Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 8 Never happen again
The situation changed a little. Not long after the soldiers fled into the city, fires rose inside the city, mixed with shouts and screams that could be heard from outside the city.

Looking at the thoughtful Tia, Orville thought about Vespa who was in command far away in the camp. He gritted his teeth, rode his horse forward quietly, and put forward his ideas to Tia.

"I believe they are definitely in internal turmoil now, and this is a good opportunity to strike back at them."

"What is your basis?" Tia was thinking the same thing as Orville at this time, but had not made a decision yet.

"The inhabitants of these lands are all Idumeans. Although they share the same religion as us, the Parfis still think they are descendants of barbarians, and the relationship between the two sides is not harmonious. This time it was a rebellion by the Parfis, and the relationship between these Idumeans and us is not so good that we share the same hatred for the enemy, so it is normal to have conflicts."

Tia is a very decisive and courageous person in military affairs. With Orville's words confirming her ideas, she dared to take action.

But before that, Orville stopped her again: "I hope you can give me a shield and a horn. I want to go to the forefront of the war with you."

Tia was a little unsure about Orvel's initiative, but she nodded and agreed to Orvel's request, and ordered her men to give him a large shield and a loud horn.

Orville's riding skills were not superb, just good enough to see. This shield was more than one meter high and half a meter wide, which was just right for infantrymen to use, but it would be ridiculous for a horseman to use it.

Orville crouched on his horse, with his shield slung on his back like a turtle shell. He had no weapons in his hands but instead tightly grasped the horn, and went to the battlefield with Tia.

Tia raised the sword above her head again: "Soldiers! Citizens! Men of the Tiber! Now is our chance. Did you hear the chaos inside? This means the enemy will soon become our prey! Seize the opportunity and rush in at once!"

After a great victory, the morale of the Romans was greatly boosted, and they did not doubt anything and followed Tia to charge again.

They marched along the lake shore, across the shallows, past the city's defenses, and into the city from an undefended part.

Tiya took the lead and rushed into the city. The already low morale of the defenders was frightened and began to flee without any decent resistance. Tiya and others chopped down several soldiers who rushed towards them and rushed into the city with great momentum.

A considerable number of people fled to the lake, but many chose to stay in the city to resist or hide, and this decision led to tragedy.

The soldiers who were so bloodthirsty that they could not care too much. The local residents were mixed with the foreign rebels, and many soldiers also planned to rob in the chaos. At first there were only a small number of accidental killings, but it soon turned into an indiscriminate massacre.

The soldiers kicked open doors, killed the residents, and searched house by house for property and possible enemies.

When Tia saw this situation, she was a little panicked for a moment. Her plan was only to wipe out the enemy, and massacring civilians was not part of her plan.

Orville finally managed to stick his head out from the shield, looked around the situation, and then patted Tia lightly. "Do what you should do."

After saying this, he blew the horn without caring about how Tia responded.

The long and high-pitched sound lingered in the city for a long time. After years of living in the military camp, the soldiers stopped what they were doing as if by reflex, and either looked in the direction where the sound came from, or thought that there was an enemy attacking and ran directly in the direction of the sound.

The originally noisy sounds on the field were suppressed and it became quiet for a while.

Tia was stunned for a moment, but she quickly realized that this was an opportunity created by Orville.

She took a deep breath, gathered the strength in her body, and shouted: "All local residents or surrenderers, drop your weapons, walk out of the house, raise your hands and squat on the ground! As a Roman officer, I guarantee your safety! At the same time, all soldiers must obey my orders, not to attack the surrenderers and civilians, not to plunder property indiscriminately, otherwise it will be disobedience! The winner's honor and spoils will be deprived!"

On the one hand, these people still knew how to obey orders, and on the other hand, the punishment for disobeying orders in Rome was indeed very severe. After a command from a prestigious commander, the situation that was originally out of control was immediately brought back on track.

These people are not completely without anything. Tia is now leading the most elite and core heavy infantry, composed of regular Roman citizens. Many of them are self-employed farmers and small landowners. They are the best soldiers in the ancient world and have undergone rigorous professional training.

The cost of their mistakes is higher, and there is no need to sacrifice their property and honor for a little money. If mercenaries and light infantry come, Tia may not be able to hold everyone together. Orville blew the horn because he knew this. If the composition of this army is too mixed, then no matter how much Tia warns, it will not be completely effective, and it will affect her own prestige.

The soldiers formed small teams and searched house by house for the remaining enemies. Civilians and surrendered rebels were gathered in the square to await disposal.

After everything was settled, Tia felt a little relieved. She looked at Orville, who had been holding a shield and following her carefully, fearing that something might happen, and felt a little helpless, but this helplessness soon turned into doubt.

She didn't want to let the doubts pile up in her heart, so she asked directly: "You didn't have to participate in the battle, and I can see that you didn't want to, but why did you come here this time, just to blow the horn?"

Orville raised the horn in his left hand and nodded in agreement. "I'm not interested in fighting with others. I haven't received such training since I was a child. What I learned from the olive oil business is to minimize the losses after failure. I'm doing that now. Those people didn't have to die, and more people will die in the future. From the perspective of preserving the vitality of this area, it's better to have fewer deaths."

"Don't do it again. Blowing the assembly call is a serious violation of military regulations. Treat this as an emergency. You did nothing wrong."

Tia nodded slightly, agreeing with Orville's words. She was never merciful on the battlefield, as that would be cruel to her own men, but it was better to have fewer deaths outside the battlefield. She was tired of seeing the bloody scenes, but it was impossible to stop it. They had been in a state of war almost every year in their long history.
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Vespa reacted quickly. When he learned that Tia had entered the city, he immediately surrounded Waterdeep and did not let any rebels escape. Anyone who tried to leave the city was killed on the spot. The remaining rebels had nowhere to go and could only take a small boat to the lake to take refuge.

(End of this chapter)