Chapter 636 Waiting (Sincere Thanks to Leader Yong Zhixin)
On the coast, the sea wind rustled the flag of England, and the tents of the militiamen were stationed on the coast of the Isle of Wight, where King Harold built a defense line surrounding his kingdom.
Odegar led a group of people to climb down from the sea cliff along a thick hemp rope. He was still panting and looked around at the actions of the militiamen.
Leofric, who was following him, helped his buddy Tofi to stand firm, while frowning and watching the scenes of soldiers idling freely in front of him, he couldn't help asking: "Oh Almighty Lord, Odegar, you really take it seriously, huh?"
"They will come, once the wind direction is favorable for them. The Normans will take advantage of the night to go ashore, and when it dawns, there will be only a piece of ashes left here." Odegar did not relax, but turned his head to look at Leofri Ke patiently explained his concerns to the other party.
On a tree on the sea cliff not far from them, a shadowy three-eyed raven stared at them sharply, while the remaining one, already flying across the English Channel to Normandy, was trying to follow the Along the coastline, he searched for the garrison of Duke William, the illegitimate son, near Caen.
From his castle in Caen, William had for months issued a series of policies that would underpin his plans for an invasion.
Although at the beginning, the general people of Normandy wanted to conquer the same religion across the sea because of their beliefs, and tried to usurp the throne by killing a king who had passed the anointing ceremony and was elected by the Lord for his people. No confidence, but William quickly reacted to this, realizing that he needed a higher level of power to support his actions.
William, Duke of Normandy, and his Duchess Matilda were devout believers. Although a large part of it was to atone for the behavior of the couple who were distant cousins but still married, they donated to build two majestic abbeys. show piety.
A good religious reputation, coupled with the fact that William sent envoys to Rome to beautify his aggression brought enough tribute, and had enough excuses-that is, fifteen years ago, King Edward of England had promised to pass on his , and even the current king of England, Harold Gwenson himself, was arrested two years ago when he was blown from the English Channel to the French territory by a storm during a voyage when he was still an earl. It was William Rescued Harold and brought him back to Normandy, where Harold swore an oath to a religious relic, promising to support William's claim to the throne of England and swearing allegiance to him - these factors led William's envoys to list William's claims After those terms were submitted to Pope Alexander for final decision, the other party approved and accepted all the terms of William, and even gave the illegitimate duke a flag representing the Holy See, allowing his soldiers to bring it to the upcoming battlefield.
It is really important for William to get the support of the Holy See. From the point of view of claiming legalization, he can be said to be adhering to the will of God to declare his sovereignty over England. Anyone who opposes him is guilty, which makes William Being famous can almost be regarded as an up and down battle.
And now, William, who was gathering a huge fleet, horses, and soldiers at Divaux-sur-Mer near Caen in Normandy, had previously succeeded in suppressing public opinion under the blessing of the owner, which made him even more powerful. All was bad news for King Harold and Anglo-Saxon England—except for the unusually long northerly winds that lasted through the end of summer, which helped the Vikings to sail south quickly. In order to make William himself and his fleet in the south the biggest obstacle when they want to safely cross the English Channel, he can only be forced to stay where he is, looking at the ocean and sighing. Day by day, the wind direction does not change as in previous years. Food and grass to feed his idle soldiers and horses, the gathering place has begun to be gradually flooded by manure and horses that have not had time to transport it away...
On the other side of the strait, the conscription officer and the lanky Leofric saw a similar scene. They even found their new king Harold in the presence of his most loyal and intimate brother, Earl of East Anglia, Goss Accompanied by Ge Wensen, he was walking along the coastline as if he had nothing to do.
Harold is still unaware of the threat from the Vikings, and although he has been stationed here for a long time, he and his brother still focus on the enemy across the sea.
Goss was half a step behind his elder brother. Looking at the normal English Channel, he said to his elder brother in front of him with some worry: "In short, it is still a matter of time."
Harold saw his younger brother frown, and he turned around and asked Goss in a relaxed tone: "Have you heard what people think of him in Normandy?".
"What do you think?" Goss asked suspiciously without noticing the sarcastic tone in his brother's mouth.
"His enemies called him 'William the Bastard', and in Normandy he was called the Cobbler, and even the inhabitants around Alençon used to hang hides on the walls and slap him to mock him—he once cried for it." Haha Rhodes described William's well-known information to his younger brother with a gossipy face.
Hearing this, Goss first smiled along with his brother, and then his expression returned to some seriousness: "So he cut off the hands and feet of those people."
"Hahahaha..." Harold laughed, "Hey, but can you blame him?"
Gosser finally stopped worrying. He took out the bread in his pocket and took a big bite. Looking at his brother in front of him, he remembered what he had done in order to consolidate the relationship with the northern nobles that was damaged by Tosti. Abandoned his first wife Edith Svanic for twenty years, and then married the sister of the Earl of Northumbria and Mercia. Her name was also Edith, so he said to his brother with a smile on his face, "At least you got a queen, so two Ediths?"
Harold raised an eyebrow and hummed slightly proudly.
"It must be interesting to meet them, can you let me meet once?" Goss continued to joke about his brother, sister-in-law and ex-sister-in-law-Harold didn't answer this time, but just reached out and put his brother in his hand. The bitten bread was snatched away and ate.
Goss, who was robbed of his bread, turned his head and looked at the militia conscripts who were constantly coming to join the defense line: "But what does this bastard think, we can't wait here forever."
A few days later the north wind, which had trapped William and his army at Caendivas, sent Harald Hardrada, king of Norway, where he planned to attack, and they had entered the Ouse by sea.
At this time, King Harold on the Isle of Wight still didn't know what the Vikings were doing. He waited and waited, but the war never happened. The King of England boldly hoped that his kingdom was safe and had entered William in the harvest season can't come to disrupt the situation again this year, because he himself is also facing a big trouble, and the two months of service that his tax can provide is about to end, because of William's infamous reputation in Normandy and his younger brother Toss who had previously made trouble against him Dee has consumed a lot of his army, and the people of England also need these soldiers to help collect food during the harvest.
Therefore, Harold has begun to gradually disband his troops, ordered his fleet to return to London, and let the nobles and their soldiers who have served for a long time return to their fiefs first, and even some militiamen who have served for a long time He also began to return to his respective villages to help harvest, and he himself began to return to London. Only some newly recruited militia groups like Leofric and Tofi remained on the Isle of Wight and a small number of professional guards.
And the most pitiful ones are those farmers in the north of England who have just arrived. How do they know that when they just arrived on the Isle of Wight, they routinely waited for William, whom almost all Anglo-Saxons thought would not come again this year, Hundreds of miles to the north, the Vikings had quietly landed.