Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 50 Tragedy
After suffering from war and famine, the number of civilians living near the Antonine Wall has been reduced to only one tenth of the original number. The soldiers who saw this scene could not help but feel sympathy. As for the last few hundred people left, Tia asked them to stay in the detention center for a while, and then sent them to the rear after they were confirmed to be safe and recovered.

The officers and soldiers all felt sympathetic and did not raise any objections. They could still handle these hundreds of people.

After the army cleared the city, Orville found Tia again and offered some suggestions.

"Based on the current situation, I think using fire attack is the best way."

Tia hesitated a little: "I heard that this place has a history of more than 600 years. It is a holy place for your nation. Is this okay?"

Orville sneered: "According to tradition, blood cannot be seen in the temple. Soldiers and robbers who have blood stains cannot enter the temple. It is an unacceptable evil to tamper with buildings or set fire to the temple. These people have committed all of them.

This is not the end. According to tradition, everyone must keep the Ten Commandments, and they have now violated seven of them. They do not remember the Sabbath, do not honor their parents, use silver, kill, steal, frame others, and covet other people's property, houses, wives and daughters. They have violated seven of the Ten Commandments. I think it is unnecessary to talk about tradition and culture with these people. Culture is for people who have a bottom line.

Every day that passes, more families are torn apart and more people die. Now the people living in the temple are Zealots and Daggers, and there are not many civilians, so I think we should act quickly. The sooner we launch the attack, the better. "

Looking at Orvel, who was completely different from before, Tia was a little worried: "What's wrong with you?"

"I heard some things while dealing with refugees, which made my conscience tormented. I wanted to do something to remedy the situation as soon as possible."

"Share it with me. It might make you feel better. You are very impatient right now. We are totally unprepared for the attack. It will only increase casualties."

Orville glanced at her and said, "You don't want to hear this, and you will definitely regret it if you hear it."

Tia took a deep breath and said, "Go ahead. As the commander, I have reason to know the details of the city. This is my duty. There is nothing I can do if I regret it or not. I don't want to order you around in a private conversation, so you'd better speak quickly."

Orville was silent for a few seconds, then handed Tia a piece of paper with a true story written on it.

There was a woman named Mary in the city. Her family was relatively wealthy, but all her wealth was taken away by the gang members. She experienced all the hardships of the war, and finally hunger overcame her reason and emotion. She killed her breastfeeding baby with her own hands, roasted her own child, ate half of it, left the rest, and hid them.

The gang members smelled the food and threatened the mother to hand over her food. The mother pushed out the cooked child that she had not finished eating. The gang members were horrified and shocked.

The mother said, "This is my own child, and I did it. Take your time, I have already eaten my share. Don't be more timid than a woman, and don't be more soft-hearted than a mother. If you are too prudish and don't like my sacrifice, then well, since I have eaten half, you might as well leave the rest to me."

The party members almost collapsed on the spot and ran away, and the hearts of the civilians collapsed as well. This story was widely spread among all the civilians. Orville also heard this story, and his feelings and shock were no less than those civilians. Because he knew this mother before, and the original owner of the body had a good impression of her. She was a very cheerful and optimistic person. He didn't expect such a thing to happen.

Tia covered her mouth with her hands halfway through the story. She had a very strong sense of morals and would never accept such a thing. Orville felt upset when he saw it.

After reading the whole story, Orville took the letter from the silent Tia, who waited for a long time before speaking.

"I really want to continue to lie to myself and claim that I am not responsible for this tragedy, but I can't do it anymore. I am still a very young commander. If my father were still here, the two sides wouldn't have to go to this point. But it's useless to blame yourself now. The war must continue. You are right. We must end the war quickly, but we are not ready yet. When we are ready, I will do so.

I promise you that I will bury this wretched infanticide and cannibalism in its ruins, and I will not leave this city where mothers live in this way out in the wide world and under the sun. I promise you that every villain in this tragedy will pay in the end, whether Roman or Parvi, I promise you, my friend."

On the one hand, she was comforting Orville, and on the other hand, she was actually comforting Tia herself. There was a fire burning in Tia's heart.
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After that, Tia burst out with a work enthusiasm that made others feel worried. She supervised the work day and night, conducted inspections and gave speeches to boost morale, and hardly rested for a long time every day. She would not go to bed until the last shift of soldiers returned to the camp, and would be ready to go before the first shift of soldiers left the camp. She only slept three or four hours a day.

They flattened most of the Antonine Wall and then began to build siege walls in front of the walls of the Holy City. The surrounding wood had been cut down by the Romans, and they had to transport the wood from more than ten kilometers away.

But even so, the work progressed quickly. All the soldiers felt Tia's passion and anger, and worked hard because of it.

The two sides fought a seesaw battle over the earthen embankment and the temple. Either the Romans threw stones into the city or the Parphians went out of the city under the cover of night to attack the Roman army. It was a lively scene.

The condition of the defenders in the city was declining, and their food reserves were beginning to run out. Only a few people could guarantee to have enough to eat, and the rest could only fight the Romans on an empty stomach. This was a very serious blow to morale.

In addition, the catapults hurled stones day and night, and the Romans launched night attacks from time to time. It was impossible for them to get a good rest, which made the impact even greater.

It is difficult for people to continue fighting when they are hungry and sleepy. Occasionally there are iron men, but the vast majority of these gangsters are not such people.

Negative emotions slowly spread among the Palphi army, and everyone gradually began to realize that they were about to fail.

PS. I am not trying to be curious or disgusting to readers. This is recorded in history books. I have only made some modifications. I wrote this to make you understand what kind of environment the protagonists or supporting characters face every day, so that the motivations of the later characters can be reasonable.

(End of this chapter)