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03: Fates Collide
A/N: Hello all! I am back with another chapter! Things have begun to heat up in England as the two sides begin to form their armies. The fate of England is beginning to shape up, who will come out on top? Only one way to find out!
Fates Collide
From the base in Dorchester, Moors began to train the Liberty Army from merely a group of organised peasants into a true fighting forces, personally selecting 5,000 of the men to serve as the core of the army. All the men got some basic training, but it was this core group that showed the most potential or most effort, recieving the most advanced training and discipline as a result.
The town of Dorchester allowed them to stay near London, keeping London from getting too far out of their grasp whilst keeping out of the direct line of fire. From their base they would launch a propagandra campaign, with word of mouth spreading through the country. John Ball used his status as a former priest to spread the message through religion, whilst Wat Tyler used his charisma in many speeches around south-central England.
More and more people began to be drawn towards the cause, themselves wanting rights, feeling that they were owed being treated like people. By November the number of people actively supporting the uprising had grown to roughly 80,000, and continuing to grow.
Richard and his Ministers knew that the problem was growing more and more uncontrollable as support began to grow. They had hoped to relieve the tension from the situation, instead, the situation had only grown more heated as the nobility and peasantry butted heads over control of England's destiny.
Richard knew he had to end this uprising quickly if he was to regain full control of England. If this continued, then it would be hard to ever fully suppress the rebels. Luckily for Richard, he had now managed to gather up his royal militia to deal with the revolt.
Moors recieved news of this building militia, knowing he would have to respond quickly. Alongside his main force of infantry and cavalry swordsmen, he also began to train a group of ranged fighters, mainly archers. Though he wasn't as capable with a bow and arrow as he was with a sword, he was still capable of showing them how to use it effectively, especially since many already had experience in archery. He was also able to call on some friends more experienced with archery to train the forces. Though the main force was made up of archers, there was another group that filled in; gunmen.
Guns were a relatively new thing to Europe, being first used in Europe less than two decades ago. The gun was still a new tool in European warfare, fairly untested in battles, however Moors saw their potential. If properly harnessed, he knew they could become a force in warfare. Though at the point of time they were inferior to bows in many respects, they had one important advantage. The ammo and gunpowder was far smaller than the arrows used by bows, so more could be stocked up to use on enemies, good for defending a well fortified position. Something that would come in handy for what was to come.
It was for this reason that Moors invested into trying to improve the guns that they had access to. Though most of the rebels were peasantry and townsfolk, some of the rebels were actually of the lower nobility, as well as clergymen. Because of this, the rebellion had gathered up some wealth. Moors got to work on trying to improve the guns that had been gathered up over the course of the revolt. He hired people to try and improve the weaponry. What would eventually result was dubbed "The Iron Match", this would serve as the prototype to what would be known as The Matchlock. And it was soon to be put to use.
On the 25th November 1381, Moors had to travel to Oxford with Tyler for a speech. This was seen as the time to attack for the Royalists. The Royal Militia under Walworth was sent to capture the rebels home base of Dorchester, having settled down rioting in London for the time being. However, the rebels had made sure to protect Dorchester, whilst 3,000 of the army accompanied Tyler and Moors (mainly the cavalry and archers), 5,000 remained at Dorchester.
When he recieved news of the attack, Moors took most of the remaining army, leaving Tyler a couple dozen to protect him. As the Royal Army was closer, they arrived at Dorchester before Moors. There, On the 26th November, the Royal Army would do battle with the Liberty Army at the Revolt only true battle: The Battle of Dorchester. 5,000 Liberty soldiers faced 7,000 Royal soldiers. The Liberty Army was able to secure a hill to do battle on, blocking the Royals form getting to the city. They were outnumbered and less experienced, however the hill gave them the advantage of fighting downhill. Commanding them was a general by the name of Thomas Bockwell, the right hand man of Roger Moors, with one of his generals being Roger Moors' eldest son, James Moors.
The battle began with the Armies meeting near the top of the hill. The Liberty army was made up of infantry swordsmen in the centre, with the (mainly) gunmen taking the wings. In front of the gunmen were small fortifications, serving as a deterent to attcking the side. This all came with the purpose of funneling the Royal army into the centre, to slowly wear the Royals down, and lessen the numbers advantage.
During the battle James Moors would lead a group of 50 gunmen to intercept a small group of the Royal Army that was sent to cut off the rebels supply line. They were able to ambush and shoot down most of the small party, with the rest fleeing under the onslaught of bullets.
At another point, the Royal Army tried a feigned retreat. The army was almost compelled into chasing after the supposedly fleeing enemies, but they were commanded to hold their positions by Bockwell. Months of constant discipline paid off, as the Army held their positions on the hill. At risk of looking like failures it they continued and further, Walworth broke the feigned retreat, turning back and continuing the battle.
After 9 hours of relentless fighting, Roger Moors finally arrived, charging his cavalry into the back of the Royal line catching the Royal off guard. The Liberty Army now encircled the Royal army, with Moors positioning his side similar to Bockwell, swordsmen in the centre, archers at the wings. The Royal army was now trapped on the hill, having to fight downwards and upwards. The centre of the Royal militia were cut down, whilst the left and right were shot down. The Royal army broke, using a couple of gaps in the line to flee through, many shot down of the way. Walworth managed to be one of the few that escaped, though was shot twice in the shoulder and once in the leg.
The battle was a decisive victory for the Liberty Army and the Rebels. Of the 7,000 in the Royal army 4,500 died and 1,500 were captured. The Liberty army only sustained 200 losses that day. It was a crushing defeat for the nobility, and a symbol that the Peasant Revolt wasn't a fleeting moment, it was here to stay. The home base was now secure for the time being.
The battle, while definitely having several short term effect, such as galvanising the people, it's biggest effects would come in the long term. The Peasant Revolt and the Battle of Dorchester in particular would come to be regarded as the first domino in a series of events that would shape not only England, but all of Europe in terms of both Warfare and Politics. It was the match that would light the spark that would culminate centuries later.
A/N: And that is all for now, I hope you enjoyed! As you can see, here is where things start to really change from OTL. The rebelling forces have won a crucial victory over the nobility. What will happen next? Only time will tell. Thank you all for reading, the feedback is always appreciated. See you next Chapter!