Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

Chapter 108 Jeanne Dacre

The name of the woman who did this was Jeanne Dacre, and adjectives such as "miraculous" and "unbelievable" often appear in battle reports about this woman.

She claimed that she was the daughter of God, and God asked her to save the Gauls. In any case, it seemed that the morale of the defenders in the city was boosted by the arrival of reinforcements and supplies, and her encouragement also convinced many defenders to believe this statement.

She did not continue to stand firm and wait for reinforcements, but asked the troops in the city to follow her and take the initiative to attack. The Romans were caught off guard and did not expect that the Orleans defenders had the ability to fight out of the city, and the losses were considerable.

At this time, Bagoda, who had already lost confidence, saw an opportunity and quickly sent all his mobile forces to Orleans, cooperating with the city's defenders to attack the Roman army.

If he is a veteran general who has been on the battlefield for a long time, he will probably leave calmly when the situation is not good, and will not confront the Gauls at this time, but Aurelian's legion commanders are all people selected by the Senate, and the faction has a monopoly The tendency is quite obvious. The quality of the commanders of each legion is inevitably uneven. The commander of this legion is a man who is brave but lacks an overall view, and there is no deputy general who can persuade him.

Attacked by the Gauls from both inside and outside, the legion suffered heavy losses and was almost completely wiped out. Only a few people escaped and returned to the rear, and most of them died in battle or became prisoners.

After the Romans lost a legion, this woman did not stop the action immediately. Instead, she urged Bagoda and the Orleans garrison to rescue the city of Tours, which was still besieged by the Romans. The commander of the Roman legion under the city of Tours was a more cautious one. He did not choose to fight with the opponent in the field, leaving some auxiliary soldiers behind to serve as cannon fodder, and retreated directly with the large troops.

Aurelian's second-stage battle plan was considered a failure. He tried to invade Lugden Gaul and the army that controlled the Loire Valley returned with a disastrous defeat. However, he himself did not pay much attention to this matter. After all, wars are mutually beneficial. In fact, the responsibility for this defeat lies more with the reckless regiment commander. He himself continues to focus on controlling the existing territory and suppressing the local "Nawhide" rebels.

But after this battle, Jeanne Dacre seemed to have become a spiritual totem of resistance for the Gauls. Many people really regarded her as the daughter of God, and she herself continued to command the Gallic army to fight, allowing them to bravely fight. Before regaining the lost territory, a large number of people who had already lost confidence chose to fight for the Gauls again under her inspiration.

This brought a lot of trouble to Aurelian's work. If the locals obeyed, it would be easy to say. If the locals persisted in resisting, he would have to work on this land for a long time.

There is no doubt that this woman or girl is the famous Joan of Arc in later generations, and was even canonized in the 20th century, the famous French Saint Joan of Arc.

In the last time and space, many people firmly believed that Joan of Arc was a girl chosen by God, because they really could not understand how a teenage illiterate country girl could lead the French army to resist the British army in the environment of medieval Europe. They even said Those who single-handedly reversed the situation of the Hundred Years' War between England and France can only be attributed to God's will.

Even if Joan of Arc is a created statue, the experience of this statue is somewhat unbelievable. The Joan of Arc in this time and space is probably the same. The Romans today find it unbelievable. They don’t understand how an elite legion can survive in Gaul like Orleans. The city is overturned.

It’s hard to say whether there is God’s blessing behind Joan of Arc in time and space. We can only say “if there is”, but this time and space is a bit subtle. The God’s Chosen One really existed. If Joan of Arc in another time and space insists that she is the God’s Chosen One If so, I'm afraid the Joan of Arc in this time and space is quite different. Maybe she didn't just have divine help, but actually had divine help.

After confirming the identity of the other party, Orville became extremely vigilant, because he had read the biography of Jeanne Dacker. According to the historical trajectory, Jeanne Dacker would surprise Lance in the next step. City, his station is Reims, and there are no reinforcements around.

Alone with half a legion of troops, he faced Jeanne Dacre, who was suspected of being the Chosen One. Orville felt very stressed, so he immediately gave orders to his soldiers after reading the battle report.

"Let Belisarius and Stilicho come back first and don't push forward any further. If the people in those villages and towns are restless, just let the cavalry discipline them for a while. The security force around Reims City will be doubled. Be vigilant. The civilians in the city rioted and confiscated all possible weapons and equipment in the city. I have reason to suspect that Jeanne Dacre is moving towards us.

Repair the damaged city walls, deepen the trenches at the military camp outside the city, set up antlers, double the number of sentry towers, and transport scorpion crossbows and trebuchets from the rear. The food is well protected to prevent urban residents from being poisoned, and water sources are also well protected. The night vigil soldiers are increased to a large group and cannot be slacked off. "

Originally Orville's strategy was quite satisfactory, but suddenly it was reduced to such a cautious level. Old Trajan, as an adjutant, was also surprised: "Is it necessary to be so cautious? I think Orleans and Tours were just a fluke. Miracles can happen. Twice, but not likely more.”

"I insist on this. There is no need to persuade him." Orville firmly believed that he was right, so there was no need to explain too much to old Trajan. In a few months, he would naturally know that Orville's caution was correct.

Seeing Orville's resolute attitude, old Trajan didn't say much. In his opinion, this was Orville's first time leading troops to fight alone, so it was a good thing to overreact a little and be overly cautious.

It is much better than being overconfident. The commander of the Orleans Legion was such a bad guy. He over-trusted his military ability and command talent, which had a significant negative impact on the military strategy of the Roman Empire.

——

After more than half a month of such strict vigilance, new news came from the front line, but this time the news did not come from the province of Aquitania, but from a place not far from Orville.

Jeanne d'Acre commanded the Gauls to launch another battle, but the battle was not in Reims, but in Alesia not far away.

Historically, Jeanne d'Acre chose to attack Reims in order to allow the French crown prince to be crowned as the King of France in a legitimate way. Reims is the place where the kings of France were crowned. The fact that it was established here greatly inspired the resistance morale of the French military and civilians. To exaggerate, it can be said to be a step to reverse the situation.

Jeanne d'Acre's choice to attack Alesia in this time and space also has a historical origin. The Romans were honored by this name, while the Gauls were humiliated and fearful.

It was here that Caesar truly broke the backbone of the Gauls a hundred years ago, forcing Gaul to submit to Roman rule.