Henry II (The Anarchy Book 13)

by Griff Hosker

  “When do we ride, lord?”

  “I will speak with the Duke but the morrow would seem appropriate.” They nodded, bowed and left. I turned to James. “Make sure that Albert is still stabled here. I would have him with me.”

  This time I did return to the Great Hall. Places had been saved for myself, Sir Richard and Dick, at the high table. My seat, I could see, was next to the Queen.

  As I entered Henry stood, “I should chastise you, Earl, for you have kept me and my bride to be waiting. But as you have saved the most valuable jewel in Christendom you are forgiven.”

  “My apologies, Duke, I would not offend you and your lady for the world.” As I strode towards them I saw the relief on Eleanor’s face that I had not used her title of Queen. She had spoken with the Archbishop. That part of her life was over. She would not wish to be reminded of it.

  “Where are your knights, Earl?”

  “They have an errand to run for me. Do not wait for them. They are both warriors.” I saw some of the knights flush at the implied insult. I cared not. A real warrior was always prepared and these, patently, were not.

  I sat and Henry leaned over, his face serious. He too knew me well. “Where are they, Earl?”

  We both spoke over Eleanor and I kept my words low. “Since we returned I have given thought to the enemy and his plans. I believe they will try to draw us south by attacking Angers and thereby gaining Aquitaine.”

  “But you do not believe that will be their real attack?”

  “No lord. The attack on Angers will be your brother and the Count of Champagne. King Louis will join with his Flemish allies and they will attack from the north.”

  The servants brought in the centre piece and laid it before Henry. It was a swan stuffed with a goose, a hen and a partridge. There was applause and our conversation ended as the servant handed Henry the knife to cut the first slice for Eleanor.

  As I sat back Eleanor leaned to whisper in my ear. Her perfume reminded me of Matilda. It made me wistful. “You should know Alfraed, that I have given Aquitaine to my husband to be. We are to be married on the morrow.”

  “A generous gift.”

  “It is the mark of my love for him. I never gave it to Louis no matter how often he begged for it.”

  “Then that makes my journey south even more important.”

  “You would travel to Angers?”

  “Henry must stay here and he must defeat Louis. I believe he can do it. I must help his brother.”

  “You are a rock, Earl. Henry is lucky to have you watching over him. You are like a father to him.” I nodded. “I will tell him what you plan.” She gestured with her head. “Our whispered conversations are attracting attention.”

  I saw that many of those present, were watching us rather than the Duke. “And he is lucky to have you, lady. I think that you will make this cub into a lion.”

  “You have begun the process Earl, let us see if I can finish it.”

  Chapter 15

  People said that Duke Henry and Eleanor of Aquitaine were married in secret because they feared the wrath of Louis the Younger. That was not true. It was not in secret but it was hasty. That led to the rumours of secrecy. The cathedral was filled with the knights who lived close by and their families. Dignitaries, churchmen, the Empress Matilda, all were present to hear the vows and the announcement of Eleanor’s gift. It announced to the world that this marriage was her choice and nothing was being forced upon her.

  Despite the pleas for me to stay, Henry knew that I could not. We had spoken, at the end of the feast, of my plans and my suggestion for his strategy. I also spoke to him of my fears for England. Stephen of Blois was part of this conspiracy and alliance against Henry. Knowing I was in Normandy would mean he could move again against Wallingford and Henry dared not leave Normandy until the threat to his lands was gone. The fate of England lay on a knife edge. I led my men and a conroi of two Norman knights and twenty men at arms south. Henry had tried to press more men upon me but I had told him that he would need them. My four wounded men had insisted upon coming too. It was a small battle I led south but I knew, with Henry’s authority behind me, that I would rouse the men of Anjou, Poitou and Maine. I would face this foe whenever he came.

  I used the men at arms from Sir Phillippe and Sir Guillaume to ride ahead of us and summon the knights of Poitou and Maine to meet with me at Le Mans. Sir Leofric would already have my message and he would be travelling to Angers to fetch William and the men of Anjou north. His scouts would already be heading east to find the army which would be coming.

  As we rode south I spoke with my knights and explained to them my thinking. “The key is Blois. Henry of Blois made peace with Geoffrey of Anjou but the Count is dead. He has sworn no oath to Henry. He is not, ostensibly, part of this alliance but I believe he will allow Charles of Champagne and the Count of Nantes to come through his lands. I intend to march towards his citadel of Blois and wait at the border.”

  Sir Phillippe said, “I know not the land of Champagne and Blois, lord. Do you?”

  “I fought there under the banner of King Henry. I know it and I know Henry, Count of Blois. He is a shadow of his brother. He will hang on to the cloak of the others and hope to pick up scraps from the table. The real danger lies in Charles of Champagne for he is a clever man. He is devious and he will try to trick us. We saw that at the tourney. As for Geoffrey, Count of Nantes, he is arrogant and he thinks that he is a better leader than his brother. He is not. I hope to use that arrogance to great effect on the field of battle.”

  Duke Henry’s authority afforded me the finest chambers in the castle at Le Mans. I told the seneschal there, Robert de Ferrier, that I would not need them for long.

  “I need every knight, baron, banneret and man at arms to gather here. We leave as soon as we discover where the threat lies.”

  “Aye lord. We will be ready.”

  I threw myself into the tedious, but necessary task of working out how many men we could field and how we could supply them. Jean of La Flèche and my other men returned three days later. They were weary having been in the saddle for most of that time. Had they not taken a change of horse then they would not have managed it. “My lord, Sir Leofric brings the men from the south. He suggests meeting at the Chateau Renault. It is close to the town of Blois and he told me that he suspects that is the road an invading army would use.”

  “He has sent out his scouts?”

  “They left while I was there. We rode to visit Angers. He was keen to inform the Duke’s brother William, of your command.”

  I frowned, “He did not say ‘command’ did he?”

  “Sorry lord, no he did not. That is the bluff soldier in me speaking. He suggested that we should all meet and discuss our plans to safeguard the County of Anjou.”

  “Good.” Leofric had always been the cleverest of my squires. He knew how to speak to the high and the mighty as well as peasants. I turned to Sir Richard. “Tell the seneschal that we leave on the morrow for Chateau Renault.”

  “Aye lord.”

  “Dick, take your archers and ride to Chateau Renault. I want the hall there commandeering and then have your men scout the borderlands.”

  “I will lord.” He smiled, “It does not seem that long ago we did the same journey with the Earl of Gloucester, Rolf and his Swabians.”

  “Aye, the bones of many of our comrades lie twixt here and there.”

  We only had fifty miles to travel. We made it in one day. Although it was called Chateau-Renault the castle had long since been pulled down. Built by the Counts of Blois to protect its western borders it had become part of Count Fulk’s Anjou. It was still, however, defensible should we need. The arrival of such a large number of men would severely stretch the resources of the small town. The first thing that we would need to do would be to gather in as many animals as we could. Dick had done as I had asked and my standard now flew from the one remaining tower of the original castle.

  He strode to me
et me. “I have sent scouts out and I have some of my men hunting. There was little food to be found when I arrived.”

  “A day or two on short rations will not hurt, Dick, but you did the right thing.”

  Dick frowned, “If your enemies knew that you were here with so few men, lord, then you would be a tempting target.”

  “Let us hope that they think we are still in Rouen celebrating the marriage.”

  The lord of the manor was not pleased to be ousted from his home. He was not a warrior. I suspected he had been rewarded with such an indefensible castle because of his lack of martial skills. I smiled, “I pray you take your wife to La Flèche. It is my manor and I can assure you that you will be more comfortable until this little incident is over.”

  He brightened at that. “That is very kind of you, Earl. I did not expect such charity. You have a fearsome reputation.”

  “Now that you have met me you can dispel such rumours. Wilfred, have two of my men escort these good people to La Flèche.” He nodded. I added, a little more quietly. “And have them bring more arrows from the armoury. We shall need them.”

  Sir Leofric and William FitzEmpress arrived the next day. They had over a hundred and fifty knights with them as well as three hundred men at arms. More importantly they brought Leofric’s fifty archers. They doubled the number of bowmen and I was relieved.

  Leofric and William were pleased to see me but the Duke’s brother was disappointed at the lack of numbers.

  “Why did my brother not send more knights, Warlord?”

  “Because I told him we did not need them. The attack, which I believe will come from the east, is aimed at ousting you and drawing me and the bulk of your brother’s army south. If we fell into that trap, then Rouen would fall and we would lose the war. As soon as I know the size of their army I will be able to devise a strategy to defeat them. For the moment, we rest and we prepare.”

  “And do we raise the levy?”

  “No, William, for it is spring and the men you would use need to be in the fields.”

  “But the enemy may bring huge numbers from their levy! We will be outnumbered!”

  “We will be outnumbered no matter what but I would be happy if the extra numbers were the levy. Sir Richard, show the Viscount to his quarters eh?”

  After he had gone Leofric said, “He is just worried about letting his brother down. He was shocked to hear of Geoffrey’s treachery.”

  I took Leofric to one side. I needed to speak alone with him. “The boy has a good heart but he is just that, a boy. His brother knows he cannot command. Take him under your wing and regard him as a squire.”

  “As you did with Henry.”

  “Exactly. If we are successful here and in the north, then I will be returning to England. I fear that Stephen will take advantage of my absence to cause even more mischief. When I am gone, Henry would like you to be his brother’s adviser.” He nodded. “I would have you be a forceful adviser. Mistakes here could cause ripples which reach England. You are now Angevin but your heart is English.”

  “I know, lord. I will do as you ask although it is not in my nature to tell a lord what to do.”

  “War changes every man’s nature.”

  The scouts came back over the next few days. My guess had been a good one. The enemy were gathering at Blois. There were men from Champagne and Blois as well as a mercenary band commanded by the Count of Nantes.

  “Numbers?”

  Aelric was a good scout. He took out a tally stick he had used. He moved his fingers down it as he listed each group. “Blois: there were fifty knights and bannerets. I counted a hundred men at arms and I think there were forty crossbows. It was harder to count them. The Count of Blois has light horse like the Welsh hobelars too. There were fifty of those and they were led by a knight. I think they were Breton.”

  I turned to Dick. “They could cause a problem for our archers.”

  “If we know about them then they will not cause us trouble. If they suddenly appeared, then they might.”

  I nodded and gestured for Aelric to continue.

  “The men of Champagne were the largest contingent, lord. The Count had many knights, barons, earls and bannerets. I counted the standards of two hundred. He also had two hundred men at arms. Half of them wore full mail. He had a hundred crossbowmen. They were mercenaries. He has also brought his levy. There were three hundred of those.”

  “Did Blois have the levy?”

  “There were men without armour and arms but there did not appear to be many of them.”

  “And the Duke’s brother?”

  “He had the smallest number. There were just thirty knights. Some were Norman. I recognised their shields. A hundred men at arms who were mercenaries were there too. They wore a variety of armour. I think some were Swabians. Some looked to be from the east. They kept in their own groups.”

  “We might be able to use that.”

  “And he had just twenty crossbows and twenty archers. The archers were from Anjou. One of them I recognised. Griff of Gwent trained him at La Flèche but he proved to be a disturbing influence and Griff let him go.”

  I had been writing down the numbers as he had listed them. “We will be outnumbered. He also has more crossbows and archers than we do.”

  “Ours are better, lord.”

  “I know, Dick, but normally we hold the advantage of numbers. And if Griff has trained one of their archers, perhaps more, then they know your secrets. Geoffrey of Anjou has also witnessed how we fight.”

  “Griff of Gwent is a good archer but he has lived in Anjou for some years. He knows not my men. I think that we can surprise the Duke’s brother.” Dick was proud of his archers and he would ensure that, no matter what the odds, he would beat the enemy archers and crossbows.

  “Good.” I rolled up the parchment. “Tomorrow we ride and find somewhere to defeat them! Sir Richard, you will come with Dick and me.”

  That night we slaughtered some cattle which Aelric had captured in Blois. I sat with my captains in the hall. There were fifteen of us. I had to get to know them quickly and I had to let them know how we would fight. The Angevin had not fought in a war since before the civil war. They could fight; I knew that. The question was could they obey my orders instantly without question as my men did?

  “Thanks to Leofric and Dick’s scouts we now know the approximate numbers we will be facing. We will be outnumbered almost across the board. They will have almost twice as many knights as we do. They have a hundred more crossbowmen and archers than we have archers. They have mounted light horse and the levy which we do not. The only force we have which is close to theirs is men at arms.”

  I saw William’s head drop.

  I smiled. “Viscount, do not worry about numbers. I mention them so that you all know that we must husband our men and not waste them. I intend to use a trick employed by your great grandfather at the Battle of Hastings. The Count of Champagne, who I have no doubt will command the enemy, has the advantage of numbers. He will try to use those numbers to outflank and encircle us. He will be eager to bring us to battle. When he defeats us then Anjou, Poitou, the southern parts of Normandy, even Aquitaine, all will be there for him to grasp. We use that eagerness.”

  “How? How do you stop being encircled and how do you fight such overwhelming numbers?”

  I knew that Henry’s youngest brother was clever and a voracious reader. “You have studied ancient battles. When the Romans fought at Cannae and the Trasimene Lake they outnumbered Hannibal yet he defeated them. We use our minds to make the enemy come to us. I have not found the battlefield yet but it will be close to where we eat now. I will use you, Viscount, to make your brother reckless.”

  “Use me any way you wish, lord, but my brother has a poor opinion of me.”

  “And that is why I use you. You, Sir Richard and Sir Leofric will lead fifty of your knights in an attack on wherever your brother commands. Dick’s archers will have eliminated the threat of the crossbows and y
our brother will not wait for you to charge him, he will charge as soon as you move to him. You will lead my men and run away.”

  He looked shocked, “Run away! There is no honour in that!”

  Wilfred was amongst my captains and he spat a piece of gristle into the fire, “Viscount, there is damned little honour in any war!”

  “Wilfred!”

  “Sorry lord.”

  “William, you draw your brother onto the spears of my men at arms who will be dismounted. Sir Leofric’s archers will be behind them and they will slaughter them. It is a tactic we have used in England but not here. It should take them by surprise.”

  “But you said yourself, Warlord, that my brother had the smallest contingent.”

  I waved a hand. William needed to listen more and speak less. “At the same time, I will lead fifty of your knights and forty men at arms, at exactly the same time to attack Henry of Blois.”

  “You will leave the greatest enemy untouched? You will attack the two weaker parts?”

  “I will for those who remain will see us seemingly routed. I will run away too and I cannot see the levy of Champagne and the hobelars of Blois standing still when they see me flee. They will see victory and, regardless of what the rest of the Count’s army does, they will join the pursuit. They will attack the line of knights and men at arms and they will be slaughtered. The seneschal of Le Mans will command our force of knights and men at arms.”

  “We just run away?”

  “No, William, we run as far as our lines and ride a circle. You will lead your men to attack the, hopefully, disorganized men of Blois and I will fall upon your brother’s mercenaries.”

  Robert de Ferrier shook his head, “It seems to me that you are assuming that Blois and the Duke’s brother will be on the flanks. It is a risky assumption.”

  I nodded. “You are right, Robert, it is an assumption but justified. Put yourself in Charles of Champagne’s shoes. Would you split your men and put them on the flanks? Or would you keep your part of the army, the largest part, together?”

  He nodded and smiled, “I forgot your experience, lord. The Earl of Gloucester always said that you had a mind so sharp you could cut your fingers just running your hand through your hair!”