At the beginning of 1625 all was in readiness; Charles Emmanuel had mobilised his army; a considerable force under the command of Lesdiguières was being collected on the frontier; and the Dutch had promised to send a squadron to the Mediterranean to assist in the blockade of Genoa. Suddenly, to the astonishment and indignation of Richelieu, and, indeed, of all patriotic Frenchmen, came the news of a fresh Huguenot insurrection. The Rochellois, angry and alarmed that their repeated demands for the destruction of Fort Saint-Louis, the bugbear of their town, had had no effect, had imagined the moment favourable to secure by a recourse to arms what they despaired of obtaining by any other means. They had appealed to Rohan and Soubise, and the two brothers had been so blind to the interests both of their country and their faith as to agree to co-operate with them. On January 17, Soubise, in command of a number of vessels fitted out by the Rochellois, seized the Île de Ré, and captured in the harbour of Blavet, on the Breton coast, seven royal vessels which lay there, after which he laid siege to the fort which commanded the place. On the news of Soubise’s proceedings, the Duc de Vendôme, governor of Brittany, had raised all the noblesse of the province and what infantry he could muster to oppose him; but a report reached the King that Vendôme was actually in league with Soubise and the Rochellois, and that they had attacked Blavet at his instigation, and with the intention of handing it over to him. Upon this Louis XIII despatched Bassompierre to Brittany, with full powers to take what action he considered necessary against Vendôme, in the event of this information being correct. The marshal left Paris on January 28 and proceeded to Angers, where he gave orders that a regiment which was in garrison there should follow him to Brittany so soon as possible, with four pieces of cannon. He then went to Nantes, where he arranged with the governor to furnish him with as many men as he could raise. On arriving at Hennebon, however, he learned that Soubise had abandoned the siege of the fort at Blavet and sailed away, carrying off with him six of the seven ships which he had seized; the other he had been obliged to abandon, together with one of his own ships, which had been damaged by collision with a jetty at the entrance to the harbour.