Chapitre III: La Dame de La Rochelle pt II

Gerard decides not to take the risk and enter the house by himself, and meets up with the others.

Further contact with the Catholic rebels inside the city gains information about two likely gates that would be optimal for an entry point. The Catholics assure them that they can overcome the guard at the gates but will need immediate support once the gate is opened, but a swift action by a dedicated group is necessary, as the raising of any alarm will also alert the artillery, which is positioned on the walls. A signal needs to be agreed on. The Catholics also agree to place observers around the Suchet house.

The decision is made to head back to the house and see what can be done about the spies. The group enters the house and starts sneaking around, finally spotting a wounded man being attended to by one of the servants. They retreat to discuss a plan, but when they return to attack him, they are ambushed instead. Henri is shot in the back, while the wounded man opens fire on Jean and Gerard as they burst through the door. A short but fierce fight breaks out in which both heroes are seriously injured, but still able to overcome the (well-trained) spy. Searching the house reveals that Madame Suchet has been able to escape through a secret passage into the sewers. All papers are gathered, and the group disappears into the sewers as well, avoiding detection this way.

Returning to their accommodation, they find that a few of the other delegates that they shared a room with have died. Closer inspection reveals a case containing twelve bottles of a rare vintage of wine to the heroes for their gallantry and friendship, and begs them 'toast the memory of a good man.' It is unsigned.

When they report their findings to Rochefort, he is willing to put this plan to Richelieu. If the Cardinal agrees, two white flares will be sent up on the second day after their departure of the delegation, two hours after midnight. A strong attack will be made ready to capture the gate held by the Catholics, a small dedicated group of soldiers will make their way to assist the local Royalists in holding the gate. 

When they are ready for the attack, they will launch two white and a red flare on the night before the actual attack. At that stage, bot Royalists and soldiers are set to capture the gate at midnight the following night, until relieved by the main force, who will be notified by the vanguard by waving a lantern in the gateway. Anything more elaborate might raise the alarm.

The group returns to the Catholics with this news, as well as leaving the poisoned wine behind, to use to take care of the gate defenders. 

After some discussion – as the Marquis de Toiras would not put his trust in a traitor – Cardinal  Richelieu declared that he himself would lead troops under cover of night to the entrance. 
Over the following weeks, engineers start to dig towards the city’s defences and 5.000 men are assembled, who will try to break the defences of La Rochelle.

On March 12th, the 2 white and red flares are shot up. The group, joined by a number of Jean's veterans and a Musketeer, make their way through the tunnels. They break through the wall, into the tunnel of Huguenot defenders, followed by a short but savage fight in the tunnels. Once they clear the tunnel, they quickly overcome the other engineers at the entry.

The gate is opened by the rebels, and now complete, they want to give the signal to the troops, but notice that the surrounding area in covered in a low mist, covering the marshland between them and the troops. This may cause a problem to give the signal to Richelieu’s troops, hidden in the marshland, to advance upon the gate, so they decide to try and get higher into the bastion and signal from above. 

The guardroom upstairs is quickly captured, as well as the platform at the top of the gate. From there, they can hear sudden screams from the fog. It is very hard to pinpoint and may be closer or further than it seems. The screams multiply and intensify, then muskets are being fired haphazardly, muzzle flashes lighting up the areas in front of the volunteer, but also alerting the defenders of La Rochelle to their presence. A rocket is launched and briefly lights up the surrounding fields. The attacking force is at the wrong gate!

Among the dispersed troops, vaguely human forms are seen:  bodies gaunt, with sagging skin. Their faces looked like grimaces of hate and hunger, long teeth snapping bones and rending flesh. Then, the artillery strikes. Hard. 

At this stage the Huguenot force starts to take positions to fend off the attack. The Forlorn Hope tries to make a difference by running along the curtain wall to capture the next gate, but even though they are successful, they see in the surrounding marshland that the attack has failed and the artillery fire has decimated the Cardinal's force.

They quickly retreat back to their entry point and, joined by the Catholic rebels, make their way back through the tunnels, fighting off the Huguenots during their withdrawal. As they reach their own tunnel, Jean and the musketeer hack down the supporting struts and make the tunnel collapse. Only Jean is able to join the other survivors.

Returning to the army camp, they notice the huge number of casualties the attack force has sustained. Richelieu is seen mounting his carriage and leaving the battlefield, joined by de Rochefort. The group is summoned to Lieutenant Fernand's tent, who is fuming, blaming them furiously for the failure, insisting they gave the presence of the main force away.

He discharges them from the regiment, telling them to disappear at once or risk execution.

A few nights after, in the Cochon Sifflante (where there is no sign of the innkeeper), the group is licking its wounds and venting their anger about their dismissal. They are joined by a musketeer, who wants to hear their story. He knows that they are being blamed for the failure, but also knows that something strange happened: all the survivors have been sworn to secrecy. Why would that be? He believes that they probably are being scapegoated by the Cardinal’s troops (someone had to be blamed after all). the rumour goes that Richelieu led his men through the swamplands north of the city, guided by a local, who lost his way in the darkness and fog and led the troops dangerously close to the city walls

He offers to accompany them to Paris and introduce them with the Musketeers.

Henri François Grammont

 

La Rochelle (Siege of)

The Religious Wars of Sixteenth Century France decided little in the bitter struggle of Catholic versus Protestant, and though the Edict of Nantes in 1598 granted tolerance to the Protestant Huguenots, both sides knew that the issue of religion had not been solved, but only postponed. The Crown, and most of the people, remained steadfastly Catholic, with little interest in accepting the new faith, while Calvinism gained a firmer grip on certain regions and classes of French society.

The heart of the Huguenot movement remained at La Rochelle, one of France's major ports in the Bay of Biscay. The city, secure behind powerful defences that had withstood an army of 20,000 men during the Religious Wars, maintained an independent stance that could not be curbed. The Kings of France were forced to treat with La Rochelle almost as if it were an independent nation, and from Henry IV obtained permission to pursue their Protestant faith - even as far as destroying Catholic churches and turning away missionaries of the Roman Church -without hindrance from the Crown.

In the second decade of the new century, La Rochelle's arrogance and power grew. I t became both port and bastion of the Huguenot movement, a rallying point for Protestant rebels and a base for pirates who preyed upon shipping from many nations, including France itself. From 1620 until 1622, the city became actively rebellious, attacking the Royal Fleets and resisting a short and largely inconclusive blockade by land.

Efforts to end the city's truculence politically met with little success, for although a truce - 'the Peace of 1622,' which sounded more like a treaty between rival sovereignties than an attempt to settle a domestic problem - was declared, neither side adhered to its terms. The King refused to destroy the fortifications of Fort Louis, erected to guard the seaward approaches to La Rochelle during the recent blockade, while the Huguenots did little to halt the depredations of pirates working out of the port. Matters came to a head again in 1625, with a daring stroke by the Seigneur de Soubise, who sailed with a small fleet and captured a squadron of the King's ships in the harbor of Le Blavet. Thereafter, war was inevitable, and Cardinal Richelieu and the King alike knew that only a quick victory could avert a new round of blood conflicts that would sap French strength anew. 

The Huguenots of La Rochelle were backed in their rising by England, led by the Duke of Buckingham. In the summer of 1627, the opposing forces drew their battle lines. A French army watched La Rochelle by land but could do little against the city. If the sea lanes remained open, the port could resist a siege, and the Royal Navy was weak and scattered. The important campaign of this war was not yet the city itself, but the Ile de Re'. Here the French Royalists held the fortresses of St. Martin and La Pree', but the English landing on the island in July, had moved to besiege these. If the Ile de Re fell to England, La Rochelle could hold out indefinitely. Its swamps and pestilence would wear down the besiegers, while the besieged would be secure with the sea at their backs. So the focus of strategy through the summer and fall of that year was the island, not the mainland, and the fighting between the English and the French occupied centre stage for most of those concerned with the conduct of the war. By the end of September, the balance was fast shifting to favour France, for the two forts on the island had twice been resupplied and reinforced by daring thrusts past the English attackers, and an assault by Buckingham had failed. Though the English remained a threat, the French position was becoming more secure, and King and Cardinal were on their way to take charge of the army in the field before La Rochelle to tighten the siege and begin the reduction of this troublesome centre of Calvinism.

La Rochelle is surrounded by land, and the seaward approaches may soon by secured, but despite this, a lengthy siege lies ahead.  

Forces committed to the two fronts include the Guards Regiment, the Musketeers du Marechal, the Arquebusiers of Vincennes, the Old Guards Regiment, the Queen's Fusiliers, the Swiss Guards, the Fusiliers de Ste. Gervaise, the Royal Grenadiers, the Gascon Regiment, the Old City Guards, the Fusiliers des Pyrenees, and the Italian Regiment

Madame Camille Suchet

Chapitre III La Dame de La Rochelle pt I

• The heroes received a letter to the sister of a dying man. In the end, the letter turned out to be hand-copied notations of time-tables, maps and troop strengths within the fortresses of Ille de Ree, and names of Catholic rebels in the city. 
• They changed the contents and delivered the note anyway, hoping they would get away with the deception

Alexandre Touchard-Lemoines

 Chapitre III: La Dame de La Rochelle pt I

• On his deathbed, Touchard-Lemoines wishes to send a last letter to his sister, begging her forgiveness for these years of neglect and mistreatment. But she is inside La Rochelle, and no ordinary messenger, can reach her. He was able to convince the heroes to do this for him.
• In the end, the letter turned out to be hand-copied notations of time-tables, maps and troop strengths within the fortresses of Ille de Ree, and names of Catholic rebels in the city. 

Le Comte de Rochefort

 

Chapitre III: La Dame de La Rochelle pt I

• Le Comte de Rochefort was leading the delegation into La Rochelle, officially attempting to sue for peace.
• On the side, he had a number of volunteers assessing and documenting the waek points of the city, while they also made contact with Catholic Royalists inside the city.

Chapitre III: La Dame de La Rochelle, pt I

After The Cardinal’s Peril, the Jean and Gerard have been offered a spot in the Gascon Regiment. These troops, led by Captain de Clemenceau, arrives a few days after their return to Paris. Fernand, now promoted to Lieutenant of the Cardinal’s Guard, introduces the characters to his brother, who gladly accepts them in his regiment.

The Regiment leaves for La Rochelle immediately after organising the logistics and will set up camp before the city in June 1627. A long period of relative inaction follows. The Gascon Regiment is allocated to the Internal Campaign, and spends most of it time standing at picket and ensuring no relief makes its way into the city. The characters have been before La Rochelle for some time now, but those involved in the besieging forces have seen little action. There is a rumour going around, though, that things are changing. The English have been knocked about badly enough to make the prospects for ultimate victory seem bright, and it is known that the King and the Cardinal are on their way to assume direct control over the operation.

In addition, the military grapevine suggests that some major new stroke to end the campaign right away is in the making, though details are scant.

Certainly, though, there is much activity in the French camp. In every company serving before the walls of La Rochelle (including reinforcements recently transferred from the Ile de Re), officers of the Cardinal's Guard have been soliciting volunteers for a special mission of great danger and difficulty. Jean and Gerard as well as a number of other volunteers are briefed on what is to happen soon.

• Cardinal Richelieu has sent instructions to the front ordering a last attempt at a negotiated peace with the Huguenots now that their English allies have ceased to pose an immediate threat. To this end, the Cardinal's Master of the Horse, the Comte de Rochefort, has been placed at the head of a delegation. The characters are members of this delegation, while the picked volunteers from the various regiments form an escort for de Rochefort and his people.

Le Comte de Rochefort

• Military characters receive instructions to pay special attention to the layout of the city and the terrain of the approaches, in case the negotiations do not result in peace and a later assault on the city must be launched. 

A select few are privy to more information:

There is a persecuted Catholic minority within the besieged city, and among these are agents of the Cardinal. His assault plan relies on treachery by these agents, who are to seize a city gate and admit a special attack force. Members of the escort are to learn as much as they can about La Rochelle so they can move about effectively on the night of the assault. It is a bold and daring stroke which, if successful, could put an end to the Huguenot rising once and for all, and discourage all future resistance to the Crown. 

The delegation and its escort are large, and are expected to be gone for several days. Prior to the day set for their departure into La Rochelle, military discipline for the escort is relaxed, and the soldiers are permitted to take leave from the camp. This allows them to visit a nearby village well behind the lines of the siege for entertainment and for diversion.

LE CIGNE NOIR

Le Cigne Noir (The Black Swan) is a small inn lying near the edge of the village of Dompierre to the north of La Rochelle. Two nights before the scheduled departure of the delegation into the city, many off-duty soldiers are gathered for an evening of drinking and gaming at the inn. 

As a small village inn, the Black Swan is a cheerful, relaxed establishment; its ordinary patrons are simple villagers, and it has nothing in the way of a bad reputation. Gerard shows his generosity by paying for the food of all the volunteers to the delegation, which is received with cheers. He and Jean take the opportunity to get to know a few of the other volunteers better, among them them meet Henri and Mageur.

It doesn't take long before a group of drunk trade escorts arrive in the tavern and try to take advantage of the free food. An argument breaks out, followed by a brawl that gets broken up by the entry of the Swiss Guard. They accost one of the patrons, Louis Armand who sits by himself, heavily bandaged and with a blood-soaked slashed sleeve. The Swiss approach him in a threatening manner. The innkeeper hastens up and a conversation ensues. This patrol is looking for three suspicious characters who tried to slip past the front lines earlier in the day, about ten miles from here. They have picked out Armand because he appears freshly wounded, and they know that at least one of the three they fired upon was hit in the exchange.

The innkeeper, however, hastens to assure them that Armand has been at the inn all day, along with his master, a gentleman named du Maurier. Both were injured, the gentleman quite seriously, when footpads attacked them early in the morning. Their horses were taken, but the gentleman and his servant escaped to take refuge here and have remained all day recuperating. The village apothecary will bear out this story, when he returns from an emergency call at a distant farm, perhaps sometime late tomorrow.

The Subaltern seems satisfied with the innkeeper's intercession and leaves with his patrol to look elsewhere for the three fugitives.

Mageur approaches the wounded man and tries to get him to reveal himself as a spy. Louis looks Mageur up and down and just shakes his head, claiming he has no idea what the gentleman is talking about.

The innkeeper, Jean Legros, approaches Gerard and Henri later than night, and invites him to meet a gentleman who is staying at the inn who could use the character's help. Gerard agrees and meets up with Louis' master in his bedroom.

THE DYING GENTLEMAN

Alexandre Touchard - Lemoines

Alexandre Touchard-Lemoines occupies a room which opens off the Common Room. Like Armand, he was injured in an encounter earlier in the day, but his wounds are much more serious. A bullet has lodged near his heart, and he is dying.

Weak and pale, swathed in bandages and lying on a narrow bed, the injured gentleman is a pitiful sight. But he is awake and alert as the characters are led into the room by the faithful Armand, and his voice is clear and penetrating when he speaks, though laboured. 

Touchard-Lemoines explains that he was set upon by footpads that morning, shot, and left for dead; his horse and purse were stolen. The apothecary could do nothing for him, and he is dying. But before he dies, there is one thing, one very urgent thing, that he wishes to have done. His sister lives in La Rochelle: years ago, she embraced the Calvinist faith, and was disowned by family and friends. None have spoken to her for years, but she has never been far from her brother's thoughts, as they were close once.

Now that he is on his deathbed, Touchard-Lemoines wishes to send a last letter to his sister, begging her forgiveness for these years of neglect and mistreatment. But she is inside La Rochelle, and no ordinary messenger, not even Armand, can reach her. The innkeeper, a good friend, has told him of the delegation, and suggested that the message might be sent by someone going with it. Touchard-Lemoines asks if any of the characters will carry his letter to his sister, and offers a handsome payment, in advance, for this undertaking - 50 Livres.

The wounded man turns over a sealed letter to the Gerard and Henri upon their acceptance of the task and gives them instructions as to how to find his sister, Madame Camille Suchet, in the city. He further impresses upon them his desire for discretion in their mission. His family, he claims, holds several important positions in the Church and in government, and would be much embarrassed if the secret of this wayward sibling's Protestantism should come out. Touchard-Lemoines will demand that they give their words of honor that they will deliver the message, and that they will tell no one of the nature of their errand.

Then he turns over the money and sinks back in his bed as if relieved or a great burden, and Louis Armand shows them out of the room. During this meeting, the heroes notice that Touchard-Lemoines wears a signet ring bearing a stylized sailing ship emblem, the same as the one impressed in the wax  seal on the letter.

Unknown to them, the whole conversation has been overheard by Mageur, who has been eavesdropping at the door.

Naval defences at La Rochelle

TO LA ROCHELLE

The next morning, Gerard and Henri discuss the meeting of the previous night with the others. Even though it sours them, eventually they open the letter and read the contents. A scrawled cover letter from Touchard-Lemoines tells of the ambush, and says that Bonaventure, his companion, got separated after the ambush. Touchard-Lemoines hopes that Bonaventure gets through but is sending this material by another route in case he fails. The remaining material is composed of hasty, hand-copied notations of time-tables, maps and troop strengths within the fortresses of Ille de Ree, and names of Catholic rebels in the city. 

The decide to take the bundle to Rochefort, who agrees that there is a chance that Bonaventure has also reached the city. He will tell the group to determine whether or not the Huguenots have received the plans and to keep an eye on Madame Suchet's house, and see what else they can learn. The letter is resealed (badly, according to Gerard)

Most of the next day is spent in preparation for the departure of de Rochefort's delegation. No further leave time is allowed, and the morning of the second day after the visit to the Black Swan, the heroes, and the rest of the delegation and escort, set out for La Rochelle. It is an impressive party, headed by de Rochefort and several aides, plus minor functionaries of the bureaucracy and a small clerical contingent. The escort numbers fifty in all, and is made up of picked officers, sergeants, and troopers from several different regiments. All are armed, but travel under a flag of truce. 

Outside La Rochelle, they are challenged by soldiers of the city's army. A number of representatives of the senate venture out to confer with de Rochefort, who asks the opportunity to submit proposals for peace drawn up by the King and the Cardinal. Eventually the city leaders agree, and the delegation and escort are admitted to the city.

Quarters are provided for them near the Senate's meeting hall, and many courtesies are exchanged between de Rochefort and various city fathers as they enter the city and settle in to this temporary home.

De Rochefort sends Fernand de Clemenceau to meet with some of the catholic rebel, who in turn informs the heroes that they should meet up with his contacts as a tavern “Le Cochon Sifflant” (The Whistling Pig)

That afternoon, the escort is ordered to muster for a special inspection. A very important city leader, Monsieur Jean Guiton', wishes to inspect these picked troops. He is a broad-shouldered, tough-looking but charismatic man. He stops in front of Jean, giving him a closer inspection and asks him where he has fought. As Jean sums up some of the battles he was part of, the man nods and says that they at least have been on the same side a few times, and continues. Some of the heores note that he wears a signet ring with the symbol of a ship. 

After the inspection is completed, Guiton extends permission for members of the delegation and its escort to move around La Rochelle as desired, save only that they may not pass into areas guarded by city troops who turn them back. But, he warns them, and de Rochefort himself later reiterates, that any breach of good conduct while visiting the city will be grounds for expulsion from the city, not just for the offenders, but for the entire embassy.

AU COCHON SIFFLANTE

Jean and Mageur make their way to the Catholic meeting place. After waiting for a while to check the place out, they make contact with the innkeeper and have a private chat, where they hand over the extra pistols and powder they brought with them. They tell him to gather the Catholic royalists for a meeting later. Afterwards they returned to their accomodations.

ON THE RUE FEROU

The group decides to split up. Henri and Gerard make their way to Camille Suchet, following the instructions given by M. Touchard-Lemoines, which lead them to a small house on the Rue Ferou, a fairly wealthy area of residences overlooking the harbour. Here they are admitted by Anne, the lady's maid. Camille herself arrives a few minutes later, a beautiful young woman with dark hair and eyes, dressed fashionably in expensive clothing. 

Madame Camille Suchet

As the adventurers begin their explanation of their errand, she seems surprised and uncertain, and the mention of Touchard-Lemoines seems to shock her, followed by slow comprehension and the question 'Which of my brothers do you mean?'

She doesn't seem particularly stricken with grief, even after hearing the full story.

When she accepts the letter, she looks carefully at the seal, smiles, and thanks the adventurers for their assistance. Then she apologizes, but asks them if they would kindly leave her to read her brother's last letter in peace. As a final gesture, though, she assures herself of the location of their lodgings and their names, saying that she will not forget their nobility in conveying this letter to her. With this hint of a reward to come, Camille dismisses the party, and is last seen breaking the seal and drawing out a whole bundle of papers. (Note: Henri gave a false name...)

Following the delivery of the letter, they take position at the front and rear of the house. Gerard sees the servant leave out the back, and Henri watches and follows Madame Suchet as she herself ventures out, heavily cloaked and hooded, to a non-descript house a few blocks away. After a few minutes she returns home.

Not long after that, another visitor arrives at the house, dressed in tattered, dishevelled clothing. He makes his way in through the back door. A few seconds later, Gerard sneaks up to the door, turning the handle...