Chapter 659 The Third Battle Begins
During the rest of this Black Friday night, the Normans were praying, while the English were fighting on the mainland. In order to restore the morale effect of the failed night attack, King Harold of England let his soldiers drink like crazy all night. liquor.
Harold knew that victory in this battle would boost his prestige, while defeat would mean the destruction of Anglo-Saxon England and his own death.
At the same time, William, who had been camping in Hastings for many days, was fully rested and prepared. He led his soldiers to pray under the holy flag given to him by the Holy See until early morning, "May the Lord grant the most sacred power today to guide Norman." Man conquers evil and brings everlasting peace to this land.”
Victory would make him the richest man and most powerful leader in Europe. In the presence of the Lord, a duke becomes a king.
In 1066, the last and largest of the three battles in England, the Battle of Hastings, was about to break out.
At eight o'clock in the morning on October 14, Norman scouts spotted Harold's army emerging from the woods where they were stationed.
William, Duke of Normandy, thought that after a long wait, he could finally fight Harold to the death - but when he was putting on his armor, the illegitimate prince was a little annoyed to find that the chain armor he had just put on was worn backwards.
William found that the faces of the surrounding vassals once again showed worried expressions about this unknown omen. The Duke of Normandy had already experienced various unfortunate and embarrassing events in this battle, and encountered an abnormally long north before crossing the English Channel. The wind, when he ventured to cross the sea, the originally calm sea suddenly rose into a huge and deadly storm, and more than 300 ships were lost. As soon as he landed in England, he tripped and fell and was chewed in the mud, and now his chainmail armor It was put on backwards again, and the back of the chainmail's neck tightened William's Adam's apple, making him look a little funny.
Of course, these ominous omens would make people in Normandy feel uneasy, but William, who had become accustomed to dealing with such things, ignored the fear of his men and the looks that seemed to be a bit retarded, and began to pretend to be relaxed and look at the surrounding people. The vassal burst into laughter - this either really relieved the tension of his subordinates, or William's subordinates had no choice but to follow their lord's wishes at this time and gave him a step down. In short, the atmosphere was at least as good as The awkward but polite laughter that emanated from the Norman army subsided.
Upon seeing this, William jumped onto his horse neatly and began to give his final encouragement to his troops: "Great Normans! Great Brittany! Great Burgundians! Every believer in the Lord! Today , I will lead you to fight under the banner of the Lord! I will lead you to victory again!"
As soon as they arrived on the battlefield, it was obvious that the Normans were still full of confidence in their leader, and their troops roared impatiently as William spoke.
Harold, who led the troops out of the forest, did not panic when he saw the powerful Norman army in the distance. He had already known the situation here from the soldiers who were familiar with the local terrain. He led the troops Quickly occupying a hill that they had targeted before the battle, they built an airtight shield wall on the slope as always.
This was King Harold of England's declaration of war against William, Archduke of Normandy, and the battle began by occupying the high ground.
The two sides launched a battle line, and the Norman troops gathered at the foot of the mountain. They had three thousand cavalry and a crossbow force that far exceeded the English. The English proudly raised their shields and stood on the hillside to occupy a favorable position, and there happened to be a wet swamp under the hillside. If the Normans wanted to attack them at close range, they had to first cross the swamp and then climb up. The English obviously planned to defend this place and had no intention of leaving. They just challenged the Normans by tapping their shields on the hillside.
At the foot of the mountain, the archers took the lead and lined up neatly, with the Norman infantry holding shields and swords in the middle, while the Norman knights who made the European continent fearful were placed at the end.
Duke William frowned and shook his head, pursed his lips, and showed determination: "The British own the hillside, and I own the Lord."
Behind this hill called Senluck is the Norman reward, which is the fertile soil and green fields of England.
The Normans sang in unison, which was the song of the French heroic epic Roland. Their momentum was astonishing. Under this situation, the English militiamen were a little nervous and the atmosphere was stagnant.
Upon seeing this, Odegaard, one of the captains of the king's guards, took off his helmet and waved it in the air. He said to himself that the troops he led solemnly swore: "I swear in front of the formation..."
Under Odgar's leadership, the morale of other English soldiers was mobilized, and all the English militiamen spontaneously followed him in taking the oath. They neatly recited the Anglo-Saxon Mead Oath - that is, before the war The oath sworn in response to the Normans' Song of Roland: "I will fight with all my strength for my king, wrapped in horse leather. If my king or my master dies in battle, I will follow their example and continue to fight. If anyone sees that I am afraid of death, , escaped before the battle, he should warn me based on the oath I swore in front of my people..."
Mordred, the jarhead knight at the bottom of the mountain, looked at the Englishman on the mountain who was solemnly swearing an oath, and showed a cruel and teasing smile. His expression was like a beast about to pounce on the prey that could not escape. Then, he was full of jealousy. Glancing at the red-haired knight not far away, he gained the appreciation of Archduke William after this reconnaissance operation. The Duke of Normandy asked him to lead a troop in this battle, while he could only serve as his deputy— -Mordred did not rashly declare a complaint to William in this situation. He planned to use the information that the other party secretly released the enemy as a means to threaten the other party.
After the Englishmen swore an oath, the generals like Aiutelefo loudly ordered to the troops they led: "Archers... prepare!"
With their orders, all the archers drew their bows full and faced the English on the mountain.
Arrows flew like rain, jingling at the English camp, inserted into their raised shields, and made a fierce metal collision sound. But there were still a few English militiamen who fell to the ground and rolled down the hillside because of their bad luck. The Normans at the foot of the mountain obviously did not give them a chance to relax and recover. Aiutelefo had ordered the archers to launch a second round of shooting.
The arrows hit the shield like flying hail. Although some English militiamen fell to the ground after being hit by arrows, and the few long-range troops of the English were not enough to effectively fight back against the Normans, the shield wall was solid and stood behind. The team's supplements appeared unscathed.
Even if the Normans did this, they could not drive the English off the hill. Now it is the turn of the ultimate weapon that had given the Normans the greatest honor and made the Norman enemies the most feared. In order to transport it, the Normans There was a huge price to pay at sea.
The war horses lined up in a row, and the knights on them held spears. When Aiutelefo raised his arms again and ordered: "Cavalry, charge!" These knights raised their spears and launched an attack on the English on the mountain. The impact, and the momentum of such galloping horses obviously caused a lot of restlessness among the English militiamen.
"They're coming!" Tofi couldn't help but take two steps back. Even his lips turned white with fear. Apparently there were many Englishmen like him. The English militiamen raised their shields high, trying to resist the trampling of the iron hoofs. The spears of the condescending Normans on horseback penetrated the gaps in the shields and stabbed their bodies fiercely.
The English militiamen screamed in horror, and the injured militiamen crawled on the ground, trying to escape from this hell on earth.
However, with the help of the English's hard work and the terrain, some Norman cavalry who had not fully increased their speed were stabbed by their spears from their horses and fell off their horses.
Next to the battlefield, Allen and Merlin sat on a huge crossbar. This was under the ancient apple tree that Allen had specially found based on the records in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle". This position allowed them to have a comprehensive view of Observed scenes taking place on the battlefield.
Allen cast a Muggle expulsion spell around them. UU Reading www.uukanshu.net Even if a soldier accidentally passed by their area, they would suddenly think that they had deviated from the attack direction ordered by the general and immediately stay away from here. .
Looking at the battle in front of him, Allen, who had experienced it for the first time, couldn't help but sigh. Although the battles in the cold weapon era were not as fast and powerful as modern hot weapons, they were always loud and noisy. Excitement and fear followed, so bloody and cruel.
Despite this, his staff was not idle.
Merlin, who was sitting aside, was watching the war in front of him, trying to find someone he knew. He kept stuffing the pudding that Hufflepuff had put into Alan's pocket into his mouth. After swallowing the pudding in big gulps, He grabbed another piece of fragrant roasted venison sprinkled with spices and bit into it - for a medieval boy whose adoptive father was just a farmer, even if he had such a glorious future, he would not let him Having had the opportunity to taste these delicacies that he had never heard of before, and being buried under the ruins for a long time without eating allowed him to completely let go of the appetite brought to him by the bottomless abyss demon blood in his blood.
Alan glanced at his slightly swollen belly calmly, and suddenly thought of what everyone often sighed: "Oh, Merlin's fattest briefs!" Alan couldn't tell it now, but if it looks like this After eating it, it seems that the exclamation was not groundless.