So we go to a different plan - I’ll lead the men in a charging run out of the trees and take the Earl and his men in the rear as soon as the Earl begins mounting an attack on the castle walls. Since we’ll be on foot with a couple of miles to run it will take about twenty minutes to get there. That means the wall and the keep will have to be held at least that long – and it’s virtually certain that Trematon can be held that long since we now have more than enough fighting men inside to bleed them on the walls and then sortie and win even without my surprise attack. Of course we have a lot of men in there; my son is in there with my brother.
Alternately what we’ll do if the Earl and his men don’t launch a major attack on the day they arrive is creep out of the trees in the dark like robbers and storm into the Earl’s encampment at dawn. I’ll make that decision when I see where they camp and how they act.
Whatever we do, Thomas and I agree, we must do everything possible to kill Baldwin while he’s outside his own castle and vulnerable. Otherwise we’ll have to lay siege to his castle and his vassals and his relatives and friends, if he has any, might be able to come and relieve him.
In any event, by the time the sun goes down we have decided to hide me and a large force of our men here in the trees – all the men who continued to the north with Martin while I was leading the smaller party into Trematon Castle.
There is another stand of trees closer but it’s too close. The Earl’s men might come across our men when they go out searching for firewood for their cooking fires.
Then we go back to the castle to have dinner with Lady Dorothy and the children. I hope it isn’t roast mutton. I know Lady Dorothy and her tenants have a lot of sheep but I’m getting tired of mutton after five days of eating the archers’ targets.
I’ll ride north in the morning and lead the waiting men to their new positions.
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Early the next morning, after a fine evening of conversation and mutton stew, Thomas and I use Trematon’s two horses to ride north for about an hour to meet Martin and the men who will be our ambush force. They are camping beside a little stream that runs into the River Fal below the ford.
Martin calls the sergeants together as soon as we arrive and I briefly explain the situation as soon as they gather around. Then we lead the men on a march to the woodland where we will be waiting until the Earl arrives with his men.
We reach the woods about noon and Thomas and I immediately begin working with Martin and his sergeants while the men make camp next to the little brook that runs through the trees. The first thing we do is walk out and assemble on the little hill between the trees and Trematon so I can point to landmarks and explain what we are going to do and why.
It is important Martin and his sergeants understand what we’re going to do and why and where we’re going to do it – it will be them and their men I’ll be leading out of the woods to counterattack the Earl’s men. We’ll do it either when they begin their attack the castle or in their camp if they attempt a siege. And Martin and the sergeants and the chosen men who are their seconds certainly need to know what to do and who to follow if Martin or I go down.
“Okay. Everyone listen up. That’s Trematon Castle over there. It’s going to be attacked by the Earl of Cornwall and some of his men in a couple of days. He wants to evict the widow and her two young daughters who live there and add it to his lands that are east of here.”
“And he’s pretty stupid in addition to being greedy. He thinks the castle’s weak and only defended by the woman and a dozen or so of her people of whom not a one is a soldier. He doesn’t know it now has more than a hundred of our men inside its walls.”
“We don’t know how strong a force the Earl will bring or whether he will attack or just try to starve them out. But since he only thinks he’ll only be fighting a dozen or so untrained men it’s likely he’ll attack when he finds out she won’t let him in. Then there will be a fight where we’ll not only outnumber and surprise the bastards but we’ll also be much better trained and more experienced than they are.”
Which is always how it is best to fight. When you’ve got the enemy by the balls, I mean.
“What the Earl also doesn’t know is that a hundred or so of our men, and my son George and his little friends, are already inside the castle under Bishop Thomas’ command. All the rest of us will be waiting here in the woods to fall upon the attackers’ rear. At least that’s the plan. And here’s how we’re going to do it.”
After two hours of explaining and pointing and answering questions I’m losing my voice but I think they get it enough to explain to their men.
“So now we’re going to go back to the men and begin practicing. This afternoon we’ll simulate a charge against a force at the Trematon walls and then early tomorrow morning we’ll move out of our camp in the dark so we can practice an attack against an enemy camp in the dawn’s early light.”
“But before you go back to your men and explain what we’re going to do, you also need to know what to tell them not to do – they are not to allow their men to wander out of our camp or to light fires and show smoke during the day. They are also to be absolute quiet and only talk in whispers when we are forming up for our attack whenever it might be.
“And know this. It is important to the success of our attack that no one is seen by the Earl’s spies or peasants they might chat up. We don’t want to lose any of our men by being stupid. So it’s on every sergeant and chosen man’s head that his men never let themselves be seen and do all their cooking in the middle of the night - so the smoke is all gone by the time the sun comes up.”
“And one more thing when we fight it’s important that every one of your men is wearing his sailors cap and either carrying a bow or a small ship’s shield – it’s the only way the men in the castle will know who is a friend and who is not.”
We really need something so our men can identify each other in the confusion of a battle. Maybe a colored tunic?
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After our session with Martin and his sergeants Thomas rides back to Trematon and I go with Martin to his camp. Starting tonight I will begin sleeping in the woods with them until the Earl and his men show up.
And, of course, Thomas and I are doing a number of other things to provide the Earl and his men with a warm welcome – such as putting out gallopers on his likely route so we’ll know when he is coming and who he is bringing with him. Also, and even though we don’t tell the sergeants because they don’t need to know, we’ve got a dozen or so of the castle’s new men in the empty village and scattered around in the outlying fields posing as shepherds.
The arrogant sonofabitch is not going to sneak up on us and surprise us if I can help it. Not with my son and brother in the castle he isn’t.
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A galloper just arrived on a blown horse after a brief stop at the castle to sound the alarm - the sergeant captaining the messengers reports a force of several hundred men led by the Earl are approaching the river crossing.
Another blown horse? Our horses are really very poor; they have no bottom do they?
The result of his warning at Trematon, the galloper tells me with a big smile when I inquire, is a lot of running around and shouting sergeants.
Several hours later a second galloper arrives – the Earl is taking the footpath towards Trematon - and he’s bringing a little over two hundred of his men with him to deal with the dozen or so men he thinks are inside with Lady Dorothy. They’re carrying many long ladders and he’s at least two days away at the slow speed they’re moving. None of his men split off to go to Falmouth.
It sounds safe enough since they’re at least a day away so I decide to walk in to Trematon with a squad of men. I want to see what’s going on at the castle and talk to Thomas – we don’t want any unnecessary casualties so it’s important for him to remind his men that everyone coming out of the trees will be wearing a sailor’s cap and carrying either a small ship’s shield or a bow. Also I’m tired of ea
ting fire-blackened mutton with the men.
And it’s a good thing I do, walk in I mean. Thomas promises he’ll once again warn every man in the castle not to shoot or stab or drop rocks on our own men.
Then, before I walk back, Thomas and I, and George and his little friends, have a delicious dinner of mutton stew with Lady Dorothy and her girls. She is greatly relieved and thankful when she hears that my son and Thomas will be staying in the castle with her and her children.
And I’m really getting tired of mutton although the bread and onions are very good indeed. Her cheese is very questionable - I have the runs right after we eat. At least I think it’s the cheese.
After dinner I lead my little squad of men back to the woods where we’ll spend the night. I doesn’t look like the Earl and his men will arrive until the day after tomorrow but I want to once again practice our attack on his sleeping camp just as the sun comes up in the morning.
Yesterday morning’s practice attack didn’t go very well and this time we’ll go for another of the likely places where the Earl might pitch his camp.
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We’ve been getting periodic reports from our gallopers as to the location of the Earl and his men. So it is no surprise this afternoon when a disorganized mass of men comes over the little hill to the east and starts down towards the castle.
A few minutes later and here comes a party of mounted men bringing up the rear. Undoubtedly it is the Earl and his knights. He probably called them and their men in from their distant manors even though their harvests are almost certainly not in. Well not all of his knights, of course – I’ve got Sir Percy tucked away with Harold on one of our galleys.
Except for the Earl and his men everything is very quiet and nothing is moving except for some deer nibbling on tree branches as they drift past our camp. From here in the woods I can just make out that the castle gate is closed and the drawbridge over the pond is up. The place looks deserted. And that’s the way it should look because yesterday the sheep and tenant farmers and the castle’s serfs were all moved to the most distant fields and our fake shepherds recalled.
The village looks empty too. It should. It is empty. And the villagers are good half day’s walk on the far side of the castle so they should be safe too. Besides, the Earl wants to own them so he’s not likely to kill them.
Our men seem almost glad to see the Earl and his men. Probably because it means the waiting is over - as every soldier can tell you, it is the waiting before the battle starts that grinds you down because you start thinking of all the terrible things that might happen.
In any event our men are excited and curious. They all start talking and moving towards the edge of the trees to get a better look. A few sharp words from the sergeants moves them back.
We can’t have them doing that – we don’t want to take the chance of being seen and ruining our ambush so that more of our men are hurt before we finish them off, the Earl and his men that is.
The immediate question is what will Baldwin do now - attempt to parley with the castle to see if Dorothy has changed her mind? Pitch a camp and organize an attack? Or charge right in and have a go at the castle? I doubt he’s going to approach for a parley after what befell his stupid brother but you never can be sure with these hereditary lords who come over from France. They’ve got weak blood you know.
Ahh. Well, we’ll soon find out.
As we watch from the tree line we can see Baldwin’s men putting down their loads and beginning to gather around the Earl and the little group of horsemen. At least I think that’s Baldwin; I hope so. And there goes a mounted knight towards the castle with a man running next to him. Then they stop well short of the wall. He must have heard about what happened to the Earl’s brother when he approached the wall.
Now what’s he doing? Of course, I bet the man’s blowing a horn to get the castle’s intention. Well, I’d wager he’s already got it but I suppose the formalities have to be observed. Richard is a stickler for such things but the rumors say John is not.
Hmm. I wonder what he is saying and if Thomas is going to reply. He said he was going to keep the castle totally silent until someone gets careless and comes within crossbow range. It happens, you know. They think you can’t hear them because they are too far away so they come closer. I got a Saracen that way for Lord Edmund. Caught the wind and stuck him in the throat, didn’t I? Probably the best shot I ever made.
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From up here in the castle keep we can see more and more of the Earl’s men gathering. It looks like they are being pushed into some kind of line. And they’re carrying ladders, lots of ladders. Well, it won’t be long now and we’re as ready as we can be. Time for me to go back down on the ramparts to be with the men.
As I wave at Lady Dorothy and start down the narrow winding stone stairs I start wondering once again if Baldwin will lead his men or send them and watch from a distance. Our plan is for my men here in the castle to put up the weakest possible defense needed to keep the Earl’s men out until the Earl himself comes close enough to be pot shot for a poacher’s goose. So we’re going to act as if we are only a few.
That’s only one of the reasons I’m going to be with the men on the ramparts – to make sure everyone stays with the plan and doesn’t reveal himself. Another is to remind them once again that our men who will be coming out of the woods will all be wearing sailors’ caps and carrying either bows or ships shields.
Motivating the men to do the right thing is important. I thought about promising a gold bezant coin to whoever kills the Earl. But I decided not to because then everyone will almost certainly shoot at extreme range in hopes of getting lucky - and that may cause Baldwin to hang back. So I’ve offered five copper coins for each ladder that is pushed away with a man on it and two silver coins for every man who kills an attacker who gets over the castle wall. I’ll be reminding them of that as well.
William is undoubtedly watching and will decide when his men are to attack and hit Baldwin’s army in the rear. But just in case I’ve got a couple of my steadiest men up at one of the tower windows with a flag and a lantern. I’ll have them waved if I need William to launch an immediate attack for any reason.
George and Lady Dorothy and the children are up there too. I’m not taking any chances.
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Things are tense out here in the trees. The mounted knight and his bugler have returned and are talking to the group of mounted men. One of them must be Earl Baldwin. Oh. Now what? Yes. Here they come. But why so few?
A small group of men is moving forward. Of course. They’ve probably been ordered to go forward and see if the castle is as abandoned and undefended as it appears. They are all carrying shields and two or three of them seem to be carrying a ladder.
About ten men cautiously walk up to the lowest spot on Trematon’s north wall and place the ladder against it. A man starts to slowly climb the ladder with his shield up. Then something happens and we watch as the ladder slowly tips over and he falls to the ground waving his arms and dropping his shield. The men at the wall start to run but then they stop and come back.
I bet someone reached out of one of the archers’ slits with one of the Swiss pikes Thomas asked us to bring him and pushed the ladder over. They’ve got a notch between the blade and the staff that is just right to do it.
In a few seconds three or four of the men in the Earl’s advance party are standing around the man who fell and trying to get him on his feet. The rest of the Earl’s men are once again just standing around next to the wall. But no one has his shield up or is acting alarmed particularly alarmed. There must have been no arrows or shouts from the inside.
After a minute or so a rider detaches himself from Baldwin’s party and rides towards the men standing next to the wall. He must be shouting some kind of order for once again the men start putting up the ladder. This time they’re going to try a little further down the wall.
Once again something happens and the ladder falls over wh
en the man on the ladder gets close to the top. And once again the men gather around the fallen man without raising their shields.
At this point the rider trots a little closer. Then he dismounts and walks to the wall. The way he is standing looks like he is shouting something up to the people in the castle.
After a while, he turns back and remounts his horse and slowly trots back to Baldwin. The men by the wall start to follow him. They don’t get very far. The rider turns his head and says something to them over his shoulder as he trots away and they turn and walk back to the wall. The man who went down on the second ladder is still on the ground next to the wall. From here he doesn’t appear to be moving.
There is brief conversation when the rider reaches the party of mounted men and I can make out arms being waved about. Then several of the mounted men wheel away and a few seconds later all Baldwin’s men begin slowly walking toward to the castle walls. The Earl and his little party of mounted men are right behind them. We can see the banners fluttering on their lances as their horses trot forward.
“Get ready but hold fast. It isn’t time yet.” I shout. All along our line of men in the trees the cry is repeated by the sergeants. Almost. Almost.
Baldwin’s men are carrying several dozen or more ladders, maybe a lot more. That’s actually pretty smart because it means there will be more climbers than defenders so that some will be able to get over the wall – if there are only a few defenders as Baldwin apparently believes.
In what seems like only an instant the great mass of the Earl’s men moves forward and gathers below the castle wall. They begin slowly and cautiously climbing the ladders and all of the men on the ladders with shields have them up.
Less than half of the Earl’s men appear to be carrying shields but Thomas’ men must still be waiting – the Earl’s men who aren’t climbing don’t have their shields raised. And once again the ladders begin to go over as the climbers get close to the top.
The Archer's Castle: Exciting medieval novel and historical fiction about an English archer, knights templar, and the crusades during the middle ages in England in feudal times before Thomas Cromwell Page 4