The Crown of the Hundred Years' War

Chapter 17 The Siege of Orleans

Dinois stood on the walls of Orléans, looking down at the densely packed laborers below.

Orleans has now become a huge construction site. Upon receiving news of the fall of Rangville, Dinoire led his troops back to Orleans overnight and began to fully reinforce the city.

Dinois knew every weakness of Orléans, but none was more fatal than its vulnerability to heavy artillery. He summoned all the craftsmen he could find and had them begin piling earth behind the city walls.

"My lord, we don't have enough soil," Buye said, panting as he climbed the arrow tower.

"Demolish the house."

Buye paused for a moment.

"Except for the church, everything can be demolished." Dinois didn't look at him. "I'll talk to the city council. Tear down all the houses along the wall, move all the soil and stones over, and see if the wood can be made into catapults."

Buye nodded and went downstairs.

Dinoire glanced at the city walls again. This was the last line of defense for the House of Orléans, the cause he, an illegitimate son, had fought his entire life for. Even if he drew upon all the nearby garrison troops, he would only have a little over two thousand men. Could these men hold out until any possible reinforcements arrived? But wouldn't surrendering to the British mean Orléans would follow in the footsteps of the Normans? Weren't Bedford's sweet words from last year now turning into cannonballs pounding against the walls of the House of Orléans?

As he was thinking this, a cloud of dust rose from the west, clearly indicating that a cavalry force was approaching.

"My lord," his guard pointed, "it looks like someone from the Crown Prince's faction."

Dinois squinted for a moment, then suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's John's flag."

John galloped in from the west with several hundred cavalrymen. Mounted on horseback, he shouted across the moat towards the city walls, "Open the gates! Open the gates now! Is Dinoi still alive?"

The city gate opened a crack, and John rode in, but the other cavalrymen were blocked and left outside the city.

Dinois came down from the city wall and met him at the city gate.

"What, John, you old codger, you've brought the Crown Prince's main force to rescue Orleans?"

"You bastard son are all right too, aren't you? It's a pity, I, old John, came from Moen with only these few hundred riders." John dismounted, laughed, nudged Dinois, then took off his helmet and whispered, "Moen and Boransie are both lost, and Atil can't come over with the main force for the time being."

Dinois paused for a moment.

"The British did this? And they got here so quickly?"

"Nonsense." John took a swig of water from his water bag, wiped his mouth, and said, "Talbot had several thousand men. The garrison held out for a few days, but the British from the north sent him cannons. In the end, I led the cavalry in to provide support and managed to salvage a few men."

"Can't Attil come from somewhere else? Orleans desperately needs reinforcements."

"The largest ford in Moun has been captured, and the bridges leading west to Tours have been completely demolished." John looked at Dinois. "The infantry can't cross the river, and Atil and his large force had to return to Tours and go around to the south, so I was the only one who came first."

Dinois didn't speak. He turned and walked toward the city wall, with John following behind him.

The two men stood on the arrow tower, looking down at the large construction site below the city wall.

"That's quite a coincidence," said Dinois. "The Burgundians are crossing the eastern ferry, and I think the British want us to learn to swim."

John turned his head.

"Jarjo. The Burgundians are besieging Jarjo." Dinois pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. "Just received a letter. The Burgundians have begun the siege, and the defenders won't hold out for long."

John took the note, but returned it without even looking at it.

"What are they trying to do?" John asked. "You said the British are definitely after Orleans, but we haven't seen a single soldier around the city yet. Giving you time to keep fortifying the city's defenses? Has Salisbury gone mad?"

"He's not crazy," Dinoire said softly. "They're blocking the reinforcements' path along the Loire River."

He pointed to the city wall bridgehead John had passed when he came in: "Orléans' main city is on the north bank of the river, and there isn't even a proper city wall on the south bank. As long as we lock down these few dozen leagues between the two ferry crossings and block up the south bank, Orléans will be an isolated city."

"So what are you planning to do?"

Dinois remained silent for a moment.

"When will Atil arrive? Are you willing to come with me to Yarjo?"

John's eyes lit up: "You want me to help you fight the Burgundians? Attil will take at least ten days to two weeks to get there, and according to you, he won't make it in time."

"Then you come with me," Dinois said. "If we can save Jarjo, the Royal River will still have one major crossing point left, which is better than waiting for Atil."

John smiled and put his helmet back on.

"That's exactly what I've been waiting for you to say."

Dinois set off with his cavalry and John.

Eight hundred cavalrymen—this was the last remaining force of the Orleans family. An illegitimate son led what was once the most prestigious cavalry force in France, attempting to reverse his family's fate.

Jarrod was a town directly under the jurisdiction of Orléans, and before noon prayers, the thousand cavalrymen approached Jarrod. They encountered no patrols along the way, not even a scout. John muttered as he rode, "These Burgundians, don't they have eyes in the battlefield?"

Dinoir didn't respond, after all, it was a good omen.

After climbing a high slope, the walls of Yarro came into view.

French iris flags were still flying.

Outside the city, at the siege camp, a large number of laborers had set up tents haphazardly, without even erecting a single wall. The troops attacking the city had neither siege towers nor ladders; there was only a large group of infantrymen haphazardly surrounding a few cannons that were constantly firing.

The defenders on the city wall spotted the cavalry first, and they repeatedly blew their horns. Meanwhile, the Burgundians below noticed the enemy approaching from behind, and their infantry formation became chaotic, seemingly preparing to form ranks.

"Why are they attacking the city without setting up camp properly? What are the Burgundians thinking?" Dinoire asked John beside him, half-asleep.

John took down his lance and pointed at the tents to the east. "What are they doing? Waiting for them to get ready? They're just laborers. Rush over and set a few fires, and the Burgundians will be sleeping on the floor tonight!"

Dinoire nodded and began to adjust the troops. Half of the thousand cavalrymen remained to keep watch, while the other half began to change into their armor and form ranks.

When the horns sounded, the Burgundian infantry were still frantically turning around, while several small cavalry units rushed out of the camp, all heading east.

But the French cavalry had already formed ranks and charged down the hill, their hooves thundering across the ground. The few dozen infantrymen who had barely managed to form ranks turned tail and ran. The cavalry stormed into the camp, overturning tents and sending laborers running in all directions, howling loudly.

The French threw in a few dozen torches they had gathered, and half the camp was ablaze. The few horses in the camp were also startled and began to run around in all directions. Both men and horses coming from the west were cut down by the French, and Dunois directed his cavalry to drive the laborers toward the siege positions below the city.

John, mounted on his horse, brandishing his sword, roared:

"Don't rush to burn the tents! Get everyone moving down to the city walls!"

Despite the lack of communication, both Dunois and John knew that if they could drive the defeated troops into the Burgundian siege positions, the siege of Jarjos would be lifted.

Dinovar stopped Bouye, who wanted to rush in with John, and pointed to the city wall. It turned out that the bugle call was still going on, and several standard-bearers had even started running on the city wall, waving their flags and shouting something to the reinforcements, but they were too far away to hear clearly.

After pulling Bouye away from the chaotic front lines and back onto the high ground, Dinois's expression suddenly changed when he noticed that the standard bearers were all on the east side.

As the flag bearers continued to wave, a black line appeared from the east.

It was a cavalry force, coming from the other side of the blocked city wall.

"My lord!" Bouye pointed to the cavalry, "That banner—"

The red flag with a gold lion is undoubtedly the flag of England.

The cavalry was few in number, only two or three hundred riders, who bypassed the city walls and came from the east in a neat formation. The leading knight wore silver armor and a white cloak, and his rider carried the British coat of arms that Dinois was most familiar with.

"Suffolk," Dinoir's voice tightened.

But when they looked again at the defenders on the city wall, they found that the standard-bearers did not stop when the British troops appeared. They were still waving their flags frantically and even set fire to a large flag bearing the coat of arms of the Orleans family.

Dinois looked around at the surrounding terrain, then suddenly realized what was happening. He quickly instructed Bouye, "Tell John to come back immediately! Gather all the troops, and be quick!"

The commotion in the camp continued for a while, and the laborers had been driven to the foot of the city wall and clashed with the infantry. But the cavalry scattered throughout the camp continued to regroup under pure military orders and returned to the high ground.

The Suffolk cavalry showed no intention of entering the camp. Instead, they circled around from the east and, together with the Burgundian cavalry who had finally organized themselves below the city walls, advanced towards the high ground from the south and north.

Before John returned, Dinoire gave the order:

"withdraw!"

The cavalry retreated two arrow-lengths to the southwest from the high ground before John caught up on horseback, his helmet stained with soot, and questioned Dinoire:

"We were so close to getting out of this predicament! Those few cavalrymen are no match for the remaining half of our men!"

"Didn't you see the warning signs on the city walls? The British arrived a long time ago. How many people are surrounding Jarrod? If we don't leave, Orleans will fall today!"

Dinois pointed to the approaching banners to the east, then to the large banner still burning on the city wall. Burgundian infantry began driving away the laborers, and the cannons roared again. Further east, large contingents of infantry appeared.

"But this is the last chance to save Yarro..." John whispered.

Dinois was about to say something, but then stopped himself. It turned out that a dense swarm of English longbowmen had emerged from the woods on either side of the high ground where they had been standing.

"Salisbury deliberately used the Burgundians as bait; his real target has always been us, his reinforcements," Dunois said with a wry smile.

John glanced at it and cursed.

"Why should the Burgundians cooperate with him? Aren't his longbowmen afraid of being discovered by our scouts?"

"So he didn't tell the Burgundians, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to leave at all. Even if the garrison in Jarrods had warned us, the British were still besieging the city, weren't they?" Dinoire replied.

The two of them remained silent for a while.

The fire in the camp grew larger and larger. The Burgundians drove the laborers back to fight the fire, but it seemed to have little effect. Thick smoke rose up, blocking half of the sun, forcing the Burgundian cavalry to turn back.

Then a loud bang was heard.

The city wall collapsed, and the British cavalry stopped advancing and turned to look at the small gap.

Dinoir stared intently at the iris flag on the flagpole.

Then, unsurprisingly, it came down, and several white flags were raised from the city wall and waved a few times.

"Cowards!" John leaped from his horse and roared at the city walls, "They haven't sent a single person in! We just burned down their camp! Hundreds of men couldn't even hold out for a day! Why surrender! Why!"

He was about to start cursing again when Dinova grabbed him.

"Let's go," Dinova said in a low voice.

"I won't leave! Because of this coward—"

"What about them!" Dinois's voice suddenly rose. "Without them, we'll be wiped out! They've done their duty as soldiers; surrendering when necessary was my order!"

He glanced at the white flag, then turned his horse around.

"Back to Orleans."

The journey back was much longer than the journey there.

The thousand riders hadn't actually lost many men; in fact, considering they'd burned most of the camp, it could be considered a major victory. But there were no cheers of victory along the way, only a deathly silence.

It was already evening when we arrived at the outskirts of Orleans.

Dinoir reined in his horse at the city gate, blocking John, who wanted to follow him into the city.

"Don't go in."

John was taken aback.

"Take your cavalry and head south to find His Majesty—tell him that Orleans needs a large army to relieve the siege. Salisbury is about to besiege Orleans, and reinforcements must arrive quickly."

John opened his mouth.

"Why don't you just find a messenger? You don't even want two hundred cavalry?"

"Your two hundred riders aren't enough to fill Salisbury's gaps." Denoir glanced at the busy laborers near the city walls. "I released my two hundred most elite veterans, but they didn't even last a day. I'll send all the laborers and citizens away. You escort them south. Two thousand people will be enough to stay in the city. I've prepared enough food for half a year."

"Can you really hold out for six months?"

Dinois was silent for a moment, then shook his head.

"I don't know, but I will not surrender," Dinoire said. "Although I am an illegitimate child, I cannot let Orléans follow in Normandy's footsteps. I have an obligation to fight for my family to the very end."

John remained silent for a long time.

Then he reached out and patted Dinoir hard on the shoulder.

"Don't die, you bastard, I'll be back as soon as possible."

Dinois did not answer, but simply nodded.

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It is widely known that Count Dunois was actually an illegitimate child, but what is truly strange is that Dunois himself never concealed this fact. Even in his few meetings with Chinon at court, he was happy to be referred to as "the illegitimate son of Orléans."

Out of curiosity, I once asked him what he thought of this impolite form of address. He generously stated that although he was an illegitimate child, he was always proud of having earned his earldom and the trust of his many subordinates through military merit rather than bloodline. He believed that being called an illegitimate child was not an insult, but rather a compliment.

After the Duke of Orléans was captured, Count Dunois held de facto control of the duchy for over a decade; his military prowess and unwavering resistance against the British earned him the reputation as Orléans' finest knight. This makes me wonder: which is more worthy of respect—noble lineage or noble character?

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Meditations by Jean-Jacques Giuvenal de Joursen