Apologies for the delay!
Mr Sometimes: I would...but I have pro membership at photobucket (necessary for the amount of pics this thread has) so I'll just work with it.
Chapter 21 – The Prince’s Battle
XXX
After scoring a major success in Luxemburg during April, King François marched south to counter a new threat – The Emperor Carlos himself. With twenty thousand soldiers the Emperor marched from Catalonia through the south of France to the isolated Spanish enclaves in Charolais and Franche-Compte. The Emperor aimed to link up with forces from Hapsburg Austria, and then march directly on Paris.
The plan was audacious, and might have worked had he moved faster, but he was bogged down across Southern France and when he arrived only five thousand Austrian troops were present to reinforce him. Still, with this force of more than twenty-five thousand he begun his march.
Opposing him was just twenty thousand troops led by the King himself.
XXX
12/7/1535
“So is there going to be a battle today, Talena?” the Prince asked. He looked nervous as attendants strapped on his armour. He was not expected to fight in his downsized suit, but even so, this was his first battle.
“Yes, highness,” Talena replied casually. She wore a breastplate, but not much other armour. She appeared calm, composed. The very model of how a guard and teacher of a royal prince should be. Inside however, she was a bit more nervous than she let on.
“Father…his Majesty…said that we will fight today. I saw the flags across the river…it’s all very exciting,” he said.
Talena laid a friendly hand on his shoulder. “You’ll find battle a lot less exciting once you’ve seen it. Stay with me, my Prince, and I’ll keep you safe.”
The attendants finished and quietly left the tent. “I must thank you for all your help. It’s been very confusing, but you are doing right by me, and not asking anything in return.”
“I am getting the only thing I need; stability. I’ve spent too long travelling, never settling down. It’s about time I do.”
Henri nodded, though he probably hadn’t even been listening. Instead, he was looking out of the tent and saw his father approaching.
François pushed his way into the tent and smiled at his son and heir. “All ready, my son?” he asked.
“Yes, father.”
The King looked up at Talena, who bowed slightly. “I charge you to look after my son. This day is an important one for him to see. When he becomes King he must know how to defend his realm. But I hold you responsible for his safety.” With that very direct order in mind he embraced his son and left to begin the battle.
“Stay with me, Henri,” Talena said quietly. “You’re here to watch, not fight.”
From a ridge above the Aron River, which flowed into the Loire at the right side of the battle, Talena could see the massed Spanish forces opposite. Since the Aron was too wide and deep to cross except at two points, the result was a divided battlefield where each wing was several miles from the other.“
“So they’re trying to push across the river and attack us?” Henri asked.
“Yes, and the King has deployed the army to block them. See how he had placed the cannon on the heights over the river on the right? And there, on the left, the Spanish are already across, so it’s our job to push them back over the river.”
Henri watched it all with a sense of wonder. More than forty thousand soldiers were in view, some mounted, others not. It was set to be a bloody battle.
Talena rode with Henri over the fields and hills until they came to the left flank of the French army. There, the Spanish had already crossed over and were deployed on the north bank, and moving into the attack.
“Can’t we go closer?” Henri asked. Already clouds of smoke and dust were beginning to hide the action.
“No, I’m not having you hit by a cannonball,” Talena replied firmly.
“As a woman I expect this is rather unsettling for you,” he commented earnestly.
Talena gave him a cynical look. “By your age, highness, I was already fighting in a war and had killed three men who tried to rape me. I think that most women aren’t like me though,” she added.
Henri looked at her, speechless. “Where was this?” he asked.
“A long way away. A very long way away,” Talena said with a sigh.
The battle went on, and Talena watched as they moved on closer to the action. It wasn’t even a conscious thing, but yard by yard they were getting closer. By now they were passing through the first wounded soldiers retiring from the fray. One man had his left arm almost severed, another was trying to hold in his guts from a gash. As they watched that man collapsed in the dust.
Henri was pale, but with deep breaths he continued on.
“War is not glorious. Anyone who tells you it is has never seen it,” Talena said grimly, noticing his expression.
It was not much later on when a particularly loud cannonade caused a cloud of smoke that covered them entirely. Disorientated, Talena led the Prince out, and unfortunately right into an emergency.
The armies of both sides used infantry mixed with cavalry with supporting artillery where needed. In one area the French had been pushed hard, and some Spanish guns across the river had got them in an enfilade and were causing heavy punishment. The French soldiers were wavering, and if they broke then the whole wing of the King’s army might be unhinged.
“Stay back, Henri,” Talena warned. French soldiers were streaming past them, and the Spanish flag was flying as they let out a cheer, sensing victory.
The Prince ignored her, and galloped forward towards the fighting.
“Idiot boy!” Talena shouted at the uncaring world and followed.
A reserve French force of cavalry was moving forward, and the Prince in his distinctive armour rode parallel with them, through the fleeing soldiers. He snatched up a banner and called in a clear, ringing voice.
“Rally, men of France, would you see your King disgraced? Would you let these Spaniards defeat us?”
Talena had never seen something so idiotic…yet so brave. The fearlessness of youth, she reckoned. Whatever the reason, it worked! By the time she arrived, though arrows and bullets were thick around them the French rallied. Meanwhile, to their right the reserve cavalry charged, and the situation stabilised.
And there, banner still in hand, was the Prince.
“You’re a damn fool, Highness,” Talena said quietly. “But you’ve got quite a way with people!”
XXX
The Battle of Nevers was a tactical draw, but strategically it was vital. The Spanish and Austrian forces were compelled to retreat, and soon after there came a stunning result as the entire Spanish army was compelled to surrender. It truly was revenge for Pavia, which had occurred just ten years before.