roccoschili Chapter 28 The Girl from Orleans
Chapter 28 The Girl from Orleans
A large army is preparing to march from Tours. Royal cavalry, garrisons from Anjou and the Loire River, royal troops active in the east, and knights from Alençon are all gathered together. Barring unforeseen circumstances, these four thousand men will join forces with the noble coalition still monitoring the lines, and after spring arrives, crush all English offensives and lift the siege of Orléans. However, at this moment, their minds—the generals—are engaged in a heated debate within the castle, a debate that is only growing more intense.
"You're insane if you want a witch to lead us. I suggest you take the knights back; we don't need a brainless child!" a curly-haired, bearded warrior roared at Alenson.
"La Hire, watch your words! Even though she just escaped from the British, she was captured on the battlefield." Atil stepped in front of Alençon. "He didn't ask you to be that girl's subordinate, he only asked that she attend the meeting. And His Majesty ordered us to show her basic respect. If you can't even do that, then you keep an eye on Talbot for me, and I'll go to Orléans, how about that?"
Lahail straightened up upon hearing this, gave an awkward snort, and took two steps back.
A blond middle-aged man beside him chimed in, "Marshal, La Hire doesn't mean to insult the Duke of Alençon. It's just that it's unprecedented to have a young girl who has never been on the battlefield in a top-level military conference. The British are somewhat exhausted, but we are still at a disadvantage. Even if she can truly predict the future, we can't tell if it's true or not."
Alençon finally interjected: "Gilson, you always beat around the bush. If you ask me, you'll see that girl when you meet her, and you'll know she's worthy of being ranked alongside us."
Giles nodded. "We should see her first. After all, news of what happened to her in Tours has spread far and wide, and bringing her along would be good for morale. Where is she now?"
Atil paused for a moment: "When she first entered the city, she said she had a battle flag to capture, and she took her men into the city."
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"Mr. Ovis, I am here on the orders of the Crown Prince to retrieve a battle flag."
Joan of Arc led Metz to a "studio" in Tours. Calling it a studio was a stretch; it was more like a workshop. Wood and cloth were piled haphazardly, and several large tubs of paint in the center left Metz and his companions nowhere to step, forcing them to stand outside. The only orderly thing was the wooden frame behind the workshop owner, neatly filled with flags.
"Ah, Your Highness, young lady, I remember, I remember..." The workshop owner looked up, his upper body stained with bright colors of paint. "Large size, double-layered fine linen, twenty-five livres already prepaid..." He suddenly stood up and shouted, "Booker, you lazybones, bring me that big flag on the back shelf!"
After a while, the apprentice Booker finally came over with difficulty carrying a flag. Orvis pointed to it and said, "The standard flag, twelve feet long and three feet high, pure white with gold fleurs embroidered on it, is it." Joan of Arc couldn't help but go up and examine it closely. She found that the flag was almost pressing down on Booker, so she took it and looked at it carefully.
Touching the sturdy fabric and looking at the irises embroidered with gold thread, she asked, "It's really beautiful, but shouldn't the edges be decorated? We always put some flowers on the Maypole."
Ovis examined it for a moment, then pulled out a few tassels from the cabinet and compared them: "It needs some decoration. Booker, put the flag back! Girl, come back for it tomorrow."
Joan of Arc looked around and suddenly asked, "May I borrow your needle and thread?"
Before Orvis could answer, she snatched the tassels with one hand and picked up a needle and thread from the nearby wood. Then, she leaned the flagpole against the frame and leaned against it herself. With her left hand she held the flag tassels taut, and with her right hand she threaded the needle, her movements as fluid as if she had done it a thousand times—and in no time, the tassels were firmly sewn on.
She tied the thread, tossed the needle and thread back to Orvis, straightened the flagpole, and examined it for a while before speaking: "I've been decorating the Maypole for five or six years, what's a wooden pole?" She suddenly laughed, "Can you attach a spearhead to it?" After saying that, she shook her head, picked up the large flag, and walked outside.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, she steadily inserted the flagpole into the gun rack on the saddle and said to the stunned Metz and the others, "Now we can go see those adults." With that, she patted the white horse and galloped towards the fortress in the city.
When they arrived at the fortress, the generals' meeting had ended, and a group of people were standing at the gate, preparing to head to the military camp. Just then, in the setting sun, a white horse carrying an iris banner galloped towards them, with a young girl in full armor beneath it.
Alenson laughed and stepped forward to bow to the crowd: "My lords, this is the girl who is going to save Orleans."
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Joan of Arc successfully participated in the military council. Even though some were unwilling, half of Tours saw her and her banner speeding past, and the name "the maiden to save Orleans" had spread throughout the army and would soon reach the ears of the English troops on the other side of the river.
La Hire looked somewhat awkwardly at Joan of Arc standing beside Alençon and said, "The plan will proceed as discussed in the winter. The first wave of a thousand men will land on the north shore, where the garrison of Orléans will escort us into the city. The second wave will bring supplies."
Atil nodded: "You must be careful not to be discovered by the British. When you move at night, make sure to cover your torches."
La Hire glanced around, giving Joan of Arc a special look. Seeing that no one had any objections, he nodded to Gilles. The reinforcement plan was thus finalized, and the entire army sprang into action.
Because they needed to travel upstream in April when the Loire River's flow increased, Attil specially arranged for flat-bottomed sailboats and boatmen for the inland waterways. Joan of Arc and her small team settled near the dock early on, and the boatmen watched the large flag fluttering in the wind on the banks of the Loire River every day.
Once the fleet was ready, as planned, Atil remained in Tours. La Hire and his men, with the vanguard, traveled overland to the vicinity of Moun to draw the British attention, and then at night joined up with Giles' fleet, heading straight for Orléans.
Along the way, everything went smoothly, except for the occasional burst of anger that Lahail would feel when he glanced at the large flag that was much taller than his own command flag, and then take his anger out on a few unlucky guys in the camp that night.
They successfully deceived the garrison at Moun, watching several messengers on horseback ride northeast. That very night, they met up with the fleet at the designated shallows, boarded the ships, and sailed towards Orléans.
To maintain secrecy, the entire fleet used almost no torches, with the experienced boatmen relying entirely on the stars and moon for navigation. Fortunately, most of the boatmen were locals familiar with the waters, and the river near Orleans is known for its calm conditions; they reached their destination without a single boat running aground.
As dawn approached, the fleet anchored at the approximate location. La Hire questioned the shipwrights several times and was preparing to lead the fleet ashore when Joan of Arc, who had been silent for most of the night, suddenly spoke: "General La Hire, are you going to land west of the city?"
Lahail nodded, somewhat taken aback.
Joan of Arc said, "I advise against it. When I passed through Orléans, I observed that there were far more earthen ramparts on the west side than on the east side, and the closest ones were near the city gates, where the gates may have been blocked by the garrison."
La Hire looked at Alenson with a puzzled expression. Alenson shrugged, indicating that this was not his proposal.
La Hire, suppressing his anger, asked, "So you want to go to the East Gate? Don't blame me for not warning you, the British might have laid chains in the river! Their fortress is just south of Orleans."
Joan of Arc shook her head: "I asked the garrison near Orléans, and Lord Dinois throws a few driftwood into the river from the east bank every two weeks to prevent the British from blocking the waterway. The British fleet is limited in size, and even if the garrison of that fortress discovers us, they only have a few small boats."
La Hire became even angrier, pointing behind him and growling in a low voice, "What about the ships behind? Do they know they're going to land at the east gate? How are you going to relay the message—shout it out so the British can hear it too?"
Joan of Arc pointed to the large flag flying at the bow of the ship: "Light the torches. The sailors from Tours recognize this flag; they will follow."
La Hire was nearly driven mad, held tightly by Alençon and Metz. He struggled to his throat as he shouted, "You're a spy sent by the British! We didn't dare light a fire all night, and now you want to show it to everyone?"
Joan of Arc looked up: "My lord, it's almost dawn. Whether we light a fire or not, we'll be exposed. Besides, it's safer the further upstream we go; the English don't have sailing ships, they can't catch up with us."
La Hire was pinned down in the cabin. After a moment of silence, he suddenly shook off Alençon's hand: "What are you stopping me for? Afraid I'll chop her up? What this little girl said isn't entirely unreasonable—if Dinois can come out through the east gate, we can come in through the east gate too." He pushed Metz aside, peeked out at the sky, and sighed, "Then let's get to work. I don't want to get hit by cannonballs."
Alençon was delighted upon hearing this and ordered his soldiers to light a torch. Joan of Arc took the torch and held it high beneath the fleur-de-lis banner. The fire suddenly blazed in the pre-dawn darkness, illuminating the snow-white banner so clearly that every gold-embroidered fleur-de-lis seemed to be burning. The ships behind caught up, and the sailors, recognizing the banner gleaming in the firelight, weighed anchor and set sail upstream.
At the same time, the banner illuminated by fire appeared on both the north bank of Orleans and the bridgehead on the south bank, and alarm bells rang out in unison. Soon, torches were lit on both banks—on the walls of Orleans, soldiers carrying torches surged up the ramparts, stretching like a fiery dragon; on the south bank, scattered lights also appeared in the British bridgehead, casting brief, urgent reflections on the river. In the middle of the river, the fleet, illuminated by the faint morning light and the crisscrossing lights on both banks, appeared and disappeared, like a giant python slithering between light and shadow.
The boat had just passed the bridgehead when Lahail, watching the south bank, suddenly noticed the boat was slowing down, until it almost stopped. He rushed to find the boatmen, only to be told that the wind had died down, the boat was drafting too deep, and the riverbank was too shallow. Lahail immediately ordered the soldiers to retrieve the oars, preparing to call back—
Joan of Arc stopped him: "My lord, there's no need for that. During my time in Orleans, there was a southwest wind every morning. God will protect us."
Before La Hire could reply, a series of loud explosions rang out—the British bridgehead on the south bank was firing at them by the light of the fire!
Just as he was about to recklessly force the ships to the shore, the morning light suddenly shone through the clouds. Immediately afterwards, a southwest wind swept across his face, propelling the entire fleet slowly away from the British bridgehead. The wind, accompanied by the rising sun, seemed like an invisible hand supporting the sails, pushing them towards safe waters.
The garrison of Orleans also saw them in the morning light. The whole city was awakened, and the cannons on the city walls began to roar in response. The garrison at the bridgehead dared not pay attention to the fleet any longer and hurriedly withdrew their cannons back into the fortress.
Just as Joan of Arc had foreseen, the morning wind carried them to the shallows on the east bank of Orléans. The fleet successfully landed, and Joan of Arc took the lead, leaping off the ship with the large flag on her back, and leading the still-unassembled soldiers toward the gates of Orléans.
As LaHelle watched, the east gate of Orleans burst open. Countless soldiers and citizens surged out, cheering, and rushed toward the fluttering iris flag that billowed in the morning breeze. On the flag's white background, the golden irises shimmered in the rising sun, and the cheers of the crowd shook the river.
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Although I did not experience it firsthand, I visited Orléans in 1430 and found some credible people to inquire about the events of that day.
According to them, Joan of Arc, known as the "Maiden," dressed in men's clothing and carrying a white banner depicting Christ and two angels, entered Orléans in the morning light. The city's inhabitants lined the streets, cheering and raising torches as if welcoming an angel's arrival.
From that day onward, she was called the Girl of Orleans.
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Charles VI [France] Jean-Jouvenal de Joursen