Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 52 Final Conversation

The walls of the inner courtyard of the temple were too narrow for people to stand. Nicanor and his companions came to the inner courtyard quietly. All the soldiers crowded at the entrance of the inner courtyard. It was relatively quiet here and the defenders did not notice them.

Some buildings in the inner courtyard had been set on fire by rockets, but the sanctuary itself was made of white stone and therefore did not catch fire. Nicanor picked up a piece of burning wood that had fallen from the side, and then killed several soldiers who were guarding the door of the sanctuary. He aimed at the window of the sanctuary and threw the burning wood into the window with force.

The flames ignited the silk curtains that led to the window into the sanctuary, a room filled with cedar wood, and the fire broke out instantly and then spread out of control.

When the defenders who were struggling to hold out at the gate of the inner courtyard discovered that the sanctuary was on fire, their morale immediately began to collapse. Some began to flee towards the city, some rushed towards the burning temple in desperation, and some launched a suicidal charge against the Romans in desperation.

Perhaps they were not devout believers before the war began, but there is no doubt that the high-pressure war requires a spiritual sustenance. Both the Zealots and the Cutlasses intended to use the gods as the spiritual sustenance of their followers. This paranoid belief did support them in fighting the Romans for so long.

When Orville saw the flames rising, he immediately drew his sword and shouted to the surrounding soldiers: "The gods have left! The gods have left!!"

The surrounding soldiers also discovered the situation inside the temple, which greatly boosted their morale and caused the defenders in the inner courtyard to retreat step by step.

After breaking through the defenders' defenses, Tia did not go to wipe out the remnants, but went straight to the burning sanctuary. She ordered her men to move the property in the sanctuary, not entirely for money.

The first is that these trophies will be used as exhibits during the triumphal ceremony and displayed to the people of Rome to show the general's military achievements and military achievements.

The second reason is that the current King Herod also needs these treasures. He needs to prove that he is trying his best to save the culture and faith of this nation. If all the holy objects in the temple are gone, he will no longer have to work as king.

After defeating the temple guards, the blood-thirsty Roman soldiers rushed from the temple to the city, where they engaged in a fierce street battle with the defenders.

There are still many civilians in the city. If they are sober, these soldiers may show mercy and give these civilians a chance to live. But now they are bloodthirsty and the defenders are mixed with the civilians. No one can care about so many things. Many soldiers will kill anyone they see who is not wearing a military uniform. The situation is very chaotic.

Things were developing in a direction that neither Orville nor Tia wanted to see, and neither of them had a good solution. Tia wanted to restrain her soldiers, but the city was too big and the situation was too chaotic.

As a commander, she could not ignore the safety of her soldiers and let them fight the Palfi rebels while protecting the civilians here. It was impossible for them to distinguish between the two sides. Even her subordinates would not execute such a fantastic order.

Orville had already reunited with Tia at this time. The two of them looked at the chaotic situation in the city below and were silent.
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By the next morning, the forces of the Palfi rebels had been compressed to the western palace and a small surrounding area.

The other party asked for a talk, so Tia and Orville rode their horses across the lifeless city and came to the front of the palace to talk to the other party. This was the first time Tia and Orville saw John Levi again after nearly a year. The leader of the Dagger Party, Barr. Giora, had died in the chaos, and now he was the leader of the Dagger Party and the Zealot Party.

He did not have a remote conversation with Tia on the city wall. Instead, he came to the bottom of the city wall and had face-to-face communication with Tia, Orville and other officers.

Tia spoke first: "So, seeing the suffering of your country, are you satisfied now? Your reckless impulse and madness have destroyed your people, your holy city and your temple. Since Pompey, you have never been quiet. Your treatment is no different from that of Numidia, Egypt or Asia Minor. If you have any problems, you can appeal to the emperor. Why do you openly confront Rome?

Did you rely on your numbers? You are not as numerous as the Gauls. Did you rely on your reliable allies? Look at which country dares to help you when it is against Rome. Did you rely on your physical strength? Even the Germans are our slaves. Did you rely on your strong fortresses? What is your barrier compared to the fortress of Carthage - the Mediterranean Sea? Carthage was eventually destroyed. Did you rely on your unbreakable willpower and the superb strategy of your generals? You know, Alexander the Great's successors were defeated by Rome one after another, and the smartest Greeks had to kowtow to the Romans.

I have been extremely merciful, and every time I have won a victory I have tried to make peace with you. You have rejected all my overtures. What do you want to talk about now? If you lay down your arms and surrender unconditionally, I can spare the lives of some of you and punish only the truly evil ones."

John Levi's expression was very calm: "We are not fighting to win, we just want to prove our courage and fight for our complete freedom. I cannot accept your surrender request, because all of us have sworn that no matter how desperate the situation is, we will not surrender. We ask you to allow us to cross the wooden wall into the desert with our wives and children, and we will leave the city behind."

Tia was furious: "You are already prisoners, and you still dare to negotiate terms?!"

"If you don't accept it, we will fight to the end with dignity."

After saying that, John Levi turned and left. Several very unhappy Roman officers wanted to take action directly, but were stopped by Tia.

After all, she was a rule-abiding person who believed that envoys should not be killed when two countries were at war, but that was not the case with Orville.

At his signal command, the crossbows and bows hidden everywhere started shooting without listening to Tia's orders. Dozens and hundreds of arrows shot John Levi into a sieve in an instant.

As everyone was horrified, Orville stepped forward, drew his dagger, cut off the other's head, and then threw it under the city wall.

“Think carefully about what you have done in this sinful city! Don’t think that you can go to heaven and enjoy happiness by becoming a martyr. Each of you is unforgivable and will go to hell to be punished! You kill, you rob, you steal, you cheat, you plunder, you do all kinds of evil, you violate God’s righteousness, so you will not get eternal life after death, but only eternal destruction!”

(End of this chapter)