The Book of Saint John: Volume 1

[The Swert]

No comments and only 20 views this week? All still on holidays? Or maybe holidays are over and you're too busy to read? Doesn't matter, no lack of comments is going to stop this AAR. Afterall, "the Knights have the will of St John on their side".

Chapter 2: The French Retreat​

In 1428, after what had been a difficult year and a half for the Knights, the War of Rhone entered a new phase. The defence of Avignon had failed and the French had succeeded in puncturing through the Knights’ lines but had fallen back to strike another blow on the diminishing Army of St Raphael. Master Roquemaure, leader of the Army of St Raphael, had once more been driven back to the Provincial town of Manosque. La Hire’s armies were ominous and the situation was looking all but grim. On a more optimistic front, Castile and her allies had just joined the war against France. Previously, this would not worry France but regardless, the Knights had reason for renewed hope.

Roquemaure filled with this renewed confidence wanted to strike back at the French whilst they may be a little self-conscious by following his Grandmaster’s orders to retake Avignon. The French Army that had defeated the Knights in Dauphine were now retreating further back across the Rhone, Roquemaure assumed they were regrouping before launching a proper assault into the Knights lands. The Army of St Raphael reached the Avignon city walls in June and dug in for the siege. The proactive offensive pleased the Grandmaster who decided to spare some of the sparse treasury to fund some reinforcements for Rosquemaure which would be trained in the Savoy hillsides in what seems to be the safest of the frontlands. The next months moved along slowly as Rosquemaure waited for the French in Avignon to starve to death. Under the Pope’s request, the Knights were to protect as much of the city’s population as possible which counted out many of the Knights’ well-groomed siege tactics which would have sped up the siege. Nonetheless the waiting was pleasant enough as the French didn’t seem to be taking an interest in the siege, as a matter of fact their armies’ locations had been completely lost; perhaps the Castillians and co were drawing the French to other fronts which would be a blessing for the Knights. It didn’t seem too long had passed when the new Army was ready to go as a fully fledged army. Named the Army of St Gabriel, the new force of some 6000 infantry would be led a by a young English knight, Master Hugh Middleton. The new army crossed the Alps to join their counterparts in the siege on Avignon and added to the pressure on the French defenders. Even so the French hid inside the Pope’s palace for an admirably long time.

Hugh Middleton

During the siege of Avignon, Grandmaster De Ripa encountered a completely separate issue which drew his mind away from what had been an engrossing war. In October 1428 he received a request from his ally Siena to join their war against Venice, Switzerland, Modena, Bavaria and Ragusa. De Ripa was dumbfounded at how Siena could have been so dumb to find themselves involved in such a war and, since relations with Siena had been superficial at best, somewhat disrespectfully declined the request. The last thing the Knights wanted to deal with was a war in Italy against another major alliance. Loyally, his counterparts in Bologna declined as well and quickly reaffirmed a new alliance with De Ripa but the Pope sided with Siena and De Ripa, whilst somewhat offended, opted to continue trying to rescue the Papal capital despite the disloyalty. Little did the Grandmaster know at the time, this splitting of the alliance would have a silver lining in that it meant that, in effect, both the alliances were at war with France so that when Siena went forth in search of new friends to join them against Venice and co they were actually signing up to join the war against France as well. By the end of the year Cologne, Hessen and Trier had all signed up with Siena and France had fourteen nations against her.

It was no wonder then that La Hire’s men had completely abandoned the Alps by the turn of 1429. In fact whilst the siege drew on Avignon the Knights soon felt confident enough to split their force. In March, Middleton’s Army of St Gabriel moved up to and along the Isere Valley to converge on Grenoble. Twice before had the Knights marched into the city but on both occasion the hillside Fort de La Bastille escaped uncaptured. This time though Middleton was prepared for the long haul and with no French armies in sight, this new siege was poised for success.

With both armies deployed for their sieges much of Spring passed quietly. Finally in June, just as news was arriving that Flanders had become the fifteenth combatant against France, Master Roquemaure was greeted by the French commanders in Avignon who offered their surrender. The Army of St Raphael entered the city and quickly restored Papal authority to the region. It was a great success but now Roquemaure had a crucial decision to make. The whole of effort of the war so far had been to protect and liberate Avignon and now that it had been achieved the effort had to move in a new direction. Roquemaure was keen on exploiting the apparent retreat of the French and using this as an opportunity to advance into French territory. The obvious French province to attack would be Dauphine but Middleton was already calmly taking care of Grenoble and its garrison. It seemed as though the Army of St Raphael would have to cross the Rhone into the heartland of France and risk retaliation from the French forces on their terms. The next decision was made for him; it was whether to look northward or southward. The scouts that were sent out soon after the capture of Avignon informed him that the Castillians were already in Languedoc laying siege to Montpellier. There was only one thing left to do; march northward and cross the River Rhone into Lyonnais.

The defences in Lyon were next to nothing compared to the fortress in Avignon and their morale was evidently lower as whilst the defenders in Avignon didn’t know if they would receive support, the defenders of Lyon knew they wouldn’t. Roquemaure consoled himself the fact that his siege of Lyon might well break through before Middleton’s mountain-side struggle that was the Siege of Grenoble. Indeed that was the case. After only six months Roquemaure’s siege weapons had devastated the defences of Lyon. The walls were punctured and although no major assault was launched light skirmishes slowly took their toll on the French defenders. It took one final night of catapulting on January 25th to break the defence. One of the catapults struck home on Lyon’s gunpowder stash creating an explosion visible from Brignais. Not long after sunrise did the remnants of the garrison come out from behind the broken gates to surrender.

After the capitulation of Lyon there was still no sign of any French armies. Some had thought that they had retreated to fight the Castillians in the Pyrenees as in the last war but the presence of the Castillians in Languedoc seemed to refute that hypothesis. The only other possibility was that they had moved up north towards the Low Countries. Indeed they had a lot of enemies there; Flanders, Brabant and Gelre to name just a few. It didn’t really matter where they had gone though for Roquemaure, he was just happy that he didn’t have to fight anyone and was able to pillage the French countryside at his own will. With Lyon captured it was just a few days stroll up the Saone Valley to Bourgogne. It was during the waltz that the Army of St Raphael came across the first foreign army they had seen in over a year. Roquemaure readied his men for combat when the hails were returned with unfamiliar responses. However the caution was unnecessary as it was soon established that the army was actually from Gelre. Compliments were exchanged and war information was traded which confirmed the Knights’ suspicions that the French forces were concentrated in the North. However the rendezvous was too short and raised more questions than it answered. How did the Gelre Army manage to punch through the French lines? Why were they coming to the South of France? These were questions that Roquemaure could ponder as he began a siege on Dijon in February 1430.

Whilst Roquemaure had an easy time during the winter of 1430, in Dauphine Middleton was suffering through freezing temperatures. The Medieval Warm Period was over and the winter of 1430 of one of the harshest in years in the French Alps. The Army of St Gabriel held on strongly, well supplied by their neighbouring providers in Savoy and Piemonte. Middleton though cold, saw the winter as his chance to make headway in his siege of Grenoble’s Fort de la Bastille. He put a lot of effort into ensuring no food was smuggled into the fort and even went to lengths to channel the streams that flowed down the mountainside away from the fort. As the long winter entered its fifth month in April the effects were becoming clear. The fort’s chimneys started going out and the movement of the men was very limited. By the 3rd, the French had had it, starving and freezing; the garrison raised the white flag and laid down their arms. After over a year Middleton had captured Grenoble and in the process the whole of Dauphine would surrender to the Knights.

The Knights now had control of the entire South East of France. To the West, the Castillians continued besieging in Languedoc whilst the Gelre Army had started a siege on Clermont in Auvergne. The Army of St Raphael already had Dijon under siege and Middleton didn’t know where the next offensive should be. He decided to head to Dijon to meet with Roquemaure to discuss the progress of the war; at this rate they could even consider a march towards Paris. The Army of St Gabriel arrived at the siege of Dijon in June and during the summer the two Knights’ commanders discussed their plans at the Council of Dijon. After significant scouting operations it was discovered that the French had an army positioned in Champagne; the first time a French army had been spotted in over two years. The size of the force could not be established and nor could its movements. With that in mind Middleton and Roquemaure decided it was best to use caution and postponed their plans for a northward march towards Paris. They concluded it would be best to keep the two Armies of St Raphael and St Gabriel in close proximity of one another so as to when the French do decide to retaliate, and yes they figured it was more of a ‘when’ than an ’if’, the Knights would be able to mount a defence. The Knights’ forces were still comparatively small. The Council of Dijon concluded in September where Middleton, who was proving himself to be the superior siege commander, took command of the siege of Dijon whilst Roquemaure led his Army of St Raphael across the Saone into Franche Comte.

The Army of St Raphael arrived at the walls of Besancon in October and setup camp for the winter. By the time the temperature started rising again the Knights of St John would be entering a new phase of the war. So far Middleton and Roquemaure had worked well together but the new phase would require the true leader of the Knights in France to come to the fore.

Troop movements June 1428 - October 1430

 

[likk9922]

Noo! I'm watching! It's a good AAR!

It's just a bit hard to get through it. I really like the moving maps, BTW.

 

[Dark Scipio]

Very nice to read.

 

[comagoosie]

Sorry Swert, I was on vacation, so don't worry you shall a comment for both of your updates!

1st: Nice poem and it does seem like there is an insider that made the french siege so short. Thank your lucky stars that Castile joined, or else the french would be able to focus all of their forces on you, which would then make it highly unlikely for you to gain the upper hand. Again the troop movements do seem a bit small.

2nd: 14 nations against france. Hoho! Very funny indeed. Middleton is prooving himself, just like in history too. The troop movements are pefect here!

 

[The Swert]

Well that update seemed to be well received. A lot more reads this week. Only a few chapters to go for this volume. Although i'm well behind on writing Volume 2.

comagoosie - Did Middleton do much in real life? The only thing about Hugh Middleton is that he was a turcopole (mounted archer) and wrote a letter back to England in 1448. Personally i don't know why Paradox named a leader after him.

 

[The Swert]

Chapter 3: Middleton’s Struggle​

It was a tense time for the Knights of St John in the War of the Rhone. After years of nonchalantly being able to prance around much of France without opposition there were now signs that the French may return to wreck the party. Although the French presence was still only a predicted concern, there were no signs they were actually on the move so the Knights armies remained split between two sieges, one of Dijon in Bourgogne led by the Englishman Middleton and one of Besancon in Franche Comte led by the Frenchman Roquemaure.

Grandmaster of the Knights Anton Flavian de Ripa, who was still back in Rhodes, was worried about the state of affairs in France. In the event of a French return, the Knights’ first course of action would be to combine the two armies. This however, the Grandmaster perceived, might create a leadership row between the two Masters with the experience of Roquemaure clashing with the innovativeness of Middleton. The only solution to this was for De Ripa to make a decision to promote one of the Masters to Fieldmaster, a role which would give him control over all of the forces in the Savoy Theatre. The decision might change the face of the whole war but in the end it was a fairly clinical one. Roquemaure had the many years of experience and the knowledge of much of the region however Middleton brought new tactics to the table and tended to somehow push a little extra out of each of his men. However those traits were irrelevant; the facts that made the decision for him were that Roquemaure was French and Middleton was English. The powers that be within the upper circles of the Knights of St John would never allow a Frenchman to control the war against France even if he hadn’t lived in France since childhood. This left Middleton as the man to be promoted to Fieldmaster and this was conferred upon him on New Year’s Day of 1431.

Whether it was a part of morale boost in the Army of St Gabriel upon hearing of the promotion bestowed on their leader Middleton or whether it was a part of natural course of siege can be debated until the cows come home but just 10 days after the promotion the defences of Dijon capitulated to Knights and whole of Bourgogne followed. With the province of Bourgogne now under control Middleton decided to help out his counterpart in Besancon. In February the Army of St Gabriel met once more with the Army of St Raphael and Middleton took command of the siege forcing Roquemaure to take a backward step, something he couldn’t do comfortably. Besancon was one of the more highly defended of the French cities. Though not as impenetrable as Grenoble, Besancon’s citadel was not half bad and its meandering river prevented many of Middleton’s tactics from being used. The siege of Besancon would drag on for months and do no favours for Middleton as he tried to justify his new position; he was supposed to be the expert at breaking down walls.

The citadel in Besancon, with the river on both the left and right sides


In the mean time, Roquemaure’s spirit faltered. He was no longer a young man and it was clear to him that he didn’t have what it takes to be a great leader anymore. Despite his experience, he was outdated, a memory of a forgotten age of warfare and his methods couldn’t compete with the innovations that such a war as this brings, furthermore his fitness was failing. He could no longer do the long marches and hand-to-hand combat that he used to, and as soon as a leader stops leading by example morale of the whole army falls. Atleast Roquemaure understood this, handing over command to Middleton was the right choice; however it left Roquemaure at a loss. He had lost the drive, the passion, and the mental and physical fitness required even to be a capable soldier. He therefore made the tough decision to retire from the army and return to more a civil role in Rhodes in the spring of 1431.

With Roquemaure no longer supporting Middleton it was up to him to make all the decisions towards the war and he could no longer draw upon his experience and combine it with his innovation to choose the best course of action. The most impending of which involved the Siege of Besancon which endured into the Winter. It was then that Middleton received word from Dijon that the French had returned to the southern front and were laying siege of Dijon, only 50 miles away, and in a sizeable number as well. The French absence finally became clear; the majority of their men had been up north fighting Flanders, however Flanders had recently fallen allowing the French to manoeuvre forces south again. Middleton kept his cool, he was in a good defensive position and the French were not threatening the Knights’ possessions but rather minimising their losses. As a precaution, Middleton combined the two armies at Besancon and kept the name Army of St Raphael, but he wasn’t that worried as the Knights were far closer to capturing Besancon than the French were to retaking Dijon, unless they tried to assault the city.

The French chose not to assault Dijon, despite having the numbers to probably do so, which was a relief to Middleton but the French presence was already having an impact on the local populace. In September the peasants of Franche Comte rose up and formed a rowdy army of sorts and attacked the Knights’ line attempting to liberate their province. The Knights did not flinch and easily put down the peasants, happy to see the rebellion as a chance to put their combat training into practice, an act they had not needed to do for several years. With the crushing of the rebellion the garrison of Besancon never looked to be as strong again. Just over a month later, in November 1431 Besancon fell. Middleton now had a decision to make. The French army was besieging Dijon after annexing Flanders in June and Middleton knew that his army, even though he had combined it, was still only about 12,000 and would be overwhelmed by the 20,000 odd Frenchmen. Even if he could make a fight of it, he was responsible for the whole front and the Army of St Raphael was the only Knights’ army in the region, he couldn’t afford to waste its strength. Back in the Council of Dijon the year previous both Middleton and Roquemaure had chosen to err on the side of caution since they were unsure of the France’s movements. However now the situation was different, Middleton knew exactly where they were, exactly what they were doing and roughly how many were there doing it. He could not risk trying to save Dijon so there was only one way to hurt them, attack further north.

In November 1431 Hugh Middleton led the Army of St Raphael above the French position through the unguarded Champagne and across into Orleanais with a goal of eventually moving in on Paris if the opportunity presented itself. This bold campaign would hopefully, when combined with what the Castillians were doing in the South and what Gelre and Brabant were doing in the North, shatter France’s power completely. The first task on the campaign was to capture the iconic city of Orleans. If the French could not defend Orleans then they would probably not be able to defend Paris either. The Army of St Raphael dug in for the winter after laying siege on the city on December 7th. Just as Middleton men were settling in around Orleans after looting the countryside news arrived that the French army had captured Dijon. La Hire was now the one with the decision to make, he had to either fall back to defend Orleans or push on to recapture the other lost territories. Middleton’s intelligence on the 4th on January told him that the French Army was coming in his direction. The Army of St Raphael prepared for battle on a position that offered much protection from the East. This would be the first time that the French and Knights would actually fight each other on the field in nearly four years, so long ago that even Middleton himself hadn’t seen combat. In fact the last combat that the Knights had fought was not even in France, it was in Sicily some three years ago when the French made a half-hearted attempt at taking the island. The combat was more a series of skirmishes rather than a proper battle and the French were forced back to their ships and never again threatened the Knights in the Mediterranean.

Middleton continued the siege on Orleans whilst keeping an eye on his East for signs of the French advance. Suddenly his scouts reported a French Army marching in from the North. This could not have been the army from Dijon as only a few days had passed since Dijon had fallen. This had to be a completely separate army coming down from Paris which had completely blindsided him. His men were out of position and inexperienced, their morale took an instant dive when the announcement arrived. Middleton himself was nowhere near the confident self he usually was as he frantically tried to reorganise his men. On the thirteenth the French arrived as Middleton was still trying to organise his defences. In the ensuing battle the lack of experience in the Knights’ ranks was evident; tactically, numerably and in confidence the Knights were outshone by the French. The defeat was a crushing one that scarred Middleton’s career everafter. Not only was the battle lost but the retreat was a shamble too resulting in hundreds more deaths. In the end only about half of the Army of St Raphael made it to Nevers, to which Middleton chose to retreat.

The lifting of the Siege of Orleans in 1432 (only 3 years after the historical one)

Troops movements - Jan 1431 to Jan 1432

 

[comagoosie]

comagoosie - Did Middleton do much in real life? The only thing about Hugh Middleton is that he was a turcopole (mounted archer) and wrote a letter back to England in 1448. Personally i don't know why Paradox named a leader after him.

heh you are right, I must be getting him confused with another leader of the Knights of Rhodes. Maybe he was one of the generals during a siege of rhodes? I even wikipediad it, and the search came up with some welsh blacksmith

Interesting how Middleton got permoted to fieldmaster. You would of thought the man with the most experience would lead, but since Roquemaure is fighting against his country, there is a chance of defecting. Furthermore, since Middleton is english, he could harbor a grudge against the french, which he could use to his advantage. Excellent written paragraph.

Too bad that Roquemaure left, there might have been the chance of the knights defending the position well enough to rout the french. But since they are now on the retreat, I fear they are in grave danger.

 

[unmerged(86600)]

Hmm, methinks there have been other retreats which good commanders have turned into great victories against the hot-headed French. Great update, looking forward to the apocalyptic showdown

 

[The Swert]

Well i've been a bit delayed this week. The update is raring to go, I just need to make another of those maps. I updated the library today, I should be able to do this tomorrow.

comagoosie - I found the same welshman. Oh well, never mind his origins, he's the leader of the armies now. Let's hope he does remember the Hundred Years War (although in this game that war didn't amount to much).

Vandervecken - Unfortunately, as is often the case, there may not be an apocalyptic showdown. Middleton is too cautious to risk his men in a massive battle, especially now that he's on the back foot. But he isn't done with yet.

 

[The Swert]

Chapter 3: Middleton’s Struggle ...continued​

La Hire’s men retreated back into the French territory after capturing Bourgogne and this allowed Middleton to return to the province in February as it still recouped from the Battle of Orleans. Such were the Knights wounded that Middleton sent a letter to Grandmaster De Ripa requesting more troops and, whilst many before had been declined, this request was granted and a patriotic recruitment push was launched against the murderous French in Savoy. In May these new men were christened and quickly sent to reinforce Middleton in Lyon. With this new strength, and the seeming lack of offence from the French, the Army of St Raphael’s confidence was restored. In the summer Middleton renewed his campaign towards Orleans hoping that the better weather would support his cause. The Knights arrived back in Orleans on July 9th and confronted the exact same army that had defeated them just 6 months earlier. The Knights were cautious this time and wanted not to underestimate their foe. Middleton’s men fought better than before and it managed to break the enemy’s lines momentarily but the French, protected by the castle, were too strong once more and the Knights were routed back to Champagne.

The next month, whilst still recovering from the battle, Middleton decided once more to attack Orleans hoping this time to utilize an element of surprise. Both armies were still tired and unready, the Knights however managed to fill their minds with adrenaline fuelled hatred which translated to a powerful and unrelenting force. The Army of St Raphael launched a strong near-impenetrable attack that smashed through the overpowered French, unfortunately though, as it often the case with adrenaline rushes, the push didn’t last and the army found themselves exhausted and out of position. Middleton tried to rally his men but it was futile as the French, who had played it well, were then quickly able to contain the Knights and defeat them. For the third time Middleton had failed against the French in Orleans and on that day, the 13th of August, the campaign towards Paris was aborted.

Whilst Middleton had been busy in Orleans another French army had marched into Franche Comte and was besieging Besancon. When it heard of Middleton’s third defeat they were recalled back to Champagne to await the retreating Army of St Raphael and ensure that the attacks on Orleans were truly over. When the Knights arrived in Champagne they quickly realised their imminent defeat and quickly retreated on their own towards Franche Comte just as the French were coming into sight. Middleton’s men could only relax once they reached Besancon where they were to stay for next few months whilst Middleton decided the course of any further action. It seemed as though after four years of harmony the French were back in force, with a vengeance and most importantly with the yet-unpenetrated strength to defeat the Knights. Middleton foresaw a situation of the Knights being forced back to the coast within a year without the French having lost a man such was their apparent strength.

In October fortunes changed, the French attacked Franche Comte and this time the Army of St Raphael was forced to defend. Using the Jura Mountains as a platform Middleton had a great position for any assault the French threw at him. The two forces met on the 27th and the Knights were victorious for the first time in 4 years. They were not so invincible after all; in fact the French Army returned in November and was no better off being routed once more. Middleton took these victories as the sign to go on the offensive once more, not towards Orleans this time but to recapture Dijon. Just before New Year the Army of St Raphael laid siege to Dijon and celebrated the arrival of 1433 with a spectacular volley of fireworks designed to decimate the French garrison.

The Army of St Raphael continued to besiege Dijon during 1433 since they no longer had the confidence to launch a proper assault on the city. Also Middleton was ever wary of the French forces who were now roaming around in the North; they had to be planning something. Middleton didn’t want a repeat of what happen during the Siege of Orleans, he had learnt from his mistakes that day and was now almost paranoically watching their movements. The obsession paid off when the French did make their move on Dijon in March where the Knights were easily able hold their ground forcing the French back after a few days. In spite of this victory it was clear that the French forces were building up around him and that his veteran army was significantly outnumbered by the enemy. This was made apparent when in June the French sent one army to besiege Besancon once more and a month later when a new general, Dunois led a second assault on the Army of St Raphael in Bourgogne. This time, despite what Middleton had learnt from the previous defence, Dunois’ Army was larger and more confident in themselves. Their daring skirmishes managed to prevent the Army of St Raphael from consolidating for the battle which disheartened the Knights who soon found themselves in retreat. The French had arrived just in time for the Dijonese who were on the brink of capitulation, a fact Middleton was aware of as the trudged his army back to Lyon.

For the first time in his leadership, Middleton was at a strategic loss. He didn’t know his next move; the French seemed to be overwhelming. He took the Army of St Raphael back to Savoy to regroup in August and could only watch as Dunois marched towards Lyon. A month later Besancon was assaulted and all the Knights hard work of the last 4 years was unraveling before their very eyes. Middleton wrote a letter to the Grandmaster requesting more men; his army now was down to no more than 7000 men. De Ripa refused to provide the funds but compensated by agreeing to transfer the reserve Army of St John from Palestine to France. The forces however would not be scheduled to arrive until the next year. Middleton had to hold out for three more months. He couldn’t risk an offensive against Dunois’ armies but neither could he afford to stay in Savoy.

The Army of St Raphael marched down the route that Roquemaure had paved some 7 years ago from Annecy to Grenoble but this time, instead of eyeing off the Fort de la Bastille before heading to Avignon and that ill-fated battle, Middleton told his men to set up stations. He had heard a rumour that the Dunois had left Lyon and was heading across the Rhone. In late November, just as the snow was arriving in Grenoble Dunois edged his way up the Isere Valley towards the waiting Middleton. The weather really was quite shocking, where there was not snow there was mud and this made it difficult for Dunois to launch any kind of assault. The Knights stayed protected on their perch and only came down as the French actually reached the foot of the fort. The French were little more than sitting ducks stuck in the mud as the Knights came tearing down the hillside. Dunois quickly realized that he had all the variables against him, and ordered the remnants of his army, which on the eve of the battle was far larger than the Knights, back down the valley. It would be too hard a task to take Grenoble whilst they were fighting on the Knights terms and with the weather against them.

Middleton had fought off the French for now and hoped that the reinforcements would arrive shortly. Dunois was no pushover, he would be back, or even worse, he might try to circumvent Middleton’s stronghold and head south towards Avignon once more. For the moment though there was little Middleton could do in his situation. He kept the Army of St Raphael in Grenoble and hoped that his Grandmaster would not let him down as the New Year approached.

Troops Movements - Jan 1432 to Nov 1433

 

[Deamon]

It's to bad that the EU2 forums are not that popular anymore.. Some people are really missing great AAR's!

 

[comagoosie]

Middleton seems to be in a pickle, and right now isn't the time to be in one.
He may have won the battle but he is far off from winning the war.

 

[hildoceras]

very interesting. The picture of the citadelle of Besançon is... modernist

 

[The Swert]

Deamon - Indeed it is sad. I might actually have to start writing about another game soon.

comagoosie - Not that far off

hildoceras - You caught me out there, that's the 17th century one. I couldn't find a picture of the older defences so i found the most simplistic looking picture of the new one I could find. But obviously I can't fool people.

 

[The Swert]

Chapter 4: The Closing Phases​

By the start of 1434 the War of the Rhone had been going for seven and half years. It had turned into a bitter struggle between the outnumbered but more courageous Knights of St John and the aggressive but overstretched French. Fieldmaster Middleton led the Knights’ cause on the field but recently had seen his offensives crushed and his army too diminished to put up a defence to France’s counterattacks. Grandmaster De Ripa transferred the reserve Army of St John, the elite fighters of the Knights, to the frontline in a hope of stemming the tide. This force arrived in Nice in January much to the delight of Middleton who had been hiding out in Grenoble awaiting the reinforcements. The Army of St John quickly marched up the road to Grenoble and when the two armies met Middleton decided to combine them as each French army had many more men than the Knights and neither of the armies would stand a chance alone if a battle did present itself. Since the Army of St John was an institution as opposed to an army and could not be merged without significant uproar, the Army of St Raphael become a part of the Army of St John which now entailed about 8000 infantry and 4000 cavalry. The cavalry, whilst against the Knights’ tradition, it was hoped they would counter the significant mounted troops that the French used so effectively beyond the Rhone.

So Middleton, having received these reinforcements and weathering the winter, was ready to move out on the offensive once more. By the time he left Grenoble in March the French had already resumed a siege on Lyon. Middleton’s aim was to retake some of the lost ground and headed for Dijon. Instead of risking a battle, the Army of St John took the long road to Dijon via Savoy and Franche Comte arriving in May bypassing Lyonnais completely. For the next few months Middleton sat patiently by the Ouche ever wary of the French threat. The French meanwhile seemed content with their siege on Lyon and headed no resistance against the Army of St John. It was during this stage that the war took a political twist, several in fact.

First of all, in March Gelre, having capture Auvergne and Flanders, signed a peace with France ensuring that Flanders would return to Dutch hands. Secondly, in May, a new member, Hannover, joined Siena’s alliance in their ongoing war against Venice and co. This meant they also signed up to fight France becoming the eighteenth member of the coalition. The third shakeup of the year was when the Pope signed a peace with France. It seemed that the Pope had moved on from that misunderstanding with the French king and were most unthankful towards the Knights for liberating their capital, although, to be fair, they did have another to war fight against Venice. In October came the biggest political event of the year, Castile signed a peace with France. It was a blow to the Knights’s cause; their biggest ally’s withdrawal would have drastic effects on the war at the front. It was then that for the first time, Grandmaster De Ripa realised that this war could not continue forever and that peace would have to be negotiated before too long, especially if the French now had the forces to overwhelm Middleton. It was not all bad news though, the Castilians had been mighty successful in the war and after capturing Sardinia, Connaught, Toulouse, Armagnac, Gascoyne, Languedoc and Navarra they negotiated keeping all but Gascoyne and Languedoc in the truce. In the final shakeup of 1434, Strassburg managed to declare independence from France much to the support of the coalition. It was a sign that after years of war France was struggling internally. It could no longer keep its own people under reins like it had done so well for a hundred years.

This all occurred whilst Middleton continued to lay siege to Dijon. The siege finally came to a conclusion in December when the French commanders surrendered. With Bourgogne back in the Knights’ hands Middleton was able to reassess his situation. Castile and her Dutch allies were no longer by his side, and the French without doubt were now able to focus most of their forces on the South East. One consolation that Middleton had was Strassburg’s entry into the war. The new little nation could not offer much muscle against France but they did at least provide a distraction. Even if Strassburg didn’t make it through the war it could at least give the Knights’ their greatest chance. That was how Middleton saw it anyway and it proved true as he watched Dunois surrender his siege on Lyon to head towards Strassburg. With Bourgogne recaptured Grandmaster De Ripa sat down at the negotiation table for the first time with his French counterparts in peace talks. The Knights wanted Dauphine and Lyon but their bargaining chip of Bourgogne was not enough to suffice the French especially as the French were about to retake Lyon. Middleton was sent out to grab some more land.

It wouldn’t be an easy task for Middleton with the French all over his North. However he saw an opportunity in the south; in the Castilian peace deal Languedoc had been returned to France but they were yet to relocate their military there. In January 1435 the Army of St John began a siege on Montpellier. The peace negotiating continued through the Spring, in fact it continued all year with no conclusion reached. Meanwhile Dunois realised his mistake in abandoning his siege on Lyon and sent an army to Bourgogne to retake Dijon, which was by now not much more than a pile of rubble. It was then that another political twist brought a former ally back into the war. Gelre declared war on Cologne which put one major faction of the coalition up against another. The Pope declined to support Cologne in light that Castile would most likely slaughter his men however just a week later he realised that he lost all his friends and reaffirmed his allegiance to Cologne. This bizarre set of circumstances brought the Pope back at war with France, at least on paper, nothing would actually come of it.

In May a French army finally arrived to defend Languedoc but soon realised they were too late and that Middleton was well on his way to breaking into Montpellier. Middleton was forced to take to battlefield where the Army of St John proved once again why it was the Pride of the Knights. Their endless training and elite cavalry was able to drive off the French from Languedoc within 5 days with only slight losses. A month later and the French had formed another force and were laying a siege to Lyon as well as Dijon. Middleton tried his outmost to speed up the siege on Montpellier but there was little he could do without launching a full assault on the city, which would result in thousands of deaths among his most elite troops, which would be inexcusable. Instead he waited out until July when on the 15th Montpellier capitulated. It was timely as on the same day Middleton received word Dunois had assaulted Dijon effectively cancelling out his hard work. In light of the new situation, Grandmaster De Ripa, who was sick of failed negotiations, committed funds for another 6000 men to be trained in Provence.

Middleton had to head back north again, he had prevent Lyon from falling first of all. He followed the Rhone up to Lyon and met the French force near Montluel. This time the battle was much fiercer than the one in Montpellier, the French were prepared and had a defensive line setup. Despite the competency of the Army of St John many thousand men were lost in the battle but the Knights did come up victorious after a 10 day struggle and Lyon was liberated. Whilst both Middleton and his men would have wanted some time to recuperate they couldn’t afford to as another major French army was heading towards Languedoc. Middleton marched his Army of St John north once more to Dijon and for the fourth time put a siege upon the battered and hastily repaired city walls. Just a few days later, the French arrived in Languedoc with an army of over 20,000 men.

It was looking ominous for Middleton’s chances, his siege of Languedoc had been matched by an assault on Dijon and now the tables were reversed except that didn’t have enough men to assault whilst the French did. In September that’s exactly what they did as they launched wave after wave at the Montpellier garrison. Luckily for the Knights the reinforcements were ready and a new army was commissioned, the Army of St Barachiel led by the capable Master Duvernet. Duvernet answered the call and forced marched his brand new army across the Rhone to save Montpellier, what followed was astonishing and captured clearly in the following poem:

The siege of Montpellier
Turned into quite a fray
Wave after wave assaulted the wall,
No matter what, the garrison stood tall,
The French became tired and spent,
Headed back to their planning tent,
When all of sudden the Knights appeared
Fresh out of the barracks, all shiny-geared
Led by their Master Duvernet
Come to drive the French away
They hardly looked much of a force
Most could barely ride a horse,
Yet here they were, ready to fight
An army of hardened French might

There was not much strategy to Duvernet’s plan
Just charge out the enemy as hard as you can
It was all the troops needed and all that they knew
As they charged the Frenchmen on their debut
The French were weary as they formed a line
But as sword approached sword, they heard the sign
The French leader realised his army was beat
Could offer no resistance to this deluge of feet
He told his men to turn round and head for the hills
The battle was over without any kills
Somehow or rather the Knights had won the day
6000 green men forced 20,000 away

With Montpellier now safe Duvernet led the Army of St Barachiel northward meeting up with Middleton at the siege of Dijon before pressing onwards towards Nevers. The region seemed safe enough, Dunois was in Strassburg whilst the La Hire was regrouping in Auvergne, and so in November Duvernet began to besiege the city. A month later La Hire returned his army to Languedoc but he army was now too insecure to launch an assault, which gave Middleton the advantage. Just as Winter was coming to an end, the city of Dijon was broken and Middleton took control of Bourgogne again in February 1436.

The next time Grandmaster De Ripa and the French sat down to negotiate, on the 9th of March, he now had an extra bargaining chip. The Knights now had control of Dauphine, Lyon, Bourgogne and Languedoc whilst Duvernet was besieging Nevers. As always, De Ripa’s demands were for the Knights to take ownership of Dauphine and Lyon and this time, finally, the French conceded. The peace was signed on that day and a day later all hostilities were ended, just as Middleton was heading south to meet La Hire. The two great generals did meet, in Lyon peacefully, as both parties retreated to their new lands. They saluted one another. The war was over.

Troops Movements - Jan 1434 to Feb 1436

 

[comagoosie]

Oh ho, great update, the war is over!

But at what cost? De ripa had to recruit so many extra men, surely the treasury is empty. And with so many dead, I can only imagine all the young men depleted throughout the knight's territory.

The knights are weakened, will any take advantage?

 

[The Swert]

Oh ho, great update, the war is over!

But at what cost? De ripa had to recruit so many extra men, surely the treasury is empty. And with so many dead, I can only imagine all the young men depleted throughout the knight's territory.

The knights are weakened, will any take advantage?

Well who knows. I never continued with the game. I still have a save game but probably won't continue it. I would rather move on to Volume 2 which concerns a new game. I'll just finish this off first.

 

[The Swert]

Chapter 5: The Aftermath​

Eight months later, Grandmaster De Ripa lay on his deathbed. The world he left was much different thanks to his actions. The War of the Rhone had been fought and not without reward. Before the war France was a tyrant; able to invade and annex whatever they pleased, as they had shown in a century of warfare. Somebody had to make a stand and it was Grandmaster De Ripa who led the retaliation against the French aggression, although he was lucky enough to have plenty of support. In fact the War of the Rhone ended up involving much of Europe. Since the war began the Knights, the Papal States, Bologna, Siena, Norway, Oldenburg, Poland, Holland-Hainaut, Castile, Gelre, Wurzburg, Mainz, Brabant, Cologne, Hessen, Trier, Flanders, Hannover and Strassburg had all at one time or another been at war with France. It seemed as though the only nations that didn’t join the fight only did so because they were already at war with each other.

The combatants in the War of the Rhone

The results of this decade-long war were drastic. First of all France lost seven provinces, five to Castile and two to the Knights. This was a significant blow to the French, especially since some of those lost provinces like Toulouse and Lyon marked a cornerstone of their industry. Furthermore, France was unable to take and hold Flanders. They did annex the city state in 1431 but three years later Gelre managed to take it back. In other words, France was unable to expand as it had done so in every previous war. Finally, Strassburg declared independence from France and joined the fight against them. This symbolised that France’s regime was all but omnipotent. Within its own lands, there was angst. Unfortunately, Strassburg did not last to escape the tyranny of France, after the War of the Rhone ended, Dunois was quickly able to overcome the revolutionaries and the province was retaken just two months later.

So as Grandmaster De Ripa lay on his deathbed he was able to do so without regret. He had stopped the Beast of the West from its indomitable expansions. He had briefly united an often pettily divided Europe to seek a common goal. He had secured the Knights’ lands of South East France from incursion, and the Pope’s independence. He had set the Knights of St John ready for their next adventure.

The End​

Hooray I finally finished an AAR, however short it may have been.

Keep an eye out for Volume 2: On Greece and the Byzantine Empire coming soon, probably towards the end of the month. Also don't forget the vote in the next ACA awards.

 

[comagoosie]

wow, a lot of Europe was unified against France, and it is amazing to think that a nation such as Rhodes had a huge contribution to it.

I will keep an eye out. Make sure you link the AAR in here, as I don't come into the EU2 forums too much

 

[The Swert]

For those interested, I've just started volume two: http://www.europa-universalis.com/forum/showthread.php?t=385023