Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 42 Parade
Tia waited there for nearly ten minutes, and finally a few families came out of the city carrying packages of varying sizes. Tia kept her promise and asked the legionnaires to make way for them and send them out.

After the first one, there was the second and the third. More civilians began to leave the city. Many of them wanted to leave from the beginning, but were blocked by the Zealots. In addition, the terrible noise of the siege for so many days had deeply stimulated them. They no longer had the will to resist. When they heard that Tia was willing to preserve their few properties, they immediately chose to leave the city and surrender.

The Romans barely maintained order, but the defenders in the city seemed to see through the insufficient number of Tia's soldiers and did not dare to engage in street fighting with them in the city. When the Romans gradually relaxed their vigilance and it was dark, a large number of Parfit warriors hidden in the houses swarmed out of the city like locusts, shouting and rushing towards Tia and others.

The Romans' equipment was very suitable for narrow and crowded terrain such as urban areas. Just look at the equipment of the riot police in later generations. There is not much difference in their equipment. They both have large shields, one-handed short weapons, and heavy armor, and they form a tight formation to resist impact.

The scene of the Parvi people fighting against the Romans now actually looks similar to the scene of mobs fighting against riot police in later generations. The essential difference is that the Romans never show mercy. They hold not batons but deadly iron swords in their hands, which can easily penetrate the bodies of enemies who lack armor.

The Romans resisted the first wave of attacks from the Parvi, but their numbers grew and they risked being trapped in the city.

Although the Egyptian governor had tried his best to demolish the city wall, it was not possible to demolish the wall in a short time after it was hit by the battering ram for several days. The gap in the wall could only accommodate a few people at the same time and was very narrow and crowded.

Orville observed the situation on the city wall and ordered his men to shoot at will: "No rebel will climb the city wall, you can shoot without worry. No one is allowed to run away. You know the consequences. After this battle, each auxiliary soldier will receive ten dinars, and each legionary will receive twenty dinars!"

After a speech using both soft and hard tactics, the morale of the army was slightly stabilized. The slingshots began to throw stones downwards. Accuracy was a big problem for them, but now there were so many people under the city that it made no difference if they just threw stones with their eyes closed.

Tia also noticed Orville on the wall from under the city wall, and immediately ordered the troops to give up guarding the gap and start to break out of the city wall.

The legionnaires formed a wall with their large shields and advanced slowly and steadily, leaving corpses all over the ground. Tia took the lead and led the others up the gentle slope of the city wall. The soldiers on Orville's side also began to advance forward to meet the other side.

The soldiers of both sides quickly wiped out the enemies on the gentle slope and officially joined forces. Orville's men withdrew their formation and Tia's soldiers were responsible for plugging the gap.

Only after all the troops climbed onto the city wall did Tia breathe a sigh of relief.

The few gentle slopes and steps on the city wall were narrow, and the Romans had the terrain advantage by attacking from high to low. The Parvi people's numerical advantage could not be fully utilized, and their shortcomings of poor quality and endurance were exposed.

A hundred-man team could block the gap tightly, and the Palphians had no way to deal with these heavily armed soldiers. After more than half an hour of meaningless fighting, the Palphians finally chose to retreat and disperse into the urban area of ​​the city.

The soldiers set up ladders on the city walls and took turns with the defenders on the walls. Then a large number of auxiliary troops used shovels and hammers to dismantle the walls overnight in order to expand the gap in the wall as much as possible.

During this period, the Parfis in the city organized several small-scale raids to try to hinder the progress of the Romans. This was indeed effective, but it could only delay the progress. When the sun rose, a large section of the city wall had been demolished, enough for a hundred-man team to pass through in a dozen seconds, which was more than enough to transport troops.

Tia was not in a hurry. She asked the auxiliary troops to slowly demolish all the buildings within the city wall. The legionnaires who were ready to go were on standby at the back. If any Parfi people rushed out to make trouble, the auxiliary troops would run away immediately, and they would be greeted by heavy javelins shot by the legionnaires.

The distance between the second city wall and the third city wall was not far, and they arrived under the third city wall after a few days.
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"Next, we should not rush to launch a new round of attacks. The soldiers have been fighting for more than 20 days. It's time to let them rest. Prepare to plan a pay parade to pay the soldiers and show the Palfi people our powerful strength in person."

Tia glanced at King Yaquita and asked, "How long do you think the food in the city will be enough to last?"

"The war has been going on for more than two years. My previous food reserves are only enough for the entire city to use for one year. They probably don't have enough food to supply everyone, but they may not care about this."

Many bodies of civilians were found inside the second city wall. Apparently, they were all killed by local rebels. Combined with what King Aquita had heard, it is conceivable that the current population in the city is definitely not the original number.

Tia said confidently: "I hope the locals will surrender because they have lost the second city wall or because they are afraid of famine. I don't think they can support themselves for a long time just by looting without production."

No one, including Orville, objected. After all, they really needed to boost morale. A parade and paying the soldiers were very effective ways to do that. Whether or not they could subdue the Palfi people was secondary.

After the plan was confirmed, a grand parade began soon. Led by the flags of various combat units, the legionnaires and auxiliary troops marched in an orderly manner, polishing their weapons and equipment to a gleam, looking very energetic.

The leader was naturally Tia who was riding on a horse. Her horse was dressed in a beautiful red horse cloth, and she herself was dressed in polished, eye-catching golden scale armor. She also wore a ceremonial gold-plated mask. She looked like a gold saint. Putting aside her fighting ability, the show was indeed very impressive.

The officers behind him also put on a full set of decorations - collars, armbands and necklaces made of gold and silver, and silver medals hanging on their chests, which fully demonstrated the financial strength and honor of these officers.

Even the ordinary infantry and cavalry were mostly energetic and in high spirits. On the one hand, they had a strong will to fight, and on the other hand, they were about to be paid. They formed a sharp contrast with the lifeless temperament of the defenders in the city.

On this day, the city walls were filled with onlookers, and the north side of the temple where the Roman army could be seen was also filled with people. Everyone couldn't help but feel worried and fearful about this army.

They gradually realized that the strength of the Parvi people was probably not enough to fight against the Romans, and these soldiers were something a small kingdom could not afford to support.

(End of this chapter)