Bell Tower Massacre

## The Prelude to The Massacre

The Bell Tower Massacre, also sometimes referred as The Battle of The Bell Tower, was an unsuccessful attempt by a Coalition of Knights to strong arm the Brettish Government into rescinding its previous decision to decommission the Knights of The Brettish Empire. For nearly a century, the Southern Kingdoms had gradually transitioned from Feudal Decentralized Armies to Permanent Standing Professional Armies. Knights all across the Southern Kingdoms of Franika, Histania, Eirland, Bardia, and Brettlend were slowly being replaced by professional soldiers. Brettland was the largest of the Southern Kingdoms, holding onto a vast Empire that sprawled over Brettland, Eirland, and several large islands of The Scattered Isles. Thanks to Brettlands large population and access to numerous amounts of raw material, Brettland was able to slowly funnel these resources into a standing army.

Gradually as time went on by the late 1590s, most of the Brettish Empire had been centralized under both the Queen and Parliament. Many of the Lords, Dukes, and Earls were now being rebranded as Governors, who could have both their titles and belongings seized if they resisted Parliament or The Throne. Alongside the title change came the removal of the Nobility from The Queen's Army, which now focused on who had the most experience rather than who possessed noble blood. The Knights and Knightly Houses within Brettland weathered through many these reforms, and thanks to their battle prowess, a majority of knights continued to act as both Heavy Cavalry for the Brettish Army and some even were fortunate enough to become Officers within the Line Infantry. Unfortunately for the Knights of Brettland, bureaucratic changes did hamper them greatly. For starters, Knights no longer received tax exemptions for land they owed, and furthermore knights now reported directly to The Queen's' Army Officer Corp rather than their individual lords. This change of leadership meant that now, many of the Knights who fell under the orders and protections of their lords, now answered to Parliament and the Brettish Officer Corps. These changes resulted in a large number of Knights losing their land for infractions that would have been overlooked had the Knights been under the command of their lords. For the first time in history, The Knights who once operated with near impunity now answered to a strict and organized authority.

The final blow to the Nobility of Brettland came in 1666 A.T.F, when the Brettish Parliament voted and ratified the "Common Land Clause". The Common Land Clause or more commonly known as the CLC, was a bill that essentially granted the right to Commoners to own land. Something Commoners, Freemen, and Foreigners had been restricted from participating in since the foundation of The Brettish Empire. The passage of this bill was catastrophic for the Nobility, who for the last five decades the had struggled against a rising Middle Class of Entrepreneurs who were spearheading the Industrialisation of Brettland. Money alone soon superseded Noble Blood, and with the ability of those from the Lower and Middle Class now able to compete against the Nobilities Monopoly on Land Ownership, this spelled certain doom on the Nobilities Feudal Holdings. By 1684 A.T.F the land ownership rate had shifted from 10% of Commoners and 90% of Nobles owning the land, to 40% of the Commoners and 60% of the Nobility owning land. Brettland began to see a rapid shift from a Feudal Economy to a Free Market, that prioritized trade and coinage over Feudal Tribute.

Nations all across Nara followed suit, and by 1687 A.T.F, Franika, Histania, and Reichland had all begun decommissioning their Knights from military service. Alongside their decommission, many of their privileges were being stripped from them, turning the Knights into ordinary citizens. Nearing the end of 1688 A.T.F the only remaining nations to actively field Knights within their militaries was Brettland and the warring States of Orbis. The large layoff of Knights in National Armies and their Noble Statuses being slowly stripped away led to a great amount of discontent amongst those who were affected. Most of the Knights who were decommissioned no longer had a source of income, and therefor lost their lands to foreclosure. Mercenary work seemed applicable, but most of the Knights were simply not sought out due to the Mercenary Sector already being filled by more renowned companies such as Golden Cohort Company and The Wolfgang Mercenary Company. Most of the Knights had opted to travel to Aldurias seeking both employment and glory, as for centuries Aldurias was known as "The City of Knights". Soon the mass influx of Knights started to breed a common sense of unity, and within a matter of months several prominent outcasted Knightly Houses established themselves as the voices of the displaced Knights.

The Knight's first attempt to regain both their title and military ranks were to protest the The Patriarch to call for a Crusade on the nations who they felt "broke their vows" to the Knights. One of the key arguments the Knights had attempted to make, was that they were soldiers of Titus. And as such they were his only true representation within these nations. It was quite obvious to the standing Patriarch that these Knights had little care for The Church of Titus, and that they were simply discontent nobles who had been replaced by more efficient means to conduct warfare. The Patriarch hastily declined the request, and even the Patriarch himself reprimanded the Knightly Houses writing them in a letter "You are brazzen buffoons who are either too stupid, or too inept, to adapt to the needs of their motherland". Lacking the support of The Patriarchy, The Knightly Houses initiated a new plan, instead of reinstating their positions through a crusade against their homelands, the Knights devised a plan to seize a singular nation through usurpation. This would be done through a surprise attack, and would hopefully inspire neighboring nations to reinstate the Knights to their respective positions out of fear of a similar outcome occurring. Funding came directly from the pockets of the knightly Houses who supported the plan, and it was unanimously agreed that their target would be The Empire of Brettland. The Knightly Houses based their decision on a few key factors, the primary reasoning being the Brettish had a small garrison within Londa, as the city itself was located in the heart of Brettland, far away from any immediate threats.

The only problem the Knightly Houses would encounter was the gargantuan fleet of Brettish Warships that were docked in the port of Londa. Even the largest Armada of both Franika and Histania combined would be no match for the Brettish Navy, with the only rival to the Brettish Navy being the Duvan Fleet of Ironclads' and Airships. The Knights would concoct a plan to subvert the navy that involved a blitzkrieg to the capital of Londa, the Knights would land twenty miles out on the shoreline and would race to the capitol. With their superior numbers, they planned to storm The Queens Parliament and forcibly initiate The Queens Parliament into session. The plan was harshly criticized by many of the older retinue of knights who were either veterans of past wars or battle hardened officers, the general consensus amongst the older and more experienced knights was that the plan was "foolhardy" and "ill conceived". Nonetheless the voices and concerns of the old were drowned out by the young and new, who sought glory and reinstatement amongst their nations ranks. It was settled by the leadership of the Knightly Houses that the force would depart from Aldurias sometime in 1688 A.T.F, and would hire private transports who would fly their personal insignia under the guise of a merchant fleet, to avoid being detected by The Brettish Navy.

## The Knights Set Sail

in 1688 A.T.F The Knightly Houses of the Knightly Rebellion hired several transport vessels, and began the journey to sail to Brettland. The Knightly Houses had assembled an army of 20,000 knights. With such a large force being privately funded, the extreme cost took its toll on the army. For one the entire plan relied upon a quick landing and haste advance to the capitol, as there was only enough remaining funds to buy a mere months worth of supplies upon landfall. And two the transport ships that were hired, were only hired for a one way trip meaning the knights betted everything, their freedom and lives on their success. By late 1688 A.T.F the transport fleet had reached the shores of Brettland, now sitting nearly half a mile from the shoreline it became apparent very quickly that Brettland had caught wind of what was happening, and had assembled a division (10,000+) of soldiers to meet them in open battle weeks prior.

## The Disastrous Landing and Massacre

It became apparent that the Brettish knew full well what was coming, as the knights could identify a variety of defensive battle emplacements. Trenches, stakes, artillery emplacements, and even a series of makeshift bunkers had been constructed on the beach. The Knight's Commanders gathered to assess the situation, and it was discovered that three situations had exposed the Knights plot to seize control over Parliament. It was discovered that several knights of Brettish origin, who were still loyal to the crown, had disclosed the knights plan back to The Queen's Army. Furthermore Brettland's Frontier Navy had been monitoring the large movement of transport ships imminently after they departed from Aldurias, quickly deducing the trajectory of this navy, and concluding it was not merely just a abnormally large merchant fleet. And finally a bell tower had spotted the Navy several miles off shore. The Knight's plan to seize Brettland's Parliament was already poised to fail with its poor preparation, severe underestimation of Brettland, and lack of cohesion. But now it was sure to fail with the element of surprise being lost.

In what was considered a "suicide mission" by many, the Knightly Commander's brazenly decided to order a beach landing. The Commanders assessed that they still possessed a numerical advantage, and if they could forcibly punch through the Brettish Center, then a flanking force from the right and left flank could swing in to surround and slaughter the Brettish Infantry. The Commanders ordered the transport fleet to arrange their ships in three vertical lines, the first line possessing 9,000 men, the second and smaller line possessing 2,000 men, and the rear possessing the rest of the army. It was devised the first line would be the vanguard, taking the brunt of the artillery bombardment, and shielding the smaller line behind them. The second line of 2,000 men would split off, evenly going right and left, and would sail for nearly one two miles down the shoreline before disembarking. While the main vanguard of 9,000 men advanced upon the Brettish Line Infantry and Defenses, the flanking force would advance by foot and swing around the rear of each respective rank and box them in. The Third line would hold the rear, and would act only as a relief force incase the Vanguards numbers slipped too low.

The plan was initiated, and within hours of the battle it had become a complete disaster. Technologically the Brettish Army was superior in every way to that of their opponents, using precise artillery, flintlock rifles, and minefields. The transport ships of the First line of Vanguards was shredded by a hail of artillery, as dozens of transport ships were completely destroyed by the artillery emplacements. The lucky few who did make it to shore were immediately peppered by continuous volleys of flintlock fire, as the well trained and professional Brettish Soldiers fired by rank never letting up the constant rate of fire. Soon it became quite apparent that any attempted beach landing would end in a slaughter, and various transport ships apart of the first Vanguard Line pulled back, this premature withdrawal resulted in thousands of knights never reaching the shoreline due to the private vessels captains being reluctant to to join the slaughter.

The Knights clad head to toe in chainmail, plate armor, and gambeson stood no chance against the Brettish Line Infantry. Entire columns of Knights who managed to disembark on the shore were decimated by artillery grapeshot. The Knights armor did little to stop the incoming projectiles, as the shots tore through their plate ripping individual pieces of their armor to shreds. Things did not fare any better for the flanking force of Knights, as the left flanking force never made it to the shore as they blown off course by a violent change in the direction of the wind. The only success the Knights would find, was the right flank that managed to land on the beach and advanced two miles to the battlefield. These Knights were the lucky few who did make direct contact with the Brettish Infantry, what followed was a massacre of the Line Infantry. These Line Infantryman were lightly armored, possessed only bayonetts, and had limited training in melee combat. The melee combat was extremely one sided, as the Brettish Infantrymen could not gain any distance from their attackers to reload their black powder weapons, and as a result the Brettish Infantrymen were cut down by the Knights who's armor and shields were nearly impervious to the Brettish Bayonetts. Brettish Reinforcements were quickly diverted to the right flank, and eventually the Knights were overwhelmed, nonetheless the Knights had inflicted serious casualties on the Brettish right flank.

After the main Vanguard had been entirely slaughtered, and the right flank of attackers had been repulsed. The remainder of the Knightly Fleet had reconvined after the disastrous beach assault. Before the Knightly Commanders could devise a new plan, a contingent of the Brettish Navy had arrived and slowly encircled the fleet of transport ships. The privately hired transports were mostly fishing and merchant vessels, with only a small few possessing any sort of armament. The Brettish Navy had deployed several state of the art Ship of The Lines, and if they chose to, the Brettish could have easily annihilated the transport fleet in a mere hours time. Thus on November the 27th 1688 A.T.F the remainder of the force of the Knightly Rebellion surrendered, ending The Massacre of The Bell Tower.

## The Aftermath

The Battle itself was considered more of a massacre than an actual Battle with Brettish casualties being 600 dead and 1,100+ wounded and the Knightly Forces suffering 4,000 dead and 5,000 wounded. It was a colossal defeat for the Rebellious Knights, and shortly after the battle the remaining Knights within The Empire of Brettland were removed from service, albeit for those who were present within Brettish Ranks at the battle, with the re-enlistment programs being scrapped entirely. In their own undoing, the knights haphazardly speed up the decommissioning of knights all across Nara. And thanks to the Knights horrendous blunder, within a few years after the Massacre of The Bell Tower, most Knights within Eirland, Reichland, Franika, Histania, Bardia and Brettland had been fully decommissioned from their respective armies.

As for the knights who survived the battle, many of them were tried and prosecuted by The Queens Parliament. Out of the 16,000 remaining Knights, 12,000 were found guilty, while the remaining 4,000 were either pardoned or found not guilty. Those who were charged had their title of "Knight" officially revoked, properties seized, and were required to pay a hefty fines alongside serving prison sentences that varied in severity, something that was reinforced by their homeland nations upon the request of Brettland. The public's animosity and mistrust of the Knights had sharply increased after the attempted coup, with many of the Brettish Citizenry seeing this as an attack on their freedoms, as the members of Parliament were publicly elected officials.

While the Brettish Government did show an incredible amount of mercy to the common footmen of the Knightly Rebellion, the fate of the Commanders and Organizers of the Rebellion was much worse. Every single Commander of the Knightly Rebellion was found guilty, and was hastily sentenced to death by firing squad.

The Knightly Rebellion and The Battle of The Bell Tower was remembered as the last hurrah for the warrior aristocracy that desperately attempted to resist the age of industrialization. While Knights continued to find service in the war torn nations of Orbis, the rest of the world quietly shelved them away in favor of professional armies, that were lead by the most qualified rather than the most "noble".