Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 351 The Silent Majority
Halfway through the battle, the Frankish prince called on his men to prepare to retreat or meet up with the enemy, and the result was as expected - the Scythians could not withstand the casualties and withdrew from the battlefield.

If the Franks encountered this situation, they would probably send out their excellent cavalry to reap the rewards. However, it was obvious that the cavalry strength on Orville's side was not very sufficient, and there were also Frankish cavalry nearby who were eyeing them covetously. He did not risk sending out his cavalry to pursue the retreating army, but just continued to wait.

It was obvious that this formation lacked the most basic mobility and aggressiveness. It was difficult to move, let alone go out to hunt down the enemy. It was obvious that the Romans had no such intention. They just defended quietly in place, seemingly determined to fight to the death with these Scythians.

The prince knew that the other party had the confidence. The longships of those northerners had a very shallow draft and could switch freely between inland navigation and sea navigation. The longships could carry supplies to provide support, so Orville could probably stay here for three to five weeks.

Even so, there was no need to continue fighting at this point. The Scythians in the front had already lost confidence, and continuing the fight would only be another massacre.

The Scythians silently cleaned up the mess and retreated, giving up the offensive against the Romans. This battle was undoubtedly a complete victory for the Romans.
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Orville thought the result was good, the only drawback was that he did not have a strong cavalry force, so he could not chase after the enemy and it was difficult to inflict any serious damage on the enemy, but it was okay.

What he basically used was the so-called Queyue Formation, which is said to be a battle formation created by Liu Yu. To put it simply, it is a chariot formation, which is used to deal with nomadic peoples with strong cavalry.

One of the core ideas is to use chariots or horse-drawn carriages to offset the impact of the enemy cavalry, forcing the enemy to stop in front of the chariot formation, and then let the enemy attack the well-prepared position.

The second is the powerful long-range firepower, which allows them to calmly engage in firefights with the enemy. Orville's series of military and technological reforms have allowed his soldiers to reach this level, which can suppress the long-range projections of most nomadic peoples.

The effect has been tested by successive dynasties in the Central Plains. As long as the operation is correct, it is definitely very useful. These chariots can withstand even the northern cavalry who are skilled in archery and horse riding and fully armored in later generations, not to mention these Scythians. To put it bluntly, they may not even be able to shoot through the large shields of the legionnaires.

Starting with the infantry, he felt that the gap between himself and the original version was not that big. The main problem was the lack of a cavalry force for attack. This problem could be made up for later, after all, he had already trained a cavalry unit in Egypt.

This tactic is not only applicable against the Scythians, but also against the Parthian and Germanic cavalry. It is a preparation for the future.

He was not too worried about "leaking the secret" or having others steal his skills. His own civilization was strong in infantry but weak in cavalry. If the other party learned his skills, they would use them to deal with other nomadic peoples and would not pose much of a threat to the Romans. Overall, this was a unimportant matter.

This was the purpose of his lone army's insistence on advancing westwards, to test the actual combat value of this tactic, to get a satisfactory answer, and to return home after consuming the opponent's mobile force. So after repelling the Scythians and ensuring the safety of the surrounding environment, he led his team back to the Sinope camp again and continued to confront Mithridates.
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While Orwell was fighting the enemy, other parts of the empire were not completely idle and watching the show. Putting aside the various military mobilizations of the central government, the attitudes of various provinces in the empire towards Mithridates' rebellion itself were also different.

The provinces with more complete Latinization, such as the mainland, southern Gaul, and Iberia, naturally believed that the Greeks, especially the Pontic people, were just looking for trouble because the Romans had already given the Greeks enough privileges and preferential treatment, and now they dared to shamelessly ask for more. For this reason, the emperor and local governors should strike back heavily. They basically supported the central government of the empire.

After all, it was completely normal to make a few noises and protests, but uprising or rebellion was a bit too much in their eyes. Some Roman citizens or elites even donated money and supplies, or even joined the army in person to show their support for the central government of the empire.

Vespa was fully aware of these people's intentions, but he said nothing, expecting the emperor to reward him later.

The situation in central and northern Gaul, Britain and many eastern provinces was somewhat different. Although the locals did not dare to declare their support for the Greeks and fulfilled their obligations in accordance with the emperor's orders to provide various resources, the common people still vaguely held a more or less sympathetic attitude towards the Greeks.

Perhaps they were also moved by the great faults and virtues of the Romans, or they could better understand the current situation of the Greeks. They generally understood the Greeks' current intention of rebellion and did not think it was something unreasonable.

But rebellion is rebellion after all, and armed uprising has a price to pay. The price will either be paid by the Romans or by the locals. They also understand this fact. The Romans certainly hope that the locals, not themselves, will pay the price.

Objectively speaking, Mithridates had done his best to contact and seek support at home and abroad, and his ability in this regard could not be said to be bad. However, there were still only a few responders. No provincial governor or local aristocratic family stood up with him to openly resist Roman rule. At most, the uprisings in some places did not gain any momentum.

It was not that they were assimilated by the Romans or had no hostility towards the Romans. It was just that they could see the situation clearly. According to their judgment, the hope of winning the war with the Romans now was slim. Once a person made up his mind and was afraid, no matter how eloquent Mithridates was, it would be of no avail.

Outside the empire, the enemies of the empire could not provide him with much substantial help. At most, they could tie down the Roman garrisons in various places and prevent them from being mobilized. But the current situation was not optimistic: even with only the Roman troops in front of him, it would be difficult for Mithridates to deal with them. Those soldiers on the border basically did not need to be mobilized, and it actually made little difference whether they were tied down or not.

In the end, Mithridates only managed to secure material support and a small amount of manpower support for himself, which had no decisive impact on the overall situation. Basically, he still had to rely on his own strength to deal with these Roman legions.

(End of this chapter)