Under the curious gaze of the Danes, the English pushed a huge monster outside York Castle. Prince Harald had never seen anything like it, and from below it looked like a tall tower, with a huge tapered base, under which were mounted wheels reinforced with iron bars, and above it hung a long wooden pole of more than a hundred feet, the tip of which was an iron sheep's head, which was also reinforced with wire wound around it.

"God, what kind of monster is this?" Harald muttered.

"Hedgito's tortoiseshell mallet." Prince Edgar replied lightly.

Some English soldiers began to cover the head of the city with bows and arrows under the cover of the arrow board, and the huge siege machine gradually approached the front of the trench outside the castle of York, and with a command, a wooden plank above the cone-shaped tortoiseshell covered with sandbags, animal skins and wet mud opened, and the English on the raised platform inside began to bombard the Normans inside the castle with a small ballista. William Mallett climbed the wall to the panicked cries of the Normans, and when he saw the beast in front of him, there was another screeching sound from the top of the monster, and then the huge wooden pole above began to move forward. Seeing that the situation was not good, the Yorkshire Governor ordered everyone around him: "Get out of the way and retreat to the tower!" ”

The English used a winch to operate the ramstick and smashed it against the wall, and when the iron head touched the outer wall of the castle, the whole wall shook with a loud bang. The spectacle was a sight to behold for the English and Danes in the rear, and for the Normans in York Castle, it was a vision of the end of the day, exposing the fleeing soldiers to ballistas and bows, killing and wounding. However, the tremors of the walls continued, as if to let out a terrible groan, and the entire wall structure was severely damaged.

The cracks in the exterior wall were constantly hit, and the wall finally began to crumble, and when the dust slowly cleared, a huge gap appeared before the eyes of the English, and everyone cheered. Prince Edgar's face did not change, looking at this earth-shattering scene, the English withdrew from the beast, and then some militiamen continued to push the whole tortoiseshell forward, and the beast fell into the trench at an angle, and there was a large splash of water. Beyond the gap in the wall, the fallen behemoths formed a slope, and the Danes, who had been prepared for a long time, began to attack, and they rushed in groups from this slope, and under the command of some Heshir, they formed a shield wall inside the wall, and slowly moved in the direction of the tower.

The bodies of the Normans lay strewn on the ground of the city, and some soldiers who had not had time to withdraw from the tower began to spontaneously line up on the slope between the tower and the outer wall, trying to resist the Danes. As the flow of people poured in, the Danes' shield wall gradually became whole, braving arrows from the tower to approach the ramp.

Prince Edgar listened to the constant fighting in the city, and then turned back to the Danish chieftains, "It seems that we will be able to celebrate in York Castle tonight." ”

Prince Harald was so impressed by Edgar that the English prince had the power to break the Normans' hard tortoise shells so easily, and with the intact fortifications he had seen around the city, and the well-organized English army, the Danish prince had no doubt about Edgar's victory. Osbjorn was a little frightened, and the England's ability to attack the city was not what it used to be, which was not necessarily good news for the Danes. Before his departure, his elder brother, King Sven, had also confessed that the English were to be exploited, and if they were defeated by the Normans, as Harold and the Norwegians did at Stamford Bridge, the Danes would be able to take advantage of the opportunity to grow in England and even regain the hegemony of King Canute. This is why Osbjorn did not initially offer to take charge of the siege, and waited until Edgar promised to breach the Norman outer walls before agreeing to Harald. However, in today's battle, the task of the English was completed so easily, even unscathed, that it was far beyond his imagination.

The Count of Benicia entered the tent, wearing a fur and a shining silver hook on the belt of his sword, and came to Edgar under the gaze of the crowd: "We have just received news that King William has arrived in Acre. ”

Everyone in the tent was shocked, the main force of the Normans was so close?

Edgar said to Uhtred, beside him, "Please give me an order to the defenders of Fulford to enter the position in turn and prepare for defense according to the previous rehearsal. ”

Uhtred nodded, put on his helmet and left. Edgar spoke to Osbjorn again: "York must be taken immediately, I wonder if the Danes need help?" ”

Osbjorn shook his head, took off his ring again, and said to the guards beside him, "Take this and show it to Olaf under the castle, he will understand what I mean." ”

The sound of bull horns sounded, and the Danes of York Castle began to intensify their onslaught, and they crossed the corpses of the Normans, and approached the tower under the cover of a rain of arrows, and some warriors with Danish axes began to smash the gate violently, and the shields on their backs were wrapped in iron, and there was a bronze embossing in the center, and there was not a trace of rust, and these warriors were so powerful that they soon smashed the iron-clad wooden gate to the ground. Seeing that the gate was still closed, the axe-wiolling guards stepped aside, and a group of Danish soldiers began to ram with a thick wooden beam.

In the castle, William Mallett did not know that the king's reinforcements had arrived, but listened to the noise below, and thought sadly: It seems that this is the last hour. After a long time, as the sound of resistance faded away, several Danes rushed in, first on guard, and after seeing the identity of the brightly armored knight in front of them, they demanded that he lay down his arms in unintelligible language. Seeing this, William Mallett exhaled lightly, but did not choose to resist, he untied the belt of his long sword, threw it in front of the Danes, and then tied his hands.

In the enemy camp, the magistrate of William Mallett saw his nephew, the Earl of Moka, and he saluted the victor with a pale face, and took out the key to York Castle, and said to Prince Edgar: "The last time I met my lords, I was in the Normandy army, but now I am being captured by them. ”

Prince Edgar was unimpressed, but said to Osbjörn: "I am willing to pay the ransom for the magistrate of William, I wonder if the Danes are willing to transfer?" ”

After O'Sbjorn nodded, Edgar immediately asked the Earl of Morka to take out a ransom of more than a hundred pounds and hand it over, and then take charge of bringing the county governor William back to the English camp. After this episode, the Danes who entered York Castle also cleaned up the seizures, and Edgar ordered the county magistrate of Durham to repair the broken walls immediately. After these finishing touches, the main English and Danish forces began to move south, preparing for the Norman army.