Scott Alexander (author/host)

The Dauphin Charles seems to have been the sort of person who agrees to anything the person who talked to him last wants.

And he had a peace party as well as a war party contesting for influence at his court, and they thought he should stop re-raising on this one good hand and accept his gains and try to negotiate some kind of final end to the war.

Footnote.

He ends up called Charles the Well-Advised because Charles the guy where God really wanted him to have his father's throne in spite of his many, many, many personal failings doesn't really roll off the tongue.

Yes, spoiler, this guy wins.

Back to the text.

Joan was equal to the task, though, and interrupted the middle of a strategy meeting to fall upon her knees and beg for him to come to Rheim and be there be crowned.

Charles made plans for this before anyone managed to talk him out of it, placing the Duke d'Alencon in charge, who seems to have been an early convert to Joan's cause, eager to do whatever God wanted, since apparently God wanted to do exactly what he wanted to do except with better tactics, and he and Joan rushed off to organise a campaign for Rheim.

They did not do this without objections, and serious ones, from the Peace Party but also from military men not suddenly struck by Jones' charisma.

And these men had good reasons to object.

If you happen to be a cold-blooded bastard with a deep understanding of the nature of supply lines and logistical warfare...

who naturally thinks in terms of realpolitik, marching straight for Reims is obviously a really stupid idea.

It means taking an army through English and Burgundian held territory, where their cavalry can harass your lines of communication, your back to the river, where one battle risks encirclement and destruction, overcoming or bypassing a tremendous number of strong English fortifications, including Paris, all for a wholly intangible gain because Reims isn't even a very large city.

Instead they could try to seize key forts, attack Paris and take the capital, go to Normandy to harass the lines of communication of the English, move against the Burgundian capital to break the alliance.

Why are they going to Reims?

Because, according to ancient tradition, kings of France must be crowned in Reims.

The sacred ritual is what establishes that the king is the king, chosen by God.

As the Dauphin, Charles is head of the Armagnac party.

As King Charles VII, he would be King of France, especially since his rival, Henry VI, is a small child, and furthermore, a small child in England, who therefore hasn't been properly crowned yet.

Joan has faith they can overcome the material obstacles and that pulling this off will give them huge spiritual gains.