[Norman Conquest 02] Winter of Discontent (23 page)

“
A t
hird point. Not many men can swim with forty pounds of metal on their back. I know I can’t,” said de Neufmarche. “
It would be r
isky. Damn risky
!
”

“Your call, Lord William,” commented Alan. “You either get to face Bleddyn in battle with no route for retreat
- and i
f the battle goes against us your army
will be
completely
destroyed. Or we can sit quietly here and wait for Bleddyn to make a move.”

FitzOsbern scowled, thumped his fist
angrily
against a wall several times before saying harshly
,
“Cast the dice
!
Let’s
see where they fall
!
Do what you can to chose the best place and get our men across quickly without being seen.”

While the others organised the men, Alan carefully scouted the river, making sure that no special attention was drawn
from the Welsh
. As Bernard de Neufmarche had said there was a place about a mile to the south, around two bends
up
the river, with firm banks on both sides and trees reaching down to the water’s edge. Alan disappeared into the village and raided the blacksmith’s workshop, the water-mill and several fishermen’s cottages. The
soldiers
stayed out of sight at the south side of the village, the men-at-arms stripp
ed
off their armour, roll
ed
it up and carefully mark
ed
their ownership. Sunset was at eight twenty and it was dark in the forest shortly afterwards. They would have an hour and a half before the moon rose and fortunately the night sky was overcast with heavy clouds.

Alan had used his time to prepare his men, who moved to the chosen spot after the scouts had declared it clear
.
Six
men
stripped naked and swam across the narrow river with no weapon but a knife, each
towing
a piece of rope.

The rope on the most downstream side was used to pull a fishing net in
to
place, for the safety of any men who were swept downstream by the gentle current. The other ropes were attached firmly to large oak trees.
Three
were simply to assist men crossing by providing a hand-hold, and two were fastened higher, about ten feet a
bove the ground and wound taut.

The scouts crossed the river using the ropes
and
placing their bowstrings under their hats to keep them dry as they struggled through the cold water
. They
restrung their bows
immediately
when they emerged dripping on the west bank. Alan returned to the east bank, bringing the end of another lighter rope with him, and was stringing a mechanism from one of the ropes when the first of the soldiers arrived. The horsemen dismounted, checked their rolled
-
up armour was firmly tied to their horses and then swam across beside their horses, being pulled along as they held onto the saddle pommel
s
or the horses
’
mane
s
. They patted the shivering horses as they struggled out of the water and then quickly slipped on their armour and girded themselves with their weapons, before rubbing down the horses. The archers were starting to cross on the two rope lines, one ev
ery ten seconds or so. The foot-
soldiers were lining up next to the zip line, their armour and equipment being placed into a large basket hanging from the rope, which was pulled across and then sent back empty.

While the men had been instructed to be quiet and that their lives depended on this, it is impossible to move
500
or more men and
nearly half
as many horses silently. While there was no shouting of instructions and little muttered conversation from the men, except when they emerged from the freezing cold water to stand in their
wet clothes in the night wind,
arrows started to come out of the forest about an hour after
the first soldier had crossed.

The moon could be seen just rising behind the clouds, but cast little light in the forest. FitzOsbern had just crossed and was buckling
on
his armour- his padded gambeson and armour had been sent over on the zip line and so unlike most of his men he was at least dry after he had wiped off the cold water after emerging on the west bank. Alan was surprised that they had been given an hour, but thought that perhaps a part of that time had been taken up by Bleddyn trying to believe the Anglo-Normans had been foolhardy enough to cross the river under his nose. By th
at time
there were over
300
men on the west bank and on fitzOsbern’s instructions they increased the defensive perimeter and began to push through the trees heading north towards the Welsh camp.

It was pitch black beneath the trees in the forest. Away from the river the bowmen of both sides were useless as no target could be seen in the gloom of the forest. The armoured foot-soldiers of the Anglo-Norman force had two advantages as men blundered into each other and used sword and knife at close quarters. Firstly they had the protection of their armour, which the Welsh lacked
. S
econdly the front rank knew that everybody they met ahead of them was an enemy- a knowledge that the Welsh
also
lacked
. W
hen the
Welsh
sought to identify
a
shape looming ahead of them
,
all too often the reply was a blade in the guts. The captured Welsh ponies used in the crossing were
tethered
to trees and left behind as the infantry fought their way north, fighting against both the Welsh and
also
the forest itself as they groped through shrubs, brambles and gorse. The men-at-arms were dismounted and led their horses as they moved behind the screen of infantry. Mounted men are next to useless in a forest, and in the dark
ness
all they were likely to do was hurt themselves by crashing into low-hanging branches
if they mounted
. More and more men slipped across the river.

At the same time the men
at the village
on the east bank
of the river
were doing a good job in keeping the main attention of the Welsh, with loud
shouting and
men and horses hurrying back and forth. Some
Norman
archers approached to the riverbank and began to lob arrows towards the Welsh, who were sufficiently far back not to be hit, but
again this
did act to
fix
their attention
near the bridge
.
At that time a
ll that the Welsh could know was that a force of
infantry
was south of them on the same side of the river and pressing north,
were
very
close
but that no archers or horsemen
had been seen.

At about two in the morning fitzOsbern halted the Anglo-Normans just inside the edge of the forest near the clearing where the main Welsh force was sitting waiting for whatever eventuated. Dawn was due
just before
four and the Anglo-Normans took the opportunity to organise and array themselves, while continuing to receive reinforcements moving north from the river crossing.

Alan was now in full harness, with mail coif and helmet covering his head. Only his thick protective leather gauntlets needed to be pulled on to complete his protection. He was standing next to his charger, Fayne the chestnut stallion he used when he believed that the fierce destrier warhorse Odin was unsuitable. Odin had been left behind in Tendring and at this time of the year would be siring new offspring as the mares would have foaled and now again be in heat.

The sky was still heavily overcast and first light was a little before three
-
thirty. Just as the first tinges of light were appearing in the sky, and just minutes before the Welsh would be able to see the paucity of men on the east bank of the river and realise their danger, fitzOsbern gave a shouted command.
During the wait t
he Anglo-Norman force had been put into rough order in the trees at the e
dge
of the forest. The horsemen
now
walked their charges the few paces necessary to emerge from the forest onto the l
ong and wide
meadow where the Welsh were positioned. The men
mounted and then
sat silently on their horses
,
and o
nly the occasional clink of horse
-
tack or armour or snort of a horse could be heard. There was a whinny as a mare in heat was given a nip by a neighboring stallion. Behind them the infantry were moving up, occasional curses being heard as men blundered into gorse bushes or patches of briar.

The Welshmen had not formed a camp as such. They were experienced raiders and knew better than to set up camp
with
tents, horse-lines and so on
or to
sleep when in close contact with the enemy. Rather, they had lit some cooking fires and sat up most of the night with weapons close at hand, snatching what
light
sleep they could wrapped in their cloaks. Horses were tethered close to their riders.

Shouts of alarm rang out as the Norman horse
men
moved onto the clearing. Alan was pleased to see that the field was used as meadow and wasn’t just lying fallow, so it hadn
’
t been ploughed. It took only moments for the Norman
cavalry
to form line in their troops of ten or a dozen riders. No effort was made to organise
the usual
squadrons
of
25
men
. A
s the infantry struggled out of the forest behind them a horn was sounded, signaling the attack.

Although taken by surprise the Welsh reacted quickly. Those few who had armour had slept in it, if sleep they could. First one, then several, horns blew repeatedly from the Welsh lines. It was a matter of moments for the men to put on their helmets and grab their weapons
-
but moments were a scarce commodity as the Norman
cavalry
approached at a canter. Again, it took less than a minute for the archers to string their bows, which had been left unstrung to protect the bow-string
s
from dew during the night
with
the strings being kept warm and dry
in a pouch next t
o
the archer’s body
, and to grab a sheaf of arrows
-
but again it was time that they could not spare. The Welsh horsemen had left their ponies saddled and near at hand, but it took time even after they had armed themselves to unhobble the horses and swing up into the saddle. Some horses broke loose and ran about, adding to the confusion. Men were shouting and waving arms urgently.

The Normans made no attempt to co-ordinate their attack. To do so would allow the Welsh time to organise. In the face of a disorganised defence there was no
real
need for coordinated attack. They increased speed from a trot to a canter and went to a gallop about
75
paces away from the first of the enemy. At the same time the first of the arrows from the Welsh bowmen began to
strike
.
Welsh s
wordsmen and spearmen were forming knots around small groups of archers. The Welsh horsemen, who had been resting further back from the river, were by now mainly in the saddle. The Welsh had been aligned north-south, facing east towards the river. The attack from the south meant that the Norman charge would be met by less than half the Welshmen.

Alan felt two arrows strike the
wooden laminate
shield that he was holding carefully in front of him, ensuring as much protection as possible. Another passed so close to his cheek he could
both feel and
hear it as it whistled by. Alan had chosen as his first target a group of a
dozen or fifteen infantry, mixed archers, spearmen and swordsmen, who were frantically trying to get themselves into so
me sort of formation.

At twenty paces Alan cast his eyes to the left and then the right, to ensure there was no immediate risk. He could feel and hear the other ten men in his troop thundering alongside
;
the glance that he had made had shown them to be almost knee to knee. He then refocused on his prey, rising slightly
i
n his stirrups and learning forward as he couched his lance-
which was
more like a large spear- and aimed himself at an archer who was drawing his bow and looking slightly to Alan’s left. Before he could loose the arrow Alan’s lance took the man in the throat, nearly ripping his head off as the
momentum pulled the lance free.