At the same time as a fierce naval battle broke out between Britain and France at sea, there was no idleness on land. Estimating that the time was almost up, Henry VII's confidant Richard . Bol, with 20,000 British troops, went straight to the French-occupied port of Hastings.

By this time, the French had already built ten temporary longbridge piers in Hastings Harbour. Coupled with the dozen or so longbridge wharves in Hastings Harbour before, Hastings Harbour has basically met the conditions for a large-scale landing of French troops. But all this, with Richard. The arrival of Boer's army became irrelevant......

When Richard. When Pol's 20,000-strong army arrived at the port of Hastings, the French commander of the French army, Abel, who was guarding Hastings, was shocked. He hurriedly withdrew all the French infantry on the dock to the city, and even the 5,000 French soldiers were withdrawn into the city to help defend the city.

However, despite the tall and sturdy walls of Hastings, all four gates were burned by the original defenders. Abel was very careful, and sent people to block the northern, western, and eastern gates with stones, but the southern gates were not blocked. After all, the south gate still needs to be in and out. After the French landed, they also needed to enter and leave the city of Hastings. Therefore, the south gate was only heavily guarded and a temporary fence was built, but there was no special fortified gate.

Richard. When Pol arrived at the city with his army, he also found that the gates to the north, west, and east were blocked. So he commanded:

"Send a few cavalry to the south gate to take a look and see what's going on over there!"

It wasn't long before a few English hussars returned, and they paid their respects to Richard. Pol reported:

"Sir, the south gate has not been blocked, only simple fortifications, but now it is full of French, and if you want to break through the defense line of the south gate, it is estimated that you will lose a lot of ......"

Abel also knew that the south gate was a weakness, so he took the 5,000 soldiers and horses in the city and arranged 2,000 men to guard the south gate. The other 3,000 soldiers went to the city with 5,000 French soldiers to frighten the British.

Two thousand elite infantry guarding a city gate, plus all kinds of obstructions from the other side at the city gate, if you want to break through this city gate, you will inevitably pay a great price......

However, the script didn't go the way Abel envisioned. Richard. After thinking for a while, Pol directly ordered:

"The whole army went to the south gate of Hastings, and then lined up there. Half of them are guarding against the French army in the city, and the other half is going directly to dismantle the docks! ”

Then, the 20,000 British troops, ignoring the French army at the head of the city and the other three city gates, went directly to the south gate. Just when Abel thought that the British army would launch a siege of the city, the British army stopped directly 100 meters outside the south gate and lined up. Moreover, it looks like a defensive formation......

Abel was a little confused at first, but when he saw the British troops behind him going to dismantle the Longbridge Wharf in Port Hastings, he was finally in a hurry......

Abel knew very well in his heart that the biggest task of the 5,000 soldiers he led was to fight for the main force of the French army. So, the dock is important. Because, when the French army comes, they will definitely use the dock.

However, if you put the army on the dock, you can't. Because, the dock has no defenses, and it is easy to be defeated in the face of the onslaught of the enemy's large forces. As a last resort, the French army relied on the tall and sturdy walls of Hastings to defend itself.

Moreover, according to the practice of this era, the other party should attack the city first. Usually after taking the castle, they take over the dock as an ancillary facility.

However, Richard. Pol had long received Henry VII and Thomas. Stanley's guidance told him to go to Hastings and demolish the docks first. Without the dock, the French fleet would not have been able to land here, even if they had defeated Wallace's fleet. Even if you can force a landing, but Richard. Bol's army of 20,000 is waiting on the shore......

And, in the absence of a dock, at most the infantry could force a landing by wading through the water. As for the knights, they could only take off their plate armor and wade to land on their own. At the same time, neither the horses nor the artillery could force a landing without a pier......

In this way, even if the French army forcibly waded into the water, it would be Richard. The live target of the seven thousand English longbowmen brought by Boul......

So, Richard. As long as Bol demolished the docks, the main force of the French army on the sea would be in a dilemma - attack, and could only land by wading through the water alone. Without the impact of the Plate Knights, the French soldiers who landed on the water would only become live targets for the British longbowmen.

And if you want to retreat, it is also very difficult. Because, the main fleet of the English ambush will never let go of the main fleet of the French army......

Thus, Henry VII and Thomas. The countermeasure discussed by Stanley and others was a foolproof solution. Even if Wallace's fleet did not succeed in dragging the French fleet, as long as Richard . . . Bol's army demolished the docks at Hastings Harbour to the same effect.

Although it is not excluded that the French will find a dock elsewhere, it is absolutely impossible to find a dock of this size in a short period of time. There were not so many longbridge docks, and the French could not land hundreds of transport ships at all. With the strength of only a few ships landed, it was also easy to be chased by Richard. Boer's army repulsed.

It seems to have been prepared for a long time, Richard. Bol divided the 10,000 British soldiers who went out to dismantle the docks, and each of them brought a logging axe. The soldiers jumped into the water and began to chop down the stakes nailed into the water at the pier of the long bridge as if they were cutting trees......

Many of the Long Bridge Piers of this era were made of wood. That is, under the plank bridge in later generations, solid timber such as logs was used to drive piles on the seabed to make a solid support frame. Its principle is no different from the plank bridges with supporting piles seen in later generations. So, in the same way, as long as you cut down those support piles made of logs, the long bridge pier will collapse directly......

The British soldiers were diligently watching the stakes supporting the wooden pier of the long wooden bridge with their logging axes, while the French commander Abel at the head of the city was so angry that he almost had angina. But there was nothing he could do.

Obviously, the British army had 20,000 horses. Even if half of them were divided to dismantle the docks, there were still 10,000 troops guarding against them, and the 5,000 French troops in the city did not dare to go out of the city to fight. After all, they were all infantry and simply could not storm the British formation. Perhaps, halfway through, they will be shot by the British longbowmen......

Therefore, Abel could only cover his heart and watch helplessly as the British soldiers on the dock happily dismantled those long bridge piers......

The long bridge pier made of wood is still very easy to dismantle, as long as you cut the supporting stakes. But as one of the five major ports in the United Kingdom, the port of Hastings is not only a wooden longbridge wharf. Here, there are also five permanent piers made of stone and bricks......

For how to demolish this masonry dock, Richard. Pol had a headache. Because, this kind of sturdy dock is too difficult to dismantle. Moreover, there is no time to dismantle it. If the French had defeated Wallace's fleet, they would probably have arrived soon, and the British would not have been allowed to tear it down.

Eventually, a low-ranking British officer who ran a boat at home gave Richard Pol an idea - since the dock could not be removed, it was okay to make the dock unable to dock ships......

The reason why the Long Bridge Pier is deep into the sea is because the ship needs a certain depth of water to dock, otherwise, if the water is too shallow, the ship is prone to running aground. Once a ship of this weight runs aground, it is difficult to deal with.

So, the officer's idea was to throw stones and bricks at the bottom of the sea around the Long Bridge Pier so that the height of the debris was close to the surface of the water. In this way, as soon as the French ships dared to dock, they ran aground directly on these stones and bricks that were thrown into the water......

Richard. Pol immediately took this good advice and sent his men around to collect stones and bricks. In order to scrape together enough stones and bricks for reclamation, Richard. Pohl even sent his men to demolish the houses of many residents outside the city in order to get enough masonry.

With enough masonry, the water around the five masonry piers was filled with masonry at a height of about one meter above the water. This height is the most uncomfortable for the boat. Moreover, because the masonry is littered, the shape of the pile is irregular, which is not suitable for ships to dock. In this way, even if the French fleet came, it would not be able to land......

After solving the docks, Richard. Pol was in no hurry. Anyway, those French troops in the city won't grow wings and fly away, so why are they in a hurry to attack?

As long as the main forces of the French army at sea are resolved, these French troops can only surrender in desperation......

So, the British army camped directly outside the city and waited for news. For the French army in the city, only people were sent to monitor and prevent them from fighting the beasts......