Strozzi to lead the mercenaries, joined Condé in leaving court. Meeting away from court, the leading Protestant nobles minds turned to conspiracy. At a conference at Coligny's chateau, in which Condé, the Coligny brothers, Rochefoucauld and other leading nobles were present Andelot argued strongly for taking military action. Coligny meanwhile championed the path of caution, but was eventually won over by the much larger war party. With a direction agreed, the conference turned to planning specifics, with risings to take place in each baillage, the king to be seized at Meaux and Lorraine to be killed. While the plan would be a better kept secret than Amboise, word would eventually leak out, and the court, having heard of cavalry being assembled in the nearby villages, made a plan to head for Paris in the night quickly. Caught off guard by this sudden withdrawal Condé and Coligny pursued with only a third of the cavalry they had intended to bring, thrice charging at the phalanxes of Swiss that guarded the king as he fled, never able to break their line, forcing them to retreat. The king was safe, if furious in Paris, and the rebels were left with a dilemma of how to proceed. Second War Paris Hoping not to waste the initiative of the attack, Condé decided to starve Paris into submission, hoping he could capture the king in this more involved fashion. The rebels quickly captured several strategic points around Paris from Charenton-le-Pont to Argenteuil to tighten his grip on the capital. Confident in his position, he negotiated with the crown aggressively, demanding the repeal of all taxes established since the time of Louis XII the expulsion of all Italian financiers and the free exercise of religion. The crown was uninterested in these terms, and began assembling its forces in the city to break out. Coligny and La Noue were sent by Condé to intercept recruits from Savoy coming north under the command of Strozzi this would however be a failure and Strozzi would arrive near Paris in October. Meanwhile Condé, not appreciating the increasing danger he was in, sent Coligny's brother Andelot with troops to seize the town of Poissy and Montgomery to take the town of Pontoise. His sieging force thus further weakened Montmorency chose the moment to strike out of Paris. Saint Denis By now Coligny had at least returned to the main body, and at