Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 99 The Ninth Legion
Since some of Rome's standing legions existed for a long time, there were correspondingly some legendary stories. These standing legions had a relatively strong sense of community and honor, and therefore were often extremely brave in battle.

The story of the legion under Orville is quite legendary. It was one of the four legions that were formed when Caesar conquered Gaul, and it followed Caesar in fighting the eight-year Gallic War.

Then this legion followed Caesar to win the Roman Civil War. After the civil war, it was disbanded by Caesar. After Caesar's adopted son Octavian came to power, he reorganized the Ninth Legion and defeated the coalition forces of Roman General Antony and Cleopatra.

After that, it followed Octavian to conquer Spain, and then was stationed on the Danube defense line. Such a legion can be said to have made great military achievements, but later generations knew that the Ninth Legion was not known for its military achievements.

The legendary story of the Ninth Legion is particularly special. It is called the "Lost Legion". As the name suggests, this legion was later stationed in Britain, but it mysteriously disappeared in later records. Scholars currently suspect that it was defeated by the Celtic natives of Britain and almost wiped out, but the truth is now uncertain.

The Romans had not conquered Britain in this time and space, which might be due to a butterfly effect caused by some factors. The Ninth Legion had been stationed on the Danube defense line for decades, and was occasionally transferred to suppress small-scale rebellions in various places.

Later, when the Roman emperor contracted his military power, he disbanded this legion. It was only decades later that it was restored and put under the command of Orville.

The original Ninth Legion was named "Spain" probably to commemorate his military achievements in the Spanish region, but the current Ninth Legion is mainly composed of Spanish Romans.

The quality of the army is not bad. There are many veterans who have returned to the battlefield and soldiers from Spanish provinces who have been transferred from active service. Even the new recruits are of relatively good quality. Among the newly reorganized legions, their combat effectiveness is considered to be in the upper-middle range.

According to the rules, Orville was only almost 22 years old this year, and had just passed the military service age. Having such a person as the legion commander would definitely be criticized, but Vespa didn't care too much, and everyone's dissatisfaction was limited to criticism.

On the one hand, Orville was a person who was "promoted on the front line" on the battlefield. During the Palphi War, his position changed very quickly, and he did not rise to the top all at once from a recruit.

On the other hand, he was a member of the royal family, and he "brought money into the group", bringing half of his own legion to join the army.

Finally, Vespa also arranged for him an experienced temporary deputy, Ulpius Trajan, who was also from Spain, and let old Trajan serve as deputy legion commander to assist Orville in the operation.

So even though it didn't make sense, things were arranged that way.

After confirming the target, Orville quickly prepared to set off with Tia to Placencia to take over the troops there and prepare to participate in the Gallic War.
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Orville and Tia rode side by side in the front, exchanging necessary information with each other.

"Are you sure you want to take Sister Berenice with you on the battlefield? It's not that I'm prejudiced against her, but she may not be able to accept the battlefield environment." Orville was quite critical of Tia's decision.

Tia denied Orville very confidently: "I did bring Berenice with me, but I didn't plan to let her go to the front line of the war with me. She just stayed in the city and couldn't go to the battlefield with me. I didn't agree with this, but she strongly requested to go with us, saying that she could help take care of her subjects."

Orville felt a little depressed when he heard this. It wasn't because he was angry with Tia, but mainly because Orville didn't know what to do with those people.

Considering that Orville was from the Kingdom of Palphi, Vespa gave him the 7,000 men to command, but Orville knew the quality of these men very well. 7,000 men were good enough to replace 3,000 men, but not enough to be used for major tasks. He complained directly to Vespa, who understood the matter very well, so he gave him some more military funds and let him take the money to the battlefield to recruit some mercenaries, which was not unfair to Orville.

But now Orville didn't know what to do with those able-bodied men. It was good enough that they could distinguish the spear head from the spear tip. If he relied on them to fight, Orville was afraid that they would lead his elite troops to defeat. He also disliked these people for eating his military rations and occupying supplies.

Seeing his sad look, Tia also chuckled with her hands covering her mouth.

"I heard you say that it was your idea to make such a big fuss about the Herod royal family. I didn't expect that in the end it would backfire on you. Hahahahahaha"

After calming down, Tia turned around and observed Orville's entire convoy. She fought in a very disciplined manner and did not bring any private soldiers with her, so the crowds were basically all Orville's men. She only brought some necessary personnel and supplies.

She was also very experienced and quickly discovered something unusual: "What are those carriages behind you carrying? If they are only carrying supplies and military expenses, there are too many of them."

"I really admire your discerning eye. Inside are the ingredients I ordered before I left. Ham, bacon, dried fish, cheese, wine, beer, etc. It probably cost me 100,000 dinars. It was a lot, so I loaded a few more carriages."

"We're not going on an outing, why are we bringing these things?"

"The war will last a long time, and these things will be needed. By the way, I've also bought you and your legion's share. Don't thank me, it will be converted into debt relief. I want to settle the account with you this time, because I'm a bit poor recently."

After putting on the armor, it was visibly that Tia's toughness increased dramatically. Because she was at the front of the team, she couldn't do anything too extreme, but she still patted Orville's helmet lightly.

"Settle the bill with me? Let's first calculate when you will pay back the 150,000 dinars you borrowed from me and what the interest rate will be."

Just as Orville was about to say a few more words to Tia, Belisarius came galloping over on his horse, and before the horse stopped he hurriedly reported the situation to Orville and Tia.

"News from the Gaul front in Narbonne: 20 days ago, General Aurelian led the main force over the mountains and attacked the Gauls' rear. The Gauls' main force, who hurried back to support them, was caught up and ambushed by Aurelian's troops. The Gauls were defeated and suffered heavy losses. Now General Aurelian is rapidly advancing deep into the area occupied by the Gauls."

Tia was stunned for a few seconds and then looked at Orvel with a smile: "Maybe you won't be able to use these things, of course, this is not certain."

"It will be useful. This battle is not that simple. It's just the beginning."

"That's true." Tia also knew the specific situation in Gaul, so she didn't refute Orville.

(End of this chapter)