by Skye Smith
Hereward collected his bow, quiver, bedroll, food bag, and aleskin from his horse and stood at the southern edge of the clearing with Raynar and Wylie. Osmund went and stood at the eastern edge. The rest of the men jostled with each other and eventually chose south, east, or to stay. Then they swapped themselves around to balance the numbers until everyone was satisfied and everyone was mated.
Raynar stood with his long staff-bow, but Hereward shook his head no. "It is too clumsy for dodging in scrub bushes. Go and fetch your smaller one." The men of the three units waved a farewell to each other, and then two of the units moved out of the copse in their different directions.
Wylie walked with Raynar, ten paces behind Hereward and continued Raynar's skirmishing lessons. "A skirmisher is a unit of one, but most have a good friend close by and they watch out for each other. Ultimately each skirmisher is responsible for himself. He carries what he needs and looks out for himself.
For instance in this unit right now, there are ten sets of eyes watching in all directions. For instance, if we need to run for it, we scatter. Always stay aware of your cover, the cover you are in and the cover you are moving to. Keep spread out. Notice how we are the only two that are close together. That is only because I must whisper to you. Look at the rest of the men, see how they are staggered. If you are part of a skyline, stay still. If you want to move, don't be part of the skyline. "
Hereward spoke over his shoulder that Raynar would need to know the signals and passwords, so Wyle explained the signal calls which all resembled animal calls, and the hand signals which were almost obvious. The password was, "here let me whisper it," followed by any made up password. When Raynar thought about it, the password was ingenious.
Wylie continued before Hereward could make any more suggestions. "Our target of choice is a leader. The more important the leader, the better. Remove the leaders from the battle, and his men usually stop or retreat. If you see a skirmisher taking a shot at a leader, it becomes your duty to protect him so that he can make a good shot. This means that if you are the man aiming at a leader, forget all else and make the shot. You must trust that if any enemy is charging you, they will sprout arrows shot by the other skirmishers."
Hereward spoke over his should again. "Tell him about horsemen."
Wylie began again. "We have no armour, which means we are light. The other name for skirmishers is light infantry. This means that if we are caught in a close fight with a shieldman or a horseman, we die. We fight at a distance, using the bow. We run and dodge to keep that distance. We can easily outrun a man in armour because we are lighter. Water and mud and hillsides and thick bush are our friend because they slow us less than they slow a heavy man.
A horseman, whether armoured or not, can outrun us on open ground. Don't get caught out on open ground if there are horsemen. If you do get caught on open ground, do not run unless you can make cover. Instead, face the horse and use your arrows on the horse. Always deal with the horse first.
When you bring down the horse, then the rider is just another heavy man on foot, and probably injured. If you are facing a horse, you can outmaneuver it, and then you can shoot more arrows. Turn your back on the horse and you will die."
Hereward spoke over his shoulder again. "You see why I am having Wylie train you. He is our youngest and has learned from watching us, yet he has a skill for putting what he sees into simple words."
Raynar already had learned many of these skills from his hunting trips in the Peak Forest. They were staying on animal tracks through bushes and trees as much as possible. The tracks ran along the edge of higher land which sloped down towards the river towards the East.
Hereward suddenly stopped and gave the signal to stop, and then a second signal to hide. No one questioned it. Everyone else was invisible before Raynar found his cover. A mounted troop of Norse was moving quickly through the trees ahead. There must be a cartway ahead.
To the other skirmishers, getting caught or killed was the reality they had been living since the Norse first sent their ships up the Ouse. To Raynar this was a fearful reminder of his new reality, and he suddenly needed to take a dump, and he did so while squatting in his cover. He heard Wylie whisper, "Pee-yew, it's a good thing the Norse are down wind, else they would be charging at us by now."
It was not a cartway, it was the Roman street. They had come to the street at its last high point before it sloped down to the river and therefore, to the ford. They stayed in deep cover. They knew the river was close. They could hear a mix of many dull sounds like when you approach a town. They could smell smoke and could see clouds of it down the road, like mist.
They left two men in the bushes beside the street to spy and make note of the type and volume of traffic on the street. Four other skulked along the street towards York, and four skulked along the street down towards Stamford. Hereward and Raynar were for Stamford. They were all to meet back at this point in a half an hour.
Long ago someone, probably the Romans, had dug a cut in the ridge and used what they dug as fill and the effect was that the roadbed was much more gradual a decent than the natural hillside. Raynar had good cover but it was lower than the road most of the time and he could not see the other side of the street. Though they were dropping towards the river, there was no damp ground or sloping soil. Instead the bedrock was laid in slabs and it created gigantic natural steps down the slope.
Hereward’s signal stopped him still. Then he signaled them all forward to talk. "We can go no further this way. The place is swarming with Norse. They are using the ford as a bloody bath house," he whispered. "There are no trees that are safe to climb, without being seen. Stay here, I am going forward on my belly."
He was back in five minutes, brushing his clothes, and picking thorns from his hands and forearms. "We are out of here. The whole fucking army is there. Go back." he whispered.
They got back to the two who were counting traffic about the same time as the others, and everyone shared what they had seen so that they would all know.
"There is nearly no traffic. Just a few mounted patrols."
"We saw no watch. Not on the street and not on the ridge above the street."
"The street towards York is near empty, there are no camps, and no scouting parties. "
"The main army is at the ford, camped on both sides"
"The ford is the place where the river comes down from higher land into the lower plains"
"Ridges of the valley on each side continue for a mile down stream."
"The street dips down to cross ford and then climbs up again."
"The ford is a natural weir"
"There is no view close to the ford because the valley narrows."
Hereward asked some questions and then said. "You say there is no watch. Then I am crossing the street, to see the view from the valley's ridge. You four, go back to the horses and get a message away. You four, stay here in case we need help back across the street. Raynar, you are with me. You must mark the valley to your memory so that you can draw a map of it for the Earls."
Raynar crawled through the bushes towards the street nose to toe after Hereward. He was motioning towards York. There was a bend in the street where it started dropping down from the ridge. A crossing there would not be seen from either direction. The ridge had long grass and low bushes. They kept low, sometimes on all fours, all the way up the ridge. They stayed off the skyline until they were an eighth of mile south of the street. Then they crawled up to the last edge of the ridge and carefully raised their heads up to look over and down into the valley.
The land sloped down away from them to the river. Across the river it sloped up again. The Norse camp was spread out below them. Most of the camp was on the other side, the east side, just south of the ford. About a quarter was on this side by the ford. The ford was a place where the slabs of bedrock made giant steps down the river bed. The last giant step was a natural ford.
There were few on watch. Most were relaxing in the sun or bathin
g in the river. On the other side of the ford, above the street , there were men lying in whatever shade they could find. They could have been the wounded from the battle at Fulford. If so then there were a lot of wounded. There were lines of men with buckets walking continuously between the river above the ford and the camp, which meant that the water must be sweet and safe to drink above the ford.
There was no sign that they had fortified the camp. There was a small hill on the other bank and to the south that would have made a good fort, but there was not even a watch camped on it. Between the main camp and that hill there were men roped together and under guard. They must be hostages or slaves. Closer to the main camp there were rows of women held by ropes, each rope attached to a stake in the ground. Men were lined up to take their turns with them. Other women were at the river with the men, but again the men were waiting their turns.
Raynar clenched his fists and was going to say something, but was hushed by Hereward. "It is always thus when women are caught by army scavengers, and that will never change. When an army passes through the land, the food is taken and women are raped. If it is your army, no one is killed. If it is the other army, there are deaths. No one burns the crops or the roofs because the armies want the folk to survive for the next time they need food and women."
Raynar looked south. There were no boats in sight but there were carts on a track on the other side of the river. "Look, a quarter mile south. See there, a cart heading for the river. There must be another ford. Let's get a closer look."
They dropped back down from the skyline and scrambled along the York side of the ridge. When they stopped, and looked again, they were just above the cart. The Norse were pulling logs across some old stone foundations. They were repairing a bridge. "Squint your eyes," whispered Raynar, "and look at the land on the other side, below the hill, but don't look at the grass and bush. See, you can make out a pattern of squares. There used to be houses there. Stone houses. Square houses, and a lot of them. In ancient times, it must have been a town with a stone bridge."
Hereward stared and then saw. " The bridge gives the Norse another way to York, and another way to the Ouse south of York, and a shorter way to their ships. Come. We go. The Earls must be told of this bridge."
They were back at the horses before sunset, and sent off two more messengers. Two men from the other unit had already returned and were already on their way to the army with their news. The camp men told Hereward what those men had said.
The street to the east of Stamford was not visible from Stamford. There was almost no traffic on it, only the occasional bands of foragers. It did not seem to be watched. The rest of the unit had crossed the street to see if they could spy on the river.
Those men arrived back at the camp before dark. They were still damp from swimming the river when they reported to Hereward. Osmund made the report. They had been on the hill to the south of the camp. There was no watch. "Unbelievable," was Osmund's comment.
From the hill you could watch down the valley and up to the ford, but you could not see the street, and you could not see over the ridge on the York side of the valley. They described the valley much has Raynar had seen, and they also had watched the bridge construction. It had been completed and carts tested it while they watched. They also gave a count of the women, and were envious of that the Norse were getting fucked.
Hereward asked a few questions and then stood and said, "Raynar, with me. We will be the last two messengers. The rest of you, Osmund is in charge. Your mission is complete, and with no casualties. Wait until first light and then ride to York and find the army."
Hereward and Raynar rode slowly in the dark. They did not head towards the north of York, but directly towards the lights of York. They even used a main cartway from the north east. They circled south of York and rejoined the highway to Tatecastre. By the time they reached it, they were so exhausted that they were dozing in the saddles and trusting the horses to keep moving.
The English had not broken camp yet. The Marquee was still lit though most of the army slept.
It felt good to walk and to stretch every joint and muscle as they walked up the rise to the big tent. This time there was a watch, and they had to be announced and wait for permission to pass the guard. As they ducked under the flap, three knights were leaving. A kitchen boy handed them a mug of ale each, and then they were noticed by Edwin.
Hereward greeted his lord in a soft, tired voice and added, "Raynar needs a scribe, for he has a map to draw while it is fresh in his mind." Hereward went forward to the planning table, while Raynar was led by a scribe to a well lit writing table. As Raynar drew on paper at one table, Hereward at the other table was making a model of the same thing, using anything that came to hand, and explaining the lay of the valley as he made it.
Raynar finished his large scale map of the Stamford valley, and explained it to the scribe. "They will need at least six copies," he said. He walked to the back bench and looked over the leavings of food. He ripped a chunk of ham from a leg and refilled his mug with ale. There was no room for him around Hereward’s model, as lords and ship,s captains had been sent for and the tent was filling rapidly. Once Hereward’s report was finished, there was a flood of questions.
"How long is that hill, how high, how steep?"
"How wide is the river at the bridge, at the ford?"
"What was the drumstick again, and the salt cellar?"
Hereward was kept busy answering.
Finally King Harold raised his hand and the voices started breaking off, and the chatter went to quiet.
"So Hereward, the most important news you bring us is that their main force is at Stamford having a holiday, and they have many wounded from the battle at Fulford. Small groups are out foraging. Morcar's boatmen have told us that there are a few thousand men still with the ships. Were I Harald I would be doing much the same thing, except I would have fortified that hill above the bridge and have watchers on all approaches.
So let me summarize Hereward's plan to ensure I understand the reasoning, and for the benefit of those just arriving.
He paused while a last few men straggled in, and then continued.
"Regarding Stamford, you are saying that we can march the main force past York using the highways and directly to Stamford using the Roman street. The main force should have scouts in front of them to kill any Norse patrols or watchers. Once the army reaches the last ridge before the valley, a quarter of them should break off and head south a mile to sweep across the new bridge and up to the high ground and then keep them from the Norse.
Meanwhile, I should be with the main force and make my headquarters on the ridge on this side of the river. Nobody is to be seen until the main force is attacking the ford. The main force attacks down the street, which draws their main force on both sides of the river North towards the ford so that the smaller force can capture the bridge and the high ground. Once we control the bridge and the high ground we can crush them between us.
Meanwhile, we need mounted scouting parties in place to block all trails and cartways on both sides of the Derwent about five miles south of the bridge. They must block those trails before the Norse see my army approaching, because their purpose is to capture the messengers sent with news of the attack before they can reach the Norse fleet at Riccall."
Harold looked around to make sure everyone was still attentive. Only one of the men looked to be nodding off, and straightened up with a nudge from his neighbour. Harold glared, cleared his throat, and went on.
"Once they have all trails covered they can press north towards Stamford. Once they can see the battle, they must allow any captured messengers to accidentally escape and be on their way, late, to Riccall.
Meanwhile Morcar's men and ships must be ready to attack the Norse ships at Riccall. They should not show themselves, however, until the Norse on the ships send reinforcements to Stamford. Once the reinforcements are well gone, then they will attack and capture or burn the Norse ships."
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br /> A voice spoke "Sire, with your permission. What if the messengers are all killed and none captured. How will Riccall know that Stamford is under attack?"
"Good question. We are only stopping the early messengers. Later, once the battle becomes fearful, there will be so many volunteer messengers doing a runner, that many will reach the ships. The Norse reinforcements will start out too late to turn the battle at Stamford, and just in time to lose the battle at Riccall," Hereward replied.
"Did I miss anything else, Hereward?" The king looked at him. "No? Good then, thank you. Your scouting party must be split between our forces to act as guides. Now go and get some rest while we old men work out the details."
"You missed the hostages." A voice spoke from the back bench. The men in front of Raynar grumbled at the absence of protocol in the words, but moved apart so that the king could see who had spoken. "There are men and women hostages between the ford and the hill, sir. The force that takes the hill should also free them and march them up the hill to stand behind them. Otherwise they will be caught in the slaughter between two armies."