Alan Kerne, Brother of Duke Brandon
Outside the town of Guer in Rennes, Duke Brandon’s forces met up with those of his brothers Alan and Énna. A safe distance from what was technically an enemy city, the now unified Breton army made camp. They did not realize that Guillame de Rennes had already arrived and was waiting nearby. By morning, he had his troops arrayed between the city and the village of Le Busson in the northwest. The astonished Loyalist Army was now pressed into a pitched battle. Hoping to stay on the offensive, it was decided by the Loyalist leaders that an attack would be made against the village of Le Busson, hopefully drawing troops away from the Rebel center.
***
Duke Brandon led his detachment of Knights from the front, though he didn’t quite like it. As he turned to look at the 1,500 souls, the Duke was confident that Guillame would be crushed. Though he knew Le Busson would be manned by only a small Rebel force – he had planned on it. Terror gripped him at the hard fought combat that would soon explode elsewhere. Better to jump on this ship than one bound for rougher seas.
“Your hands are shaking, brother,” Alan said.
“Just a bit cold is all.” the Duke replied, a terrible liar.
“This shouldn’t be difficult, we just have to be careful, as always,” Alan said.
“Yes, yes. Now, why is Énna going north?” Brandon asked.
“He’ll take the town of Le Guiny before coming south against the backside of Le Busson.” Alan replied plainly.
“Huh, why bother with such nonsense?”
“It is sound strategy.“ Alan replied.
“Bah! The devil has your ear, I see! Énna may continue north but I will now be making decisions.”
The small Breton army was soon upon the village and from outside it, the Loyalist forces could see the Rebels within.
“Now, I shall not consider such foolishness as flout- ...flanking or whatever terms you warriors use. We shall charge the Rebels immediatly!” Brandon said confidently.
Before Alan could object, the Duke had egged his horse onward with a fury and the Knights were bound to follow suit. Now trembling himself at what could await them with such brash actions, Alan drew his sword and joined the charge.
***
The houses of the village were tightly packed, weakening the power of the cavalry. As the Loyalists bore down the windy streets of the town, they soon came upon Rebel resistance. Though there were few of them, the Rebel infantry were able to weave around the clumsy horses, making the attack costly. Just as it seemed as though the town would be overrun, Rebel reinforcements arrived. Wielding pikes and various anti-cavalry implements, the Loyalists were pushed back. In the confusion, Brandon lost his weapon. He descended into a panic and quickly fled at full gallop, cursing the devil as he went. The Loyalists were shaken badly by the brazen retreat of their leader and it was only when Alan took the reigns of command that the regiment rallied
A similarly incompetent Énna would never arrive from Le Guiny – he too fled in the face of the Rebel forces and his detachment ended up butchered. In all, the skirmish at Le Busson was a failure. The Rebel lines were not weakened at all and it was in fact the Loyalists who had suffered the most. Alan had managed to keep at least 300 of his troops alive, withdrawing to the Loyalist camp. Convinced that his enemy was heavily weakened, Guillame brought the battle back to them with a full assault.
Devi showed his relative skill in the field by managing to hold his ground against the now more numerous Rebels. As the battle dragged on to mid-day, it seemed as if the Loyalists might lose the battle. Just as he considered sounding the retreat, a new force arrived on the field. A surprise to both armies, Count Carles de Coursulles arrived with over 3,400 Loyalists. The tables were so radically turned that Guillame’s army immediatly began to fray at the edges. This was not simply due to the shock of several thousand new troops entering the melee. Carles de Coursulles was amongst the finest commanders in Europe and had every conceivable option available to Guillame either cut off or eliminated. The pined Rebels were eventually wiped out by nightfall and suffered almost 4,700 casualties to the Loyalists’ 3,400.
Count Carles de Coursulles
Guillame was ultimately thwarted by the defeat at Guer and his title was soon surrendered to the Ducal domain. Any extra honor that may have been bestowed on Brandon was lost due to his cowardice on the field. The hero of the battle, Count Carles, was so sickened by what he had heard of Brandon’s retreat that he abandoned his Loyalist policy. Instead, he adopted a subversive approach to Ducal authority. Luckily for Brandon, the old Count would not take to the field during his few remaining years.