Chapter 636 Waiting (Sincere Thanks to Alliance Leader Yong Zhixin)

On the coast, the sea breeze rustled the flag of England, and the militiamen's tents were stationed on the coast of the Isle of Wight, where King Harold built a defense line surrounding his kingdom.

Odega led a group of people to climb down a thick hemp rope from the sea cliff. He was still breathing heavily and looked around at the actions of the militiamen.

Leofric, who was following him closely, helped his best friend Tophi stand firm while frowning at the scene of the soldiers in front of him who were free and doing nothing, and couldn't help but ask: "Almighty Lord, Odgar, you really take it seriously, huh?"

"They will come, once the wind direction is favorable to them. The Normans will take advantage of the night to go ashore, and when dawn comes, there will be only ashes left here." Odegaard 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 other remaining raven had already crossed the English Channel to Normandy and was trying to sail along the sea cliff. Search the coastline for the garrison of the illegitimate Duke William near Caen.

From his castle in Caen, William spent several months issuing a series of policies that would support his plans for invasion.

Although at first the general people in Normandy wanted to conquer their lords across the sea because of religious issues, they tried to usurp the throne by killing a king who had gone through the anointing ceremony and was elected by the Lord for his people. There was no confidence, but William quickly reacted to this by realizing that he needed a higher level of authority to back up his actions.

Duke William of Normandy and his Duchess Matilda were both devout believers. Although a large part of it was to atone for the fact that the couple were distant cousins ​​but still married, they donated and built two majestic monasteries. Show piety.

The good religious reputation coupled with the fact that William brought enough tribute to the envoys sent to Rome to beautify his aggression, and had enough excuses - that is, the former King Edward of England had promised to pass the throne to him fifteen years ago. , and even the current King of England, Harold Gwenson himself, was arrested when a storm blew him from the English Channel to French territory during a voyage when he was an earl two years ago. It was William Harold was rescued and brought back to Normandy, where Harold swore on religious relics, pledged to support William's claim to the throne of England, and pledged allegiance to him—factors that led William's envoys to list William's claims After those terms were submitted to Pope Alexander for decision, the other party approved and accepted all of William's terms, and even gave the illegitimate duke a flag representing the Holy See for his soldiers to take to the upcoming battlefield.

It was really important for William to get the support of the Holy See. In terms of claiming legality, he could be said to be adhering to God's will to declare his sovereignty over England. Anyone who opposed him was guilty. This made William understand Not surprisingly, it can almost be regarded as an up-and-down soil battle.

Now, William, who was gathering a huge fleet, war horses and soldiers at Divoux-sur-Mer near Caen in Normandy, had successfully suppressed public opinion under the blessing of his owner, which made him even more powerful. All was bad news for King Harold and Anglo-Saxon England—except for the unusually long north winds that continued throughout late summer, which helped the Vikings sail south quickly. In order to prevent William himself and his fleet in the south from crossing the English Channel safely, he was forced to stay in place and sigh in despair. Day after day, the wind direction did not change like in previous years. The illegitimate Duke had to consume every day. To feed his idle soldiers and horses, the gathering place has begun to be gradually flooded with excrement produced by people and horses that has no time to transport away...

On the other side of the strait, the recruiting officer and the tall and lanky Leofric saw a similar scene. They even discovered that their new king Harold was under the influence of his most loyal and close brother Goth, Earl of East Anglia. Accompanied by Gwenson, he was walking along the coastline as if he had nothing to do.

Harold was still unaware of the threat from the Vikings. Although he had been stationed here for a long time, he and his brother still focused their attention on the enemy across the sea.

Goss was half a step behind his brother. He looked at the calm English Channel and said worriedly to his brother in front of him: "Anyway, it's a matter of time."

Seeing his brother's brows tightening, Harold turned back to Goss in a relaxed tone and asked: "Have you heard what people think of him in Normandy?"

"What do you think?" Goss asked in confusion, not noticing the sarcastic tone in his brother's mouth.

"His enemies called him 'William the Bastard', some in Normandy also called him the Stooges, and even the people around Alencon mocked him by hanging animal skins on the walls and slapping them - which once brought him to tears." Ha. Rhodes described William's widely known information to his younger brother with a gossipy face.

After 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 out loud, "Hehe, but can you blame him?"

Gosler finally no longer worried. He took out the bread in his pocket and took a big bite. He looked at his brother in front of him and remembered that he had done something to consolidate the relationship with the northern nobles that was damaged because of Tosti. He abandoned his first wife of twenty years, Edith Swanick, 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.

"Their meeting must be very interesting. Can you let me meet once?" Goss continued to joke about his brother, sister-in-law and ex-sister-in-law - Harold did not answer this time, but directly stretched out his hand and took his brother's hand. He snatched the bitten piece of bread and started eating it.

Goss, who had his bread taken away, turned back and looked at the conscripted militiamen who were continuously coming to join the defense line: "But what does this bastard think? We can't wait here forever."

A few days later, UU看书www.uukanshu.net The north wind that trapped William and his army at Caandivo carried King Harald Hardrada of Norway to the place where he planned to attack. Entered the River Ouse by sea.

At this time, King Harold, who was on the Isle of Wight, still did not know the movements of the Vikings. He waited and waited, but the war never happened. The English king boldly hoped that his kingdom was safe and had entered During the harvest season, William cannot come back to disrupt the situation this year, because he himself is also facing a big trouble. The two months of service that his taxes can provide are almost over, because of William of Normandy's evil reputation and his brother Thos who had previously rebelled against him. Ty had depleted a lot of his army, and the people of England also needed these soldiers to help collect food during the harvest.

Therefore, Harold has begun to gradually disband his troops, ordering his fleet to return to London, and letting the nobles and their soldiers who have served for a long time return to their fiefs first, and even let some militiamen who have served for a long time return to their fiefs. They also began to return to their respective villages to help with the harvest, and he himself began to return to London. Only some newly recruited militia groups like Leofric and Tophi and a small number of professional troops were left to guard the Isle of Wight.

The most pitiful thing is the farmers in northern England who have just arrived. How do they know that when they just arrived on the Isle of Wight and were waiting routinely for William, who almost all Anglo-Saxons thought would not come again this year, Hundreds of miles to the north, the Vikings had quietly landed.