Lorraine Cooperative Game - Story Thread...

[Velociryx]

The only dim spots in that were Brittany (whose warmongering ways were seen through dark lenses by all the members of our Court) and Baden (who had control of lands we held ancestral claim to), and France.

This last I feared most of all…at least until we were safely tucked beneath the wing of the mighty English.

Now, mind you…in another life…in another time, I held the English in extremely low regard, and it pained a part of me to have to view them as our salvation….but I had to keep reminding myself that my prejudice stemmed from exactly that….another time.

There was no room for it in the here and now, and so I hid my enmity for them entirely.

Slightly later that year, lovely Isabelle bore Rene a son, Jean, and an almost electric current of happiness ran through the Court. Rene’s reign had barely begun, and already his line was secure. Given his early successes, there was much to be happy about with that turn of events.

Given that Rene had things well in hand, and that all was quiet for the Grand Duchy, I found myself with an increasing amount of free time, and so began spending more of it with Isabelle and young Jean. Often, if I was called into the War Room by the Duke, I would arrive with my young charge in tow, and sit with him bouncing upon one knee as the Duke and I discussed matters of state. This brought quite a number of chuckles from the various dignitaries who were in attendance with us, but it seemed natural enough, and Rene was glad for it, in truth, as it gave him that time to spend with his son.

So it went for the next two years, and my how Prince Jean grew during that time! An extremely active and energetic child, he often livened up our meetings in unexpected ways as only children can!

Rene and I dealt with a whole host of issues together during those years, from a land reclamation project in Zeeland, proposed by the Lord Governor of that province (OOC: New Land Claimed: +2000 Pop, +1 Tax Value, +1 MP), to further strengthening our merchant-position in both Thrace and Flandres, which, I am happy to say, was a thing that gave us a tremendous economic boost, making the Grand Duchy of Lorraine the eleventh largest economy in the whole of the world, continuing to work on improving relations with our hostile and warlike neighbor, Baden, and conducting a fair bit of ‘internal diplomacy’ as well, in an attempt to improve loyalty in our recently acquired territories.

[Velociryx]

In that, we had begun with the region’s ruling aristocracy, providing them certain tax incentives which placed a lighter-than-usual tax burden on our newly acquired lands, and also by simply listening and responding to their various concerns. Rene wanted a happy and whole Grand Duchy. He did not like to see division amongst the Nobility, and though the nobles lacked the kind of extreme power and influence they held in other nations, it was clear that Rene favored them, and he took pains to show them, throwing lavish parties and celebrations, attending local ceremonies in our new territories whenever the opportunity presented itself, and otherwise making himself available to our new Lords of the Realm.

And it was working.

So well, in fact, that by the dawning of 1435, loyalty in the outlying provinces had increased notably, and with it, our ability to field a dramatically larger force afield.

Previously, it had been a great strain to find some fifteen thousand loyal souls to march under our banner, but with this newfound sense of loyalty to the realm, our ranks swelled to more than double that number, and Rene was quick to increase the size of our military accordingly, such that we found ourselves with a total of four battle-ready regiments in the Army of Lorraine.

The difference was vast.

I still remember that first parade of our military marching through the courtyard of the Duke’s palace…that tiny force, barely a third the size of our present military. I wondered if it would even be possible to march all our soldiers through the palace now, or where we would even find room to encamp them if the whole of the army were to suddenly arrive in Lorraine proper for inspection.

It was thrilling to me! Such progress, such a grand display of our growing power, and yet, I knew we would need it, for as much as our army had grown, we were still a shadow when compared to the truly great powers in Europe. Yes, we had made great strides, and our army could no longer be considered a toy by any measure, but we were still relatively weak compared to the great powers in Europe. Still very much a minor (but rapidly rising) star on the world stage.

Still, it warmed my heart to see such tangible signs of progress for us and ours, and I knew that with the leadership we had for the Grand Duchy, barring some terrible and unforeseen tragedy, we would thrive.

We were approaching a turning point, I realized. The various threads needed to weave out the tapestry of our future were beginning to bind themselves together. I did not know precisely how it would play out of course (I am but an Advisor, after all, and not gifted with the power of second sight), but I knew it was coming. You could feel it on the air.

[Velociryx]

That change began to manifest itself in short order, and it began with a peace accord between England and Austria, on December 12, 1436. This was followed closely on the heels of French annexation of the House of Burbon, shrinking our alliance and growing France all the stronger for it.

There was much talk in the French alliance then, about simply splintering entire and going our separate ways….breaking free before France devoured the last of us. The Duke of Auvergne had been meeting in secret with some weeks with Rene about that very subject, but before much ground could be made there, another event happened which lit the match and sparked another turning point for our nation.

On January 2, 1436, the French King declares the lands of Brittany forfeit to the French Crown, and demands that her satellites stand with her on this, her latest military adventure. Provence and Auvergne both comply with the wishes of the French King, although the leaders of those Duchies are terrified to their soul as to what it will mean for their future.

Rene, however, proved to be another matter entire.

He was a Frenchman by birth, yes. But in his time living with us, he had become in every sense of the word, a Lotharian, and the truth of it was that a war with Brittany did not fit into our Duke’s agenda (especially not given that he had only two months previous arranged a Royal Marriage with the Duke of Brittany to help eliminate some of the hostility between our two Peoples). Further, Brittany in those days was allied to Genoa and Savoy. Now, Genoa was of scant concern to our Duke. The Italians were simply too far away to pose a genuine threat to us and ours, but Savoy was another matter, with an impressive army, some 37,000 men strong sitting on the border of Comte. And from there, it would be a short march indeed to Lorraine herself. In short, this was a war that we did not need, and did not want.

Given that we had become thoroughly disenchanted with the French alliance, given that it was not an alliance of equals, and given our current diplomatic standing with our other powerful neighbors, it was strikingly, blindingly clear what our course of action should be, and for his part, Duke Rene did not hesitate even for a moment when he made his bold proclamation.

Riders were sent to Paris, bearing dispatches that Lorraine would not support the French King in this war, nor do anything further to increase France’s growing power, nor to feed her seemingly endless appetite for additional lands.

Our rider was returned to us with his head detached from his body, and a letter informing us that we were no longer welcome in the French Alliance, and that France considered all of the lands of Lorraine forfeit for not supporting their great and noble cause.

And these were not idle threats, either. The Army of France boasted far better leadership, and far more troops under arms than we could possibly muster.

Again however, Duke Rene was not cowed, and he wasted little time sending additional emissaries to London bearing a petition to join the proud English alliance.

From the perspective of the English King, we were quite a find and quite a catch. Despite the fact that we had weakened their Burgundian allies and taken three provinces from them in our previous war some years ago, we were offering now to stand with both them and Burgundy (and Geldre, with their ever-impressive forty thousand under arms!). This would give the English alliance total control of the Low Countries, and a strong, imposing presence in French territories, going quite some distance toward encircling the Kingdom of France.

So it was that we were eagerly accepted into England’s alliance, and Lorraine’s position had reversed itself. One-time enemies were now friends, and former friends were now enemies.

It should also be noted that Rene had a flair for the dramatic. Exactly eighteen years to the day that we had declared a war against England and Burgundy, on All Fool’s Day, 1437, Lorraine, with Duke Rene at her head, again shocked the world by declaring a war against her former Master, the Kingdom of France.

With strong allies standing beside her, and the greater bulk of the Army of France mired in a siege of mountainous Savoy, the day had arrived to end the dream of the French Kings.

[Velociryx]

Our armies waste no time, marching immediately after Duke Rene's Declaration against France....

[Velociryx]

Our First War with the French Dragon

You must understand that, in those days, there was a great fear of France. She was the more established nation, with loyal (if terrified) vassals, blessed with excellent leadership, both on the throne and in her armies, with greater territorial claims, more population, more manpower, and more resources and assets in general.

For our part, we had faith and heart, the will to win, and strong allies to support us.

Those things, however, did not guarantee our success. Hardly. There was grave concern that our allies would mishandle their conduct in the war, or that France would focus on us to the exclusion of our allies, and that, friends or no, we would wind up bearing the brunt of the fighting.

And had any of those things happened….for that matter, had France herself not mishandled the war with us, we may well have come out on the losing side, but Rene had chosen the time for our war well, when the greater bulk of the Armies of France were elsewhere, leaving a scant five thousand-odd souls to guard the Kingdom proper.

That, taken together with our sudden alliance with a powerful England, gave us the initiative in the opening days of the war, and we used it well and wisely.

Our regiments leapt into action as the Duke’s proclamation was made, and a scant twenty days after that proclamation, we had four French territories under siege, including Paris herself.

To say that this turn of events sent shock waves through the French alliance would have been an understatement, I am sure. Though I was not present for any of the French Alliance emergency meetings (for obvious reasons), I can imagine the scene well enough.

Pure chaos. Hastily drawn plans, mad dashes for conscription of new forces to deal with this whirlwind that was suddenly upon them.

And our allies were responding well, to boot! The hardy Burgundians had nicely rebuilt their armies after our war with them nearly twenty years earlier, and counted nearly as men under arms as we had (some twenty-seven thousand souls), plus, there were immediate calls for conscriptions throughout their territories, which would further bolster their forces in the months to come. That was heartening.

Even more heartening, however, was the fact that the “Screaming Hordes of Geldre” as our Duke had come to call them, were, in a matter of days after our declaration of war, marching steadily south, and not even the French had a singular force that could hope to stand against them. True, the French had more men in total, but they tended to keep their forces smaller and more flexible, so as to be better able to deal with numerous threats at once. A force the size and imminence of the Army of Geldre was simply beyond their ability to deal with, and we were greatly cheered to hear that they were on the march south to assist us in this terrible struggle.

Most important of all, however, was the fact that there was word of conscription occurring through the length and breadth of lower England, and that the English garrison in Gascogne, some eleven thousand men strong, was preparing to make forays into French territory to provide a measure of immediate assistance, while the massive English fleet prepared to ferry untold thousands of English troops across the Channel and onto French soil.

Our allies were rallying solidly, and our enemies were in disarray. A good beginning.

For their part, the French immediately ordered the bulk of their army in Savoy home, and then changed plans in mid stream and ordered the entire force home, leaving themselves open to future attacks from an angry Savoy, who had seen most of their army eliminated by the dreaded French Field Marshall Richemont, but who were already rapidly rebuilding as they responded to these recent events.

France also had five thousand newly trained Infantry in Orleanais, but these were regarded as no particular threat. Long-term, of course, Richemont could add them to his impressive army and have a sufficient number of men under his banner to crush even the hordes from Geldre, but this is not what came to pass.

Richemont’s first goal was to smash the Burgundians, nearly 20,000 strong, laying siege to Lyonnais. Although the men of Burgundy proved to be hardy and tenacious fighters, Richemont simply proved too much for them. The battle for Lyonnais lasted nearly a solid month, and saw many tactical reversals of fortune, but ultimately, the army of Burgundy was forced back to Bourgogne, having lost nearly half its strength. It would be shortly reinforced by the English garrison from Gascogne and by thousands of new Burgundian recruits, but for the time being, the immediate threat to Lyonnais had been dealt with, and Richemont turned his army northward, through Comte, and then to rescue Paris (our reports were that his army boasted just over thirty thousand souls, and was down to just over twenty thousand by the time Burgundy had been defeated in Lyonnais, and although I despised the man personally, I had to acknowledge that he was a superior field commander, heads and shoulders above the best men we could put to field).

French fury would find us soon…there was no doubt.

OoO

Paris, July 1437

Erich Jaeger stood on a low ridge that looked down on the siege works of Paris, his face covered in the grime of the siege, brow furrowed in concern.

“Captain Tandler, what is your latest information on the Mercenaries I requested from our ruling Lords…those penny pinching bastards! Tell me that they agreed to my request and that the mercenaries are en route!”

Flamboyant Captain Tandler nodded. “It is so, My Lord Colonel. Even now, men of the Luzern Regiment and a group styling themselves “Gunther’s Band” are making ready to add their numbers to our siege crew.”

Jaeger grunted in response and kicked some mud off of the armored toe of his boot. “Well and good.” He said in a moment. “But let me guess, there was some groaning about it.”

“Of course.” Tandler said, as though mildly amused by it all. “Your commander, Knopff wanted me to impress upon you how expensive it was becoming to maintain a field army of this size, and to bid you use them well and wisely.”

“As if he needed to tell me that!” Jaeger snorted. “But very well, send word to Commander Knopff that we appreciate his acquiescence to our demands in this regard, and that if we wants me to have a prayer of beating this General Richemont, he’d better damned well keep right on acquiescing!….on second thought, leave that last bit out….just thank him on behalf of the Army of Lorraine and tell him we’ll send reports of our progress as we get them…and in the meantime, how many reinforcements can we expect, precisely?”

“The smaller of the two, this….Gunther’s Band, is some fifty-five hundred men strong. Mostly infantry, with a small vanguard of five hundred horse…they should be arriving within days, and the Luzern Regiment is still mustering in Caux, eight thousand infantry and fifteen hundred horse.”

“And when can we expect them?”

“They should be arriving some three weeks hence, sir, but there is even better news afoot!" Without waiting to be prompted, young Tandler continued on. "The famed English commander Northumberland should be arriving in scant hours with more than three thousand troops....true, he is bound for elsewhere, but during the time he remains with us, he has offered to assist in any way he can!"

Jaeger beamed at this last bit. “Very well, tell that lout of a man who calls himself our Quartermaster to make ready and see that we have sufficient provisions for the newly arriving troops, and post some additional lookouts toward those townships northeast of Paris…I do not like the rumors I have been hearing from there of late.”

“Talk of a conscription?”

“Aye…and even if they are but raw recruits, until we are reinforced here, they could give us a jolt.”

“It shall be done!”

Captain Tandler spun sharply and mounted his steed, then rode off to relay his Commander’s orders ‘round the camp, and Jaeger scanned the horizon cautiously. “I know you’re coming, Richemont….I can feel it….and I pray God we are ready for you when you arrive.”

In that, the Colonel was not alone.

OoO

As promised, three days later, the mercenary company known as “Gunter’s Band” arrived in the camp of Colonel Jaeger, but not with as many men as expected, and Jaeger’s eyes narrowed as he rode down from his command tent for the inspection.

“What has befallen your men that they are not all accounted for?” He asked sharply.

The leader of the bunch, an enormous, shaggy German strode forward and issued a sloppy salute. “Beggin’ your pardon Colonel, but we encountered some raw French recruits north of here and gave battle. Figured them weren’t the sort you’d want milling around and such.”

Jaeger nodded in understanding. “How many men have you lost?”

“Some four hundred, including twenty-six of the horse troops, but we pasted the Frenchies good.”

“How many fled?”

“None, sir.” Came the reply, and Jaeger smiled a wolfish grin. “Excellent hunting, Gunther! Take your men and bed down for the evening in the eastern quadrant of the camp, and tell the Quartermaster I ordered a double ration for you and yours tonight….Tandler?”

“Yes My Lord Colonel?”

“Send word to Lorraine that we have won our first victory over the French!”

Tandler was beaming as he saluted and spun to spread the word.

OoO

[Velociryx]

August, 1437, Paris

For weeks the rumors had been circulating.

Richemont was coming.

He had handed our Burgundian allies a stinging defeat, and while weakened, he still had more than enough troops to end us in Ile de France, even with the arrival of the Luzern Regiment.

I knew Jaeger would give his best…never doubted that for a moment, but heart alone would not be enough, and I feared for our army.

For his part, Jaeger was resolute. He vowed to maintain the siege of Paris no matter the cost, and it was awful, filthy work indeed.

Rains had swept through the region, reducing the siege encampment to little more than a festering bog, and our soldiers slogged through the muck and grim as resolutely as they could, determined not to let the elements wear on them.

Still…there was an electric current of fear in the encampment.

OoO

“If he comes at us by way of Champagne, we will have no choice but to abandon the siege there….we have but six thousand odd men under arms, and they have not a prayer of standing against Richemont.” Jaeger said hollowly.

“Aye.” Tandler agreed. “We could order them here if that happens….tell the siege commander not to press the engagement, but pull back with morale intact and join us for the final stand in Paris.”

“Probably for the best, though even with that added manpower, our chances of defeating him are not so good.”

“Well, we can hope that he’ll be wanting to conserve his strength, saving it all for us, which would mean that he’ll ignore Champagne, and strike at us from either Nivernais or Orleanais….in which case, we’ll have the advantage of the Sein…he’ll be attacking us cross river, and we’ve got solid defenses in place to deal with such an event.”

“Not solid enough to deal with the likes of him.” Jaeger said with a weighty sigh. “You must have heard the stories from the surviving Burgundians.”

Tandler nodded gravely. “There’s not a man in the whole of the camp who hasn’t.”

“I feared as much….then it is a testament to the bravery of our men that there have been no significant desertions.”

Silence ruled the Command Tent, and the two men waited for the inevitable.

OoO

Two Days Later

“My Lord Colonel!” Tandler burst into Jaeger’s tent, rousing him from a troubled sleep.

Jaeger felt like he had been kicked in the stomach, for he knew what was coming. “What news?” He asked bitterly.

“War drums sounding close! On the approach from Nivernais!”

He was fully awake in an instant, and grabbed his blade. “Then it begins. Begin shifting all available forces to that front, and send word to our pickets there that they can expect reinforcements soon.”

“It shall be done!” A terrified Tandler barked in reply and left the tent, as Jaeger made his way toward the eastern portion of the battle line to await the looming battle with his men.

Two Hours Later

“Riders approaching from Nivernais sir!” One of his Lieutenants barked in a half-panicked voice as he raced up the hill which overlooked the site of the soon-to-be battlefield.

“Bearing the banner of Richemont, no doubt.” Jaeger murmured softly.

“Too far out to tell just yet sir, but they’re riding hard and closing fast.”

“No doubt they are….Richemont will want to engage us decisively as quickly as he is able.”

It was almost upon them, and Jaeger steeled himself for what was to come, and then…something quite unexpected happened.

A roaring, lusty cheer rose up from the ranks of his men.

Confused, he looked about for anyone who might offer an explanation.

“They’re ours!” Someone cried.

“Ours?” Jaeger asked, not quite understanding.

“The riders sir! They bear the crest of Geldre!”

Slowly, a smile began spreading across Colonel Jaeger’s face.

In the Command Tent of Colonel Jaeger, Siege of Paris

“Sorry for the start we gave you, but I thought you’d want the news as soon as we had it to give.”

“Indeed…and what is that news…other than that your army has arrived?”

“Richemont has been dealt a blow by our forces…true, he ground us up a bit, but our numbers proved too much for him. He’s retreating to Orleanais to lick his wounds and should not be pestering you for some time yet.”

Jaeger could hardly believe the words. He had been preparing for a savage fight and now…this? It was too good to be true. “What’s the current disposition of his army?” He asked, daring not to hope.

“We smashed him pretty good, and he’s lost about a third of his total strength. Still dangerous, but he sports a smaller force than you, and with the advantage of the Sein, the immediate threat should be eliminated.”

The Colonel let out a long, deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair.

Time.

Geldre had bought them time.

Perhaps enough even, to conclude the siege of Paris and make even better preparations.

It was heartening news indeed.

OoO

With Richemont dealt with, at least in the short term, the Screaming Hordes of Geldre turned there attention elsewhere, and continued rampaging through French territory, smashing any enemy battle group that dared stand against them, and Jaeger turned his full attention back to the task of capturing Paris.

Slightly more than a month later, with word that Richemont was rapidly rebuilding his army, and calling for recruitment from all French territories near Orleanais, he sent a small calling card to Jaeger, in the form of some six thousand well trained French troops…a token effort to break our siege of Paris.

Jaeger’s army fought savagely, beating the French army back across the Sein, and inflicting some four thousand casualties on them while losing just over two thousand men himself. A solid victory, and if it was meant to demoralize the Army of Lorraine, it had quite the opposite effect.

Twice now, we had stood firm in the face of French fury, and a sense of hope began circulating through the camp. Perhaps we could stand against the dreaded French Commander after all!

OoO

[Velociryx]

December 2, 1437

The worst happened.

I knew it from the look on the face of the messenger when he entered the room.

“What is it?” I asked darkly…suspiciously.

“News from our army in Arras.” The messenger said weakly.

“We have no army in Arras.”

“Begging your pardon m’lord, but we do now…Colonel Jaeger has rallied the survivors of the Paris siege and marched the to Arras where they are awaiting the arrival of General Richemont.”

“We had more than twenty five thousand in Paris…we outnumbered Richemont when he attacked…what is the current disposition of his army?”

“Less than two thousand dead.” The messenger blanched.

Which still gave him in excess of twenty thousand.

“And of our twenty five thousand…how many remain?”

“Colonel Jaeger counts less than ten thousand men under arms in Arras, m’lord, and begs you to send reinforcements with all speed.”

My heart sank and my stomach churned.

More fifteen thousand of our troops killed in a single engagement. Our enemy barely losing two thousand.

It was a disaster of unimaginable proportions.

We were losing this war.

No! My mind screamed at that thought. We will not lose this fight!

I drew a deep breath and collected my thoughts a moment, and then began to speak.

“Ride hard to Arras and tell Jaeger not to give battle then, but to join the siege in Champagne if his army is threatened where it is…if it is not threatened, then remain in Arras and await reinforcements. We have none to send at present, but I will levy six thousand foot and four thousand horse to send him with all speed and rebuild the Army of Lorraine as best I can.”

The messenger left without a further word to deliver my news, and I was alone with my thoughts.

How was I going to break the news to Rene?