As Varre’s army continued marching down the road, the king and his closest commanders moved off to the side, staring at the city of Tresannes from a distance.

  The gates were closed, but this didn’t prove anything yet. Every city would have shut them as a safety precaution as soon as the guards spotted a massive army approaching. They also doubtlessly had their own scouts watching the area and were aware of the crossing. Even if they weren’t, the sudden increase in loyalist scouts observing the city would have alerted them.

  Either way, the city wouldn’t surrender without asking. Varre’s commanders had orders to stop their advancing columns in a safe distance away from the walls. Out of reach of the enemy archers. That would send a powerful message to any rebel standing guard atop the wall. Regardless, the king wasted no time. A small team of messengers was dispatched to deliver his orders to the city.

  In the short message, Varre announced his arrival to Tresannes to the local authorities. He informed them of his rightful claim to the territory and demanded entrance to the city. Should the officials comply, they would be deemed innocent of treason. Everyone in the city would be safe and sound, while the king’s army would continue onwards.

  If Tresannes decided to rebel on the other hand, the perpetrators would be punished. The city would be sieged and the defenders couldn’t hope to resist such a large army for long. It was just a matter of time until the gates would be broken, the local authorities stripped of their properties, and the leadership sentenced to death for sedition.

  The message also stressed that to Varre, it made no difference which side the city would pick in the end. While he’d prefer to leave Tresannes in a safe, prosperous state, his victory was inevitable.

  It was a lie of course. Everyone knew that. The whole point of siege defense was to hopefully outlast the other side’s coffers. But he hoped that the message would threaten the leadership enough to force them to surrender.

  He watched from a distance, as the heralds finally arrived at the walls. They yelled something out to the men on the walls. Then they waited. The guards deliberated inside, while the loyalist army kept advancing towards the walls. Eventually the first units arrived and started arranging their marching columns into squares. It looked impressive enough from Varre’s hill. It must have looked even more so from up on the city walls.

  Around half an hour after the heralds relayed their message, they received a response. They turned the horses around and started rushing back to the king’s entourage.

  “Your majesty,” one of the heralds began as he kneeled in front of his monarch, “we have delivered your message. The city refuses to accept your claim and refuses your generous offer of surrender.”

  “I bet they put it in slightly different terms,” Hakon joked.

  “So be it. Count Jan,” Varre turned to his senior commander, “let’s get ready for the siege.”

  This was the expected outcome. Despite their hopes, no one really believed that Tresannes would surrender without a fight. Even if Clement’s plan to spark a full scale civil war failed, these rebels were convinced that Varre had murdered Mikkel. The hero of the Langogne war. They wouldn’t give up this easily.

  The frontline commanders have already been told what to do. The first two squares, those that had already arrived by the town walls, remained in formation. They were there to stop any sudden attempts to sally out and attack the besieging army as they settled in for the siege. Meanwhile, the rest of the army, started working on setting up the siege camp. They had a chance to practice it just last night, during the brief stay in Elstercross.

  Tresannes was a decently large city, and as such it had three separate gates. Three main camps would be constructed, one to block access to each town gate.

  The main camp would be here. At the road leading back to Banbury. The king’s entourage would stay here and so would much of the wagon train. Two of the four thousand infantry would be assigned to this gate. The two other gates would be guarded by around one thousand soldiers each. The knights would be distributed among them proportionally.

  The camps would remain within sight of each other, with soldiers ready to assist the other locations as needed. Eventually, they’d need to reinforce the camps further, but today, the men were tired after a long march. They couldn’t be forced to work through the night.

  Instead, they focused on setting up their tents and assigning guards to stay awake through the night. To help the observers, they also erected several large bonfires to light up the surrounding landscape. As soon as the guards saw movement in the area, or saw the gates opening, they’d raise an alarm and wake everyone up.

  Though Varre’s scouts couldn’t be sure exactly how many soldiers Tresannes hid, they knew one thing for certain. The loyalists had the numerical advantage. The only way for the enemy to win, was to attempt an unexpected attack.

  The first night was the most stressful. For both sides. Varre’s soldiers had to deal with a poorly defended siege camp, while the people in Tresannes had finally witnessed war firsthand.

  With the advent of the second day, the scouts delivered a new report. Clement hasn’t moved yet. Though by now the rebels certainly knew that Varre’s forces have made it to Banbury, perhaps even the fact that they continued onwards, they probably weren’t aware of the siege of Tresannes just yet.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Theoretically, the loyalists now had the opportunity for an assault on the walls. They didn’t have any siege engines or catapults with them, but they did have wizards. With their power, they should be able to punch holes into Tresannes’ fortifications and allow soldiers into the city. But that wasn’t the plan.

  An open assault was always dangerous. Even though mages were rare, Clement could have some in his employ. Though in the end, no one found evidence of his direct involvement, Tobias was still missing. He had either left the kingdom far behind, or was hiding somewhere here, in the West. Perhaps even in Tresannes. If Varre’s wizards announced their presence so openly, he could strike out at them and kill many before they could scramble to defend themselves.

  Even discounting enemy magic, fighting through the narrow streets would bring a lot of casualties. The soldiers would need to climb through the rubble and meet desperate defenders. The townsfolk, afraid of looting, would probably also join the battle en masse.

  No one doubted that Varre would win the battle in the end. But if he lost too many troops here, he might struggle with Clement later. Especially if the rebel forces were bigger than expected.

  For now, the loyalists would stick with the plan. Continue the siege and draw out Clement into an open battle.

  With that in mind, the attackers began constructing the siege camp in earnest. Soldiers entered the nearby forests and chopped down trees by the dozen. Constructing a palisade around each camp would take days. Weeks, if it had to encircle the entire city instead. For now, the soldiers began by building up a few watch towers and laying the groundwork for a small palisade meant to deter sudden assaults from the city.

  It had to look real. The people in Tresannes couldn’t deliver messages out to Clement, but it was certain that he had scouts watching the loyalist army. If he suspected that this siege was a sham, only meant to draw him out, he might refuse the bait. In that case, this ruse would devolve into a real siege anyway, so the preparations had to be done regardless.

  By the end of the first day, they managed to fortify much of the campsites. The watchtowers were also spaced in-between them, helping spot any spies that might try to sneak in or out of Tresannes.

  The work continued on the second day. The palisades were extended and the army settled in for a prolonged siege. Another section of soldiers started digging ditches around the defensive fortifications. Soon, sallies from Tresannes would no longer pose a threat to the besiegers. Instead, the commanders focused on defense from the outside.

  Multiple scouts had already been dispatched throughout the entire province, but their numbers grew even further. Instead of a few volunteers from the Banbury guard force, or local squires, now the task was handled by Count Jan, the senior commander of the loyalist army. He sent out dozens of scouts moving around the province, trying to spot approaching threats early enough for the army to prepare.

  A few were dispatched to watch the road between Tresannes and Elstercross. A few went even further and patrolled the safe territory all the way to Banbury. Others, travelled to Quendon and tried to estimate the size of the rebel forces. Most however, stayed within the vicinity of the siege.

  Large armies had to travel by roads, so they were easy to spot. The cavalrymen could notice reinforcements heading to relieve Tresannes and hurry back to report the danger. They could give precious hours of warning for the defenders to prepare.

  To help them out further, Count Jan dispatched small squadrons to many of the outlying villages. They left the remaining peasants in peace, but the emptied houses served as bases of operations that the scouts could stop at. They also used this opportunity to requisition local mills.

  The army built multiple ovens in their siege camp and this way, the soldier’s rations could be improved with fresh bread. The millers couldn’t complain either. With much of the local population gone, Varre’s army was the only real source of payment for their services.

  By the third day, the palisades around the campsites were finished. They couldn’t hold up to siege weapons, or even a dedicated enough assault, but they gave precious time to the defenders to wake up and assemble. Combined with the watchtowers, Tresannes was now completely boxed in. Their only chance of victory lay in the hands of Count Clement.

  It didn’t look like it bothered them too much though. Varre’s soldiers kept a watchful eye on the walls, even as they toiled to set up the fortifications around their campsites. Tresannes stared back, always keeping multiple guards of their own patrolling the walls, but their numbers were low. Most of the rebels probably hid inside the city, unwilling to reveal the full scale of their forces and accidentally encouraging an assault.

  Throughout this time, the loyalist army kept up their morale. The soldiers were well fed, and despite the heavy labor required to put up the camp, the conditions were comfortable. Their salaries were high and paid out on time. As far as they could tell, victory was just a matter of time. Many even hoped that the war would continue, giving them a chance to save up even more wealth.

  Common troopers were not aware of the real goal for this siege. There was no need to inform them. The soldiers would gossip, especially when drinking and relaxing in the evening. Count Clement could have had spies among the soldiery and the camp followers, but even if he hadn’t, the army still had occasional contact with local civilians.

  A special market was set close to the main campsite. Peasants from the neighboring villages were welcome to travel here and sell their produce. The infantry was willing to spend their high salaries and splurge on some luxuries. Just a couple of days after the siege’s began, entrepreneurial merchants started showing up to offer their wares to prospective customers.

  The scouts were another issue. As they travelled around, seeking out information, they had to occasionally interact with local serfs. First hand evidence was good, but the peasants were often surprisingly good observers. They recognized strangers immediately and were willing to talk. Clement’s people were just as distant to them as Varre’s. Their only loyalty was to their land and maybe the local lord. As long as he was watching. To ensure that loyalist scouts didn’t accidentally reveal too much, they were kept just as much out of the loop as the infantry.

  The only people aware of the real objective of this siege were Varre, his closest advisors, and the top commanders. With the secret so safely guarded, it was likely that the rebels would take the bait. And if they somehow knew what was going on, then the list of potential traitors to investigate was very short.

  On the fourth day, the scouts finally reported movement from the enemy. News travelled slowly, but apparently Clement has left Quendon yesterday and was on the way to Tresannes already. The outriders had to keep a larger distance from the army now, as the rebels were sure to send out patrols hunting down the scouts, but the information was solid.

  The count would most likely arrive in Tresannes two days from now. If he rushed, forcing his troops to march for long hours, he could make it tomorrow. In that case though, his troops would be too exhausted to fight efficiently. Commander Jan was confident that Clement would take things slow. Tresannes could easily survive another day of the siege.

  Now, Varre’s army had a new goal. Prepare a good location for the upcoming battle.

  Medieval armies weren't as organized, so it takes Varre a little longer.

  What is his plan? Earlier reports showed that his army is significantly smaller than Varre's.

  How does he plan to overcome this weakness?