Au-delà de Azincourt-Beyond Agincourt. A France D&T AAR

[Rifal]

Au-delà de Azincourt-Beyond Agincourt

A France D&T AAR

I’m Back, finally. As some of you may know my computer suffered a severe virus attack resulting in the complete loss of all data on it, including all the screenshots and chapters of my previous AAR ”Ultima Ratio Regum”.


This naturally had me quite upset as I was really having fun with that one and It was coming along nicely. Therefore I will not capitulate to some annoying virus file and I will once again set out to paint most of Europe blue.

I will start on the 26th of October 1415, one day after the disaster at Agincourt and from there hope to guide France to its rightful position as the undisputed master of continental Europe.

Goals (in no particular order)

1. Turn the tide of the hundred years war and force the English to a ceasefire.
   
2. Consolidate the French heartlands by annexing the Vassal states.
3. Conquer Burgundy.
4. Push England out of continental Europe.
5. Subjugate or Annex northern Italy.
6. Dominate Mediterranean Sea.
7. Contest the HRE at every turn.
8. Strive to reach the borders of Napoleonic France at its height.
9. Crusade?

Rules

1. No Cheats ( I reserve the right to edit a save file if something absolutely retarded happens ex. Austria conquering Pskov)
2. No reloading
3. Medium Difficulty
4. Inflation On
5. Low AI aggressiveness (to limit stupid borders as much as possible)
6. Historic Plausibility, no Rushing of the colonize the new world in 1440

There we are, seems reasonable to me. Any and all comments are welcome.

Table of Contents

Charles VI de Valois “The Beloved” (1380-1432)
Chapter I: After the Disaster
Chapter II: Sliver by Sliver
Chapter III: The war of Consolidation Part I

Chapter IV: The war of Consolidation Part II

Loius XI de Valois "The Pious" (1432-1436)
Chapter V: Vive Le Roi

The Council of Nobles (1436-1445)
Chapter VI: Into Germany

Charles VII de Valois (1445-1452)
Chapter VII: First Burgundian War

The Council of Nobles (1452-1461)
Chapter VIII: Silentium

Louis XII de Valois "The Conqueror" (1461-1496)
Chapter IX: The Auvergne Alliance
Chapter X: Reforms of Louis XII
Chapter XI: War of Savoy

Chapter XII: War of Aquitaine
Chapter XIII: Late reign of Louis XII

Louis XIII de Valois (1496-1508)
Chapter XIV: Last Burgundian War
Chapter XV: The Reformation and the Tyranny of Louis XIII

Henri II de Valois (1508-1513/1523)
Chapter XVI: The Civil War and the Fall of the Pretender

Louis XIV de Valois (1523-?)
Chapter XVII: To the Holy Land Part I
Chapter XVIII: To the Holy Land Part II

[Merrick Chance']

Might I suggest creating and defending New France?

[Ashantai]

Another Rifal AAR! Sounds good!

[trekfan]

Subscribed

[Derahan]

Wow, Welcome back! I shall follow this just as you other AARs, good luck!

[Rifal]

Might I suggest creating and defending New France?

I assume you mean colonising America. I might if England is willing to let me

Another Rifal AAR! Sounds good!

Subscribed

Wow, Welcome back! I shall follow this just as you other AARs, good luck!

Thanks to all of you, I feel obiged to inform you that the update pace will be rather slow on this one as Im currently undergoing Education to become a security guard and its quite a bit more time consuming than i preffer. I will do what I can, First update should be this weekend

[Ashantai]

Just make sure you make backups in case the machine dies!

[Rifal]

Chapter I

Turning the Tide

After the Defeat at Agincourt it looked like France was losing the War with England, and losing badly. Northern France is more or less void of French forces and the road to Paris is wide open for Henry.

All is not lost however, France still has 30 000 soldiers ready for battle. Only problem is that they are nowhere near Paris but in southern France.
Charles VI himself travels south to lead the army in person in an attempt to capture the English holdings in Aquitaine and weaken the English Position in France.

If Aquitaine can be speedily secured the full force of the Southern army can be moved north hopefully before Paris falls, an extensive draft of able bodied males is also conducted in southern France in an attempt to replace the catastrophic losses suffered at Agincourt.

With most of Aquitaine unguarded Charles quickly advances towards the only English force present, around 9000 men under the Earl of Shrewsbury. The Battle is short but decisive as the English cannot take advantage of the terrain as they did at Agincourt and the Earl soon surrenders his forces.

(Agincourt Avenged?)

After his victory in Aquitaine Charles settles in for the winter and preparing to continue his campaign towards the north as soon as spring arrives.
The new army raised from southern France confronts the English in April 1416 in Maine led by Jean II Le Meingre. The Result is catastrophic, the fresh French recruits stand no chance against the battle hardened English and despite having almost twice as much infantry Jean is driven back towards Orleans where the English fall upon him again. Narrowly avoiding capture Jean leaves his army to it’s fate and flees south as fast as his horse will carry him.


(Le Meingre´s disastrous campaign to defend Paris)

Upon hearing of Jean´s failure in the north Charles is put in somewhat of a predicament. Does he keep his army on the south, hoping to achieve a swift end to the Provence led siege of Gascoigne or does he send half his force south to try to drive the English from Orleans in a final effort to save Paris?

In the end the decision is simple, Paris is the heart of France and if it falls France will undoubtedly surrender. Charles reluctantly has to give command of half his forces to Jean who marches north towards the English camp outside Orleans.
Jean enjoys a rather significant superiority in infantry over the English but in cavalry they are roughly equal. This time however Jean knows what he must do to avoid the English Longbows that ensured his defeats back in April.

Jean strikes swiftly with his heavy cavalry against the brunt of the English cavalry while his infantry charge in right after, as a result the English longbows cannot shoot at Jean’s men without risking hitting their own.

(The English are finally driven from France)

After Jean managed to drive the English from northern France the war enters a standstill. The English are unwilling to enter any sort of peace treaty in which they lose the Aquitaine and Charles knows that he can never get substantial forces across the channel.

What to do? What to do?

France c. 1417
Charles VI (ADM: 8 MIL: 8 DIP: 8)
Gratia dei: rex Francorum.

Treasury: 240
GDP: 46.5 Ducats/Year

Standing Army: 10000 Infantry, 6000 Cavalry
Navy: None
Reserves 23000
Discipline: 110.70%
Tradition: Army 39.20 Navy 1.90

Prestige: 18
Reputation: 0.0
Legitimacy: 100

[Rifal]

First chapter up, just a shortie to kinda get get back in the game. I´ll admitt im having a lot of fun and I promise Chapters will be longer in the future, most likely after im done with faffing about with the English continental holdings.

[Ashantai]

Great update! Very nicely written.

[Rifal]

Chapter II

Sliver by Sliver

When it became clear that the English would not surrender their continental holdings through French occupation, at the same time the English parliament refuses to send more forces to die on the continent.
Charles also knows that he will never be able to match the English navy and therefore never be able to land troops on English soil to enforce a peace treaty. Charles calls a council of war in French occupied Bayonne.

At the council it is swiftly agreed that the best way to fight the English is to crush their allies on the continent, namely Portugal. French Diplomats are sent to Toledo to try to convince the Castilian king to allow French troops to cross the Iberian Peninsula, and after a few weeks of negotiating they are successful: French troops are allowed to march to Portugal along the northernmost coast of Iberia and any form of looting will be considered an act of war. Charles begins his long march in January 1417 with 8000 infantry and 7000 horsemen.

The march went rather well, the troops were in good spirits and not a single village could claim to have been molested in any way.
Upon the arrival in Portugal however things change, widespread looting pillaging and raping is performed by the French forces at virtually every unwalled settlement in the Portuguese countryside from Porto to Lisbon. Charles has gone straight for the jugular and after a brief siege Lisbon falls, however upon entering the city it’s found almost completely deserted and the Portuguese king is nowhere to be found.

Charles settles into the former palace of the Portuguese king in the wait for his scouts to report the position of the Portuguese army, soon the report comes: the Portuguese army and King is located just a few days march northwest of Lisbon and number 15000 strong, 6000 infantry and a massive 8000 Horsemen.

Charles leaves a skeleton garrison in Lisbon and rides out at the front of his army towards the northwest.

The summer campaign

Campaigning in Portugal was not something Charles enjoyed, the roads were useless, the terrains very ambush friendly and the sun scorching. Thick layers of dust covered his soldier’s once shiny armor, it got in everywhere: shoes, clothing, food and water. It had however all been worth it he thought as his army and the Portuguese now stood face to face. The Portuguese however had no intention of facing the French in an open battle. Instead they launch a series of raids and skirmishes along the French line, the lighter more nimble soldiers of Portugal always stays just out of reach of the big lumbering French army. In the coming summer they will engage Charles in numerous small battles and then withdraw.

After the second battle of Beira Charles receives news that his small garrison in Lisbon has been overrun by Portuguese troops coming up from the south. Charles swiftly turns his army back towards Lisbon but when he gets there he finds that the Portuguese army is already waiting for him, finally willing to give proper battle.

The soldiers of Portugal however are not willing to face the full might of the French army and as Charles army forms up for battle they surrender without terms; the king has fled earlier to an unknown location.

(Victory at last)

Despite the removal of all organized resistance by the Portuguese army the City of Lisbon manages to resist for 195 days against the now weary French army, and even after the fall of their capital it will still take several months before a peace agreement is reached

Peace at last

With the withdrawal of their last continental ally from the war England is more willing to discuss terms with Charles. However from the very start it is obvious that there will be no exchange of land between the two rival powers. The talk last from mid autumn 1418 to May 1419. In the end all that happens is that France pays a small sum of money to England in return for some captured noblemen and England agrees to not pursue their claim to the French throne by military means for at least 5 years.

(The treaty of Caen, a massive disappointment)


Joining hands

During the late summer of 1419 the Duke of Alencon, dies without an heir and his realm passes to the French crown. The somewhat unceremonious integration puts and unneeded strain on the French bureaucracy but it is not a major problem and soon corrected
.

(The formal integration of Alencon)


The war of consolidation (Prelude)

The war of consolidation was a war fought between the Kingdom of France and the Alliance of the Duchy of Brittany, the Duchy of Provence and the Kingdom of Aragon for control of Provence, Maine and Anjou. Lands rightfully considered French by a majority of the Nobility including the King himself.

Provence had forged alliances with Aragon and Brittany for just this occasion as an attack by France in an attempt to further consolidate itself as the dominant power on the European continent had long been expected.
By October 1422 the French army is ready. 30 000 men in the north ready to attack both Brittany and Maine led by Charles VI himself and Baron Robert de Castaing. The defense of southern France is left to Gui de Saint Germain, a merely 25 year old General with little to no military experience. He is given the Daunting task of capturing Provence and keep southern France clear of the over 27000 strong Army of Aragon.

(the full military might of France stands ready to assert rightful French claims)

War will again ravage France.

France c. 1422
Charles VI de Valois (ADM: 8 MIL: 8 DIP: 8)
Gratia dei: rex Francorum.

Treasury: 135
GDP: 25.5 Ducats/Year
Standing Army: 30000 Infantry, 15000 Cavalry
Navy: None
Reserves 50000
Discipline: 110.80%
Tradition: Army 40.20 Navy 1.90

Prestige: 8
Reputation: 0.0
Legitimacy: 100

[dragonizer]

Like the story. Font is easily read. subscribed.

[Ashantai]

Great updates! Time for the final push on the continent.

[Rifal]

Like the story. Font is easily read. subscribed.

Great updates! Time for the final push on the continent.

Thanks a lot. Im really glad that you guys are enjoying this. Unfortunatley I have to work all week so I probably won´t be able to give you another update untill the next Weekend. Se ya then.

[lukew]

Very nice AAR, I've added it to the D&T AARs list.

[Rifal]

Chapter III

The war of consolidation Part I

The Brittany campaign (Dec. 1422-Sept.1423)

With a thunderous crash the gates of Rennes cracked open under the relentless punding of the Battering ram of Robert de Castaings army. The few defenders the city had swiftly took flight and hid in the alleys and hovels. Castaign army secured both city and province in a few days with minimal bloodshed, the 15 000 thousand men involved in Brittany was needed elsewhere and the campaign needed to end swiftly. No looting was permitted as there simply was not time for such acts.

With the Breton Duke merely an infant at the time the command of the Breton army goes to Richard de Saint Houlam, the previous Dukes military advisor and foremost general. The Breton army’s infantry core at this time was consisting of little more than peasants armed with whatever farming tools they had been able to convert into makeshift polearms. This peasant levy was backed up by a small core of high quality Men at Arms. The Breton cavalry on the other hand was the epitome of the Feudal system. Heavily armored and armed with Long lances, a fine sword made for both cutting and thrusting and a heavy helmet crushing mace for when things got close and ugly. This is what meets the French forces under the command of Robert de Castaing when he arrives in Morbihan on the 22^nd of December 1422.

By contrast the French infantry is of high quality, each man is armed with good quality chainmail and armed with Sword and/or a spear and carrying a large teardrop shaped shield for personal defense. The French cavalry is also of very high quality armored with the latest in Italian plate armor and armed with weapons of high quality steel from Iberia. With such a disparity in the quality of the two armies one might expect the outcome to be rather one-sided.

However the relative inexperience of Castaing gives the Breton forces a chance. As the French forces advance they lose cohesion and the battle devolves into a vicious melee with no commander having any real control. Rather thanthe massive French victory Castaing had hoped for the Battle of Morbihan just fizzles out without any real decisive action being taken. Nonetheless the fact is that French forces are left in command of the Morbihan province and Castaing can pursue the Breton army who is now fleeing towards Brest.

On the 29^th of December the French Cavalry Vanguard caches up with the Breton army as it attempts to make camp, the demoralized, starving and freezing army including its commanding officer Richard de Saint Houlam surrenders. All of Brittany lies open for the French forces. It will however take almost a full year before all of Brittany has fallen and peace talks can begin.

(The Major engagements of the Brittany Winter campaign)

With the Brittany campaign over the 30 000 men in northern France are split, Charles will take 15 000 men and go south to assist the beleaguered Gui de Saint Germain and his Armée des Pyrenées while the Army under Castaing will remain in northern France.

(Brittany and Provence are no more)

France c. 1423

Charles VI de Valois (ADM: 8 MIL: 8 DIP: 8)

Gratia dei: rex Francorum.
(National summary omitted as the next chapter runs parallel to this one)

[trekfan]

Nice update

[Merrick Chance']

Aw yeah, at the point you're going at your France will be larger than mine by 1500!

Loving the AAR, keep up the updates!

[Rifal]

Chapter IV

The war of Consolidation Part II

The Southern Campaign

The southern Campaign of the war of consolidation lasted from the 9th of January 1423 to the end of the war on the 30th of November 1424 when French forces captured the Heartland of the kingdom of Aragon.

The First battle of the Southern campaign saw the merely 25 year old Gui de Saint Germain expel the forces of Louis III de Valois, duke of count of Provence and Duke of Maine and Anjou in a rather inconclusive battle. The forces of Provence Holds for a brief period of time but soon realizes that the French army is both better trained and more numerous than them and they break out into a rout.
Louis III however rallies his men and through some rather daring rearguard action he holds of the pursuing French cavalry and manages an organized retreat.

Louis falls back towards his capital in hopes that Aragonese forces will arrive in time to save his crown. This however is not the case as Germain soon appears before the walls of Aix en Provence. With his back to the sea and French forces surrounding the city Louis surrenders on the terms that his army and city is spared.
Germain accepts and the entire Army, roughly 7000 men are made prisoners of war, including many high-ranking nobles as well as Louis himself.
The northern territories of Anjou and Maine fall soon after and Provence is annexed (as shown in the last update)

Shortly after the Fall of Provence, Germain once again finds himself in battle. This time he is outnumbered by about 1000 infantry and 1000 cavalry. Germain stands face to face with the Aragonese royal army. A well drilled, highly motivated killing machine and at the head of this army is the Aragonese King Ferran I de Trastamara.

With resolve gained from the successful campaign against Provence Germain orders a full scale frontal assault by his heavy infantry. The center of the battleline soon devolves into a horrible slugfest. Meanwhile Germain personally leads his heavy armored knights towards the Aragonese cavalry which flees after a short clash soon followed by the majority of the Infantry. Casualties on both sides are light but the Aragonese army is demoralized and loses its entire baggage train to Germain’s troops.

After the victory in Languedoc Germain does not pursue the Aragonese army as campaigning in Iberia during the Simmer will be a nightmare as experienced by Charles VIII during his war with Portugal. Ferran I however is no slouch, he spends the summer gathering a new army and fresh supplies and in October 1423 he once again strikes north towards Germain’s camp, Unknown to him however is that Charles himself has arrived in Southern France with a force of 15 thousand men ready to aid Germain. While Charles army does not take part in the Second battle of Languedoc the result is almost an exact replica of the previous battle.

This time however Both Germain and Charles give chase. In the dead of winter in the mountains Germain and Charles faces Ferran I once more. This will be the largest battle of the entire war with roughly 28 000 troops on the French side and over 33 000 on the Aragonese side.
Attacking under the cover of night Germain and Charles surprise the Army under Ferran I, however in the blackness of night Germain and Charles lose contact with their respective armies and as such a full envelopment of the Aragonese forces cannot be undertaken and Ferran I and his army slips away into Girona.

As dawn breaks over the battlefield Germain and Charles relize what has happened and chases after Ferran. The Invasion of Aragon has begun.
The Aragonese royal army having been routinely beaten by a numerically inferior army is heavily demoralized, desertion is skyrocketing and many of the Nobles serving as officers are deserting their king and defecting to king Charles under promises that they will be allowed to keep their estates and fortunes. When the two armies meet the entire Aragonese army is surrendered to Charles and Germain. All of Aragon lies open to the French army.

Over the following year Charles and Germain occupy large parts of Aragon and in November 1424 a peace treaty is negotiated where Aragon is to cut all ties with its allies. Why Charles did not force a harsher peace upon Aragon is most likely because his reputation was already somewhat tarnished by the “Illegal” Annexation of Brittany.
Nonetheless France now has peace on all her borders, a strong and well led army and she has asserted herself as the dominating power in Western Europe.

France c. 1424
Charles VI de Valois (ADM: 8 MIL: 8 DIP: 8)
Gratia Dei: Rex Francorum.

Treasury: 94
GDP: 43.5 Ducats/Year

Standing Army: 30000 Infantry, 15000 Cavalry
Navy: None
Reserves 69000
Discipline: 112.80%
Tradition: Army 70.20 Navy 1.90

Prestige: 81
Reputation: 14.7
Legitimacy: 100

[Rifal]

Greetings reader. I would like to make an official apology concerning the latest chapter of this AAR. It was littered with typos, scentences that made no sense whatsoever an i Rutineley reffered to Charles VI de Valois As Chalres and Charles VIII. I believe that I have now corrected most of them and would like to ask you to not be afraid to point out future stupidity on my part. This is further proof that writing a AAR when sleepdeprived at 03:50am is never a good idea.