Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 108 Jeanne Dacre

The woman who did this was named Jeanne Dacre, and adjectives such as "miraculously" and "incredible" often appeared in battle reports about this woman.

She claimed that she was the daughter of God and that God had sent 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 made many defenders believe this statement.

She did not continue to hold on and wait for help, but instead ordered 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 outside the city, so they suffered heavy losses.

At this time, Bagauda, ​​who had already lost confidence, saw an opportunity and quickly sent all his mobile forces to Orleans to attack the Roman army together with the defenders in the city.

If he was a veteran general who had been on the battlefield for a long time, he would probably leave calmly when he saw the situation was not good, and not confront the Gauls head-on. However, the legion commanders under Aurelian were all selected by the Senate, and there was an obvious tendency for factional monopoly. The quality of each legion commander was inevitably uneven. The legion commander of this legion was a man who was brave but lacked a sense of the overall situation, and there was no lieutenant who could persuade him.

Being attacked from both inside and outside by the Gauls, the legion suffered heavy losses and was almost wiped out. Only a few people escaped and returned to the rear, while most of them died in battle or were taken prisoner.

After causing the Romans to lose a legion, the woman did not stop the action immediately. Instead, she urged Bagauda and the garrison of Orleans to rescue the city of Tours which was still besieged by the Romans. The Roman legion commander under Tours was a cautious man. He did not choose to fight the enemy in the field. He left some auxiliary soldiers as cannon fodder and retreated directly with the large army.

The second phase of the battle plan arranged by Aurelian failed. The army that attempted to invade Lugden Gaul and control the Loire River basin was defeated. However, he himself did not care much about this matter. After all, war is a matter of wins and losses. The responsibility for this defeat lies more on the reckless legion commander. He continued to focus on controlling the existing territory and suppressing the local "sticky" rebels.

But after this battle, Jeanne d'Acre seemed to have become the spiritual totem of the Gallic resistance. Many people really worshipped her as the daughter of God. She herself continued to command the Gallic army to fight, encouraging them to bravely move forward to recover lost territory. Inspired by her, a large number of people who had already lost confidence chose to fight for the Gauls again.

This brought great trouble to Aurelian's work. If the locals obeyed, everything would be easy. But if they insisted on resisting, he would have to work hard on this land for a long time.

There is no doubt that this woman or girl is the Joan of Arc who became famous in later generations and was even canonized in the 20th century, namely the famous French 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 an illiterate teenage country girl could lead the French army to resist the British army in the environment of medieval Europe, and even turn the tide of the Hundred Years' War between England and France on her own. They could only attribute it to God's will.

Even if Joan of Arc was a created statue, the statue's experience was somewhat unbelievable. The Joan of Arc in this time and space was probably similar. The Romans today found it unbelievable. They did not understand how an elite legion could have overturned in a Gallic city like Orleans.

It is hard to say whether Joan of Arc has God's blessing in the previous time and space, we can only say "if there is", but this time and space is a bit subtle. The Chosen One really existed. If Joan of Arc in another time and space insists that she is the Chosen One, I am afraid that Joan of Arc in this time and space is not much different. It is possible that she is not just as if she has God's help, but really has God's help. After confirming the other party's identity, Orville's vigilance was pulled to the maximum, because he had read the biography of Jeanne d'Arc. According to the historical trajectory, Jeanne d'Arc will launch a surprise attack on Reims next. His base is Reims, and there are no reinforcements around.

Orville felt very pressured to face Jeanne Dacre, who was suspected to be the Chosen One, alone with a force of half a legion. So after reading the battle report, he immediately gave orders to his soldiers.

"Let Belisarius and Stilicho come back first, and don't advance any further. If the people in those villages and towns are restless, just let the cavalry discipline them. Double the security forces around Reims City, be alert to civilian riots in the city, and confiscate all possible weapons and equipment in the city. I have reason to suspect that Jeanne Dacre is moving towards us.

Repair the damaged walls, deepen the trenches in the army camp outside the city, set up antlers, double the number of sentry towers, and transport scorpion crossbows and catapults from the rear. Protect the food supply to prevent the town residents from poisoning, and protect the water source as well. Increase the number of night watchmen to a large team, and do not slack off. "

Originally, Orville's strategy was quite standard, but he had to shrink to such a cautious level all of a sudden. Old Trajan, as his adjutant, was also surprised: "Is it necessary to be so cautious? I think Orleans and Tours were just lucky. Miracles can happen once or twice, but not more than once."

"I insist on this. No need to persuade me." Orville firmly believed that he was right, so he didn't need to explain too much to old Trajan. In a few months, he would naturally know that Orville's caution was right.

Seeing Orville's firm 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 for him to overreact and be overly cautious.

It is much better than being overly arrogant and overconfident. The commander of the legion in Orleans did such a bad thing. He over-trusted his military ability and command talent, which resulted in a considerable negative impact on the military strategy of the Roman Empire.
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After more than half a month of such tight vigilance, new news came from the front line, but this time the news did not come from the province of Aquitania, but from a location not far from Orville.

Jeanne d'Acre led the Gauls in another battle, but the battle took place not in the city of Reims, but in Alesia not far away.

Historically, Jeanne d'Acre chose to launch a surprise attack on the city of Reims in order to allow the French Crown Prince to be crowned King of France first. Reims was the venue for the coronation of successive French kings. Creating a fait accompli here greatly inspired the resistance morale of the French military and civilians. To exaggerate, it can be said to be a move to reverse the situation of the war.

The reason why Jeanne d'Acre chose to attack Alesia in this time and space also has a historical origin. The Romans were deeply honored by this name, while the Gauls were deeply humiliated and feared.

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

(End of this chapter)