There were going to be few clear shots from this position, so there would not be sixty dead Normans, but perhaps a few would be killed and some wounded. Philip paused for the right moment to give the order to fire. They did not want to be silent once they fired because their presence must be known by the Normans. As the third volley of arrows came into the Norman camp from the English army, the time was near. The volleys had done almost no harm. The Norman archers were wisely picking up the arrows and a few were being aimed back at the English. The Normans were in a good position and they seemed prepared to defend that position. It was clear that they had no intention of charging the English force.
A dozen or more knights gathered on this side of the army to talk, probably about what needed to be done. There were great motions of their arms; helmets were removed so they could talk better. Philip trotted along the line of archers pointing to the group of knights. Then he went back to a center position as they all watched him. He notched an arrow, pulled, and let fly. The largest of the knights jerked a hand to his throat that had an arrow shaft completely through it. In the seconds that it took the others to comprehend what had happened, every knight in the group had been killed or injured by one or more arrows.
The archers turned to see Philip with another arrow in his hand. They too notched an arrow, as they all turned to look at the Norman camp. A row of soldiers was coming their way. Thirty arrows flew. There was a great sag in the line of soldiers as the long bows drove their arrows right through the thin chain mail of the soldiers. The archers did not see it all, nor did anyone count how many soldiers were down. The squads turned and trotted back across the fields. A few arrows were lighting in the field around them, but no one was hit.
Before they were half way back to the safety of the far hedge, three horses broke through the hedge and thundered toward them. The huge horses were moving fast for their bulk, and the power they brought could wipe out most of the archers. "Eighth squad, hold, turn, and prepare to fire. Other squads continue to the hedge." Following Philip's lead, the eighth squad formed a line, knelt on one knee and waited for orders. "Alan, Richard, Ward, and Jack, you aim for the horses as they approach. The rest of us will try to penetrate the chain mail of the knights. Ready your arrows. Fire at will."
It seemed a terrible thing to try to wound horses, but they were the vehicles of the knights, and survival was the desire here. The lead horse went down. The knight was thrown clear, and probably was not injured. Philip thought about chain mail, and tried for an impossible shot. As the knight approached, he raised his sword arm, and the area under his arm was not as well protected. Philip missed with the first arrow, but the second was notched with a speed that no one in the army could match, and it was buried a foot deep in the chest of the knight with only ten feet to spare. "Waldo, grab the horse so we can take it with us." "I've got it," Orm, the poor shooting archer volunteered.
Philip had been too busy to see what was happening with the third knight, but he turned to see the second horse down, and a very crumpled knight. Richard yelled, "the horse rolled over him, what should I do?" Jack did not wait for an answer. When the knight moved a bit, Jack buried his ax in his neck.
The first knight that had been thrown free of his horse was not as easy to deal with. He seemed to have no fear of ten archers even if several of them were also armed with axes. Philip knew that it was not their job to fight a knight, but he could not face up to retreating with his nine men from one other man. "Ward, bring me the shield of the knight that Jack killed." Armed with shield and sword, Philip held his ground to meet the knight as the rest of the squad squirmed through the hedge to find themselves in the midst of the rest of the company which had moved forward to meet them.
The knight expected to easily take care of this silly archer who presumed to fight a knight with a sword. Philip ran all of the advice from Sir Salter through his mind. The knight moved in with moderately heavy blows to Philip's shield and he probably expected them to bowl Philip over. Being without armor, as were all of the archers, Philip could move much more quickly than the knight. After an especially fierce series of blows from the knight, Philip feigned falling backward, and the overly anxious knight lumbered ahead too quickly. Philip stepped around to the knights exposed left side and thrust the sword at the knight's neck. Another weak point was discovered. Blood poured down his shoulder. With his life ebbing away with each heartbeat, the knight still continued to hammer against Philip's shield. The shield of the knight sagged and dropped to the ground. The knight toppled over onto his face. "Someone take his sword, we must get back through the hedge." But that was not too important, because there was nor further pursuit and the company waited in case foolish Norman soldiers tried to come through. There were however observers along the far hedge, and they no doubt had decided that there was a much larger force hidden in this direction. The eighth squad had made it back from another assignment without a loss.
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