by Griff Hosker
We carried enough food to reach Alençon. After that, in the land of our foes, we would live off the land. It was almost harvest time and I hoped that the Bretons would be busy in their fields. Even as we headed towards Valframbert and Alençon my son would be leading more than two hundred ships to blockade Nantes. He would land men to the north and south of the port and begin to besiege it. I did not care if the Count of Cornouaille laughed off what he would see as paltry numbers so long as his eye was fixed on the sea. Once we reached Valframbert then he would know he had an even bigger army heading from the east. The lord of Valframbert was one of my men. Sámr had spoken with him and Tostig Sharp Tongue had not joined the muster. He was at the border town ensuring that no word of our arrival reached Alençon. Erik Gillesson would lead his mounted column to head to the far side of Alençon where they would hide. Bergil Fast Blade, now more like the warrior I had known for more than half of my life, would lead five hundred men to the south and east of Alençon. My band of one thousand men would march down the road.
We camped by the River Londeau but I was accommodated in Tostig’s stronghold. Gandálfr was with me and we dined with Tostig. “So, Tostig, what can you tell me of Alençon?”
“It is not a large town and the men there are practical. They dare not offend the Bretons for they are too far from Rouen. I am the nearest Norman lord. I command forty men. I can keep an enemy at bay but I cannot protect their burghers.”
“And who is the lord there?”
“There is none. The Frank who ruled the town, Gilles d’Alençon, died of the pox. No other lord replaced him. There is a council of merchants and farmers. They have a Breton merchant, Stephen of the Seed. He controls the town council.”
I stared at Tostig, “I should have been told of this. I could have appointed a lord.”
“I know, lord but…”
“Speak.”
“I have two sons. I hoped that when Richard, my eldest, was of an age, he might be a lord.”
That reason I could understand and my anger began to subside, “And how old is your son?”
“He has seen eighteen summers.”
“A man then; and has he been blooded?”
“He was my shield bearer at Paris.”
“Then I will attach him to my hearth weru. Let us see how he shapes up when he has to endure the enemy trying to kill me.”
I thought Tostig might refuse but, instead, he smiled and nodded, “That is the best answer I could have had.” He waved over a youth who had broad shoulders and the dark hair of a Frank. He got his looks from his mother. “This is Richard Tostigsson. Richard, the Duke would have you attached to his bodyguard.”
“It is an honour, lord.”
I shook my head. “It is a poisoned chalice, Richard, for every Breton will try to kill me. This will make or break you. Do not answer yet. Sleep on it. Give me your answer in the morning. If you accept my offer then, should you survive, there may well be land for you to rule. I make no promises.”
“I have a chance, lord, and that is all I need.” I liked his earnest face and honest answer.
When we left, the next day, I allowed the young warriors of Rouen to ride ahead of me. They were honoured but I had another motive. All of them had burnished helms and shiny mail which had yet to be tarnished by battle. Their horses were all groomed so that they shone and each of the young warriors had a banner flying from his spear. My seasoned warriors had mocked them. Secretly so had I for they were an unnecessary encumbrance but they looked effective and the colourful host of warriors heralded the rest of our more mundane army. I wanted to impress those within the walls. We halted before the gates of the town. If we had to assault them then they would not hinder us. My young horsemen pranced their horses before the walls. I heard the snorts of derision from Haraldr’s men. I hid my smile as I edged to within bowshot of the walls. I was showing the men of the town that I was not afraid of them.
I waited until faces appeared on the gatehouse. “I am Duke Robert of Normandy! I have been given this land by King Charles. I am here to claim Alençon. Hitherto you have enjoyed the freedom of no taxes and no lord. That changes this day.”
I watched the faces on the gate as they looked at each other. Eventually, a grey beard took off his helmet. “I am Fulk of Alençon. I own half of the houses in the town and I am mayor.”
“What happened to this Stephen of the Seed? I thought he was mayor?”
He shook his head, “He was but when we heard you were heading here, he left in the night with his chests of gold and silver. He has gone to Nantes.” I nodded. That was an honest answer. They were doing what we would do. They were being defiant even though the odds were in our favour. “We could fight you, Duke Robert.”
I nodded. I had to be brutal and make a threat which would stop them from fighting us. “Aye you could and you might kill some of my men. If you killed just one then I would throw down your walls. Then I would blind every man who resisted us and take his arms and feet. I would give the women to my men to be used then sell what was left in the slave markets of Bruggas.” I shrugged, “It is your choice. Resist and you know your fate. Open your gates and you are my friend. I will afford you protection and when the Bretons are defeated you will enjoy the riches of that land too. That is a generous offer. Fight and die or live without the threat of Brittany.” I smiled and waited. “The sun is hot and I am no longer as patient as I once was. Make a decision now!”
“Open the gates! Let us welcome the Duke of Normandy!”
Chapter 6
We stayed but one night. There was no need to stay longer. The Breton merchant had not had the courage of his convictions and the merchant had fled. We learned from Fulk that Stephen of the Seed took twenty mailed men with him. Had they remained then we might have had to fight. When the burghers saw the size of my army their faces filled with the relief of knowing they had taken the correct decision. I learned a lesson that day. The Franks were still terrified of us for they thought we were still Vikings. We needed to have our army led by men who dressed like my horsemen of Rouen. The likes of Bjorn the Brave, Gandálfr and Harold Mighty Fist would make them fight for they feared for their women. I told Fulk that he could continue to lead the town until I had appointed a successor. As I left, I reminded him that I expected the taxes that they had not yet paid.
I allowed the young men of Rouen to lead our victorious column. My son would have to change. He was still the wild warrior. He dressed like Godwin and the other men he led. I dressed like my horsemen. I wore the blue cloak with the white sword. As I fingered my moustache and beard, I realised that they would have to be trimmed too. In truth, the only reasons Vikings did not trim them were of a practical nature; at sea, it was hard and unnecessary to do so and when we raided, we needed terror. We had taken our last raid. Now we would be conquering other lands. We might still need terror but the last thing we needed was for men to fight to the death because they thought we would just kill them and take their families.
The next town, Rennes, would not be so easy. This was also Breton. Stephen the Seed would have warned them of our approach. Perhaps the word was already racing to Nantes and to Vannes too. Riding ahead of us like a screen, Erik had sent scouts to discover the state of the walls and to see if the town was alerted to danger from the east. It took two days for the three columns to close with the walls of Rennes. We were given constant reports from Erik’s scouts. Rennes was ready. They had, as I had expected, been warned of our approach. It had been anticipated. It would not change my plans for the battle and I was not put out. Erik cut off the road to Nantes. The assault this time would be more difficult for there were walls of stone and they were topped by a wooden palisade. I rode, with my hearth weru and the horsemen of Rouen, around the walls. It took half a morning to do so for I wanted to look for weaknesses. The river protected half of the circumference. That left a smaller area for us to attack and for them to defend. When I returned to the camp, I summoned my lords and held a council of w
ar.
“Erik, take every rider and put the land around the town to the torch. Every animal you can find must be captured and brought here. Empty their granaries. I want all of their food. Kill the men and drive the women hence.” He nodded.
Gandálfr asked, “There is a good reason not to kill them, lord?”
“Aye, old friend. I want word of what we do to spread. We do not need Breton slaves and we would rule this land in the future. When we win and win we shall, then we can give some of their farms back to them. The other reason is that they will flee to neighbouring towns, perhaps even Nantes, and they will have to be fed. War is fought with food as well as the sword.”
Bjorn said, “And do we build siege engines?”
I shook my head, “There is no need. They will not have laid in supplies for they can only have had one or two day’s notice. When they see the smoke rising from the Norman fires surrounding them and when they smell Breton cattle being cooked, then I will speak with them.”
“That seems a risk, lord.”
I smiled, “Why? My son has Nantes and Vannes blockaded. This is harvest time. If their men are in their three large towns and we are burning their farms then they have only one choice. They will have to fight for the alternative is surrender. I would rather have one battle which we win than a lengthy siege which would not guarantee victory. I will send two of my men to the fleet and they can advise my son of our position. He can safely land his men now and they can feed from the Bretons. Surely you do not mind sitting in the sun and eating beef, do you?”
Bergil Fast Blade laughed, “It seems perfect to me, lord. I had forgotten what a clever mind you have!” Bergil was back to the man I had known. His wife and her infidelity were forgotten.
We had taken over a farmhouse and that became my home while we lined the outside of Rennes with fires. The paucity of their defences was shown by the fact that our men could close to within two hundred paces and they were not subjected to either bolts or arrows. They had laid in too few to waste. They would save them for our attack. When Erik’s men drove their captured cattle to our fires then the air was filled with the smell of roasting beef. After five days word reached us that my son had landed his men and burned the ships in Vannes and Nantes harbours. Brittany was a mercantile land. We had destroyed that livelihood. King Charles had wished me to destroy any opposition in Brittany. We were well on the way to accomplishing that but we had still to fight a battle. I was a warrior and I knew that it would come down to a battle. We had to destroy the Bretons so that I could put my own lords in the place of the Bretons we would kill.
Each night I rode to the gates with my hearth weru, the young horsemen from Rouen and Richard Tostigsson. I learned much about the young men when I did so. Many older warriors resented young warriors. I was not one of those. I had been a young warrior who had led men from an early age. I knew how to look for that within young warriors which would make them great warriors. Richard impressed me as did Guy the cloth merchant’s son. While the other young warriors boasted of what they would do to the Bretons those two studied the walls and the men who topped them.
Richard asked me, as we returned to the farmhouse, three nights after news of my son’s success reached us, “Duke, how will we assault the walls?”
“We make pavise. We advance our archers behind them and we clear their walls. They should have had stone throwers or bolt throwers on their walls but they do not. There is no ditch. They rely upon the river and that only protects one side. When the walls are cleared then we move closer to the walls and let our axemen hack at the gate. The only thing they can do is to use fire or oil. Thus far I have not seen them preparing either. If we see smoke on their walls then that means they intend to give us a hot welcome. When you have wooden walls then fire is dangerous. We build ladders and, when the gate is about to fall, we use ladders to assault the walls along its entire length. We have more warriors than they do and the town will fall.”
Guy said, “But you do not believe it will come to that do you, Duke?”
“You are both clever young men. No, I believe that the Count of Cornouaille will bring his army from Nantes to relieve the siege. My men’s blockade will force him to do so. He cannot use his ports and Rennes is the most important town in Brittany. My son and our men can retreat to their ships if he attacks them. He will still be blockaded. He needs to relieve Rennes and then rid the land of us so that his people can harvest what is left of their crops.”
Richard asked, “Then, Duke Robert, why do you ride around each night?”
I smiled, “To frighten them. I am the Viking who defeated King Charles, who defeated Alan the Great. I am the giant. I am the barbarian. I am not the warrior I once was but they do not know that and the sight of me riding around their walls on the largest horse they have ever seen will give them nightmares. I still hope that they will surrender before the Count of Cornouaille arrives but it matters not for their spirit will be broken. They will have tightened belts and we are eating their beef. My men are drinking their cider, wine and ale. Our men are using the river to empty their bowels and bladders. The people of Rennes are drinking that water. Their spirits will be sinking. There will be farmers on the walls looking out and seeing their farms being burned and their animals slaughtered. There will be worrying thoughts in their heads. When this is over what will they have to return to?”
It was four days later when Erik’s scouts galloped in with the news that an enormous army was heading from the south. I would have the battle I wanted. I convened a council of war. When my captains knew what I wanted I immediately ordered two of my men to ride to my son. I needed the crews of our drekar now. The Count had sixty miles to travel. He would move more slowly than my son with his men. My men would just run up the road. They would not travel with carts and wagons. They would use the byways and live off the land. They would travel as boat’s crews. Leaving some men to watch the main gate, I took the rest of my army south of the river. With Erik Gillesson and his men guarding my left flank and the river guarding my right, we waited for the Bretons to lumber up the road towards us.
It took two days for them to reach us. In that time, we had dug a ditch before us. I had archers and slingers camped just behind it. My warbands were in three lines although, until the enemy arrayed, they lounged before fires which cooked more of the Breton beef. The Bretons outnumbered us. Many of the farmers had fled to Vannes and Nantes. The Count had gathered every man he could. The majority of his men were not warriors. They were farmers who would fight. I did not doubt that they would fight hard but they were fighting my men. More than half of my army was made up of men who had recently raided Wessex. We were a honed sword. The Bretons were a sharpened bill hook. His most dangerous men were his horsemen. His crossbows were good but my archers were better. The aim of the Bretons was to break the siege and to do that they had to attack us. I think they thought we would just be waiting for them at Rennes. When their scouts saw us, they galloped back to tell their leader that they had found us.
When they arrived, they built a camp. They were taking no chances and they dug a ditch and lined it with wooden stakes they had brought. I let them. All the time they were preparing my son was bringing more of my men from the south. The next day the Bretons arrayed. A large body of horsemen went to their right to fight the threat that was Erik Gillesson. The rest of his horsemen formed a thin line across the front of their foot. Before them were their crossbows. When I saw his formation, I knew what he intended. He would neutralize my horsemen and then weaken our centre before launching an attack by his horsemen. It would be a test of wills between his best and mine. I was confident. Only Erik and I truly knew the worth of my horsemen. It had been my grandfather and Erik’s father who had begun to build the horsemen Erik led. We had not used them in Paris. They were seen as scouts who wore armour. They did not know that they had been as well trained as any shield wall. I knew that in the battle between horsemen there would be one victor; Lord Erik of Montfort!