter.

The Danube Legion was accidentally ambushed during its march and suffered heavy losses. They retreated to the safety of the Byzantine city. Fortunately, the city's defense system was relatively strong and the Pontic people had no choice but to continue the siege.

Orville knew the situation of Byzantium's city defense and food reserves, so he was not so anxious. He marched in an orderly manner and at the same time commanded the navy to find opportunities to supply Byzantium.

Shiploads of soldiers and supplies were sent into the city, greatly strengthening the confidence of the defenders. At this time, Mithridates acted decisively and retreated to Asia Minor while the navy was changing sides.

There was a strait between the two, which was easy to deal with with ships. After Orville learned the news, he did not rush to attack, but instead began to consolidate the occupation of mainland Greece.

He knew that Trajan's army was over there, and the task of intercepting the enemy army should be left to him. Orville's own mission was in Greece, and after completing that, the next step would be to move eastward.

…………In the hills of Asia Minor, a long line of soldiers and baggage was marching.

Mithridates was in the front of the army. He was wearing luxurious and glittering bronze armor with dragons and phoenixes carved on it, which looked very impressive. Mithridates liked this armor because it reminded him of his identity.

Although they were vaguely looked down upon by both sides, their lineage claimed to be the last descendants of the Achaemenid Dynasty, and he considered himself to be the successor of Alexander, so naturally he should be more extraordinary.

He liked to wear a wreath decorated with ram horns, which was also the attire of Alexander on the coins. Ram horns symbolized the god Amon. Alexander claimed to be the son of Zeus and Amon. Mithridates also inherited this saying and publicized himself as a descendant of the gods. Whether others believed it or not was not a question for the time being. They really needed a general who could stand up and fight against the Romans. They hadn't seen someone like Mithridates for a while.

His military achievements were questioned, but he did manage to recover the lands of three or four provinces. Uprisings broke out one after another in a vast area from Armenia to Greece. Through diplomatic means, the Scythians surrendered to the King of Pontus. After a combination of soft and hard tactics, all the Roman lands along the Black Sea coast, except Byzantium, fell into the hands of the Pontians. They saw a glimmer of success, so they decided to continue to support Mithridates.

"Where should we go next? The big cities on the south bank have been captured by the Romans. Should we stay here or go back to the capital?" suggested an aide.

"There's no need to go back," Mithridates waved his hand, then pointed to the steep terrain around him - on one side there was dense vegetation, and on the other side there was fog in the mountains. Everyone present was a soldier, and they felt very uneasy when they saw this kind of terrain.

"Look at this terrain, it's perfect for an ambush. We'll continue to fight guerrilla warfare with the Romans here. If nothing unexpected happens, reinforcements from the Scythians and Germans will arrive soon..."

"Be careful!!"

While Mithridates was discussing the situation with the people around him, a dense rain of arrows fell from the sky, and the leading soldiers were caught off guard and shot like hedgehogs.

Before most people could react to the situation, they heard a low horn sound, and then the unique, creepy whistle of the Romans echoed through the valley.

Arrows, javelins, stones and even rolling logs poured down, and the troops marching in the long snake formation were immediately thrown into chaos. The officers roared and organized the troops to put on weapons and line up to prepare for counterattack, but they saw the Roman army rushing out of the woods.

Mithridates felt a little regretful at this time - his armor was too conspicuous even in foggy weather, as if he was afraid that others would not see it, which would not be an advantage in a melee.

(End of this chapter)