For the rest of the night of Black Friday, the Normans were praying. As for the English, they were fighting on their home soil. In order to restore the morale of the English army after the failure of the night raid, King Harold ordered his soldiers to drink like crazy.
Harold knew that a victory in this battle would greatly increase his prestige, while a defeat would mean the destruction of Anglo-Saxon England, and his own death.
At the same time, William, who had set up camp at Hastings for many days, was fully rested. He led his men and prayed under the holy flag bestowed upon him by the Holy See until dawn. "Today, may the Lord grant us the most sacred power to guide the Normans to defeat evil and bring eternal peace to this land."
Victory would make him the richest man in Europe and the most powerful leader. Under the witness of the Lord, a Duke would become a King.
The last of the three battles in England in 1066, the Battle of Hastings, which was also the largest battle, was on the verge of breaking out.
At eight o 'clock in the morning on the 14th of October, the Norman scouts spotted Harold's army emerging from the forest where they were stationed.
William, the Duke of Normandy, thought that after a long wait, he could finally have a battle to the death with Harold – however, when he was putting on his armour, the bastard Duke was somewhat annoyed to find that the chainmail he had just put on was on backwards.
William noticed that the faces of the surrounding vassals were once again filled with worry. The Duke of Normandy had already experienced various unfortunate and embarrassing events in this battle. Before crossing the English Channel, he encountered an abnormal long northerly wind. When he took the risk of forcibly crossing the sea, the originally calm sea was suddenly met with a huge and fatal storm, causing him to lose over 300 ships. Upon landing in England, he tripped and fell. Now, his chainmail was on backwards. The back of the chainmail was strangling William's Adam's apple, making him look somewhat comical.
These various ominous signs naturally caused the Normans to feel uneasy. However, William, who was already used to dealing with such matters, ignored the fear of his men and the looks they gave him as though he was an idiot. Instead, he pretended to be relaxed and laughed at the surrounding vassals – either it was to ease the tension of his men, or it was because William's men had no choice but to comply with their lord's wishes and give him a way out. At any rate, the atmosphere was eased by the awkward yet polite laughter of the Norman army.
Upon seeing this, William nimbly mounted his horse and began to give his troops the final encouragement. "Great Norman! Great Brittany! Great Burgundians! Every believer of the Lord! Today, I will lead you to fight under the banner of the Lord! I will lead you to victory once again! "
Once they were on the battlefield, the Normans were clearly filled with confidence in their leader. Following William's words, their army erupted with impatient roars.
As for Harold, who was leading his troops out of the forest, he did not panic when he saw the imposing aura of the Norman army in the distance. He had long since learned about the situation from the soldiers who were familiar with the local terrain. Leading his troops, he quickly occupied a hill that they had set their eyes on before the battle. As usual, they formed an impenetrable shield wall on the hill.
This was King Harold of England's declaration of war against Duke William of Normandy. He had declared the beginning of the battle by occupying the high ground.
As the two sides began their battle, the Normans gathered their troops at the foot of the hill. They possessed 3,000 cavalrymen and archers that far surpassed the English. As for the English, they raised their shields proudly as they stood on the hill, occupying the geographical advantage. At the foot of the hill was a damp swamp. In order for the Normans to attack them at close range, they would first have to cross the swamp and climb up the hill. The English clearly intended to defend this place and had no intention of leaving. They simply stood on the hill, using their shields to provoke the Normans.
At the foot of the hill, the archers took the lead and lined up in an orderly manner. In the middle were the Norman infantrymen wielding shields and swords. The Norman knights, who were feared throughout the European continent, were placed at the back.
Duke William furrowed his brows and shook his head. He pursed his lips and a look of determination appeared on his face. "The English have the hill, but I have the Lord."
Behind the hill known as Senlac was the reward for the Normans, the fertile lands of England.
The Normans sang in an orderly manner. It was the Song of Roland, a French epic. Their imposing manner was astonishing. Under such circumstances, the English militia became somewhat nervous and the atmosphere became stagnant.
Seeing this, one of the captains of the King's bodyguards, Odegar, took off his helmet and waved it in the air. He solemnly made an oath to the troops he was leading. "I swear before the battle …"
Under the leadership of Odegar, the morale of the rest of the English soldiers was raised. All the English militia spontaneously followed him in swearing an oath. They neatly recited the Anglo-Saxon Meade Oath, the oath made before the great war in response to the Song of Roland of the Normans. "I will fight with all my might for my King. If my King or my Master dies in battle, I will follow their example and continue to fight. If anyone sees that I am a coward and flee before the battle, he shall use the oath I made before my people to warn me …"
At the foot of the hill, the bowl-cut Knight Mordred looked at the English who were solemnly swearing on the hill and revealed a cruel and mocking smile. His expression was like that of a beast about to pounce on a prey that was difficult to escape. Then, he glanced at the red-haired knight not far away with jealousy. He had won the appreciation of Grand Duke William after this scouting operation. The Duke of Normandy had allowed him to lead an army in this battle, while Mordred could only be his deputy. Mordred did not rashly complain to Grand Duke William under such circumstances. He intended to use the information that the other party had secretly let the enemy escape as a means of threatening the other party.
After the English took the oath, the generals like Eutelphor loudly ordered the troops they were leading, "Archers … Ready!"
Following their orders, all the archers drew their bows and aimed at the Englishmen on the hill.
The arrows were like rain as they were shot towards the English camp with tinkling sounds. The arrows pierced into the shields that the English had already raised, producing a fierce sound of metal clashing. However, there were still a few English militiamen who were unlucky enough to be shot in the legs and bodies. They fell to the ground and rolled down the hill. The Normans at the foot of the mountain did not give them a chance to recover. Eutelfo had already ordered the archers to start the second round of shooting.
The arrows rained down on the shields like hail. Although some of the English militia had fallen to the ground, and the English's small number of long-range troops were not enough to effectively retaliate against the Normans, the shield wall was as solid as a wall. With the support of the rear troops, it appeared to be unscathed.
Even though the Normans had done so, they were unable to drive the English off the mountain. Now, it was time for the ultimate weapon, which had once given the Normans the greatest honor and caused their enemies to fear the most, to make its appearance. The Normans had paid a huge price to transport it over the sea.
The warhorses lined up in a row, and the knights on them held spears in their hands. Once again, Ewu Tayloff raised his arm and ordered: "Cavalry, charge!" The knights raised their spears and charged towards the English soldiers on the hill. The momentum of the galloping horses obviously caused the English militia to become restless.
"They're coming!" Toffee could not help but take two steps back. Even his lips had turned pale from fear. Clearly, there were many English soldiers like him. The English militia raised their shields high, wanting to block the trampling of the iron hooves. The Normans riding on the horses looked down from above, piercing through the gaps between the shields and viciously stabbing their bodies.
The English militia let out cries of terror. The injured militia crawled forward on the ground, wanting to escape from this hell on earth.
However, with the help of the English and the terrain, some of the Norman cavalrymen who had not fully raised their speed were pierced by the enemy's spears and fell off their horses.
At the side of the battlefield, Allen and Merlin sat on a huge crossbar. This was under the ancient apple tree that Allen had specially found according to the records of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. This position allowed them to observe the scene of the battlefield from a comprehensive perspective.
Allen had cast a Muggle Banishing Spell around them. Even if there were soldiers who accidentally passed by the area where they were, they would suddenly think that they had deviated from the direction of attack ordered by their general and immediately leave.
Looking at the battle before him, Allen, who was not experiencing it for the first time, could not help but sigh. Although the lethality of the war in the era of cold weapons was not as fast and violent as the modern firearms, it was always bloody and cruel, accompanied by the sound of horns, clamor, excitement and fear.
Even so, his staff was not idle.
Merlin, who was sitting at the side, looked at the battle before him, trying to find someone he knew. At the same time, he kept stuffing the pudding that Hufflepuff had stuffed into Allen's pocket. After gulping down the pudding, he grabbed a piece of roasted venison that was sprinkled with spices and took a big bite – for a medieval boy whose adoptive father was just a farmer, even if there was a glorious future ahead of him, he would not have had the opportunity to taste these delicacies that he had never even heard of before. Being buried under the ruins for a long time without eating, he had now completely opened up the appetite that was brought to him by the Abyss Demon lineage in his blood.
Allen glanced at Merlin's slightly bulging belly without batting an eyelid. Suddenly, he thought of the phrase that everyone often exclaimed: "Oh, Merlin's fattiest briefs!" Allen was still unable to tell. However, if he continued eating like this, it would appear that the exclamation was not groundless.
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