Trench Fight

The Trench Fight is a decisive action sequence in which d'Artagnan, serving in the Guards during the Siege of La Rochelle, is ambushed by two assassins hired by Milady, survives the attack, and extracts a confession that reveals both the depth of her vendetta and the location of Constance Bonacieux.

Background and Setting

By the autumn of 1627, d'Artagnan had arrived in the royal camp before La Rochelle, serving in the company of Monsieur Dessessart. The siege was a major military undertaking, and the young Gascon, though ambitious to join the Musketeers, found himself isolated from his three friends—Athos, Porthos, and Aramis—who were with the king's Musketeers and had not yet arrived at the front. His reflections during this period were troubled. He had made a powerful enemy of Cardinal Richelieu, who had the power to crush him, and an even more personal and dangerous enemy in Milady, whose capacity for vengeance he had already experienced. The only tangible asset he possessed was the queen's diamond ring, worth five or six thousand livres, but this favor from the queen also made him a target. Walking solitarily along a road leading from the camp to the village of Angoutin, d'Artagnan was lost in these somber thoughts when the declining sun revealed the barrel of a musket glittering from behind a hedge.

The Ambush

D'Artagnan's quick eye and prompt understanding told him the musket was not there by chance. He immediately perceived the extremity of a second musket on the opposite side of the road, behind a rock, confirming this was an ambush. The first musket was leveled in his direction, and as its orifice remained motionless, d'Artagnan threw himself to the ground. The gun fired, and a ball whistled over his head. He sprang up instantly, and a second ball from the other musket tore up the gravel on the very spot where he had been lying. Recognizing that courage was out of the question against a prepared ambush, d'Artagnan took to his heels and ran toward the camp with the swiftness for which the young men of his country were renowned. The first assassin, having had time to reload, fired a second shot that struck d'Artagnan's hat, carrying it ten paces from him. He picked up his hat as he ran and arrived at his quarters very pale and out of breath, sitting down to reflect on who might have set the trap.

Investigation and a Second Attack

D'Artagnan considered three possible causes for the ambush: it could be a Rochellais attack, a move by the cardinal, or, most probably, a vengeance of Milady. He examined the hole in his hat and determined the ball was not a standard musket ball but an arquebus ball, which ruled out a regular military ambush. The next day, he remained in his quarters, suspecting the danger was not over. On the following morning, the drums beat to arms as the Duc d'Orléans visited the posts. Monsieur called for volunteers for a dangerous reconnaissance mission to a bastion that the Rochellais had retaken. D'Artagnan immediately stepped forward, and two of his comrades in the Guards and two soldiers joined him. As they advanced through the trench, screened from the bastion, d'Artagnan noticed that the two soldiers had disappeared. When he and his two Guardsmen companions reached a point within sixty paces of the bastion, a volley of a dozen balls came whistling around them. They turned to retreat, but one Guardsman was shot through the breast and fell. As d'Artagnan stooped to help him, two more shots were fired—one struck the wounded guard in the head, and the other flattened itself against a rock within two inches of d'Artagnan.

Confrontation and Confession

Realizing the attack was coming from behind, not from the bastion, d'Artagnan fell upon the body of his comrade as if dead. He quickly saw the heads of the two missing soldiers appear above an abandoned work within thirty paces. They had followed only to assassinate him, hoping his death would be blamed on the enemy. Believing him dead, they approached to make sure, neglecting to reload their guns. When they were within ten paces, d'Artagnan sprang up, sword in hand. One assassin fled toward the bastion, where the Rochellais, mistaking him for an enemy, fired and broke his shoulder. D'Artagnan engaged the other, whose only weapon was a discharged arquebus. The Gascon's sword slipped along the barrel and passed through the assassin's thigh, bringing him down. D'Artagnan placed his sword at the man's throat, and the bandit cried for mercy, offering to tell all. He confessed that a woman named Milady had hired him and his comrade to assassinate d'Artagnan for a hundred louis. He also revealed that his comrade carried a letter from Milady in his pocket.

The Letter and Its Consequences

D'Artagnan, showing both courage and contempt for the coward, went himself to retrieve the letter from the dead assassin's body, carrying the corpse back to the trench as a shield. The letter, unsigned but clearly from Milady, read: "Since you have lost sight of that woman and she is now in safety in the convent, which you should never have allowed her to reach, try, at least, not to miss the man. If you do, you know that my hand stretches far, and that you shall pay very dearly for the hundred louis you have from me." This letter confirmed that Milady was behind the assassination attempt and, more importantly, revealed that Constance Bonacieux was alive and in a convent. D'Artagnan, moved by this discovery, spared the wounded assassin's life a second time, helping him back to the camp. The Guardsman who had fled earlier had reported the death of all four companions, so d'Artagnan's safe return was met with astonishment and delight. The whole army talked of the expedition, and Monsieur paid him compliments. The brave exploit restored some tranquility to d'Artagnan, who believed one of his enemies was dead and the other devoted to his interests, though he did not yet fully understand the relentless nature of Milady's hatred.