Records: King of Blood and Thunder

## **Prelude to Thunder**

Charles V of France was eager to strike while the iron was hot: he had troops and wanted to use them rather than simply paying standing salaries to be guards (or otherwise head to Gascon for a September *Battle of Eymet*). Previous factors had included the deaths of Prince Edward and shortly after, King Edward III .

* All of this was the effort to rid southwest France of the House of Plantagenet presence, who beyond all other negotiations, insisted on sovereignty of their territories rather than retaining overlordship from the House of Valois. Further, with resurgent English morale, a strong Edward IV, and rumors of military rebuilding, Charles needed to strike before Edward could finalize an army (especially if it had elements of magic driving it).
* This was to say nothing of the tit-for-tat wounded pride that came from the English gains along Western France, the dangerous history of the Plantagenet family (the "Angevin Empire ") and the monies already squeezed from France in ransom for their King John II (who'd lived in England as a Prisoner of War for a good portion of his life). Pride came down to a calculated equation of credibility and validity of national authority. Contracts be damned , the English had to go.

There was an unexpected French ally providing safe harbor: Richard FitzAlan, disgraced Earl of Arundel. FitzAlan had been stripped of his titles and lands attached to his appointment as Earl of Surrey, and was currently held in house arrest under charges of attainder for underreporting tax and overcharging Edward III in his war efforts.

* Attainder was serious business, but judgement was currently suspended as most of these crimes had been that of his father (also Richard FitzAlan, d. 1376). The elder FitzAlan had previously been held in extremely high regard for chivalry and defense, so the discovery of crimes and coverup were particularly devastating.
* Richard 11th had defended his father, even in the face of unearthed evidence (and thus assumed his guilt). Richard of Bordeaux counseled forgiveness, and the issue was tabled with 11 under his own house arrest until emotions cooled.

Charles V had only narrowly avoided leading the mission himself, though under counsel, remained in France as Bertrand du Guesclin, Constable of France, led the coordination and eventual charge out of Arundel in what amounted to France's own chevauchée  in England.

* The combined force made it north by one town before Edward IV, armed with Excalibur itself (reborn), led the Regiment of St. George against the invading force of du Guesclin.

## **The Battle of Arundel**

The Regiment was fully equipped and made it from London to the Arundel area in record time. That was the promise of the War Wagons: lightning speed in their response time. This was 1800 troops making a comparatively short trip...

Edward met Bertrand's force of 6,000 and gave them one chance to surrender. When the French leader hesitated, the King drew shining Excalibur and ordered the first volley: muskets and cannons, into the ranks of the French, Castilians and nervous Arundelians. The thunder rolled and there were upward of 500 *instant* casualties.

The retreat was almost as instant, total and uncoordinated. Between the seeing Excalibur literally light up the battlefield from half a mile away, to losing a 12th of their force in an instant without ever having crossed steel, the French and Castilians were no fools – they were leaving *post haste*.

The English pursued, more ushering than chasing, as this would've been a massacre. Instead, Edward 1-shot sank a Castilian ship with land-artillery: letting them know they'd all die a watery death if they tried to board without surrendering. Allowing them to regroup in Arundel, even place basic barricades, Edward gave a second chance to surrender.

By now, du Guesclin was behind thick walls and refused. This sparked the bulk of the Battle of Arundel.

The cannons used precision fire to blow open the doors, while the Infantry stormed the castle. The fighting was fierce but one-sided as the Regiment of St. George destroyed the invading force within the walls of the castle.

du Guesclin didn't get a third chance to surrender: he was killed in the fighting. Likewise, so did FitzAlan, though his wife survived. Given the dates, FitzAlan had no heirs and the FitzAlan line was officially extinguished in the battle, under attainder.

From 6,000, there were about 100 survivors of the invading force. There were 11 St. George casualties and about 100 wounded. The foreign survivors were allowed to board a boat – and take du Guesclin's body back with them. They also took back an accounting of exactly what happened, where, and in what order. This would be the accounting of the battle that would go out from Arundel, including through France.

## **Aftermath of Arundel**

From the local area, there were 47 English casualties, 12 of which were non-combatants. The other 35 had been Arundel loyalists. There were, however, *thousands* of local witnesses to the battle, from the cannons to the infantry storming the castle.

Between the cannons and the absolutely devastating force of the Regiment, Edward IV earned the title of *King of Blood and Thunder*. It was impressive, but the king made no secret the blood had been a tragic and avoidable consequence. He didn't necessarily shun the name, but he didn't celebrate it, rather accepting it for the grim even that sparked it in the hope that it wouldn't happen again.

### **Local Recovery**

In the days that followed, each of the local dead were identified – and the great majority of the invaders were identified based on captured paperwork in the remaining ships. Given fears of plague and other disease, the dead were wrapped, taken out and buried at sea, about half way across the channel.

Likewise, the blood-soaked Arundel castle was demolished and every last stone hauled out to sea and deposited at the site of the watery grave. Edward was not allowing that structure to stand in England.

Having gone so far as removing the motte of the original keep, Edward eventually rebuilt Castle Arundel to protect the town on the top of the hills, but built a twin right on the coast, where the River Arun ran into the sea.

Under advisement, Edward retained the counties himself, making them the first to be "federalized."