Bernard Cornwell - The Grail Quest 1 - Harlequin

We fight here,“ the King said again, staring up the slope. He was imagining his army there, seeing it as the French would see it, and he knew his suspicion was right that the lowest part of the ridge, close to Crecy, would be the dangerous ground. That would be his right flank, close under the mill. My son will command on the right,” he said, pointing, and you, William, will be with him.“ I will, sire,” the Earl of Northampton agreed.

And you, my lord, on the left,“ the King said to the Earl of Warwick. We shall make our line two-thirds of the way up the hill with archers in front and on the flanks.”

And you, sire?" the Earl of Warwick asked.

I shall be at the mill," the King said, then urged his horse up the hill. He dismounted two-thirds of the way up the slope and waited for a squire to take the mare's reins, then he began the morning's real work. He paced along the hill, marking places by prodding the turf with his white staff and instructing the lords who accompanied him that their men would be here, or there, and those lords sent men to summon their commanders so that when the army marched to the long green slope they would know where to go.

Bring the banners here,“ the King ordered, and place them where the men are to assemble.”

He kept his army in the three battles that had marched all the way from Normandy. Two, the largest, would make a long, thick line of men-at-arms stretching across the upper reaches of the slope. They'll fight on foot,“ the King ordered, confirming what every man had expected though one or two of the younger lords still groaned for there was more honour to be gained by fighting from horseback. But Edward cared more about victory than honour. He knew only too well that if his men-at-arms were mounted then the fools would make a charge as soon as the French attacked and his battle would degenerate into a brawl at the hill's foot that the French must win because they had the advantage of numbers. But if his men were on foot then they could not make a crazed charge against horsemen, but must wait behind their shields to be attacked. The horses are to be kept at the rear, beyond the ridge,” he com-manded. He himself would command the third and smallest battle on the ridge's summit where it would be a reserve.

You will stay with me, my lord bishop," the King told the Bishop of Durham.

The bishop, armoured from nape to toes and carrying a massive spiked mace, bridled. You'll deny me a chance to break French heads, sire?"

I shall let you weary God with your prayers instead,“ the King said, and his lords laughed. And our archers,” the King went on, will be here, and here, and here.“ He was pacing the turf and ramming the white staff into the grass every few paces. He would cover his line with archers, and mass more at the two flanks. The archers, Edward knew, were his one advantage. Their long, white-fledged arrows would do murder in this place that invited the enemy horsemen into the glorious charge. Here,” he stepped on and gouged the turf again, and here."

You want pits, sire?“ the Earl of Northampton asked. As many as you like, William,” the King said. The archers, once they were gathered in their groups all along the face of the line, would be told to dig pits in the turf some yards down the slope. The pits did not have to be large, just big enough to break a horse's leg if it did not see the hole. Make enough pits and the charge must be slowed and thrown into disarray. And here,“ the King had reached the southern end of the ridge, we'll park some empty wagons. Put half the guns here, and the other half at the other end. And I want more archers here.”

If we've any left," the Earl of Warwick grumbled.

Wagons?" the Earl of Northampton asked.

Can't charge a horse across a line of wagons, William,“ the King said cheerfully, then beckoned his horse forward and, because his plate armour was so heavy, two pages had to half lift and half push him into the saddle. It meant an undignified scramble, but once he was settled in the saddle he looked back along the ridge that was no longer empty, but was dotted with the first banners showing where men would assemble. In an hour or two, he thought, his whole army would be here to lure the French into the archers” arrows. He wiped the earth from the butt of the staff, then spurred his horse towards Crecy. Let's see if there's any food," he said. The first flags fluttered on the empty ridge. The sky pressed grey across distant fields and woods. Rain fell to the north and the wind felt cold. The eastern road, along which the French must come, was deserted still. The priests prayed.

Take pity on us, O Lord, in Thy great mercy, take pity on us. The man who called himself the Harlequin was in the woods on the hill that lay to the east of the ridge that ran between Crecy and Wadicourt. He had left Abbeville in the middle of the night, forcing the sentries to open the northern gate, and he had led his men through the dark with the help of an Abbeville priest who knew the local roads. Then, hidden by beeches, he had watched the King of England ride and walk the far ridge. Now the King was gone, but the green turf was speckled with banners and the first English troops were straggling up from the village. They expect us to fight here," he remarked.

It's as good a place as any," Sir Simon Jekyll observed grumpily. He did not like being roused in the middle of the night. He knew that the strange black-clad man who called himself the Harlequin had offered to be a scout for the French army, but he had not thought that all the Harlequin's followers would be expected to miss their breakfast and grope through a black and empty countryside for six cold hours.

It is a ridiculous place to fight,“ the Harlequin responded. They will line that hill with archers and we will have to ride straight into their points. What we should do is go round their flank.” He pointed to the north.

Tell His Majesty that,“ Sir Simon said spitefully. I doubt he will listen to me.” The Harlequin heard the scorn, but did not rise to it. Not yet. When we have made our name, then he will listen.“ He patted his horse's neck. I have only faced English arrows once, and then it was merely a single archer, but I saw an arrow go clean through a mail coat.”

I've seen an arrow go through two inches of oak," Sir Simon said.

Three inches," Henry Colley added. He, like Sir Simon, might have to face those arrows today, but he was still proud of what English weapons could do.

A dangerous weapon,“ the Harlequin acknowledged, though in an unworried voice. He was ever unworried, always confident, perpetually calm, and that self-control irritated Sir Simon, though he was even more annoyed by the Harlequin's faintly hooded eyes which, he realized, reminded him of Thomas of Hookton. He had the same good looks, but at least Thomas of Hookton was dead, and that was one less archer to face this day. But archers can be beaten,” the Harlequin added.

Sir Simon reflected that the Frenchman had faced one archer in his whole life, yet had already worked out how to beat them. How?"

You told me how,“ the Harlequin reminded Sir Simon. You exhaust their arrows, of course. You send them lesser targets, let them kill peasants, fools and mercenaries for an hour or two, then release your main force. What we shall do,” he turned his horse away, is charge with the second line. It does not matter what orders we receive, we shall wait till the arrows are running out. Who wants to be killed by some dirty peasant? No glory there, Sir Simon." That, Sir Simon acknowledged, was true enough. He followed the Harlequin to the further side of the beech wood where the squires and servants waited with the packhorses. Two messengers were sent back with news of the English dispositions while the rest dismounted and unsaddled their horses. There was time for men and beasts to rest and feed, time to don the battle armour and time for prayer.