On the sea, outside the port of Calais, the Count of Gerbaou, as the admiral of the fleet, is commanding the North Sea Fleet and the Five Ports Alliance fleet to blockade the port of Calais and cut off the possibility of the Vikings escaping by boat.

But to be honest, this task was too easy for him, the Viking fleet had lost most of its combat capability after being defeated in the last war, and the remaining Viking longships did not dare to show their heads in front of the Normans again, so Count Gerbo only had to send a fleet to patrol the port of Calais to complete a combat mission.

"Are you willing to play a dispensable supporting role in this decisive battle?" Count Gerbo asked himself this, and it was clear that he was not reconciled, and he was also eager to make a meritorious deed to the past and the present, and to be valued by His Majesty William and canonized as the Duke of Flanders.

As a Dutch from Flanders, he most wanted to acquire the territory of his native Duchy of Flanders, not Cornwall, the inhospitable kingdom of England.

Indeed, before the great outbreak of maritime trade, Cornwall had little land available for cultivation except for barren saline land that was not suitable for growing crops, and the number of people was not large, and the income from the territory was not comparable to the annuity income of any barony in the Norman kingdom.

As a result, he missed Flanders with its prosperous economy, rich towns, and fertile land, and the Count of Gerbault wanted to be made Duke of Flanders more than anyone else, even though the territory of the Duchy of Flanders was less than half the size of its original territory.

"Philip, is my army ready? We're going to do a big job! Count Gerbo summoned his confidant Philip and asked eagerly.

"My lord, everything is ready, including your private army and the sailors who want us to work together, a total of more than 3,300 people have been assembled and ready to standby, just wait for your order, we will lead the army to the east behind the Vikings, and give them a fatal blow." Philip smiled confidently.

"Very well, we will prepare to set off at once, and then land at the predetermined place, and I will capture all the nobles, including King Harald IV of Norway, and only then will the Duchy of Flanders be in my pocket." Count Gerbo looked at Philip with burning eyes, patted him on the shoulder with his right hand affectionately, and promised, "If you succeed this time, you will be my Earl, Philip." ”

"Yes, my lord." Philip received the promise of his own lord and immediately replied excitedly.

Seeing Philip leaving, Count Gerbo summoned another confidant, Jacob, and put him in charge of commanding the North Sea Fleet, and cooperated with the Five-Port Alliance Fleet to blockade Calais Port.

After the explanation, Gerbo broke away from the fleet with Philippe and landed at the predetermined location under the escort of the warships.

Since the Vikings' attention was completely absorbed by the fierce battle in the decisive battle, it did not happen at all, and a strange army of more than 3,300 people appeared behind them.

Gerbob did not immediately charge behind the Vikings after landing, but hid on the north side of a hill and waited for the moment of final victory.

......

With the combined Norwegian and Danish forces fighting with the Normans, the constant rain of arrows from the sky, and the approaching Norman cavalry on both sides, the Vikings were in a precarious position, and they were at a disadvantage in their duel with the Normans.

"My Varangian Guard, follow me!" King Harald IV of Norway could no longer afford to ignore the Normans' unbridled attacks, which he would not allow to suffer.

While the Vikings were still suffering from few casualties, Harald IV decided to give it a go and sent his most confident Varangian guard into action.

The Varangian Guard, a powerful army, had appeared in the rebellion of the princes of northern England, and the Normans had fought against this elite army, so it can be said that it was a dead end.

This time, Harald IV sent the Varangian Guard, which was to rely on its strong combat strength to break the deadlock and crush the Norman frontal infantry array, so as to completely defeat the opponent.

As for the cavalry that circled around the flanks, Harald IV was not too worried, he was confident that as long as the Vikings were brave, the Norman cavalry would not be able to break his formation.

It wasn't that he was unaware of the might of the Norman cavalry, but he was already desperate and didn't want to think about it anymore.

Sure enough, with the trump card of the Varangian Guard, only more than 3,000 elite Varangian soldiers joined the battlefield, and the Viking front, which had been in turmoil, began to stabilize and began to attack the central Norman under the leadership of Varangian as the enemy.

Of course, the Varangian guard was accompanied by King Harald IV of Norway himself and his banner, and it was officially with him that the Vikings were emboldened and regrouped.

The Normans felt heavy pressure from the addition of the Varangian Guards and the Norwegian Banner, and the Norman infantry began to retreat under the frenzied attacks of the Varangian Guards and the Vikings.

The balance of war began to tilt in favor of the Vikings again, and in the face of this critical situation, Duke Andrew, as the commander-in-chief, had to personally lead his reserves to support.

At this moment, both the Vikings and the Normans have played their trump cards in their respective hands, and the final victory can only be determined by the will of God.

.....

By three o'clock in the afternoon, the Normans and Vikings had been fighting for nearly two hours, and both the Normans and Vikings were exhausted, and even the most powerful warriors were now in a state of disengagement.

The battlefield continues to be scorched, and who will emerge victorious in the end depends on which side has a new force to join.

Not far away, the sound of horses' hooves and shouts of killing came from the flanks and behind the Vikings, which was undoubtedly great news for the long-fought Duke Andrew.

He had never heard such a pleasant sound of horses' hooves and shouts of slaughter, for he knew that at this moment the Norman knights were flanking and behind the Vikings in full charge, and it was impossible for the exhausted Vikings to resist the full charge of the mighty Norman knights.

However, to his surprise, the shouts of killing coming from behind the Vikings were not the Norman knights he had arranged, but who was attacking behind the Vikings, which made him curious.

The Norman knights fought in dense formations and divided into several small phalanxes to organize the charge in order to give full play to the power of the spear charge.

The basic combat unit of the Norman knights was the cavalry phalanx, which consisted of three platoons, each consisting of 50-60 knights or servants.

Their arrangement was so dense that throwing a glove on their helmets could not land for a mile.

The Norman cavalry tactics were the most typical combat methods of the medieval knights in later generations, they held their spears steadily, urged the horses to gallop to the enemy, and this combat method used the impact of the horse to give the enemy a fatal blow, which was extremely powerful.