On the coast, the English flag rustled in the sea breeze. The militia's tents were stationed on the coast of the Isle of Wight. King Harold was building a defensive line around his kingdom here.
Odegar led a group of people down a thick hemp rope from the sea cliff. He was still breathing heavily as he observed the militia's actions.
Leovric, who was following closely behind him, was helping his best friend Tuo Fei to stabilize himself. He frowned as he looked at the soldiers in front of him who were doing nothing. He couldn't help but ask, "Almighty God, Odegar, you're really taking this seriously, huh?"
"They will come once the wind is in their favor. The Normans will come ashore at night. When the sun rises, only ashes will be left here. " Odegar's expression didn't relax. He turned his head to look at Leovric and patiently explained his worries to him.
On a tree not far from them, a shadow three-eyed raven was staring at them with sharp eyes. The other raven had already crossed the English Channel and was heading towards Normandy. It was trying to search for the bastard Duke William's camp near Caen.
In the castle of Caen, William had been issuing a series of policies to support his invasion for the past few months.
Though at first the Normandy people had little faith in the attempt of their lord to conquer the same religion across the sea, and to usurp the throne by murdering a king chosen by the Lord for his people after the rite of anointing him with holy oil, William soon reacted to this by recognizing that he needed a higher degree of authority to support his actions.
Duke William of Normandy and his wife, Duchess Matilda, were devout believers. Although a large part of it was to atone for the couple's actions of marrying each other despite being distant cousins, they still donated and built two majestic monasteries to show their piety.
The good reputation of the religion, coupled with the fact that William sent an envoy to Rome to glorify his invasion, brought enough tributes and had enough justification — that was, fifteen years ago, the former King of England, Edward, had promised to pass the throne to him. Even the current King of England, Harold Gwynedd, had promised to pass the throne to him. Two years ago, when Gwynson was still an Earl, he was captured when a storm blew him from the English Channel to French territory. It was William who rescued Harold and brought him back to Normandy. In Normandy, Harold swore an oath on a religious relic, promising to support William's claim to the throne of England and declaring his allegiance to him. These factors led William's envoy to present the terms of William's claim to the throne of England to Pope Alexander for approval. Pope Alexander nodded and accepted all of William's terms, and even gave the bastard Duke a flag of the Holy See to be carried by his soldiers on the coming battlefield.
Obtaining the support of the Holy See was very important to William. In terms of the legalization of the Holy See, he could be said to have received the will of God to declare his sovereignty over England. Anyone who opposed him was guilty. This gave William a good reason to go to war. It could even be said to be a land war from top to bottom.
And now, William, who was gathering a huge fleet, warhorses and soldiers at Divaux-sur-Mer near Caen, Normandy, had successfully suppressed public opinion with the blessing of God. This made him even more powerful. Everything was bad news for King Harold and the Anglo-Saxons of England. Except for the unusually long northern winds that persisted throughout the end of summer. These strong winds that aided the vikings in their speedy southward voyage became the biggest obstacle for William and his fleet to safely cross the English Channel. He was forced to stand guard at the same spot and sighed. Day after day passed, the winds didn't change like in previous years. The bastard Duke had to consume rations to feed his idle soldiers and warhorses. His encampment was gradually drowning in feces that the men and horses couldn't transport away in time …
On the other side of the strait, the conscription officer and the tall and skinny Leovric saw a similar scene. They even noticed that their new king, Harold, was in love with his most loyal brother, the Count of East Anglia, Goss Leovric. He was strolling along the coastline as though he had nothing to do.
Harold was still oblivious to the threat of the vikings. Although he had been stationed here for quite some time, he and his brother were still focusing their attention on the enemy on the other side of the sea.
Gosse was half a step behind his brother. He gazed at the English Channel and spoke to his brother worriedly, "Anyway, it's just a matter of time."
Harold noticed his brother's frown. He turned to Gosse and asked in a relaxed tone, "Have you heard of how the people of Normandy viewed him?"
"How?" Gosse didn't detect the sarcasm in his brother's tone and asked in puzzlement.
"His enemies called him 'William the Bastard', and the people in Normandy called him the Cobbler. Even the people around Alençon used to hang animal skins on the city walls and slap them to make fun of him. He used to cry because of it." Harold described the well-known information about William to his brother with a gossipy face.
Goss smiled at his brother, and then his expression became serious again. "So he chopped off their hands and feet."
"Hahahaha …" Harold laughed out loud. "Heh heh, but can you blame him?"
Gostin was no longer worried. He took out a piece of bread from his pouch and took a big bite. Looking at his elder brother in front of him, he thought of his first wife, Edith, whom he had abandoned for twenty years in order to strengthen the relationship with the northern nobles that was damaged because of Tosti. He then married the sister of the Earl of Northumbria and Mercia. Her name was also Edith. Gosse said to his brother with a teasing smile, "At least you got a queen. So, two Edith?"
Harold raised one of his eyebrows and snorted proudly.
"Their meeting must be very interesting. Can you let me see it once?" Gosse continued to tease his brother, sister-in-law, and ex-sister-in-law. Harold didn't answer this time. Instead, he reached out and snatched the loaf of bread from his brother's hand.
Gosse, who had his bread snatched away, turned around and looked at the conscripted militia who were rushing to join the defensive line. "But what is this bastard thinking? We can't keep waiting here."
A few days later, the north wind that trapped William and his army in Caen d 'Ivoire sent Harald, the King of Norway. Hadrada was sent to the place where he planned to attack. They had already entered the Us by sea.
At this moment, King William of Harrold, who was on the Isle of Wight, was still unaware of the Vikings' movements. He waited and waited, but the war never broke out. The English King boldly hoped that his kingdom was safe. William, who had already entered the harvest season, couldn't stir up trouble this year because he was facing a huge problem himself. The two months of service provided by his taxes were about to end. William's fierce reputation in Normandy and his rebellious brother, Tosti, had depleted much of his army. Additionally, the English people also needed the help of these soldiers to gather food during the harvest season.
Thus, Harold began to gradually disband his army. He ordered his fleet to return to London and allowed the nobles and their soldiers who had served for a long time to return to their fiefs. Even some of the long-serving militia began to return to their villages to help with the harvest. He himself began to return to London, leaving only a few newly conscripted militia like Leovric and Tolfi and a small number of professional soldiers to guard the Isle of Wight.
Most pitiful of all were the farmers in the north of England who had just arrived. How could they have known that when they had just arrived at the Isle of Wight and were waiting for William, who almost all the Anglo-Saxons thought would not come this year, the Vikings had quietly landed hundreds of miles to the north?
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