Records: Calamity in Calais

## **An Army of Freshness Dates**

Charles of France had begun his recruiting drive in July and there were arrivals as soon as August. Immediate action, though, simply wasn't possible. There were a dozen different potential targets, from the English themselves in Calais, to further south in Aquitaine, to English sympathizers (or at least those disgruntled with the French Crown). Calais was heavily fortified, Aquitaine had *howitzer momentum*, and Charles didn't want to burn his resources on the sympathizers.

This meant collecting enough troops to make a strategically-significant gain; something he could hang his hat on before buttoning up and preparing for an English counterattack. This was expensive: mouths to feed, places to bivouac and so on – and, of course, simply channeling the desire of true believers who are there to fight.

By October, there was a critical mass of anti-magic, satan-fighting Holy Crusaders who were going to tear into each other if they weren't given an external target first. Then there was the feeding part – and they were going through mountains of food.

Nor was this army wasn't making any friends in north Burgundy (who were suffering a good bit of guilt by association according the self-appointed Expeditionary Inquisition that Charles had assembled.

### **Tracking the Movements**

Prince Rick's SA had careful tabs on the encampments, the latest arrivals, the few departures, the regional identity of the units, on what lines of authority there were there and so on. This comprehensive intelligence was going back to Bordeaux, but much of it made it to the Calais SA – who noticed a lull in French harassment.

The lull was expected to be something like the prelude to a tsunami: where the water pulls way before surging in and devastating the coast.

### **Preparations in Calais**

The future of Calais was, without a doubt, *Royal Guard*. Right now, there was a company of Royal Guard present but defenses weren't up to standards. The theory, for a constant target like Calais, was that they would likely host their own Royal Army Regiment (like St. George), and probably a full defensive battalion of Royal Guard as well (if not a battalion of its own).

England was already supporting a considerable defensive army there: about 5,000 troops was necessary to keep the area stable and secure when they were otherwise at war with France. 200 wasn't much more, but each soldiers was equipped like a knight – *and that disparity was significant*.

Further, there were disagreements between the old hands of Calais (who had the benefit of experience) and the Royal Guard who had a very different style of combat, different levels or preparation, training and so on. They were *almost* at each other's throats.

Nor did Calais have defensive cannon yet. Until the RG could certify the area, they couldn't have cannons because they couldn't guarantee enough time to destroy them should the defense fall. There were cast iron cannons in storage, but those were held for armies (like John of Gaunt), who would pick them on their way to a War Ride.

## **The Assault of the Army of God**

The collected allies were mobilized – and not a moment too soon. They converged just beyond reach of the archers of Calais and numbered just over 18,000. The banners, led by the Kingdom of France (and their *Oriflamme*), were a virtual tour of Holy Roman districts not otherwise at war with France when France recruited.

**Allies of the Kingdom of France**

* The Holy Roman Empire (portions of)
	+ Kingdom of Burgundy (led by Wenceslaus, on behalf of Charles IV)
	+ Duchy of Luxembourg
	+ The Old Swiss Confederacy
	+ The County of Savoy
	+ The Republic of Genoa (As rivals of Milan, who were now cozy with England)

* The Crown of Aragon (Some component kingdoms were not represented [and vocal about it])
* The Crown of Castile and León (Henry II needed high-visibility revenge after Seville)
* The Kingdom of Cyprus (present parties but not officially represented)
* The Duchy of Burgundy (led by King Charles V only surviving brother Philip the Bold)
* The Kingdom of Hungary (in opposition to Naples)
* The Kingdom of Scotland (not officially represented – though individual nobles were)
* Wales could not attend (Owain Glyndŵr was in English custody)

With a dawn consecration and blessing by the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, the French-Bergundian artillery unleashed the first volley at Calais.

Surprisingly, the Kingdom of Bohemia was not officially present – it was attempting to keep order on the eastern half of the HRE as other elements violently splintered from the Imperial crown.

### **Opening Statements**

King Charles was present, as was his uncle Emperor Charles and his cousin Wenceslaus. There were pronoucements against the power of satan, lucifer, the devil, the antichrist, mothers-in-law, ex-girlfriends, romantic rivals, anybody who had ever wronged them, plus all those who might wield or accept the benefit of magic. Truly inspirational stuff.

The real opening statements were the primarily Bergundian artillery that quickly breached the walls of Calais. The order to charge was barely given as 6,000 crazed footmen raced across the fields toward the smoking holes in the walls of the Calais defenses.

The archers thinned ranks of the initial wave, but not by much.

### **The Plantagenet Reaction**

Intelligence was near-real time thanks to the Calais SA and so-far secret *Scrolls of Correspondence*. King Edward IV was updated by the minute and was having a meltdown in Windsor Castle. It wasn't that the Regiment couldn't get there, it was that they couldn't go: *London would riot if the Regiment left them unprotected*.

At best, the Men o' War Posiedon and Neptune were parked outside the Port of Calais, and fired shots when it seemed French allies were drifting into range on the sides of the city. Otherwise, the collected mob was smart enough to keep the city between them and the English death ships floating off the coast.

## **The Week-long Battle**

With breached walls and 18,000 vs 5,200, there was an expectation the battle would be over quickly. Not so much. Even without the benefit of archers in a pitched battle, this was a combat-hardened defensive force.

The Royal Company and Royal Navy started evacuating Calais, but not before the breach widened. Parts of the city burned, civilians were slaughtered, though at the time, casualty counts were unavailable. Later counts would put the number a little over 1,500.

There were priests of the Church of England – and they were performing medical miracles on an hourly basis. The Order of Merlin was present – and very accounted for – protecting civilians during the evacuation.

By the end of the week, there were at least 7,000 dead French *inside* the Calais walls, plus 4,000 dead English soldiers; though the French didn't know how depleted the English actually were. The Order of Merlin had become the ranged troops and made sure the flashes of fire and lightning were both seen. It was like hand-wielded cannons and it kept the mass of troops outside hesitant to rush the breach.

The Royal Guard, a company of roughly 200, had advanced beyond the walls – and destroyed the French cannons. Without artillery, the French were limited to the two breaches already in the walls, funneling invaders where the defenders could channel them through kill zones. In the process, 150 of the Guard fell – but left not one man behind. The combined French forces later testified to the terrifying capacity of both the *Projectors* and the raw, whirling steel.

Likewise, half the Calais SA (8 members) were killed. Those 8 alone had taken out over 400 invaders. They were seen using ranged magic, but unlike the ROM, their SA magic was as silent as it was lethal. For as fierce as all the rest of the defenders were, the SA were now *legendary*.

At the end of a week, 172 hours of sustained battle, the sides had reached a stalemate. It was essentially a black hole, and until something changed, the remaining ~11,000 French and allies were unwilling to see what lay beyond the dark, still-smoking breaches in the walls.

The French+Allies casualties inside the walls were a wider collection of factions than the major flags represented. These were the most gung-ho of the anti-magic crusaders, who'd felt divine providence was on their side and protections would be afforded. Indeed, that was the promise, though not necessarily the payoff.