Records: La Rochelle returns to Aquitaine

## **The English Momentum in Aquitaine**

The August Battle of Arundel sent shockwaves through England, France and Aquitaine (and pretty much every place else that heard about it). Morale had absolutely flipped and now France was nervous. Not just the Ancien Régime a la Paris, but France itself was projecting what might happen if standing before English cannons... *and Excalibur*.

Down in Aquitaine, where combat had resumed around the border points, French forces were skittish. The only major tool people knew the English deployed down there were Merlin's Glow Stones – but for night warfare, that alone was fairly significant.

More significant was the newly installed *French* Sergeants-at-Arms. The Bordeaux Platoon was operating *as a platoon*, training and raiding French forces to the north. They had access to a steady supply of Glow Stones, which they used as their calling card to locals who had been spared. The Bordeaux Platoon quickly gathered the legendary title of *the Shadow Company* (la Compagnie de l'ombre).

The first act of the Bordeaux Platoon was no less than taking down the Albret family, keepers of the Château de Langoiran and one of the most powerful families in France. When it was discovered that Arnaud Amanieu, Lord of Albret, had made a secret treaty of support for Charles V in 1368, other pieces fell into place. The evidence was siezed, Arnaud himself was executed, and the rest of the family was ousted.

The execution was not the choice of Prince Rick, but rather of King Edward – who saw this treachery as having shed English blood. That the whole family was not erased in rage was attributable to the restraint of Prince Rick. The Château de Langoiran became a Plantageent operations center – and symbolic of a strong English return to the area.

Others, especially those who'd once swore oaths to Edward in the south, were now on high alert for Avenging English. Having secured the largest of the prizes, the direction went north – toward France itself.

### **The Growth of the French SA**

Most of the other nine platoons kept a low profile, *but not all*. The Anjou Platoon was causing all kinds of havoc for Louis (Charles V's younger brother), through Anjou and Maine.

While forbidden from outright assassinating the Count, they left their calling cards once a week in every single place Louis stayed, lived or hid. With this chaos sowed so deeply behind otherwise comfortable lines, that kept French forces chasing ghosts – and allowed the otherwise lightly supported Aquitaine forces to push north with minimal resistance (and comparatively little violence or destruction).

### **Head Games**

* By October 1377, English forces had largely been trained and re-organized by the SA – with the key chain-of-command points enjoying *enhanced* instruction. Versus the highly trained and massively equipped *Regiment of St. George*, the Aquitaine troops were irregulars – but the SA's training made them a special, uniquely resourceful force. Equipment, such as stainless steel swords, was gradually filtering in to the troops and it made a difference.
* By November 1377, those Aquitaine forces marched into La Rochelle. The conquest of the town miraculously took no French lives. The main forces settled in as the weather cooled, though the *Shadow Company* never seemed to rest – and were creating havoc as far as Poitiers.

England was still smarting from the defeat at La Rochelle – and the loss of the area. Regaining southern territory *entirely with native English-Aquitaine troops* was a point of pride... but also a signal that something was different. Something larger had changed. King Edward was operating at a different level, as was Prince Edward – but Prince Richard defied description.

In France, it was the other side of the same coin. Arundel had been a massacre, but La Rochelle had been bloodless. Overall, the English strategy had been fairly simple: march north, take towns and hold them, press until the season said to stop. The tactics, however, had been absolutely masterful. By retaking the town without a single loss of life, on any side, demonstrated such absolute dominance that now the French had the fear the English were just toying with them.

For the French knights, where chivalry was still very much the code, there was serious debate as to whether it was worse to be massacred or humiliated. There were already restrictions on meeting the English in pitched battles, mostly because the longbows, but now... *this*.

### **The Palatine Presence in Aquitaine**

The English Court was poorer for having lost Richard for months at a time, with the realization that Richard was now hands-on regarding his southern appointment. Only 10 years old, he looked 16 (old enough to fight), and behaviorally, was going on 40. With a close retinue of his own Merlin-qualified Sergeants-at-Arms, he was in and out of Bordeaux and around Aquitaine at large.

Often staying at the Château de Roquetaillade, *Prince Rick* was ordered by the king to stay in the city limits of Bordeaux for his own safety. The prince didn't disobey to spite his father, he just didn't pay any attention. Prince Rick, shortened to the French pronounciation of Richard, was quickly become something of a cult of personality through Aquitaine.