Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 35: First Contact
After taking a look at him, Tia sighed deeply but did not pursue the responsibility. She just said, "Let's find a place to set up camp nearby. We haven't completely surrounded the city yet. Let's build a stable and solid camp first. Leave the camp construction to Trajan. I will personally lead people to investigate the situation nearby."

After saying this, he led a cavalry squadron of about 600 people away.

Seeing this, Orville also chose to follow.

Tia seemed worried during the investigation, so Orville wanted to comfort her.

"The city is now in civil strife and is no longer a unified entity. It won't be that difficult for us to attack. If we leave it alone, they will eventually perish in internal strife."

Tia didn't think so. "According to conservative estimates, there are still more than 20,000 rebels in the city, and there are even more if we count the civilians they can mobilize. The main armory of the Herod family and the previous armory of the Roman legions have all been confiscated by them, so I think they are not short of weapons. To be honest, I am very anxious now, because this battle is very important and I cannot fail, but Rome has never captured a city like this. This is unprecedented, and this is my first time as commander-in-chief."

Orville understood him very well. It would be strange if he was not anxious in this situation. Capturing the Holy City and ending the war was part of Vespa's plan, and it was a crucial part.

She believed that her father would win the civil war, but she still lacked complete confidence in herself. Only if this battle was won with a great victory would the Senate and the Roman people recognize the ability of the new dynasty, believe that Vespa could maintain the authority of the Roman Empire, and would truly support Vespa. If this battle was won tragically or lost, things would be very troublesome.

After thinking for a while, Orville suggested: "You can turn something without precedent into something you are familiar with. This is my prediction. Please think about it more."

When talking privately, Orville no longer needed to use honorifics for Tia.

Tia laughed in silence: "This is not a game of riddles at the drinking table, why are you being so secretive?"

Tia suddenly stopped talking halfway and looked around warily.

Although they were still driving on the main road so far, the view around them was no longer wide.

The surrounding area is a garden that was abandoned halfway through construction. There are many trenches, rubble walls and wooden fences. The complex terrain seriously affects the surrounding vision.

This kind of place is very easy to be ambushed, so it is not advisable to stay there for long.

Just as Tia was about to order her men to return the way they came, the surrounding ambushers, perhaps noticing that they had slowed down and were hesitant, rushed out of the trenches and buildings and charged straight towards the cavalry that was still advancing.

Caught off guard, a large number of cavalrymen advancing in a long line formation were cut off in the middle, and the head of the team where Tia was located lost contact with the rest of the team.

The cavalry at the back, having lost their leader, fell into chaos and could only fight in small groups. The situation at the head of the team was not optimistic either, as they were surrounded by a large number of enemies and could not move forward or backward.

Tia reacted very quickly in battle. She quickly realized that the only way to save herself was to rush out and join the main force, so she raised the sword in her hand high, with a red glow on the sword body.

"Everyone turn your horses around and follow me back!"

After saying that, she led the charge, and Orville followed closely behind her, ready to follow her out. Since their purpose was only to come for reconnaissance, they did not wear armor, but only brought their weapons and shields. It was a very dangerous behavior for Tia to expose herself like this, and she could easily become a sitting duck.

A large number of rebels rushed towards them, and seeing that Tia and others were trying to escape, they threw stones or javelins at them.

On the one hand, it was because of indescribable luck, and on the other hand, it was because of the indescribable accuracy of these people. Tia used her shield and sword to block the first few javelins thrown at her, and most of the remaining stones did not hit her, and the people who were in the front were unharmed.

Orville followed behind Tia in fear. Several javelins brushed past his head and hit the Roman cavalry behind him, piercing his body. He was also hit on the thigh by a stone and almost fell off the horse.

Fortunately, he held on to the horse's neck tightly, so he managed to keep his balance and continued to move forward with Tia to break through the siege.

The enemy's intensive projectile firepower had the opposite effect, and instead made many rebels stop moving forward, fearing that they would be accidentally injured. As a result, Diya successfully chopped down the seven or eight enemies blocking the way in front, and forcibly broke through the enemy's loose blockade.

After the remnants of the front army joined the rear army, Tia did not fight at the enemy's doorstep, but chose to retreat directly and stop the reconnaissance.

In the first round of battle, the defenders in the city had a slight advantage. Although they didn't know it, they almost seriously injured or even killed Tia, the commander-in-chief, today.

The group returned to the camp somewhat demoralized, but it was not completely empty-handed as they found a more suitable place to camp.

They moved the camp to the Lookout Hill in the north of the Holy City. As the name suggests, it was a low hill, but from it one could overlook the entire Holy City. Orville could even see the magnificent temple in the city that was shining with golden light and dazzling to the eyes.

Prepared for a protracted war with the locals, Tia built the camp to the highest standards.

The level of construction of these ancient people is impressive. This is more like a fortified town or even a small fortress than a camp.

There are distinct main and secondary roads, blacksmith shops, bakeries, storage warehouses, drainage ditches, garbage pits and toilets, stables, markets, office areas, and courts.
To be frank, most of the villages and towns Orville had seen in the past year were not as clean and tidy as this military camp, and everything was in good order.

The camp is surrounded by tall wooden fences and towers for shooting and observation. When necessary, there will be trenches, stone walls, and even caltrops, chevaux de frise, and trap pits.

The Romans conducted a lot of training for this purpose and spent hundreds of years standardizing the form of military camps. It is said that this was a concept learned from the Greek King Pyrrhus. Military camps are extremely important for marching and fighting. This concept was later carried forward by the Romans, and the Roman military camp became their representative symbol.

Tia did this because she was determined to fight them to the death.

That night, several other troops completed the cleanup work around the holy city and began to encircle the holy city.

The legions were not stationed in one place, but were slightly staggered. One legion was stationed at the top of Lookout Mountain, two newly formed legions were stationed at the foot of Lookout Mountain, and the other legion was stationed a little further away, on the east side of the Mount of Olives, where the terrain was higher and the view was better, preventing the enemy from attacking from the east.

(End of this chapter)